Numbers 1
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1And 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,
THE FOURTH BOOK OF MOSES, CALLED NUMBERS.
Commentary by Robert Jamieson
CHAPTER 1
Nu 1:1-54. Moses Numbering the Men of War.
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 (Ex 38:26), 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 [Nu 1:3], 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 [Ge 22:17] was seen to be fulfilled in the extraordinary increase of his posterity, and provision made for tracing the regular descent of the Messiah.
In the tabernacle of the congregation—where the Lord spake with Moses "face to face" (Exo_33:11), and where all the laws of Leviticus had been given (Lev_1:1). On the first day of the second month, in the second year. On the first day of Zif (or Ijar); a year and a fortnight since the exodus, ten months and a half since their arrival at Sinai, and a month since the tabernacle had been set up.
2Take 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;
Take ye the sum of all the congregation. The census here ordered had clearly been anticipated, as far as the numbers were concerned, by the results of the half-shekel poll-tax for the service of the sanctuary levied some time before on all adult males on pain of Divine displeasure (Exo_30:11, sq.). Since all who were liable had paid that tax (Exo_38:25, Exo_38:26), it would only have been requisite to make slight; corrections for death or coming of age during the interval. The totals, however, in the two eases being exactly the same, it is evident that no such corrections were made, and that the round numbers already obtained were accepted as sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes. After their families. This was to be a registration as well as a census. No doubt the lists and pedigrees collected at this time laid the foundation of that exact and careful genealogical lore which played so important a part both in the religious and in the secular history of the Jews down to the final dispersion. Every Jew had not only his national, but also (and often even more) his tribal and family, associations, traditions, and sympathies. Unity, but not uniformity,—unity in all deepest interests and highest purposes, combined with great variety of character, of tradition, and even of tendency,—was the ideal of the life of Israel. The number of their names. It is impossible to help thinking of the parallel expression in Act_1:15, of the similarity in position of the two peoples, of the contrast between their numbers and apparent chances of success, of the more striking contrast between their actual achievements.
3From 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 (Ex 13:18), 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.
By their armies. Every citizen was a soldier. The military monarchies of mediaeval or of modern days, with their universal obligation to service in the ranks, have (so far) but followed the example of ancient Israel.
4And 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.
A man of every tribe. The former census, which was for religious purposes only, was made with the assistance of the Levites. This, which was rather for political and military purposes, was supervised by the lay heads of the people.
5And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.
These are the names of the men. The tribes are here mentioned (through their princes) very nearly in the order of their subsequent encampment—south, east, west, and north. Gad alone is displaced, in order that he may be classed with the other sons of the handmaids after the sons of the free women.
6Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
7Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
Nahshon—the brother-in-law of Aaron (Exo_6:23), and ancestor of David and of Jesus Christ (Mat_1:4).
8Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.
9Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon.
10Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.
Elishama—grandfather of Joshua (1Ch_7:26). All the rest are unnamed elsewhere.
11Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.
12Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
13Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.
14Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
15Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.
16These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
Heads of thousands. Septuagint, chiliarchs; but the word is used for families (see Jdg_6:15), and, like all such words, it rapidly lost its numerical significance.
THE CENSUS TAKEN (Num_1:17-46).
17And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names:
These men. Designated by direct command of God; yet probably the same, or some of the same, selected by Moses for obvious personal and social reasons a short time before (Exo_18:25).
18And 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.
On the first day of the second month. The natural meaning is that the census was completed in one day. If so, the "census papers," the pedigrees and family lists, must have been ready beforehand. Notice had in fact been given more than a month before, and the lists made up, when the poll-tax was paid.
19As 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 2Sa 24:10).
As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them. The usual note of absolute obedience to the Divine instructions; but it serves to express the fundamental difference between this numbering and David's.
20And 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 [Ge 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" [Ge 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 Nu 26:64.]
21Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.
Forty and six thousand and five hundred. All the numbers (save of Gad only) are in unbroken hundreds. It might have been so arranged by miracle; but such an overruling would have no assignable object, and therefore it is far better to fall back on the obvious and natural explanation that the totals were approximate. If they were simply the poll-tax figures unaltered, it would be natural to suppose that the offerings were made up in fifty-shekel lots, and the offerers divided as nearly as possible into hundreds. For military purposes a certain number of supernumeraries would be convenient. In the one excepted case of Gad a half-hundred appears for some unexplained cause,
22Of 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;
23Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.
24Of 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;
Gad. He is here ranked immediately after Reuben and Simeon, because he was placed with them in the encampment (see above, Num_1:5).
25Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.
26Of 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;
Judah. The immense and disproportionate increase of Judah is no doubt a difficulty in itself; but it is quite in keeping with the character assigned to him in prophecy and the part played by him in history.
27Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.
28Of 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;
29Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.
30Of 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;
31Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.
32Of 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;
Of the children of Joseph. Both are numbered as separate tribes, but Ephraim already takes precedence, not as being larger, which is not considered in this list, but according to prophecy (Gen_48:5, Gen_48:14).
33Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.
34Of 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;
35Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.
36Of 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;
37Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.
38Of 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;
Of the children of Dan. The enormous numerical increase in this tribe is the more remarkable because it is clearly intimated that Dan had but one son, Hushim or Shuham (Gen_46:23; Num_26:42). It may, of course, be said that he had other sons not enumerated, but such an assumption is arbitrary and improbable in the face of the family genealogies in chapter 26. If he had any other sons, they did not leave any families behind them. But if the sojourning of the Israelites in Egypt was 430 years, according to the plain statement of Exo_12:40, even this increase is quite within possible, and even probable, limits, considering the peculiar circumstances and the known fecundity of the race. For if Hushim, who came into Egypt with his grandfather, had only three sons born to him within the next twenty-five years, and if his descendants doubled themselves every quarter of a century, which is not an uncommon rate of increase under certain circumstances, then his numbers would have fully reached 200,000 by the time of the exodus. Perhaps the most puzzling feature about the increase is the great inequality with which it was spread over the various tribes, a fact of which we cannot even suggest any explanation.
39Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.
40Of 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;
41Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.
42Of 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;
43Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.
44These 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.
45So 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 Ge 46:8], and who were subjected to the greatest privations and hardships! And yet this enumeration was restricted to men from twenty years and upwards [Nu 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.
46Even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.
Six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. See Exo_38:26. As the adult male Levites numbered about 10,000, this represents an increase of 13,000 since the exodus. Some thousands had died through the Divine displeasure, but, on the other hand, the natural mortality may have ceased. It was evidently in the purpose of God that all who crossed the Red Sea should also enter their promised land.
THE LEVITES (Num_1:47-54).
47But 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 [Nu 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 [Ex 13:2; Nu 3:12].
Not numbered among them. They were numbered (Num_3:39), but not among the rest; their census was taken separately, and on a different basis.
48For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying,
Had spoken. Rather, "spake," and so Septuagint. This was the formal command to separate, although it had been anticipated to a considerable extent. The Levites had been marked out from the others
(1) as the tribesmen of Moses and Aaron,
(2) as the champions of Jehovah in the matter of the golden calf (Exo_32:26, sq.); they had been already employed, or at least designated, for religious services; and the peculiarity of their future position in Israel had been recognized in the Divine legislation (Le 25:32, sq.), and in their not being called upon to contribute to the capitation for the sanctuary. In a word, this ordinance, like so many others, did little more than give a formal and direct sanction to a state of things which had already come into play, partly through natural causes, partly through providential directions.
49Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:
50But 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.
51And 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.
The stranger. The word appears to mean here any unauthorized person (see Num_16:40). This is the first intimation given of the extreme and awful sanctity of the tabernacle, as the tent of the Divine Presence. It is, however, quite of a piece with the anxious warnings against intrusion upon the holy mount at the time of the giving of the law (Exo_19:21, sq.). The great necessity for Israel was that he should understand and believe that the Lord before whom he had trembled at Sinai was really in the midst of him in all his travail and his danger. This could only be impressed upon his dull mind and hard heart by surrounding the presence chamber of Jehovah with awful sanctities and terrors. At a subsequent period, when the religious reverence here thrown around the tabernacle had been transferred to, or rather concentrated upon, the ark alone, Uzzah was actually smitten for breaking this law (1Ch_13:10). The tumult raised against St. Paul (Act_21:27, sq.) was justified by a supposed violation of the same.
52And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.
53But 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.
That there be no wrath upon the congregation—that no man, not being a Levite, intrude himself through ignorance or presumption upon the sacredness of the tabernacle, and so bring death upon himself, and displeasure upon the people. The Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle. Out of this command grew the Levitical guard of the temple, which afterwards played a considerable part in the history of Israel (2Ki_11:1-21).
54And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.
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