Numbers 26:1-65

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 26

The second *census – Numbers 26:1-65

v1 After the disease had stopped, the *LORD spoke to Moses and Eleazar the priest, Aaron’s son. The *LORD said, v2 ‘Make a *census of all the *Israelites. Count them in their families. Register the men who are able to fight in *Israel’s army. These are the men who are 20 years old or older.’

v3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to the *Israelites. They were on the plains of the country called Moab. They were near the Jordan river, opposite the city called Jericho. Moses and Eleazar said, v4 ‘The *LORD has given a command to Moses. Count the men who are 20 years old or older.’

This is a list of the *Israelites, who came out of the country called Egypt.

v5-7 There were 43 730 men from Reuben’s *tribe. Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son. These men were from the *clans of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. v8 (Pallu was Eliab’s father v9 and the grandfather of Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the men that the people had chosen as their officials. But Dathan and Abiram had followed Korah when he opposed Moses, Aaron and the *LORD. v10 So the *LORD had caused the ground to open. Dathan, Abiram and Korah had fallen into the ground. At the same time, a fire had killed 250 men who were *followers of Korah. This had warned the other *Israelites. v11 But Korah’s *clan did not all die.)

v12-14 There were 22 200 men from Simeon’s *tribe. They were from the *clans of Nemuel, Jamin, Jachin, Zerah and Shaul.

v15-18 There were 40 500 men from Gad’s *tribe. They were from the *clans of Zephon, Haggi, Shuni, Ozni, Eri, Arod and Areli.

v19-22 There were 76 500 men from Judah’s *tribe. They were from the *clans of Shelah, Perez, Zerah, Hezron and Hamul. (Hezron and Hamul were *descendants of Perez.) Judah’s sons Er and Onan had died in the country called Canaan.

v23-25 There were 64 300 men from Issachar’s *tribe. They were from the *clans of Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron.

v26-27 There were 60 500 men from Zebulun’s *tribe. They were from the *clans of Sered, Elon and Jahleel.

v28-34 There were 52 700 men from Manasseh’s *tribe. Manasseh was Joseph’s son. These men were from the *clans of Machir and his son Gilead. Also, they were from the *clans of Gilead’s *descendants, Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida and Hepher. (Zelophehad was Hepher’s son. Zelophehad had no sons. He only had daughters. They were called Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.)

v35-37 There were 32 500 men from Ephraim’s *tribe. Ephraim was Joseph’s son. These men were from the *clans of Shuthelah, Becher, Tahan and Eran, who was Shuthelah’s son.

v38-41 There were 45 600 men from Benjamin’s *tribe. Some men were from the *clans of Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham and Hupham. Also, some men were from the *clans of Ard and Naaman, Bela’s sons.

v42-43 There were 64 400 men from Dan’s *tribe. They were all from Shuham’s *clan.

v44-47 There were 53 400 men from Asher’s *tribe. Some men were from the *clans of Imnah, Ishvi and Beriah. Also, some men were from the *clans of Heber and Malchiel, who were Beriah’s sons. (Asher’s daughter was called Serah.)

v48-50 There were 45 400 men from Naphtali’s *tribe. They were from the *clans of Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Shillem.

v51 The total number of adult male *Israelites was 601 730.

v52 The *LORD said to Moses, v53 ‘Divide the country called Canaan. Share it between the *tribes fairly. v54-56 Give more land to the larger *tribes. The smaller *tribes will get less land. The amount of land that each *tribe will get depends on the number of its people. You must use *lots (see note below). By that method, select the land for each *tribe. So use *lots to divide the land between the large and small groups.’

v57 Levi’s *tribe included the *clans of Gershon, Kohath and Merari. v58 Also it included the *clans of Libni, Hebron, Mahli, Mushi and Korah. (Kohath was Amram’s *ancestor. v59 Amram’s wife was Jochebed. Jochebed was from Levi’s *tribe. She was born in the country called Egypt. Amram and Jochebed’s children were Aaron, Moses and their sister called Miriam. v60 Aaron was the father of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. v61 But Nadab and Abihu had offered unholy fire to the *LORD (see Numbers 3:1-4). So they had died.)

v62 In Levi’s *tribe there were 23 000 men and boys who were one month old or older. But Moses and Eleazar did not include these men and boys in the list with the other *tribes. This was because Levi’s *tribe would not receive any land in Canaan.

v63 Moses and Eleazar the priest counted the *Israelites. They did this when the *Israelites had their camp on Moab’s plains. They were near the Jordan river, opposite the city called Jericho. v64 Moses and Aaron the priest had counted the *Israelites before, when they were in the Sinai *desert. But all those people were dead; not even one of them was in this second *census. v65 The *LORD had told those *Israelites that they would die in the *desert. And so they all had died, except Caleb, Jephunneh’s son, and Joshua, Nun’s son.

Verses 1-65 The Book of Numbers began with a *census (Numbers Chapter s 1 to 4). This second *census happened 40 years later. The purpose of both *censuses was to count all the men who could be soldiers. This was very important, because the *Israelites were preparing to enter the *Promised Land. They had to fight the *Midianites (Numbers 25:16-18). Also, they had to fight the other people who lived in the country called Canaan. So they had to have a strong army.

But there was another reason for this second *census. The *Israelites were entering the *Promised Land to *settle there. Moses had to divide the land between the *tribes. So he needed to know the size of each *tribe. Then he could divide the land fairly. God had ordered him to do this (Numbers 26:52-56).

Apart from two men, Caleb and Joshua, all the *Israelites had died that Moses had counted in the first *census. These people were young when they left the country called Egypt. But they had not been grateful to God. They had complained about him often. They had not obeyed him. They had not trusted him when he told them to go into the *Promised Land the first time. They had *worshipped false gods. So God had said that they would die in the *desert. They would never enter the *Promised Land. And this happened. Their children entered the *Promised Land and received land for themselves.

We can compare the numbers in the first and the second *censuses. And we can see which *tribes increased and which *tribes became smaller during the 40 years in the *desert.

Most of the *tribes increased during the 40 years. Reuben’s *tribe, Gad’s *tribe, Ephraim’s *tribe and Simeon’s *tribe became smaller. Verses 8-11 provide a possible reason why Reuben’s *tribe became smaller. These verses remind us about two events when many people died (Numbers chapter 16). Also, we know a possible reason why Simeon’s *tribe became smaller. Zimri was one of their leaders. Probably, because of what he had done, many of Simeon’s *tribe had *sinned in the same way. Therefore, many more of Simeon’s *tribe than other *tribes would have died because of the disease (Numbers 25:6-9). Also, Simeon’s *tribe and Gad’s *tribe had their camp in the south, with Reuben’s *tribe. They were closest to the country called Moab. So, when the disease spread as a punishment, they would have suffered first. It stopped when Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi.

God wanted Moses to divide the land fairly between the *tribes. There were two decisions to make:

1. The amount of land that each *tribe received.

2. In which part of Canaan each *tribe had their share of the land.

God told Moses how to make these decisions. Firstly, bigger *tribes received more land than smaller *tribes. Secondly, the people had to ‘use *lots’ to decide the position of each *tribe’s territory. ‘To use *lots’ was a method that gave an equal opportunity to everyone. The *Israelites used this method often to make important decisions. We do not know how they did this. Probably, they used pieces of wood or stones. And they wrote the *tribes’ names on the stones or pieces of wood. Then they put them in a jar. Then they shook the jar to see which name fell out. They believed that God, not luck, controlled the results (Proverbs 16:33).

But Levi’s *tribe would not receive a share of the land. They could not join the army. Instead, they had to help the priests. So Moses counted them separately, as in the first *census.

census ~ an official list which records the number of people in a particular place.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.
Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
lots ~ pieces of wood or stones that people used to divide territory or to make a decision. The lots seemed to make the decision by chance. But people believed that, in fact, God had made the decision.
ancestor ~ a previous member of a family, especially someone who was important during a past century.
desert ~ a dry region, or a region where there is just a little water. A few wild plants are able to grow in some deserts. So people who are travelling can live in these deserts in their tents. And they can lead animals through the desert. The Israelites lived in a desert for nearly 40 years.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.

'Promised Land ~ the country that God promised to give to Abraham and his *descendants.
settle ~ to decide to stay in a place and to make a home there.
worship ~ to give honour to God and to thank him. Sometimes, people worship false gods.
sin ~ the nature of all people since Adam chose not to obey God. People’s lives are not acceptable to God because of sin. ‘Sins’ are states, attitudes and acts that are not acceptable to God. A person sins whenever that person is guilty of a sin.