1.
And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
1, 2. on the first day of the second
month, c.—Thirteen months had elapsed since the exodus. About
one month had been occupied in the journey and the rest of the period
had been passed in encampment among the recesses of Sinai, where the
transactions took place, and the laws, religious and civil, were
promulgated, which are contained in the two preceding books. As the
tabernacle was erected on the first day of the first month, and the
order here mentioned was given on the first day of the second, some
think the laws in Leviticus were all given in one month. The
Israelites having been formed into a separate nation, under the
special government of God as their King, it was necessary, before
resuming their march towards the promised land, to put them into good
order. And accordingly Moses was commissioned, along with Aaron, to
take a census of the people. This census was incidentally noticed (), in reference to the poll tax for the works of the
tabernacle; but it is here described in detail, in order to show the
relative increase and military strength of the different tribes. The
enumeration was confined to those capable of bearing arms [], and it was to be made with a careful distinction of the
tribe, family, and household to which every individual belonged. By
this rule of summation many important advantages were secured: an
exact genealogical register was formed, the relative strength of each
tribe was ascertained, and the reason found for arranging the order
of precedence in march as well as disposing the different tribes in
camp around the tabernacle. The promise of God to Abraham [] was seen to be fulfilled in the extraordinary increase of
his posterity, and provision made for tracing the regular descent of
the Messiah.
2.
Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
3.
From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
3. Aaron shall number them by their
armies—or companies. In their departure from Egypt they were
divided into five grand companies (), but from the sojourn in the wilderness to the passage of
the Jordan, they were formed into four great divisions. The latter is
here referred to.
4.
And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
4-16. with you there shall be a man
of every tribe, &c.—The social condition of the Israelites
in the wilderness bore a close resemblance to that of the nomad
tribes of the East in the present day. The head of the tribe was a
hereditary dignity, vested in the oldest son or some other to whom
the right of primogeniture was transferred, and under whom were other
inferior heads, also hereditary, among the different branches of the
tribe. The Israelites being divided into twelve tribes, there were
twelve chiefs appointed to assist in taking the census of the people.
5.
And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.
5. these are the names of the men
that shall stand with you, &c.—Each is designated by adding
the name of the ancestors of his tribe, the people of which were
called "Beni-Reuben," "Beni-Levi," sons of
Reuben, sons of Levi, according to the custom of the Arabs still, as
well as other nations which are divided into clans, as the Macs of
Scotland, the Aps of Wales, and the O's and the Fitzes of Ireland
[CHALMERS].
6.
Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
4-16. with you there shall be a man
of every tribe, &c.—The social condition of the Israelites
in the wilderness bore a close resemblance to that of the nomad
tribes of the East in the present day. The head of the tribe was a
hereditary dignity, vested in the oldest son or some other to whom
the right of primogeniture was transferred, and under whom were other
inferior heads, also hereditary, among the different branches of the
tribe. The Israelites being divided into twelve tribes, there were
twelve chiefs appointed to assist in taking the census of the people.
7.
Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
8.
Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.
9.
Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon.
10.
Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
11.
Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.
12.
Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
13.
Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.
14.
Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
15.
Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.
16.
These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
16-18. These were the
renowned—literally, "the called" of the congregation,
summoned by name; and they entered upon the survey the very day the
order was given.
17.
And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:
18.
And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.
18. by their polls—individually,
one by one.
19.
As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
19. As the Lord commanded Moses,
c.—The numbering of the people was not an act sinful in itself, as
Moses did it by divine appointment but David incurred guilt by doing
it without the authority of God. (See on ).
20.
And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
20-44. These are those that were
numbered—In this registration the tribe of Judah appears the
most numerous; and accordingly, as the pre-eminence had been assigned
to it by Jacob [Genesis 49:8-12],
it got the precedence in all the encampments of Israel. Of the two
half-tribes of Joseph, who is seen to be "a fruitful bough"
[Genesis 49:22], that of Ephraim was
the larger, as had been predicted. The relative increase of all, as
in the two just mentioned, was owing to the special blessing of God,
conformably to the prophetic declaration of the dying patriarch. But
the divine blessing is usually conveyed through the influence of
secondary causes; and there is reason to believe that the relative
populousness of the tribes would, under God, depend upon the
productiveness of the respective localities assigned to them. [For
tabular chart, see on Numbers 1:2.]
21.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.
22.
Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
23.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.
24.
Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
25.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.
26.
Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
27.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.
28.
Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
29.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.
30.
Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
31.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.
32.
Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
33.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.
34.
Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
35.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.
36.
Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
37.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.
38.
Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
39.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.
40.
Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
41.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.
42.
Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
43.
Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.
44.
These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers.
45.
So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;
45, 46. all they that were numbered
were six hundred thousand, &c.—What an astonishing increase
from seventy-five persons who went down to Egypt about two hundred
fifteen years before [see on ],
and who were subjected to the greatest privations and hardships! And
yet this enumeration was restricted to men from twenty years and
upwards [Numbers 1:3]. Including
women, children, and old men, together with the Levites, the whole
population of Israel, on the ordinary principles of computation,
amounted to about 2,400,000.
46.
Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.
47.
But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.
47-54. But the Levites . . . were
not numbered among them—They were obliged to keep a register of
their own. They were consecrated to the priestly office, which in all
countries has been exempted customarily, and in Israel by the express
authority of God, from military service. The custody of the things
devoted to the divine service was assigned to them so exclusively,
that "no stranger"—that is, no person, not even an
Israelite of any other tribe, was allowed, under penalty of death, to
approach these [Numbers 16:40].
Hence they encamped round the tabernacle in order that there should
be no manifestation of the divine displeasure among the people. Thus
the numbering of the people was subservient to the separation of the
Levites from those Israelites who were fit for military service, and
to the practical introduction of the law respecting the first-born,
for whom the tribe of Levi became a substitute [Exodus 13:2;
Numbers 3:12].
48.
For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying,
49.
Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:
50.
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
51.
And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
52.
And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.
53.
But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.
54.
And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.