“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel.
Yahweh had spoken to Moses, saying,
The Levites, however, were not numbered among the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
And those who were numbered of them were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.