Numbers 3 How many Levites did they count, 22,300 or 22,000?

Both. These numbers are both perfect and without error.

In Numbers 3:5-13 God told Moses to bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them to Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him (see vss.5-6). As they would be given to Aaron and his sons in place of the firstborn of all the other tribes to do the manual work of the tabernacle (see vss. 7-13).

In Numbers 3:14-15 God told Moses to number every male from a month old and upward of the children of Levi.

In Numbers 3:16-39 he sets out to do that very thing. When he does so, he counts them according to the families of the Levites. He actually breaks them up from the three main families—Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. And then proceeds to break them up through the family tree.

In Numbers 3:21-22, he tells you the family of the Gershonites were made up of the families of the Libnites and Shimites and numbered a total of 7,500. In Numbers 3:23-26, he tells you where they will pitch, their duties, and their chief.

In Numbers 3:27-28 he tells you the family of the Kohathites were made of families of the Amramites, Izeharites, Hebronites, and the Uzzielites and numbered 8,600. Note: Aaron and his sons would be included with the number of the Amramites for Amram was Aaron’s dad (see Exodus 6:18-20). In Numbers 3:29-32 he tells you where they will pitch, their duties, and their chief.

In Numbers 3:33-34 he tells you the family of the Merarites were made up of the families of the Mahlites and Mushites and numbered 6,200. In Numbers 3:35-37 he tells you where they were to pitch, their duties, and their chief.

When you add up the total of ALL MALE LEVITES FROM A MONTH OLD AND UPWARD, including Moses, Aaron and his sons, you have a total of 22,300.

In Numbers 3:38, the verse begins with the word “But”. So he is about to tell you of some exceptions to the number. It is in this verse he separates a group away from the rest, telling you they would pitch before the tabernacle on the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, this group was Moses, Aaron, and his sons. The reason he separated them was because they were the ones whom all the other Levites were to serve. Now, remember, they were part of the count earlier in verses 27-28 (see notes above). However, now he is taking them away from the total number given as they were the lineage of the priests.

In Numbers 3:39 he tells you that all were numbered of Moses and Aaron, at the commandment of the Lord, were 22,000. Now, notice with this count, it is not just Moses who counted, as was the previous count, but this time it is Moses and Aaron counting.

So how many Levites were counted; 22,300 or 22,000? The answer is both! Moses counted 22,300 of ALL THE LEVITES INCLUDING AARON AND HIS SONS. Then, Moses and Aaron counted all the Levites minus Aaron and his sons, grandsons, and great-grandsons. That number was 22,000. So there were 300 of Aaron and his sons (sons meaning sons, grandsons, etc.). The reason Aaron and his sons were not included in this number was because they were the ones whom the firstborn were to minister to. Thus, they could not be of the number of the Levites that were to take the place of the firstborn of Israel.

Conclusion: Both numbers are correct. The number of 22,300 was the number of all the Levites put together whom Moses counted, which would include Aaron and his sons. The number 22,000 was the number of all the Levites, minus Aaron and his sons, whom Moses and Aaron counted. Both counts were according to the commandment of the Lord. The first count was done by Moses whilst the last count was done by Moses and Aaron.