Numbers 1:18

_THESE WERE THE RENOWNED OF THE CONGREGATION, PRINCES OF THE TRIBES OF THEIR FATHERS, HEADS OF THOUSANDS IN ISRAEL._ These were the renowned, х_ QªRIY'EEY_ (H7148) _ HAA`EEDAH_ (H5712)] - the called of the congregation [Septuagint, epikleetoi], deputies who represented the people according to the order described above-for that is the proper meaning of haa`eedah, rendered "the congregation" (cf. Numbers 16:2 Numbers 16:2). HEADS OF THOUSANDS IN ISRAEL - heads = princes. The two words are synonymous. The "thousands of Israel" is a phrase for the whole multitude of the people, arising out of that decimal arrangement both of tribes and armies which from time immemorial has obtained in O

1-43 The people were numbered to show God's faithfulness in thus increasing the seed of Jacob, that they might be the better trained for the wars and conquest of Canaan, and to ascertain their families in order to the division of the land. It is said of each tribe, that those were numbered who were able to go forth to war; they had wars before them, though now they met with no opposition. Let the believer be prepared to withstand the enemies of his soul, though all may appear to be peace....

EXPOSITION THE CENSUS TAKEN (Numbers 1:17-4). NUMBERS 1:17 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 (Exodus 18:25). NUMBERS 1:18 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

AND THEY ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION TOGETHER ON THE FIRST [DAY] OF THE SECOND MONTH,.... The month Ijar, as the Targum of Jonathan, answering to part of April and May: this was done on the selfsame day the Lord spake unto Moses about this affair, Numbers 1:1; so expeditious were he and Aaron in doing the will of God: AND THEY DECLARED THEIR PEDIGREES; either Moses and Aaron, according to Aben Ezra, who inquired when they were born, because of the computation of twenty years; and then their birth was wrote down, as he says; or rather the people declared their pedigrees, of what tribe, family, and house they were, who their parents, when born, and so, of course, how old they were; Jarchi interprets it, they brought the books of their genealogies, and witnesses to confirm the birth of everyone of them, to show their genealogy according to their tribe; nor is it at all unlikel

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE JOURNEY 1. The People Numbered CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The command to number (Numbers 1:1)_ 2. The appointed helpers for the work (Numbers 1:5) 3. The congregation assembled (Numbers 1:17) 4. The twelve tribes numbered (Numbers 1:20) 5. The Levites separated unto the tabernacle service (Numbers 1:47) It was exactly one month after the erection of the tabernacle that the Lord gave the commandment to Moses to number the people. This is seen by comparing

NUMBERS 1:1 (from P, which is used uninterruptedly as far as Numbers 10:28). THE NUMBERING OF THE SECULAR TRIBES. The date of this census is about eleven months after the arrival at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:1), and exactly a month after the erection of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:17). The numbering, which was to proceed by _families_ (_i.e._ by clans) and by _father_-'_ s houses_ (_i.e._ by families), was to embrace all men over twenty (who might be thought capable of bearing arms). In the undertaking, Moses and Aaron were to be assisted by a representative of each of the tribes. Since the method by which a large propo

The numbers ascertained by the census. There can be no doubt that the numbers given in chs. 1 3 and 26 are purely artificial. Gray (_Numbers_, pp. 10 15) shews that (1) they are impossible, (2) when compared with each other they yield absurd results, (3) they are inconsistent with numbers given in Hebrew literature earlier than P. (1) The number of male Israelites of fighting age is put at 603,550, which appears in round numbers as 600,000 in Numbers 11:21; Exodus 12:37. But the fighting men could form hardly more than a quarter of the whole; so that the population would reach a total of some 2¼ millions. The present population of the Sinaitic peninsula is estimated at from 4,000 to 6,000, and a body of over 2 million people could not find subsistence even if dispersed all over the peninsula.

B. THE COUNTING, TRIBE BY TRIBE vv. 17-43 TEXT Numbers 1:17. And Moses and Aaron took these men Which are expressed by their names: 18. And 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. 19. As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20. And 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; 21. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 22. Of the children of Simeon, by

THE FIRST NUMBERING OF THE PEOPLE At Sinai Moses receives the command to take the number of the males over twenty years of age in the eleven secular tribes, the tribe of Levi being enumerated separately (Numbers 1:47; Numbers 3:14). The result shows a total of 603,550 (cp. Exodus 12:37; Exodus 38:26; Numbers 11:21). The result of the second numbering, made in the plains of Moab thirty-eight years afterwards (Numbers 26), is 601,730. The credibility of these figures has b

THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOK OF NUMBERS IN THE DESERT NUMBERS _MARION ADAMS_ ABOUT THE BOOK OF NUMBERS The first 5 books in the Bible are called the ‘5 Books of Moses’. The Book of Numbers is the 4th of these books. The *Hebrew name for these books is the ‘Torah’, which means ‘*Law’. These books are very important. They contain God’s instructions about how his people should live. This book is called ‘Numbers’ because there are many lists of numbers in it. There are two *censuses (Numbers 1:1-4; Numbers chapter 26). These record the numbers of male *Israelites who were over 20 years old. These were all the men who could fight in a battle. Also, there is a list of men and boys over one month old from Levi’s *tribe. The men from Levi’s *tribe did not fight. They helped the priests. There