“All the firstborn males according to the number of names, from one month old and above, by their count, were twenty-two thousand and two hundred and seventy-three” (Numbers 3:43) “All the firstborn males according to the number of names, from one month old and above…were…” – the firstborn outnumbered the Levites by two hundred and seventy-three. When Moses saw this, he did not know what to do. Moses said: The Omnipresent said to me that I should count the Levites and I should count the firstborn of Israel; and that I should take the Levites in His Name in place of the firstborn of Israel.
But the firstborn of Israel outnumber the Levites by two hundred and seventy-three. Now, what shall I do to those surplus firstborn of Israel over and above the number of Levites? Immediately, the Divine Speech came suddenly upon Moses and instructed him what to do. That is what is written: “The Lord spoke [to Moses, saying]” (Numbers 3:44).