Numbers 01
Organizing the Census of the Israelites
1:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the wilderness of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites departed from the land of Egypt.
Israel had been out of Egypt for a little over two years. Israel had been camped at Mount Sinai for eleven months of those two years. One month after the completion of the Tabernacle, Jehovah spoke to Moses from the Tabernacle.
He said: 1:2 “Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and families, counting the name of every individual male. 1:3 You and Aaron are to number all in Israel who can serve in the army, those who are twenty years old or older, by their divisions.
God gave the Canaanites 400 years to repent, but they refused. God prepared for war. He took a census of all of the males who were twenty years of age or older. God was preparing an army to exterminate the Canaanites.
1:4 And to help you there is to be a man from each tribe, each man the head of his family. 1:5 Now these are the names of the men who are to help you: from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur; 1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; 1:7 from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab; 1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar; 1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon; 1:10 from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur; 1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni; 1:12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai; 1:13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran; 1:14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel; 1:15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”
God chose one man from each of the 12 tribes to assist in the census.
The Census of the Tribes
1:16 These were the ones chosen from the community, leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the thousands of Israel. 1:17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned specifically by name, 1:18 and they assembled the entire community together on the first day of the second month. Then the people recorded their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed by name individually, 1:19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.
The men were considered to be twenty years of age or older. Many commentators use the age of 20 years as the age of accountability. There is nothing in Scripture about an age of accountability.
1:20 And they were as follows: The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 1:21 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
The tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500 soldiers.
1:22 From the descendants of Simeon: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males numbered of them twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 1:23 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
The tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300 soldiers.
1:24 From the descendants of Gad: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:25 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
The tribe of Gad numbered 45,650 soldiers.
1:26 From the descendants of Judah: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:27 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
The tribe of Judah numbered 74,600 soldiers. This was the largest tribe at the beginning of the census.
1:28 From the descendants of Issachar: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:29 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.
The tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400 soldiers.
1:30 From the descendants of Zebulun: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:31 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.
The tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400 soldiers.
1:32 From the sons of Joseph: From the descendants of Ephraim: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:33 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
The tribe of Ephraim was a half tribe of Joseph. They numbered 40,500 soldiers.
1:34 From the descendants of Manasseh: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:35 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
The tribe of Manasseh was the other half tribe of Joseph. They numbered 32,200 soldiers. Together, the tribe of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh) numbered 72,700 soldiers. These two half-tribes combined were still not larger than the tribe of Judah (74,600 soldiers).
1:36 From the descendants of Benjamin: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:37Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
The tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400 soldiers.
1:38From the descendants of Dan: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:39 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
The tribe of Dan numbered 62,700 soldiers.
1:40 From the descendants of Asher: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:41 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
The tribe of Asher numbered 41,500 soldiers.
1:42From the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 1:43 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.
The tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400 soldiers.
1:44These were the men whom Moses and Aaron numbered along with the twelve leaders of Israel, each of whom was from his own family. 1:45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered according to their families. 1:46 And all those numbered totaled 603,550.
The army of Israel totaled 603,550 soldiers. In comparison, the Assyrian army which came against Judah consisted of 185,000 soldiers. The armies of Alexander the Great numbered at 100,000. The Roman legions were numbered at 100,000. The Persian army of Xerxes numbered 500,000. The ancient Chinese emperors possessed armies of 500,000. Israel had the largest army of the ancient world.
The Exemption of the Levites
1:47 But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them. 1:48 The Lord had said to Moses, 1:49 “Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites. 1:50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they must attend to it and camp around it. 1:51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, the Levites must set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it must be killed.
The Levites were not to serve as soldiers, but as priests. They were to carry a terrible weapon called the Ark of the Covenant.
1:52 “The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard. 1:53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the testimony.”
Each of the tribes mounted a banner which marked their camping position. The tabernacle was in the middle of the camp.
1:54The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses – that is what they did.
The census of soldiers was completed. The camping instructions were given.