Numbers 1 - Peake Arthur S. and Grieve A. J. - Peake's Comment

Numbers 1

The Camp at Sinai

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

² Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

³ from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.

⁴ And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

⁵ And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben; Elizur the son of Shedeur.

⁶ Of Simeon; Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

⁷ Of Judah; Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

⁸ Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

⁹ Of Zebulun; Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁰ Of the children of Joseph: of Ephraim; Elishama the son of Ammihud: of Manasseh; Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

¹¹ Of Benjamin; Abidan the son of Gideoni.

¹² Of Dan; Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

¹³ Of Asher; Pagiel the son of Ocran.

¹⁴ Of Gad; Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

¹⁵ Of Naphtali; Ahira the son of Enan.

¹⁶ These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

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 their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, 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;

²³ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.

²⁴ Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²⁵ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.

²⁶ Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²⁷ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.

²⁸ Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

²⁹ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.

³⁰ Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³¹ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.

³² Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³³ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.

³⁴ Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³⁵ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.

³⁶ Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³⁷ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.

³⁸ Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

³⁹ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.

⁴⁰ Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

⁴¹ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.

⁴² Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

⁴³ those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.

⁴⁴ These are those that were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers.

⁴⁵ So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;

⁴⁶ even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty.

⁴⁷ But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.

⁴⁸ For the LORD had spoken unto Moses, saying,

⁴⁹ Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel:

⁵⁰ but thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

⁵¹ And when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down: and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

⁵² And the children of Israel shall pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their hosts.

⁵³ But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

⁵⁴ And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.

Numbers 1

Num 1:1-46 (from P, which is used uninterruptedly as far as Num 10:28 ). The Numbering of the Secular Tribes.—The date of this census is about eleven months after the arrival at Mt. Sinai (Exo 19:1 ), and exactly a month after the erection of the Tabernacle (Exo 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 proportion of the names affixed to these representatives are formed is characteristic of a late date, the list is probably unhistorical. The total number, which is given as 60:3 ,550 (in round numbers 60:0 ,000, Num 11:21 , Exo 12:37 *). implies a population of both sexes and all ages of more than 2,000,000 (assuming that those capable of bearing arms formed one-fourth of the whole, cf. Cæsar, Bell. Gall. i. 29). This, according to the data given elsewhere, represents the increase, in the third generation, of the twelve sons of Jacob who settled in Egypt (see Exo 6:16-22 , Num 16:1 (Levi), Exo 6:14 , Num 26:5-9 (Reuben)), and is beyond all belief. It is, of course, possible and even probable that the numbers of the Hebrew immigrants into Egypt were in excess of what is recorded; but the numbers of those that accompanied Moses into the wilderness at the Exodus cannot possibly have amounted to the sum here mentioned. A body of 2,000,000 persons is far beyond the capacity of the Sinaitic peninsula to support, for the country is largely desert (as described in Num 20:14 f., Deu 8:15 , Jer 2:6 ), broken only by occasional spots of verdure, where the soil is irrigated by springs; and its present population is calculated to be only 400:0 or 600:0 . The incredibility of the figures in Nu. is increased by the fact that the Israelites are not regarded as dispersing over the country to seek pasture for their flocks, but as marching in a compact body, close enough together for their movements to be directed by signals conveyed by two trumpets (Num 10:1-10 ). A camp comprising 2,000,000 persons would cover several square miles; and it has been reckoned that the same number on the march, if arranged 5:0 abreast, with a yard between each rank, would constitute a column 2:2 miles long. Elsewhere, the people are regarded as few in number (Deu 7:22 ), as too weak to subdue all the Canaanites (Jdg 1:19 ; Jdg 1:27-35 ), and as not numerous enough to occupy Canaan, even if vacant (Exo 23:28 f.); whilst the fighting men that could be furnished at a much later period by half the tribes are estimated at only 4:0 ,000 (Jdg 5:8 ). The total of 60:3 ,550 here given must be fictitious. It has been suggested that the figure 60:3 has been got from the sum of the numerals denoted by the Hebrew for the children of Israel, the 55:0 being arbitrary. The numbers assigned to the separate tribes seem to have been reached by dividing the total by 1:2 , and then adding to, or deducting from, the quotient various figures at discretion. It is significant that of the 1:2 tribes six are above and six below 5:0 ,000.

2. names: i.e. individuals; cf. Act 1:15 , Rev 3:4 .

Num 1:16 . thousands: the term was used to denote tribal divisions of varying size; here it is equivalent to “clans” or “families” (Num 1:4 ).

Num 1:44 . Read, “and the princes of Israel were twelve men, each one for a tribe, every one head of his father’s house.”

Num 1:47-54 . The Functions of the Tribe of Levi.—The omission of the Levites from the census was due to the circumstance that the Levites were a consecrated body, whose duty it was to surround the Tabernacle and so safeguard the secular tribes from incurring danger by coming in contact with so holy an object.

Num 1:48 . For Yahweh spake: in the Heb., “And Yahweh spake.” The direction not to number the Levites (Num 1:48-54 ) should logically precede the actual numbering of the other tribes (Num 1:17-46 ).

Num 1:50 . the tabernacle of the testimony: Exo 38:21 ; cf. Exo 25:9 mg., Num 1:16 .

Num 1:51 . stranger: i.e. any (including Israelites) who did not belong to the tribe of Levi; cf. Num 3:10 .

Num 1:52 . by his own standard: better, “by his own company” (see Num 2:2 *).

Num 1:53 . wrath: cf. Num 16:46 Num 18:5 , Jos 22:20 .