Numbers 26

ENGNIVEnglish65 verses8:38 Listen

Listen 8:38 · Standard · Dramatized Open in Biblight

1After the plague the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest,

2“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by families–all those twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army of Israel.”

3So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them and said,

4“Take a census of the men twenty years old or more, as the Lord commanded Moses.” These were the Israelites who came out of Egypt:

5The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were: through Hanoch, the Hanochite clan; through Pallu, the Palluite clan;

6through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Carmi, the Carmite clan.

7These were the clans of Reuben; those numbered were 43,730.

8The son of Pallu was Eliab,

9and the sons of Eliab were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. The same Dathan and Abiram were the community officials who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and were among Korah's followers when they rebelled against the Lord.

10The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire devoured the 250 men. And they served as a warning sign.

11The line of Korah, however, did not die out.

12The descendants of Simeon by their clans were: through Nemuel, the Nemuelite clan; through Jamin, the Jaminite clan; through Jakin, the Jakinite clan;

13through Zerah, the Zerahite clan; through Shaul, the Shaulite clan.

14These were the clans of Simeon; there were 22,200 men.

15The descendants of Gad by their clans were: through Zephon, the Zephonite clan; through Haggi, the Haggite clan; through Shuni, the Shunite clan;

16through Ozni, the Oznite clan; through Eri, the Erite clan;

17through Arodi, the Arodite clan; through Areli, the Arelite clan.

18These were the clans of Gad; those numbered were 40,500.

19Er and Onan were sons of Judah, but they died in Canaan.

20The descendants of Judah by their clans were: through Shelah, the Shelanite clan; through Perez, the Perezite clan; through Zerah, the Zerahite clan.

21The descendants of Perez were: through Hezron, the Hezronite clan; through Hamul, the Hamulite clan.

22These were the clans of Judah; those numbered were 76,500.

23The descendants of Issachar by their clans were: through Tola, the Tolaite clan; through Puah, the Puite clan;

24through Jashub, the Jashubite clan; through Shimron, the Shimronite clan.

25These were the clans of Issachar; those numbered were 64,300.

26The descendants of Zebulun by their clans were: through Sered, the Seredite clan; through Elon, the Elonite clan; through Jahleel, the Jahleelite clan.

27These were the clans of Zebulun; those numbered were 60,500.

28The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were:

29The descendants of Manasseh: through Makir, the Makirite clan (Makir was the father of Gilead); through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.

30These were the descendants of Gilead: through Iezer, the Iezerite clan; through Helek, the Helekite clan;

31through Asriel, the Asrielite clan; through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;

32through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan; through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.

33(Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.)

34These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.

35These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; through Beker, the Bekerite clan; through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.

36These were the descendants of Shuthelah: through Eran, the Eranite clan.

37These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans.

38The descendants of Benjamin by their clans were: through Bela, the Belaite clan; through Ashbel, the Ashbelite clan; through Ahiram, the Ahiramite clan;

39through Shupham, the Shuphamite clan; through Hupham, the Huphamite clan.

40The descendants of Bela through Ard and Naaman were: through Ard, the Ardite clan; through Naaman, the Naamite clan.

41These were the clans of Benjamin; those numbered were 45,600.

42These were the descendants of Dan by their clans: through Shuham, the Shuhamite clan. These were the clans of Dan:

43All of them were Shuhamite clans; and those numbered were 64,400.

44The descendants of Asher by their clans were: through Imnah, the Imnite clan; through Ishvi, the Ishvite clan; through Beriah, the Beriite clan;

45and through the descendants of Beriah: through Heber, the Heberite clan; through Malkiel, the Malkielite clan.

46(Asher had a daughter named Serah.)

47These were the clans of Asher; those numbered were 53,400.

48The descendants of Naphtali by their clans were: through Jahzeel, the Jahzeelite clan; through Guni, the Gunite clan;

49through Jezer, the Jezerite clan; through Shillem, the Shillemite clan.

50These were the clans of Naphtali; those numbered were 45,400.

51The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

52The Lord said to Moses,

53“The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.

54To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.

55Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe.

56Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

57These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan; through Kohath, the Kohathite clan; through Merari, the Merarite clan.

58These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram;

59the name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.

60Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

61But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the Lord with unauthorized fire.)

62All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.

63These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

64Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai.

65For the Lord had told those Israelites they would surely die in the desert, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Commentary

26:1-51 Moses did not number the people but when God commanded him. We have here the families registered, as well as the tribes. The total was nearly the same as when numbered at mount Sinai. Notice is here taken of the children of Korah; they died not, as the children of Dathan and Abiram; they seem not to have joined even their own father in rebellion. If we partake not of the sins of sinners, we shall not partake of their plagues.

Chapter 26 This book is called Numbers, from the numberings of the children of Israel, of which it gives an account. Once they were numbered at Mount Sinai, in the first year after they came out of Egypt, which we had an account of, ch. 1 and 2. And now a second time they were numbered in the plains of Moab, just before they entered Canaan, and of this we have an account in this chapter. We have, I. Orders given for the doing of it (v. 1-4). II. A register of the families and numbers of each tribe (v. 5–50), and the sum total (v. 51). III. Direction given to divide the land among them (v. 52–56). IV. The families and numbers of the Levites by themselves (v. 57–62). V. Notice taken of the fulfilling of the threatening in the death of all those that were first numbered (v. 63–65), and to this there seems to have been a special regard in the taking and keeping of this account.Verses 1-4 Observe here, 1. That Moses did not number the people but when God commanded him. David in his time did it without a command, and paid dearly for it. God was Israel’s king, and he would not have this act of authority done but by his express orders. Moses, perhaps, by this time, had heard of the blessing with which Balaam was constrained, sorely against his will, to bless Israel, and particularly the notice he took of their numbers; and he was sufficiently pleased with that general testimony borne to this instance of their strength and honour by an adversary, though he knew not their numbers exactly, till God now appointed him to take the sum of them. 2. Eleazar was joined in commission with him, as Aaron had been before, by which God honoured Eleazar before the elders of his people, and confirmed his succession. 3. It was presently after the plague that this account was ordered to be taken, to show that though God had in justice contended with them by that sweeping pestilence, yet he had not made a full end, nor would he utterly cast them off. God’s Israel shall not be ruined, though it be severely rebuked. 4. They were now to go by the same rule that they had gone by in the former numbering, counting those only that were able to go forth to war, for this was the service now before them.

26:2 Take the sum - They were numbered twice before, Exo 30:11,12 Nu 1:1,2. Now they are numbered a third time, to demonstrate the faithfulness of God, both in cutting all those off whom he had threatened to cut off, Nu 14:29, and in a stupendous increase of the people according to his promise, notwithstanding all their sins, and the sweeping judgments inflicted upon them; and to prepare the way for the equal division of the land, which they were now going to possess.

2. Take the sum of all the congregation—The design of this new census, after a lapse of thirty-eight years, was primarily to establish the vast multiplication of the posterity of Abraham in spite of the severe judgments inflicted upon them; secondarily, it was to preserve the distinction of families and to make arrangements, preparatory to an entrance into the promised land, for the distribution of the country according to the relative population of the tribes.

Verses 5-51 This is the register of the tribes as they were now enrolled, in the same order that they were numbered in ch. 1. Observe,I. The account that is here kept of the families of each tribe, which must not be understood of such as we call families, those that live in a house together, but such as were the descendants of the several sons of the patriarchs, by whose names, in honour of them, their posterity distinguished themselves and one another. The families of the twelve tribes are thus numbered:—Of Dan but one, for Dan had but one son, and yet that tribe was the most numerous of all except Judah, v. 42, 43. Its beginning was small, but its latter end greatly increased. Zebulun was divided into three families, Ephraim into four, Issachar into four, Naphtali into four, and Reuben into four; Judah, Simeon, and Asher, had five families apiece, Gad and Benjamin seven apiece, and Manasseh eight. Benjamin brought ten sons into Egypt (Gen. 46:21), but three of them, it seems either died childless or their families were extinct, for here we find seven only of those names preserved, and that whole tribe none of the most numerous; for Providence, in the building up of families and nations, does not tie itself to probabilities. The barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children has waxed feeble, 1 Sa. 2:5.II. The numbers of each tribe. And here our best entertainment will be to compare these numbers with those when they were numbered at Mount Sinai. The sum total was nearly the same; they were now 1820 fewer than they were then; yet seven of the tribes had increased in number. Judah had increased 1900, Issachar 9900, Zebulun 3100, Manasseh 20, 500, Benjamin 10,200, Dan 1700, and Asher 11,900. But the other five had decreased more than to balance that increase. Reuben had decreased 2770, Simeon 37,100, Gad 5150, Ephraim 8000, and Naphtali 8000. In this account we may observe, 1. that all the three tribes that were encamped under the standard of Judah, who was the ancestor of Christ, had increased, for his church shall be edified and multiplied. 2. That none of the tribes had increased so much as that of Manasseh, which in the former account was the smallest of all the tribes, only 32,200, while here it is one of the most considerable; and that of his brother Ephraim, which there was numerous, is here one of the least.

Read the full commentary Audio, full commentary and offline reading

Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG እንዲህም ሆነ፤ መቅሠፍቱ ከሆነ በኋላ እግዚአብሔር ሙሴንና የካህኑን የአሮን ልጅ አልዓዛርን፦ አማርኛ BCV ድሕሪ እቲ መቕሰፍቲ፥ እግዚኣብሄር ንሙሴን ንኣልኣዛር ወዲ ኻህን ኣሮንን፦ ትግርኛ GAZBIB Dha'icha sana booddee Waaqayyo Musee fi Ele'azaar ilma Aaron lubichaatiin, Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወኮነ እምድኅረ መቅሠፍት ወነበቦሙ እግዚአብሔር ለሙሴ ወለእልዓዛር ካህን ወይቤሎሙ፦ giz GAZGAZ Dha'icha sana booddee Waaqayyo Musee fi Ele'azaar ilma Aaron lubichaatiin, Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ድሕሪ እቲ መቕሰፍቲ፥ እግዚኣብሄር ንሙሴን ንኣልኣዛር ወዲ ኻህን ኣሮንን፦ ትግርኛ AMHNIV ከመቅሠፍቱ በኋላ እግዚአብሔር (ያህዌ) ሙሴንና የካህኑን የአሮንን ልጅ አልዓዛርን እንዲህ አላቸው፤ አማርኛ SWAHSUV Ikawa baada ya hilo pigo, Bwana akanena na Musa na Eleazari, mwana wa Haruni kuhani, na kuwaambia, Kiswahili