Numbers 1:49
“Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:”
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
For the Lord had spoken unto Moses, saying,
Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
Counter-Arguments
The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.
Cross-References
“And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.”
“But the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses.”
“Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.”
“And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the Lord.”
“And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.”