Numbers 26:54

_TO MANY THOU SHALT GIVE THE MORE INHERITANCE, AND TO FEW THOU SHALT GIVE THE LESS INHERITANCE: TO EVERY ONE SHALL HIS INHERITANCE BE GIVEN ACCORDING TO THOSE THAT WERE NUMBERED OF HIM._ To many thou shalt give the more - i:e., to the more numerous tribes a larger allotment shall be granted. ACCORDING TO THOSE THAT WERE NUMBERED - i:e., the number of persons 20 years old at the time of the census being made, without taking into account either the increase of those who might have attained that age when the land should be actually distributed, or the diminution from that amount occasioned during the war of invasion....

52-56 In distributing these tribes, the general rule of equity is prescribed; that to many should be given more, and to fewer less. Though it seems left to the prudence of their prince, the matter at last must be settled by the providence of God, with which all must be satisfied....

EXPOSITION THE SECOND MUSTERING (Numbers 26:1). NUMBERS 26:1 IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THE PLAGUE. This plague was the last event which seriously diminished the numbers of the Israelites; perhaps it was the last event which diminished them at all, for it seems to be throughout implied that none died except through their own fault. It is often supposed that this plague carried off the last survivors of the generation condemned at Kadesh (see Numbers 26:64); but this is opposed to the statement in Deuteronomy 2:14,...

TO MANY THOU SHALT GIVE THE MORE INHERITANCE, AND TO FEW THOU SHALT GIVE THE LESS INHERITANCE,.... To a tribe more numerous, and consisting of more and larger families, a greater part of the land was to be given to them to possess; and to a smaller tribe, and of the fewer families and persons in them, a lesser share of it: this direction is given to Moses, but is not designed for him personally, for he never entered the land, but died before Israel went into it; but for the chief ruler that would be then in being, namely, Joshua, his successor: TO EVERYONE SHALL HIS INHERITANCE BE GIVEN, ACCORDING TO THOSE THAT WERE NUMBERED OF HIM; that is, to every tribe, and so to every family in it, according to the number of men in it, that were of the above age when the sum of them was taken: because it is in the original text, "to a man according to those numbered of him", c. q hence the Jewish w...

3. THE SECOND NUMBERING CHAPTER 26 _ 1. The command to number (Numbers 26:1)_ 2. The census taken (Numbers 26:5) 3. The total number (Numbers 26:51) 4. The inheritance (Numbers 26:52) 5. The Levites (Numbers 26:57) 6. The new generation (Numbers 26:63) The reader will find the comparison of these two numberings in the annotations of the first chapter. The increase and decrease of the different tribe

NUMBERS 26. PARTICULARS OF A SECOND CENSUS TAKEN 38 YEARS AFTER THE FIRST. Numbers 26:1. The Numbers of the Twelve Secular Tribes. The census was again confined to men over twenty. The total is Numbers 18:20 less than on the earlier occasion; there are increases in seven tribes, and decreases in five. Some of the names which purport to be those of persons are identical with the names of localities, _e.g._ Gilead, Jezer (_i.e._ Abiezer, Judges 8:2), Tirzah (1 Kings 15:21). Many of the appellations appear in a variant form in Genesis 46:8

MANY. the greater number. FEW. the smaller number....

The manner in which Canaan is to be divided among the tribes. The territories are to be proportionate to the size of the several tribes....

TO EVERY ONE SHALL HIS INHERITANCE BE GIVEN— The tribes being thus registered and methodically distinguished, God informs Moses, that it was his will to make an equal division of the land of Canaan, which the Israelites were about to enter. This equal division of property was, under God, the great bulwark and strength of the Hebrew common-wealth; for, property is the natural foundation of power: hence the natural foundation of every government is laid in the distribution of the lands or territories belonging to the several members of it. If the prince is proprietor of the lands, as in some Eastern governments, he will be absolute: for all who hold the lands, hold them of the prince; and, enjoying them at his will and pleasure, are so dependant on his will, that they are in the condition of slaves, not of free subjects. If the property be divided among a few, the rest holding of them and...

E. INSTRUCTIONS FOR LAND ALLOTMENT vv. 52-56 TEXT Numbers 26:52. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 53. Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him, 55. Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56. According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few. PARAPHRASE Numbers 26:52. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the census of names. 54. To the larger number you sh