I know that the men that were numbered still have their given name, but what is the point in numbering them?
Numbers 3:14 - 16
NASB - 14 Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying. 15 "Number the sons of Levi by their fathers' households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number."
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When one asigns a number to like items you are just counting them, as a shop owner does when he takes inventory of his shelves. When you count people, it is a census. When you start counting you give each item a number starting with #1. You would not go to your neighbors garage and start taking an inventory of what is in it because you don't own anything in it. God was claiming the slaves as his own by assigning then a number. David was punished for taking a census without God's permission. God was asking "why would you count something that is not yours". In God's eyes, David was claiming ownership of Gods people. So by giving the slaves numbers, God was just counting what belongs to Him.
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