Numbers 26

NOTE.—Essential portions cited.

No. 26 1 And it came to pass after the plague, that the LORD spake unto Moses and unto 2 Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all that are able to 3 go forth to war in Israel. And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of 4 Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward : as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel, which came forth out of 52 the land of Egypt. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Unto these the land shall be 53 divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. These are they that were 51 numbered of the children of Israel, six hundred thousand and a thousand seven hundred and thirty. 57 And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families : of Gershon, the family of the Geshonites : of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites : of Merari, the family of the 62 Merarites. And they that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, every male from a month old and upward : for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.

No. 32 1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle : and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the 2 place was a place for cattle ; the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, 3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and 4 Nebo, and Beon, the land which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land 5 for cattle, and thy servants have cattle. And they said, If we have found grace in thy sight, 6 let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession ; bring us not over Jordan. And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to 7 the war, and shall ye sit here ? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of 8 Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them ? Thus did your 13 fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. And the LORD’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander to and fro in the wilderness forty years, 14 until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the 15 fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again 16 leave them in the wilderness ; and ye shall destroy all this people. And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones : 17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place : and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the in- 18 habitants of the land. We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have 19 inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side

Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward. 20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing; if ye will arm yourselves to go before the 21 LORD to the war, and every armed man of you will pass over Jordan before the LORD, until 22 he hath driven out his enemies from before him, and the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless toward the LORD, and toward Israel; and 23 this land shall be unto you for a possession before the LORD. But if ye will not do so, be- 24 hold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of 25 your mouth. And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, 26 Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all 27 our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: but thy servants will pass over, every man that is armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord saith.

28. So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, 29 and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. And Moses said unto them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man that is armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; 30 then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: but if they will not pass over 31 with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. And the chil- dren of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy 32 servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, 33 and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond Jordan. And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto the half tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities thereof with their borders, 34 even the cities of the land round about. And the children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, 35 and Aroer; and Atroth shophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah; and Beth-nimrah, and Beth- 36 haran; fenced cities, and folds for sheep. And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and 37 Elealeh, and Kiriathaim; and Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and 38 Sibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded. And the children of 39 Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites which 40 were therein. And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt 41 therein. And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns thereof, and called them 42 Havvoth jair. And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

De. 3 12 And this land we took in possession at that time; from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the 13 Reubenites and to the Gadites: and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same 14 is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; and called them, even Bashan, after his 15 own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.) And I gave Gilead unto Machir. And unto the 16 Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border thereof; even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border 17 of the children of Ammon; the Arabah also, and Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinner- eth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.

Nu. 33 50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, 51 saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over Jordan into 52 the land of Canaan, then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their 53 high places: and ye shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein: for unto you have 54 I given the land to possess it. And ye shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less in- heritance: wheresoever the lot falleth to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes 55 of your fathers shall ye inherit. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then shall those which ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as 56 thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. And it shall come to pass, that as I thought to do unto them, so will I do unto you.

No. 34 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, and 2 say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan, (this is the land that shall fall unto 3 you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders thereof,) then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south 4 border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward : and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin : and the goings out thereof shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea ; and it shall go forth to Hazaraddar, and pass along to 5 Azmon : and the border shall turn about from Azmon unto the brook of Egypt, and the goings 6 out thereof shall be at the sea. And for the western border, ye shall have the great sea and the 7 border thereof : this shall be your west border. And this shall be your north border : from 8 the great sea ye shall mark out for you mount Hor : from mount Hor ye shall mark out unto 9 the entering in of Hamath ; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad : and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out thereof shall be at Hazar-enan : this shall 10 be your north border. And ye shall mark out your east border from Hazar-enan to Shepham : 11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain ; and the bor- 12 der shall go down, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward : and the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out thereof shall be at the Salt Sea : this shall 13 be your land according to the borders thereof round about. And Moses commanded the chil- dren of Israel, saying, This is the land which ye shall inherit by lot, which the LORD hath 14 commanded to give unto the nine tribes, and to the half tribe : for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, have received, and the half tribe of Manasseh have received, their 15 inheritance : the two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrising. 16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, These are the names of the men which shall 17 divide the land unto you for inheritance : Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. And these are 19 the names of the men. These are they whom the LORD commanded to divide the inheritance 20 unto the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

The first numbering was under the express direction of God (Ex. 38 : 26) in the third or fourth month after the exodus, during the en- campment at Sinai, chiefly for the purpose of raising money for the Tabernacle. The num- bers then taken amounted to 603,550 men, which may be presumed to express with greater pre- cision the round numbers of 600,000 who are said to have left Egypt at first. Again, in the second month of the second year after the exodus (Nu. 1 : 2, 3) a census was taken. The total number on this occasion, exclusive of the Levites, amounted to 603,550 (Nu. 2 : 32). This third numbering took place thirty-eight years afterward, previous to the entrance into Canaan, when the total number, excepting the Levites, amounted to 601,730 males, showing a decrease of 1870. All tribes presented an increase except the following : Reuben, of 2770 ; Simeon, 37,100 ; Gad, 5150 ; Ephraim and Naphtali, 8000 each. The tribe of Levi had increased by 727. The great diminution which took place in the tribe of Simeon may probably be assigned to the plague consequent on the misconduct of Zimri. On the other hand, the chief instances of increase are found in Manasseh, of 20,500 ; Benjamin, 10,200 ; Asher, 11,900 ; and Issachar, 9,900. None were numbered at this census who had been above twenty years of age at the pre- vious one in the second year, excepting Caleb and Joshua. Dic. B.

Its main object was in view of the approach- ing apportionment of the land which Israel was so soon to possess. Accordingly, the census was not taken as before, according to the num- ber of individuals in each tribe, but according to " families." This corresponded in the main with the names of the grandsons and great- grandsons of Jacob, enumerated in Gen. 46. In reference to the future division of the land, it was arranged that the extent of the " inheri- tance" allotted to each tribe should correspond to its numbers. But the exact locality assigned to each was to be determined " by lot," so that each tribe might feel that it had received its " possession" directly from the Lord himself. A. E.

Notwithstanding the increase in some and decrease in other tribes, the same sort of pro- portion is preserved in the east, west, north, and south divisions as before : so as to keep the divi- sion of Judah, which was always in the front or Dun, the largest ; and the division of Dun, which was always in the rear, the next number. But it is worthy of remark that as they are now to commence their grand military operations, so their front or advanced division is increased from 186,400 to 201,300. And their rear from 157,600 to 163,200. The first division is strengthened 14,900 men, and the last division 5600 men. The reasons for this are sufficiently obvious. A. C.

53. As they were multiplied, so they were portioned, not by common providence, but by promise; and for the support of the honor of Divine revelation, God will have the fulfilling of the promise taken notice of both in their increase and in their inheritance. When Moses had numbered the people, God does not say, By these shall the land be conquered; but taking that for granted, he tells him, Unto these shall the land be divided. These that are now registered as the sons of Israel shall be admitted (as it were by copy of court-roll) heirs of the land of Canaan. H.

Division of the Conquered Land East of the Jordan, Gilead and Bashan, between Reuben, Gad, and Half Manasseh.

Nu. 26 63 THESE are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest; who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. But among these there was not a man of them that were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest; who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

Nu. 35 1 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites. And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their beasts. And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. And ye shall measure without the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee thither: and beside them ye shall give forty and two cities. All the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs. And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.

De. 4 41 Then Moses separated three cities beyond Jordan toward the sunrising; that the manslayer might flee thither, which slayeth his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

[Nu. 27 : 1-11 and 36 : 1-12 contains the Law of Daughters’ Inheritance and its Amendment.]

Nu. 27 12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered: because ye rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes. (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may come in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgement of the Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: and he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD spake by the hand of Moses.

De. 3 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms

22 whither thou goest over. Ye shall not fear them : for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you. 23 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O LORD GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy 24 servant thy greatness, and thy strong hand : for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that 25 can do according to thy works, and according to thy mighty acts? Let me go over, I pray 26 thee, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto me : and the LORD said 27 unto me, Let it suffice thee ; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, 28 and behold with thine eyes : for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him : for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause 29 them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. So we abode in the valley over against Beth- peor.

Nu. 36 13 These are the commandments and the judgements, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Nu. 26 : 63-65. The impressive fact is here distinctly recorded of the disappearance by death of every man of the former generation, save Caleb and Joshua. T. C.—Attention is called to a fulfilled prediction. It deserves special attention as a very remarkable, exact, and early fulfilment of prediction. Most of God’s predictions for Israel worked on to their fulfilment slowly and imperceptibly through many generations ; some in the highest sense of them are still incomplete ; but here was a prediction concerning the present, moving to its fulfilment under the very eyes of many whom in their turn it would also include. Surely it must often have been talked of in the tents of Israel. The fulfilment had its dark side and its bright one. It was an impressive proof that what penalties God attaches to sin he can accomplish to their full extent. All had perished save Caleb and Joshua. Things had happened exactly as God said they would, the people themselves being witnesses. Rightly looked at, it was very comforting and inspiring for Israel to go into Canaan with such a won- derful proof of God’s power in their minds. He who had so manifestly fulfilled such a pecul- iar prediction might be confidently expected to keep his word in all others. Young.