Numbers1

New American Standard

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¹ Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

² “Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head

³ from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their armies.

⁴ With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, each one head of his father’s household.

⁵ These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: of the tribe of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;

⁶ of the tribe of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai;

⁷ of the tribe of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab;

⁸ of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar;

⁹ of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon;

¹⁰ of the sons 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 Ochran;

¹⁴ of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;

¹⁵ of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

¹⁶ These are the men who were called from the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the heads of divisions of Israel.”

¹⁷ So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,

¹⁸ and they assembled all the congregation on the first day of the second month. Then they registered by ancestry in their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head,

¹⁹ just as the Lord had commanded Moses. So he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰ Now the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

²¹ their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

²² Of the sons of Simeon, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

²³ their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

²⁴ Of the sons of Gad, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

²⁵ their numbered men of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

²⁶ Of the sons of Judah, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

²⁷ their numbered men of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

²⁸ Of the sons of Issachar, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

²⁹ their numbered men of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

³⁰ Of the sons of Zebulun, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

³¹ their numbered men of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

³² Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

³³ their numbered men of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

³⁴ Of the sons of Manasseh, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

³⁵ their numbered men of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

³⁶ Of the sons of Benjamin, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

³⁷ their numbered men of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

³⁸ Of the sons of Dan, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

³⁹ their numbered men of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

⁴⁰ Of the sons of Asher, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

⁴¹ their numbered men of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

⁴² Of the sons of Naphtali, their descendants by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war,

⁴³ their numbered men of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

⁴⁴ These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron counted, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household.

⁴⁵ So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go to war in Israel,

⁴⁶ all the numbered men were 603,550.

⁴⁷ The Levites, however, were not counted among them by their fathers’ tribe.

⁴⁸ For the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying,

⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not count, nor shall you take their census among the sons of Israel.

⁵⁰ And you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings and over everything that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle.

⁵¹ So when the tabernacle is to move on, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But the layman who comes near it shall be put to death.

⁵² So the sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own flag, according to their armies.

⁵³ But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there will be no divine wrath against the congregation of the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be responsible for service to the tabernacle of the testimony.”

⁵⁴ And the sons of Israel did so; in accordance with all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did.

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Numbers 1

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Numbers 1. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: The numbering of the Israelites. (1–43). The number of the people. (44–46). The Levites not numbered with the rest. (47–54).

vv1-43

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.

vv44-46

We have here the sum total. How much was required to maintain all these in the wilderness! They were all provided for by God every day. When we observe the faithfulness of God, however unlikely the performance of his promise may appear, we may take courage as to those which yet remain to be fulfilled to the church of God.

vv47-54

Care is here taken to distinguish the tribe of Levi, which, in the matter of the golden calf, had distinguished itself. Singular services shall be recompensed by singular honours. It was to the honour of the Levites, that to them was committed the care of the tabernacle and its treasures, in their camps and in their marches. It was for the honour of the holy things that none should see them, or touch them, but those who were called of God to the service. We all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God, till called by his grace into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and so, being the spiritual seed of that great High Priest, we are made priests to our God. Great care must be taken to prevent sin, for preventing sin is preventing wrath. Being a holy tribe, they were not reckoned among other Israelites. They that minister about holy things, should neither entangle themselves, nor be entangled, in worldly affairs. And let every believer seek to do what the Lord has commanded.

Key Words

spokeH1696Hebrew

דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue

MosesH4872Hebrew

מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver

wildernessH4057Hebrew

מִדְבָּר: a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven); by implication, a desert; also speech (including its organs)

SinaiH5514Hebrew

סִינַי: Sinai, mountain of Arabia

tentH168Hebrew

אֹהֶל: a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)

meetingH4150Hebrew

מוֹעֵד: properly, an appointment, i.e. a fixed time or season; specifically, a festival; conventionally ayear; by implication, an assembly (as convened for a definite purpose); technically the congregation; by extension, the place of meeting; also a signal (as appointed beforehand)

firstH259Hebrew

אֶחָד: properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first

secondH8145Hebrew

שֵׁנִי: properly, double, i.e. second; also adverbially, again

monthH2320Hebrew

חֹדֶשׁ: the new moon; by implication, a month

yearH8141Hebrew

שָׁנֶה: a year (as a revolution of time)

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