Numbers 26:1
XXVI. (1) AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THE PLAGUE... — The plague probably destroyed the remnant of the generation which had come out of Egypt, and which had been numbered in the wilderness of Sinai.... [ Continue Reading ]
XXVI. (1) AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THE PLAGUE... — The plague probably destroyed the remnant of the generation which had come out of Egypt, and which had been numbered in the wilderness of Sinai.... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE THE SUM... — The same command had been given to Moses and Aaron (Numbers 1:2). In that case a man taken out of every tribe, the head of his father’s house, was appointed to assist Moses and Aaron in taking the census. It is probable that the same arrangement was made in the present instance, th... [ Continue Reading ]
TAKE THE SUM OF THE PEOPLE... — The verses may be rendered thus: _From twenty years old and upward, as the Lord commanded Moses. And the children of Israel which went forth out of the land of Egypt_ were these: _Reuben, the eldest son of Israel,_ &c. The expression “as the Lord commanded Moses” is o... [ Continue Reading ]
FORTY AND THREE THOUSAND AND SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY. — As compared with the former census, the tribe of Reuben had decreased by 2,770. (See Numbers 1:21.) Dathan and Abiram had probably enlisted many of the tribe to which they belonged in their rebellion against Moses and Aaron. (See Numbers 26:9... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE EARTH OPENED HER MOUTH, AND SWALLOWED THEM UP TOGETHER WITH KORAH... — Hebrew, _and Korah._ It would appear from this verse that Korah perished in the earthquake with Dathan and Abiram. The Samaritan Pentateuch, however, has a different reading here. It transposes the words “and Korah,” and... [ Continue Reading ]
NOTWITHSTANDING THE CHILDREN OF KORAH DIED NOT. — See Notes on Numbers 16:27; Numbers 16:32.... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY AND TWO THOUSAND AND TWO HUNDRED. — This shows a decrease of 37,100 in the tribe of Simeon. Zimri, the chief offender in the matter of Baal-peor, belonged to this tribe, and, as in the case of the Reubenites, it is probable that he had led astray many of his tribe with him. It is remarkable t... [ Continue Reading ]
FORTY THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED. — This shows a decrease of 5,150. Reuben, Simeon, and Gad encamped together on the south of the Tabernacle (Numbers 2:10), and had probably been mutually contaminated by each other’s evil example.... [ Continue Reading ]
ER AND ONAN DIED IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. — See Genesis 38:6, and Note.... [ Continue Reading ]
OF HEZRON... — Judah had five sons, but inasmuch as Er and Onan died childless, Hezron and Hamul were substituted in their place. (Comp. Genesis 46:12.)... [ Continue Reading ]
MACHIR BEGAT GILEAD. — It is stated in 1 Chronicles 7:14, and in the LXX. of Genesis 46:20, that Machir’s mother was an Aramitess. This may account for the name which was given to his son, _Gilead,_ the border land between Syria and Canaan, and that in which Laban overtook Jacob (Genesis 31:25).... [ Continue Reading ]
THIRTY AND TWO THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED. — This shows a decrease of 8,000. Jacob foretold that Ephraim should be greater than Manasseh (Genesis 48:19); and at the former census the number of the Ephraimites was considerably greater than that of the Manassites (Numbers 1:33; Numbers 1:35), and Ephra... [ Continue Reading ]
SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND AND A THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY. — The sum total exhibits a decrease of 1,820, as compared with the census taken at Sinai thirty-eight years previously. On this decrease Bishop Wordsworth observes as follows: — “When the Israelites were suffering persecution in Egypt the... [ Continue Reading ]
(53-56) UNTO THESE THE LAND SHALL BE DIVIDED... — The general apportionment of the land, as regarded the relative position of each tribe, was to be decided by lot, which was commonly looked upon as the determination of God Himself, and in this instance was undoubtedly so. The extent of territory was... [ Continue Reading ]
JOCHEBED, THE DAUGHTER OF LEVI, WHOM HER MOTHER BARE TO LEVI... — Or, _who was born to Levi,_ &c. There is a similar omission of the subject of the verb in 1 Kings 1:6. Some writers have supposed that Jochebed was the granddaughter, or possibly even some more remote descendant of Levi, and that Amra... [ Continue Reading ]
TWENTY AND THREE THOUSAND. — At the former census the number was 22,000 or 22,300 (See Numbers 3:39, and Note.)... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AMONG THESE... — Thus the prediction contained in Numbers 14:29 was fulfilled. The fact that the fulfilment of this prediction is stated after Numbers 26:62, which contains the result of the census as regards the Levites, viewed in connection with the statement contained in Numbers 26:65, might... [ Continue Reading ]