“By the directive of the Lord, by their families, all males from one month old and above, were twenty-two thousand” – you find that the tribe of Levi in the detailed account was twenty-two thousand three hundred, because they were four families: Gershon, Kehat, Merari, and Moses.42Moses and Aaron had their own camp. Furthermore, Aaron and his sons were Kohanim. Therefore, the Levites are described as containing four families.
However, the people in the fourth family who were counted are included in the count of Kehat. You read each and every family individually and calculate it: “For Gershon.… seven thousand five hundred” (Numbers 3:21–22); “for Kehat.…eight thousand six hundred” (Numbers 3:27–28); “for Merari.… six thousand two hundred” (Numbers 3:33–34). They total twenty-two thousand three hundred. When the verse includes all the Levites, it renders them twenty-two thousand.
Where are the three hundred? Rather, those mentioned in the detailed count informed how many were in each and every family. Those who were included in the twenty-two thousand and had three hundred missing from them, why was this done? It was, because they were counted in order to be in parallel to, and to redeem, the firstborn of Israel.
Three hundred from them that were firstborn among the Levites were subtracted, as a firstborn does not redeem a firstborn. Therefore, in the families there were twenty-two thousand three hundred, and in the total [there were] twenty-two thousand, to redeem the firstborn of Israel with them.