THE DESCENDANTS OF AHARON

“These are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe as of the day when Adonai spoke with Moshe on Mount Sinai.”
Numbers 3:1

It is at this point that we read of the family line, mainly according to Aharon. We know from early on in Exodus that Moshe was the brother of Aharon and Miryam, and we know also that Moshe was instructed of Adonai to place the title of priest on Aharon. But let us take a minute to discuss this priestly line. What I think may need to be re-emphasized is something so simple that even I have failed to fully comprehend it until now. It never made sense to me that all the Levites could be priests. And then I read a study tool stating that it was true, not all could. So then, how did all the Levites play a part in the Levitical line? Only a select few, like Aharon, were priests and performed the rituals and conducted the ceremonies as described in Leviticus. The others Levite families had different duties. Their duties were just as important, however. They guarded the Tabernacle, carried its pieces from place to place, filled the water basins, cleaned up, stoked the fires, and played music.
There was no lack of duties for these fellow Levites. In Numbers 3 then we see that just as the Levites were distinct from the rest of Isra’el, so Aharon’s family was distinct from the Levite tribe as a whole. The high priest, which there was only one at this time, had to come from the line of Aharon. This duty was passed to Aharon’s son El’azar. The ongoing line of High Priests came from this descendant. In Numbers 3:2, then, we see the names of the sons that were eligible to be ordained as cohanim. Now note that although the duty should have fallen to the eldest son, Nadav, it was because of his sin that he was destroyed along with his brother, and the duty passed to El’azar.
As we continue in this chapter and land in verse 5, we read pointedly of duties for the priest. To read it in English seems a tad bit confusing. So let us look at these duties with a Hebrew mindset. The term ‘perform duties’ in verse 7 translates into shamar mishmereth, meaning to keep guard. Later in the same verse the term ‘doing the work of the Tabernacle’ is found. This is defined as abad bodah, meaning to do heavy work. Amazing how seeing it as it is written can take on a deeper meaning.
In the remainder of chapter 3 we read about the census Moshe was to take of the Levites. The Hebrew word normally translated as numbered or counted is paqad. It has a wide range of meanings, including number or count, but can also be defined as record. A little deeper still, though, and the term ‘al pi is found, translated as word or command. In other words, the results of the census were related to Moshe and Adonai only. To say it more bluntly, Adonai Himself conducted the census and Moshe was simply told the results by means of a word (‘al pi), putting the words of Adonai on record (paqad).

Numbers 3:1-13
Numbers 3:14-39
Numbers 3:40-52