At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi. "At that time" is a phrase used in a large sense (see the note at Genesis 37:1, etc.), and applied in the case before us to an event which happened 38 years before-for the separation of the tribe of Levi took place in the second month of the second year (Numbers 1:49), while Aaron died on the first of the fifth month in the 40 year (Numbers 33:38). This explanation is suggested by the Jewish writer Ibn Ezra.