P. _The second Census_ The plague related in Numbers 25:9 was the last of the punishments undergone by the Israelites for their sins and rebellions. When the wanderings were at an end, the numbers of the people would be very different to those at the first census at Sinai. And the priestly writer... [ Continue Reading ]
Moses and Eleazar are commanded by God to number the fighting men of 20 years of age and upwards.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Take the sum of the people_ This is added conjecturally in E.VV. [Note:.VV. The English Versions, i.e. Authorised and Revised.], the opening words of the verse having been lost.... [ Continue Reading ]
The twelve secular tribes are numbered, the sacred tribe of Levi being omitted. The names are based upon Genesis 46:8-27, but with the addition of Ephraim and Manasseh, who, having been born in Egypt, could not be reckoned in Gen. among those who went down into Egypt. The total number at the first... [ Continue Reading ]
The mention of Dathan and Abiram leads the writer, or a later editor, to add a note recalling the incidents of ch. 16. He combines the story of Dathan and Abiram with that of Korah in such a way that the events are inextricably confused.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and they became a sign_ This is a reference to Numbers 16:38; but there it is not the offenders but their fire-pans, beaten into plates for the altar, that are a sign.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND _the sons of Korah died not_ There is no mention of Korah's family in ch. 16, but the inference might naturally be drawn from Numbers 26:32 that they were included in his body of adherents. This inference the writer felt it necessary to check, because in his day -sons of Korah" were found in Je... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou shalt give the more inheritance_ Moses was not allowed to enter Canaan; if, therefore, -thou shalt give" is to be understood strictly, the allotment and distribution were to take place before his death, while the people were still in the land of Moab. This appears to be the view taken in the e... [ Continue Reading ]
_the land shall be divided by lot_ Since the distribution was to be proportionate the purpose of the lot must only have been to decide roughly in what part of the country each tribe was to settle. _according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit_ The meaning is doubtful. -T... [ Continue Reading ]
The census of the Levites. They were numbered separately from the secular tribes, because they were not, as a tribe, to possess any land.... [ Continue Reading ]
It is not here stated to which of the three families of Numbers 26:57 these five branches of the Levites belonged. (This is done in Exodus 6:16-21. Libnites belonged to Gershon; Hebronites and Korahites to Kohath; Mahlites and Mushites to Merari.) The verse appears to be separate from Numbers 26:57,... [ Continue Reading ]
The Kohathites receive more detailed treatment; it was the most important of the families, because Moses and Aaron belonged to it.... [ Continue Reading ]
See on Numbers 3:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_twenty and three thousand_ At the first census the Levites numbered 22,000.... [ Continue Reading ]
An editorial conclusion to the census. Not a man was reckoned who had been alive at the first census, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua.... [ Continue Reading ]