Numbers 26:37

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 Ephraim was made a standard-bearer (Numbers 2:18). At the present census, however, the number of the Manassites exceeded that of the Ephraimites by 20,200; and yet, in the face of the great increase of Manasseh and the diminution of Ephraim, Moses renewed and confirmed the prediction of Jacob as to the ultimate superiority of Ephraim, and whilst ascribing only “thousands” to Manasseh, he speaks of the “ten thousands of Ephraim” (Deuteronomy 33:17).