But for the price of the two hundred and seventy-three, of the firstborn of the children of Israel, that exceed the number of the Levites,

redeemed

Numbers 18:15 Whatsoever is firstborn of all flesh, which they offer to the Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee: only for the firstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that is unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed,

Exodus 13:13 The firstborn of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep: and if thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it. And every firstborn of men thou shalt redeem with a price.

the two hundred.

22,000, and the first-born males of the Israelites were

22,273, there were therefore

372 more of the latter than of the former, which are here ordered to be redeemed. The price of redemption is fixed at five shekels, or about

15s. each, in ver

Numbers 3:47 Thou shalt take five sicles for every bead, according to the weight of the sanctuary. A sicle hath twenty obols.

. This money, amounting to

1365 shekels, equal to F204.

15s. English, was taken of the first-born. There is some difficulty, however, in determining which of the first-born should be redeemed by paying this sum, and which should be exchanged for the Levites; for every Israelite, no doubt, would rather have his first-born redeemed by a Levite, than pay five shekels; and yet some of them must have incurred this expense. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi says, to prevent contention, Moses took

22,000 slips of parchment, and wrote on each a son of Levi, and

273 more, on which he wrote five shekels; then putting them in an urn, and shaking them together, he ordered every one of the first-born to draw out a slip. If he drew out one with the first inscription, he said to him, a Levite hath redeemed thee; but if he drew out one of the latter, he said, pay the price. This is pronounced by Dr. A. Clarke to be a stupid, silly tale; but when we know that the determination by lot was used among the Israelites, it does not seem improbable that it was now resorted to, though we cannot vouch for the accuracy of the detail. This species of redeeming men is referred to by Peter in his

1st Epistle,

Numbers 1:18,19 And assembled them on the first day of the second month, reckoning them up by the kindreds, and houses, and families, and heads, and names of every one from twenty years old and upward, . . .

.

which are

Numbers 3:39-43 All the Levites, that I Moses and Aaron numbered according to the precept of the Lord, by their f families, of the male kind from one month and upward, were twenty-two thousand. . . .