1And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the tabernacle of the congregation on the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2Lift the heads 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 their heads; 3from a son of twenty years and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4And there shall be a man of every tribe with you, every one head of his father's house. 5And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: Of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; 6of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; 8of Issachar, Nethaneel the son of Zuar; 9of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; 10of the sons of Joseph; of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 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 those called from the congregation, rulers of the tribes of their fathers. They were heads of the thousands of Israel. 17And Moses and Aaron took these men who were marked out by name. 18And they assembled all the congregation on the first of the second month. And they declared their births according to their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, by their heads. 19As Jehovah commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20And the sons of Reuben, Israel's first-born, their generations by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, by their heads, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 21those numbered of them for the tribe of Reuben were forty six thousand and five hundred. 22Of the sons of Simeon, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, his numbered ones in the number of names, by their heads, every male from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 23those numbered of them for the tribe of Simeon were fifty nine thousand and three hundred. 24Of the sons of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 25those numbered of them for the tribe of Gad were forty five thousand and six hundred and fifty. 26Of the sons of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 27those numbered of them for the tribe of Judah were seventy four thousand and six hundred. 28Of the sons of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 29those numbered of them for the tribe of Issachar were fifty four thousand and four hundred. 30Of the sons of Zebulun, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 31those numbered of them for the tribe of Zebulun were fifty seven thousand and four hundred. 32Of the sons of Joseph, of the sons of Ephraim, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 33those numbered of them for the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand and five hundred. 34Of the sons of Manasseh, their generations, by their families by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 35those numbered of them for the tribe of Manasseh were thirty two thousand and two hundred. 36Of the sons of Benjamin, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 37those numbered of them for the tribe of Benjamin were thirty five thousand and four hundred. 38Of the sons of Dan, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 39those numbered of them for the tribe of Dan were sixty two thousand and seven hundred. 40Of the sons of Asher, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 41those numbered of them for the tribe of Asher were forty one thousand and five hundred. 42Of the sons of Naphtali, their generations, by their families, by their fathers' house, in the number of names, from a son of twenty years and upward, everyone able to go out to war: 43those numbered of them for the tribe of Naphtali were fifty three thousand and four hundred. 44These were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the rulers of Israel being twelve men; they were each one of his fathers' house. 45And all those numbered of the sons of Israel by their fathers' house, from a son of twenty years and upward, all able to go out to war in Israel; 46even all those that were numbered were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 47But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them. 48And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 49However, you shall not number the tribe of Levi, nor shall you count their heads among the sons of Israel. 50But you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furniture, and over all which is to it. They shall bear the tabernacle, and all its furniture. And they shall serve it, and shall encamp around the tabernacle. 51And when the tabernacle goes forward, the Levites shall take it down. And when the tabernacle is to be encamped, the Levites shall set it up. And the stranger that draws near shall die. 52And the sons of Israel shall encamp their tents, each man with his own camp, and each man with his own standard, according to their armies. 53But the Levites shall encamp around the tabernacle of the testimony, that there be no wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. And the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony. 54And the sons of Israel did according to all that Jehovah commanded Moses, so 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].