IN THE TABERNACLE OF THE CONGREGATION. — The tabernacle of the congregation, or _tent of meeting,_ so called because it was there that God met with Moses (Numbers 17:4; Exodus 25:22), had been set up one month previously (Exodus 40:17), nearly a year after the exodus.... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER THEIR FAMILIES. — The family or clan, _mishpahah,_ included several fathers’ houses (see Kurtz’s _Hist. of the Old Covenant,_ 2, pp. 8-10). WITH THE NUMBER OF THEIR NAMES. — Better, _according to the number of names._ The reference is probably to the previous numbering recorded in Exodus 30:1... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD. — The result of the previous numbering (Exodus 30:12; Exodus 38:26), which was made about six months earlier, and which was probably obtained by counting the number of half-shekels which were paid, as Ithamar appears to have done (Exodus 38:2), exactly corresponds w... [ Continue Reading ]
OF EVERY TRIBE. — Or, _for every tribe._ EVERY ONE HEAD... — The words may be rendered _every one a head_... There were many heads of fathers’ houses in each tribe; but it appears from Numbers 1:16 (Numbers 7:10) that in each case the tribal _prince_ was selected to preside over the census.... [ Continue Reading ]
OF THE TRIBE OF REUBEN. — Hebrew, _for Reuben. _... [ Continue Reading ]
THE RENOWNED OF THE CONGREGATION. — Lit., _the called men of the congregation, i.e.,_ the men chosen as representatives of their respective tribes, and appointed to act in that capacity in regulating the affairs of the nation. HEADS OF THOUSANDS IN ISRAEL. — Better, _they were the heads of the thou... [ Continue Reading ]
Declared their pedigrees. — More literally, _announced themselves as having been born_ — i.e., caused themselves to be enrolled. The people appear to have been enrolled by their polls, _i.e.,_ individually, under three heads — (1) according to the tribe to which they belonged; (2) according to the _... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THEIR GENERATIONS. — The _toledoth,_ or generations, included the whole of the descendants of the head of the tribe (Genesis 5:1; Genesis 6:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
THREESCORE AND FOURTEEN THOUSAND AND SIX HUNDRED. — The superiority of Judah in point of numbers over all the other tribes deserves notice in connection with the blessing pronounced on that tribe by Jacob in Genesis 49:8 : “Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” In like manner it should be obs... [ Continue Reading ]
SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND AND THREE THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY. — It is obvious that the odd numbers were not reckoned. In Numbers 11:21 as in Exodus 12:37, the whole number is reckoned roughly at six hundred thousand.... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD HAD SPOKEN... — Better, _And the Lord spake._.. (Numbers 3:1; Numbers 3:5; Numbers 3:14). It is true that the Levites were not included in the earlier numbering, and consequently that they must have been exempted by divine direction. It does not appear, however, that there is a referenc... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TABERNACLE OF TESTIMONY. — The testimony (sometimes described as the two tables of the testimony (Exodus 31:18; Exodus 34:29) denotes in the first instance the tables of the law which were directed to be placed in the ark (Exodus 25:16; Exodus 25:21). Hence the ark is described as the ark of the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE STRANGER THAT COMETH NIGH SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH. — The word _zar_ (stranger) here denotes one who was not of the tribe of Levi (Leviticus 22:10; Leviticus 22:12).... [ Continue Reading ]
BY HIS OWN STANDARD. — It appears from Numbers 2:3; Numbers 2:10; Numbers 2:18; Numbers 2:25, that there were four standards — viz., those of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan — corresponding to the four camps, each consisting of three tribes, which pitched round the tent of meeting.... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THERE BE NO WRATH UPON THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. — The word _kezeph_ (wrath) is used to denote some immediate visitation of the hand of God, as, _e.g.,_ the plague. Thus, after the plague which broke out in consequence of the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, we read in Number... [ Continue Reading ]