Numbers 26
CambridgeP. 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 shews, by implication, how severe the punishments had been; in spite of the increase of population which would naturally accrue by births, the numbers left in Moab are 1820 less than those reckoned at Sinai.
Numbers 26:1-4
1–4. Moses and Eleazar are commanded by God to number the fighting men of 20 years of age and upwards.
Numbers 26:4
- 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.
Numbers 26:5-51
5–51. 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 census, thirty-eight years before (ch. 1) was 603,550; now it Isaiah 601,730. The order of the tribes is the same, except that Manasseh (Numbers 26:29-34) precedes Ephraim (Numbers 26:35-37). Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim and Naphtali have decreased in numbers, while the other seven have increased. The impossibility of the figures is shewn in note on Numbers 1:46.
Numbers 26:9-11
9–11. 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.
Numbers 26:10
- 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.
Numbers 26:11
- 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 Jerusalem. They were a subdivision of the Levites, a guild which formed one of the temple choirs. To their hymnbook belonged Psalms 42, 44-49, 84 f., 87 f. In Numbers 26:58 (below) they are called ‘the family of the Korahites.’
Numbers 26:52-56
52–56. 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.
Numbers 26:54
- 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 early passage Judges 1:1-3. But according to P (Joshua 13:15-23; Joshua 14:1-5) the lots were not cast till the whole land was won. We must probably, therefore, understand ‘thou shalt give’ loosely—‘thou shalt command that it be given.’ This is more clearly expressed in Numbers 33:50-54. according to those that were numbered of him] i.e. in proportion to his (the tribe’s) numbers.
Numbers 26:55
- 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. ‘The names of the tribes of their fathers’ appears to be a periphrasis for ‘their tribes.’ If so, the meaning is either that individuals shall in every case possess land within the region assigned to their tribe, or (perhaps better) that no smaller division than a whole tribe is to be taken account of in the general distribution, and the property of clans and families must be settled privately within each tribe.
Numbers 26:57-62
57–62. The census of the Levites. They were numbered separately from the secular tribes, because they were not, as a tribe, to possess any land.
Numbers 26:58
- It is not here stated to which of the three families of Num 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, and to be derived from a different source.
Numbers 26:59-60
59, 60. The Kohathites receive more detailed treatment; it was the most important of the families, because Moses and Aaron belonged to it.
Numbers 26:61
- See on Numbers 3:4.
Numbers 26:62
- twenty and three thousand] At the first census the Levites numbered 22,000.
Numbers 26:63-65
63–65. 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.