Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, August 26th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

Complete Jewish Bible

1 Chronicles 23:3

A census of L'vi'im thirty years old and over was taken, and their number came to 38,000.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Levites;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Levites, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Levite;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Golgotha;   Zacharias;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Levites;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Chronicles, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Chronicles, I;   Priests and Levites;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Poll;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Levites;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Age;   Poll;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The Levites thirty years old or more were counted; the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand by headcount.
Hebrew Names Version
The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
King James Version
Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
English Standard Version
The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was 38,000 men.
New Century Version
He counted the Levites who were thirty years old and older. In all, there were thirty-eight thousand Levites.
New English Translation
The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men.
Amplified Bible
The Levites thirty years old and upward were counted, and their number man by man was 38,000.
New American Standard Bible
Now the Levites were counted from thirty years old and upward, and their number by head count of men was thirty-eight thousand.
World English Bible
The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Leuites were numbred from ye age of thirtie yeere and aboue, and their nomber according to their summe was eight & thirtie thousand men.
Legacy Standard Bible
And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and their number by census of men was 38,000.
Berean Standard Bible
The Levites thirty years of age and older were counted, and the total number of men was 38,000.
Contemporary English Version
He then counted the Levite men who were at least thirty years old, and the total was thirty-eight thousand.
Darby Translation
And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward; and their number, by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
Easy-to-Read Version
David counted the Levites who were 30 years old and older. All together there were 38,000 Levites.
George Lamsa Translation
Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
Good News Translation
He took a census of all the male Levites aged thirty or older. The total was thirty-eight thousand.
Lexham English Bible
And the Levites thirty years old and above were counted, and their number according to their head count for the men was thirty-eight thousand.
Literal Translation
And the Levites were counted from a son of thirty years and upward; and their number by their heads, as to men, thirty eight thousand.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
to nombre ye Leuites from thirtie yeare olde & aboue. And ye nombre of the (which were stroge men) fro heade to heade, was eight and thirtie thousande:
American Standard Version
And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
Bible in Basic English
And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Leuites were numbred from the age of thirtie yeres and aboue: and the number and summe of them was thirtie and eyght thousande men.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
King James Version (1611)
Now the Leuites were numbred from the age of thirtie yeeres and vpward: and their number, by their polles, man by man, was thirtie and eight thousand.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Levites numbered themselves from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls amounted to thirty and eight thousand men.
English Revised Version
And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and the dekenes weren noumbrid fro twenti yeer and aboue, and eiyte and thretti thousynde of men weren foundun.
Update Bible Version
And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, the [able-bodied] men, was thirty and eight thousand.
Webster's Bible Translation
Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
New King James Version
Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand.
New Living Translation
All the Levites who were thirty years old or older were counted, and the total came to 38,000.
New Life Bible
The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and older. Their number was 38,000.
New Revised Standard
The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were counted, and the total was thirty-eight thousand.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now the Levites were numbered, from thirty years old and upwards, - and their number by their polls, of mature men, was thirty-eight thousand.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upwards: and there were found of them thirty-eight thousand men.
Revised Standard Version
The Levites, thirty years old and upward, were numbered, and the total was thirty-eight thousand men.
Young's Literal Translation
and the Levites are numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, and their number, by their polls, is of mighty men thirty and eight thousand.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and their number by census of men was 38,000.

Contextual Overview

1 David had now grown old; he had lived many years; so he made Shlomo his son king over Isra'el. 2 Then he assembled all the leaders of Isra'el, with the cohanim and L'vi'im. 3 A census of L'vi'im thirty years old and over was taken, and their number came to 38,000. 4 Of these, 24,000 were to oversee the work on the house of Adonai , while 6,000 were officials and judges, 5 4,000 were gatekeepers, and 4,000 sang praise to Adonai "with the instruments I made for the purpose of singing praise." 6 David organized them into divisions named after the sons of Levi — Gershon, K'hat and M'rari. 7 For the Gershuni: La‘dan and Shim‘i. 8 The sons of La‘dan: Yechi'el the chief, Zetam and Yo'el — three. 9 The sons of Shim‘i: Shlomit, Hazi'el and Haran — three. These were the heads of the clans of La‘dan. 10 The sons of Shim‘i: Yachat, Zina Ye‘ush and B'ri‘ah. These four were the sons of Shim‘i.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the Levites: Numbers 4:2, Numbers 4:3, Numbers 4:23, Numbers 4:30, Numbers 4:35, Numbers 4:43, Numbers 4:47

thirty and eight: Numbers 4:48

Reciprocal: Numbers 8:24 - from twenty 2 Samuel 7:5 - Shalt 2 Kings 11:5 - that enter 1 Chronicles 23:24 - twenty 1 Chronicles 23:27 - by the last 2 Chronicles 23:4 - entering Ezra 8:17 - ministers

Cross-References

Genesis 10:15
Kena‘an fathered Tzidon his firstborn, Het,
Genesis 23:5
The sons of Het answered Avraham,
Genesis 23:7
Avraham got up, bowed before the people of the land, the sons of Het,
Genesis 25:10
the field which Avraham purchased from the sons of Het. Avraham was buried there with Sarah his wife.
Genesis 27:46
Rivkah said to Yitz'chak, "I'm sick to death of Hitti women! If Ya‘akov marries one of the Hitti women, like those who live here, my life won't be worth living."
Genesis 49:30
the cave in the field of Makhpelah, by Mamre, in the land of Kena‘an, which Avraham bought together with the field from ‘Efron the Hitti as a burial-place belonging to him —
1 Samuel 26:6
David said to Achimelekh the Hitti and Avishai the son of Tz'ruyah, Yo'av's brother, "Who will go down with me to Sha'ul in the camp?" Avishai said, "I will go down with you."
2 Samuel 23:39
Uriyah the Hitti — thirty-seven in all.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upward,.... So they were numbered in the days of Moses, and by his order, and so they were now at first; though afterwards there was a new reckoning of them, 1 Chronicles 23:24

and their number by their posts; or, according to their heads:

man by man, was thirty and eight thousand; which vastly exceeds the number in the times of Moses; see Numbers 4:47, but then those above fifty years of age were not numbered, as they now might; since their work in the temple would be much more easy, no burdens to carry, as the ark, the vessels, &c.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Chronicles 23:3. Thirty years and upward — The enumeration of the Levites made in the desert, Numbers 4:3, was from thirty years upwards to fifty years. In this place, the latter limit is not mentioned, probably because the service was not so laborious now; for the ark being fixed they had no longer any heavy burdens to carry, and therefore even an old man might continue to serve the tabernacle. David made another ordinance afterwards; see on 1 Chronicles 23:24; 1 Chronicles 23:27.


 
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