1And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying:2Take a head count of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male by head,3from twenty years old and above; all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.4And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father's house.5These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;6from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;7from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;8from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;9from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;10from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur;11from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni;12from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai;13from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran;14from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;15from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.16These were chosen from the congregation, leaders of their fathers' tribes, heads of thousands in Israel.17And Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,18and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their lineage by families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one by head.19As Jehovah commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.20And the sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, every male by head, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:21those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.22From the sons of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of names, every male by head, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:23those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.24From the sons of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:25those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.26From the sons of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:27those who were numbered of the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.28From the sons of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:29those who were numbered of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.30From the sons of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:31those who were numbered of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.32From the sons of Joseph, the sons of Ephraim, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:33those who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.34From the sons of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:35those who were numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.36From the sons of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:37those who were numbered of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.38From the sons of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:39those who were numbered of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.40From the sons of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:41those who were numbered of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.42From the sons of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:43those who were numbered of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.44These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father's house.45So all who were numbered of the sons of Israel, by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel;46all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.47But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers' tribe;48for Jehovah had spoken to Moses, saying:49Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a head count of them among the sons of Israel;50but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall serve for it and camp around the tabernacle.51And when the tabernacle sets out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. The stranger who comes near shall be put to death.52The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies;53but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.54Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, thus they did.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 MOSES NUMBERING THE MEN OF WAR. (Num. 1:1-54)
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 (
Exod 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 [
Num 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 [
Gen 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.
3 Aaron shall number them by their armies--or companies. In their departure from Egypt they were divided into five grand companies (
Exod 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.
4 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 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].
16 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.
18 by their polls--individually, one by one.
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
2Sam 24:10).
20 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 [
Gen 49:8-
Gen 49:12], 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" [
Gen 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
Num 26:64.]
45 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
Gen 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 [
Num 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.
47 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 [
Num 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 [
Exod 13:2;
Num 3:12].
