“But the Levites by the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them” (Numbers 1:47). “But the Levites by the tribe of their fathers” – the verse comes to say: Because the Holy One blessed be He did not say to Moses initially that he should count the tribe of Levi, as you find that he did not enumerate a prince for the tribe of Levi when he enumerated the princes of the tribes, Moses too did not count it, as Moses said: Had it been the will of the Holy One blessed be He that I count them, He would have told me.
That is why it is stated: “But the Levites by the tribe of their fathers were not counted among them,” as he did not wish to count them. Immediately, Moses was standing and wondering why the Holy One blessed be He did not command him to count his tribe, and he did not know whether he would count them or not. The Holy One blessed be He saw that he was wondering; He immediately explained to him why he did not command him to count.
That is what is written: “The Lord spoke.… However, the tribe of Levi you shall not count…” (Numbers 1:48–49). Rabbi Pinḥas bar Idi said: What is written at the beginning of the book? “Take a census [se’u et rosh] of the entire congregation of the children of Israel” (Numbers 1:2). It is not stated, “Elevate the head,” “promote the head,” but rather se’u et rosh,16Se’u et rosh literally means “lift up the head.” like a person who says to the executioner: Remove the head of so-and-so.
He thereby made an allusion. Why se’u et rosh? If they merit they will ascend to greatness, just as it says: “Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position” (Genesis 40:13). If they do not merit, they will all die, just as it says: “Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you, and hang you on a tree” (Genesis 40:19).
It was revealed before the Holy One blessed be He that they would all die in the wilderness, and their heads will be removed; therefore, the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: “However, the tribe of Levi [you shall not count…] among the children of Israel” (Numbers 1:49). Among the children of Israel you shall not count them, but by themselves, count them. Why? The Holy One blessed be He said: If the tribe of Levi is counted with Israel and intermingles with them, the angel of death will come to kill Israel and the decree will be issued against them that they will not enter the land, but rather, they will die in the wilderness, as it is stated: “In this wilderness, your carcasses will fall, and all those of you who were counted in any of your censuses” (Numbers 14:29), and he will find the tribe of Levi intermingled with them and they will intermingle with Israel to die.
That is why he did not count them with Israel, but rather separated them in the tally. And that is also why the language that is written regarding Israel, se’u et rosh, was not stated in their regard, but rather: “Count [pekod] the children of Levi” (Numbers 3:15).