Numbers 26

Nu 26:1-51.

ISRAEL

NUMBERED.

1. after the plague--That terrible visitation had swept away the

remnant of the old generation, to whom God sware in His wrath that they

should not enter Canaan

(Ps 95:11).

2. Take the sum of all the congregation--The design of this new

census, after a lapse of thirty-eight years, was primarily to establish

the vast multiplication of the posterity of Abraham in spite of the

severe judgments inflicted upon them; secondarily, it was to preserve

the distinction of families and to make arrangements, preparatory to an

entrance into the promised land, for the distribution of the country

according to the relative population of the tribes.

7. These are the families of the Reubenites--the principal households,

which were subdivided into numerous smaller families. Reuben had

suffered great diminution by Korah's conspiracy and other outbreaks

[Nu 16:1].

10. the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with

Korah--rather, "the things of Korah."

(See on

Nu 16:35;

compare

Ps 106:17).

11. Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not--Either they

were not parties to their father's crime, or they withdrew from it by

timely repentance. His descendants became famous in the time of David,

and are often mentioned in the Psalms

[Ps 42:1;

44:1; 45:1; 46:1; 47:1; 48:1; 49:1; 84:1; 85:1; 87:1; 88:1],

also in

1Ch 6:22, 38.

12. The sons of Simeon--It is supposed that this tribe had been

pre-eminent in the guilt of Baal-peor and had consequently been greatly

reduced in numbers.

Thus God's justice and holiness, as well as His truth and faithfulness,

were strikingly displayed: His justice and holiness in the sweeping

judgments that reduced the ranks of some tribes; and His truth and

faithfulness in the extraordinary increase of others so that the

posterity of Israel continued a numerous people.

53. the land shall be divided according to the number of names--The

portion of each tribe was to be greater or less, according to its

populousness.

54. To many thou shalt give the more inheritance--that is, to the more

numerous tribes a larger allotment shall be granted.

according to those that were numbered--the number of persons twenty

years old at the time of the census being made, without taking into

account either the increase of those who might have attained that age,

when the land should be actually distributed, or the diminution from

that amount, occasioned during the war of invasion.

55. the land shall be divided by lot--The appeal to the lot did not

place the matter beyond the control of God; for it is at His disposal

(Pr 16:33),

and He has fixed to all the bounds of their habitation. The manner in

which the lot was taken has not been recorded. But it is evident that

the lot was cast for determining the section of the country in which

each tribe should be located--not the quantity of their possessions. In

other words, when the lot had decided that a particular tribe was to be

settled in the north or the south, the east or the west, the extent of

territory was allocated according to the rule

(Nu 26:54).

58. families of the Levites--The census of this tribe was taken

separately, and on a different principle from the rest. (See

Ex 6:16-19).

62. twenty and three thousand--so that there was an increase of a

thousand

(Nu 3:39).

males from a month old and upward--(See on

Nu 3:14).

64. among these there was not a man . . . numbered . . . in the

wilderness of Sinai--The statement in this verse must not be

considered absolute. For, besides Caleb and Joshua, there were alive at

this time Eleazar and Ithamar, and in all probability a considerable

number of Levites, who had no participation in the popular defections

in the wilderness. The tribe of Levi, having neither sent a spy into

Canaan, nor being included in the enumeration at Sinai, must be

regarded as not coming within the range of the fatal sentence; and

therefore it would exhibit a spectacle not to be witnessed in the other

tribes of many in their ranks above sixty years of age.

Tribes

Chap. 1

Chap. 26

Increase

Decrease

Reuben

46,500

43,730

2,770

Simeon

59,300

22,200

37,100

Gad

45,650

40,500

5,150

Judah

74,600

76,500

1,900

Issachar

54,400

64,300

9,900

Zebulun

57,400

60,500

3,100

Ephraim

40,500

32,500

8,000

Manasseh

32,200

52,700

20,500

Benjamin

35,400

45,600

10,200

Dan

62,700

64,400

1,700

Asher

41,500

53,400

11,900

Naphtali

53,400

45,400

8,000

Total

603,550

601,730

59,200

61,020

Total decrease

1,820