Numbers 3:1 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Bible Comments

‘Now these are the generations (family histories, records) of Aaron and Moses in the day that Yahweh spoke with Moses in mount Sinai.'

This is probably the remnants of a colophon closing off this military record. A colophon was included at the end of an ancient record in this way just as we would put a title and author's name on a book cover. It gave a quick reference to the contents of the record. As we saw earlier, in Numbers 1 & Numbers 2 Moses and Aaron were seen in this section as continually acting together apart from when Moses was receiving Yahweh's direct commands (see on Numbers 1:2-3). This verse is not really suitable as a heading for what follows, for Moses does not feature there, but it does make a very suitable ending.

Numbers 3:1

1 These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.