Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 1:2
Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of [their] names, every male by their polls;
2. their families ] Rather their clans, i.e. groups of families related by blood.
fathers ’ houses ] here denotes families, smaller groups consisting of close relations; see Num 1:4, Exo 12:3. The term is, however, elastic. It may denote even an entire tribe, as being descended from a single ancestor (Num 17:2), or the main subdivision of a tribe, i.e. a ‘clan’ (Num 3:24, Exo 6:14).
their polls ] lit. skulls, a metaphor for ‘individual persons.’ Cf. our word ‘poll-tax,’ and the ‘poll’ at an election. This expression and ‘fathers’ houses’ are not found earlier than P.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Num 1:2-3
Take ye the sum of all the congregation.
Reasons for numbering the people
Not because God would understand whether they were sufficient for number, or able for strength, to encounter their enemies, forasmuch as nothing is unknown to Him or impossible for Him to bring to pass, who is able to save as well with a few as with many.
1. For orders sake: that there should be no occasion of contention for primacy, but that every tribe and family should know his place and time, when to remove and when to stand still, when to fight with their enemies, and in every point what to do.
2. That such things as were to be paid for the use of the tabernacle might the more easily be collected when they were separated according to their tribes, and the tribes according to their families, and the families according to the household, man by man.
3. To testify His exceeding great love toward them and special care over them. A faithful shepherd will many times count the sheep committed to him, lest any should be missing.
4. Lastly, they are severally and distinctly numbered every tribe by itself, that in time to come it might be certainly known of what tribe and family Christ Jesus, the promised Messiah, should be born. (W. Attersoll.)
Reasons for the census taking:
1. To prove the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham, that God would multiply his seed exceedingly; and renewed in Jacob (Gen 28:14). Now it appears that there did not fail one tittle of that good promise, which was an encouragement to, them to hope that the other promise of the land of Canaan for an inheritance should always be fulfilled in its season. Therefore God would have Israel numbered, that it might be upon record how vastly they were increased in a little time, that the power of Gods providence and the truth of His promise may be acknowledged by all. It could not have been expected, in any ordinary course of nature, that seventy-five souls (which was the number of Jacobs family when he went down into Egypt): should in two hundred and fifteen years multiply to so many hundred thousands. It is therefore to be attributed to an extraordinary virtue in the Divine promise and blessing.
2. It was to put a difference between the true-born Israelites and the mixed multitude that were among them. None were numbered but Israelites. All the world is but a lumber in comparison with those jewels. Little account is made of others; but the saints God has a particular property in and concern for (2Ti 2:19; Php 4:3). The hairs of their head are numbered; but He will say to others, I never knew you, never made any account of you.
3. It was in order to their being marshalled into several districts, for the more easy administration of justice, and their more regular march through the wilderness. It is a rout and a rabble, not an army, that is not mustered and put in order. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Israels host mustered:
1. The order for this enumeration is Divine. God gave the order, and He appointed the men who should fulfil it. It may be asked, Why does the Lord now sanction the doing of this work, and in the subsequent ages curs David for doing, substantially, the same thing? The answer is twofold: First, it was not the Lord, but Satan, who tempted David to number Israel; and, secondly, it was done for the gratification of Davids personal pride and ambition. Further, it may be said, this was done against the protest of the general-in-chief of his armies (see 1Ch 21:3-4). When God commands it is always safe to obey; but when Satan incites us we are to beware. There are several reasons why God commanded this muster-roll to be made now.
(1) The promise had been made to Abraham of an exceeding great multiplication of his seed. It was now designed that they should see how this promise had been fulfilled, even amid the heartless bondage of Egypt.
(2) This He demanded should be done carefully and certainly. There is nothing easier than to miscalculate numbers, especially where the basis of reckoning is careless. Here He orders this to be done by an individual count.
(3) It was only those who were able to go forth to war who were numbered. The blind, the lame, the diseased, and the aged were not enrolled. It is the Lords plan in all the ages, never to ask a man to do what he is incompetent to perform. On the other hand, He expects every one to do all he is able to do. The men selected for this enrolment were renowned men. Heads of their families and their tribes–princes in Israel. Sometimes the great, the wealthy, and the wise attempt to excuse themselves from the service of God. They are too much busied with their own concerns. But there are those who wear crowns and coronets who do pray and labour in Christs cause. They are worthy standard-bearers in the army of the Lord. Like Queen Victoria and Lord Shaftesbury, like Coligny and Conde, like the electors of Germany in the time of the Reformation, they stand forth doing the Lords will, and accomplishing His purposes. We see here, further, with what quickness and promptness this work was done. It would seem as if only a few days were consumed in doing a work so vast. Thus when God calls us to do His work there is to be no delay. The Kings business requires haste. No one has a right to be an indifferent or idle worker. Another thought here: only Israelites were to be mustered. No one of the mixed multitude is to be put upon the rolls, They could not be intrusted on the army-rolls. They were more ready for a ferment than for a fight. No wonder that the immortal Washington, on an occasion of great importance and peril, said, Put no one but Americans on guard to-night. So God would not allow any one but His own people to fight His, battles, or to do His work. In the numeric record Judah is found to have the largest number of men. This deserves notice in connection with the blessing pronounced on that tribe in Gen 49:8-12, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Judah was the grand leader of all the princes and tribes of Israel. God designed that He should be so, as his was the tribe from which Immanuel was to come. The whole number was six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. With three exceptions, Russia, Germany, and France, this is larger than the regular army of any nation now on the face of the globe. Of court, the war-footing of many other nations is greater than this; but this is an amazing regular army for that day and age. But, vast as it was, it was all swallowed up in thirty-eight years from this time, because of unbelief and sin. Only two of this great number escaped the general destruction; namely, Caleb and Joshua. So multitudes who profess to be soldiers in the Lords army are wasted by death or become inefficient and useless. One of the great defects in all our Churches is want of organisation. Herein were the beauty and the strength of this mustering. The Levites, however, were exempted from this enrolment. In all ages the priestly caste of men has been generally free from war-service; so the Levites, by the appointment of God, were free. To them were committed the spiritual interests of the tribes, the worship and service of God, the offering of sacrifices, and the expounding of the law. They warred the warfare of the tabernacle. So we think no minister should be a soldier, a lawyer, a physician, a business man, or a farmer. He cannot do these things without lowering the standard of his calling and materially injuring his efficiency. (Lewis R. Dunn, D. D.)
The numbering of the people (a homily for the census day)
I. A few words about the census, which is being taken to-day in every town, every hamlet, every remote habitation of the United Kingdom. The Israelites dealt largely in statistics. At all the great turning-points in their history a census was taken. This Book of Numbers owes its name to the fact that it records two census-takings; one at the beginning, the other at the close of the forty years sojourn in the wilderness. An admonition to fill up the census-papers with exactness and for conscience sake.
II. Meditations proper to the census day.
1. The filling up of a census-paper is, in itself, a piece of secular business. Yet I do not envy the man who can perform it without being visited with holy feeling. The setting down of the names of ones household brings up many tragic memories. The setting down ones own age, after a lapse of ten years, summons us to count our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.
2. The Lord keeps an exact register of His people. There is a Book of Life in which are inscribed the names of all whom He has chosen. How true this is the whole Scripture bears witness (Exo 32:30; Isa 4:3; Eze 13:9; Luk 10:20; Php 4:3; Heb 12:23; Rev 13:8). We commonly think of this as a book which is shut and sealed. The Lord only knoweth them that are His. A man may ascertain his own acceptance with God. (W. Binnie, D. D.)
The numbering of the people:
I. The authority for this numbering. Leaders of men should be well assured of two things in the movements which they inaugurate–
1. That they have the Divine approval of their undertakings. The movement which is approved by God, and well prosecuted, shall advance to splendid triumph.
2. That they are actuated by worthy motives in their undertakings. A sinful, selfish motive will vitiate our enterprises and mar our works. The Lord looketh at the heart. Let us scrutinise our motives.
II. The place of this numbering. In the wilderness of Sinai.
1. In a desert.
(1) Privation.
(2) Peril.
(3) Perplexity.
2. In a desert where the tabernacle of God was.
III. The time of this numbering. Exactly one month after the setting up of the tabernacle (Exo 40:2; Exo 40:17) and about eleven months from the time of their arrival in the desert of Sinai. The people abode in this desert nearly a whole year (comp. Exo 19:1 with Num 1:1; Num 10:11). What was the reason of this protracted halt? That they might be instructed in their relations to God and to each other; that they might learn lessons of duty and worship; that they might be taught to reverence and obey God. There are times and circumstances in which standing still is the speediest advance.
IV. THE MANNER OF THIS NUMBERING. They were to take account of–
1. Only the males.
2. Only the males above twenty years old.
3. Only the males above twenty years old who were in vigorous health–able to go forth to war.
4. They were to be numbered after their families, that it might be known of what tribe and of what particular house every able man was.
5. The numbering was to be individual, and by name.
The census was minute.
(1) The Lord chooses fit instruments for the accomplishment of His purposes.
(2) The Lord is perfectly acquainted with every one who is fitted for His work.
V. The design of this numbering.
1. The organisation of the army.
2. To manifest the Divine faithfulness.
3. To show the Divine power.
4. To the promotion of order.
5. To exhibit, on the coming of the Messiah, the correspondence of the event with the predictions concerning it.
6. To illustrate the care of God for His people generally and particularly. The Lords care over His people is most minute and constant and tender. (W. Jones.)
The numbered people:
1. In common matters men count possessions, which are choice and dear and prized. They whose mean joys are fixed on this worlds pelf thus calculate their gold. Their coffers are oft opened. Do we, then indulge unfounded fancy when in Gods numbering we read Gods love? Do not clear characters here write that His people are thus numbered because loved–counted, because prized?
2. Who are numbered? The young, the weak, the female, stand apart. None are enrolled but they whose age and strength enable them for war. Christs service is a mighty work, a determined fight. About a year has passed since the last numbering of this family. The Levites then formed part of the collected mass. They are not now included. They stand apart, a separate portion. But mark a wondrous fact. The number then and now amounts exactly to the same. Israel has surrendered Levis tribe, but Israels forces are not thereby less. We never lose by giving to the Lord.
3. Once more survey the numbered people. You are inclined to say this band will safely reach the promised land. Surely their willing steps will ever run in the appointed way. Alas! two, and two only, steadfastly adhere. Ah, unbelief! It is the sin of sins, the misery of miseries, the hopeless malady, the death of souls, the bar which shuts out Christ. (Dean Law.)
Counting mercies and days:
We may again learn of these gracious numberings of His people to number often with ourselves His mercies vouchsafed unto us, that we may send up thankful thoughts to His majesty for them. Such an holy numbering used Jacob when he said, O Lord, with my staff came I over this river, and now I return with much wealth. How many great men, of all callings, may thus number Gods favour towards them since their first beginning, in cities and towns, where little stocks have grown to great sums. What a fit meditation is this? and how shall the Lord like this kind of numbering? We may also remember what the Psalm says, and learn to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. But you may say this numbering was restrained to the Jews, and even so was Gods love, in some sort, for a time. But when Christ came, then there went out a decree from Augustus Caesar that all the world should be taxed, which could not be without numbering of them. And therefore by Christ the partition-wall is broken down, and the comforts of Gods numbering of them imparted to us, and to be approved by us to our joy, praying with him that so prayed, Grant, good Lord, that in Thy numberings of Thy people I may be ever one. (Bp. Babington.)
The census paper:
The census paper may be, by Gods blessing, the means of bringing home some very telling facts. You, who are going to sign it, are ten years older than when last a similar paper lay before you. Ten years gone! gone for ever! Is not this something to make you thoughtful? The census papers will show what increase and progress has been made throughout the country. Mark this. There is no idea of failure or decrease. Can you show marks of Christian progress as clear? Whether you have prospered in your everyday work or not, enjoyed health and happiness, or had to bear sickness, disappointment, and even bereavement–in any case have you, as if forgetful of the past, still kept pressing forward for the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus? Is there no decrease, no failure? You will write down your Christian name, condition, and profession. Your Christian name! Many a mans name is his character. There are names which in every rank, profession, business, and trade, are coupled with skill, courage, honesty, and truth: their names are, as it were, registered in the book of greatness. There is a book in which the names of Christians are registered (Php 4:3). Is your Christian name entered there? Does your Christian name suggest before God and His angels, to your neighbour, and yourself, a Christian character. Perhaps your condition has not altered. You are still what you were ten years ago: Have all who are under your roof learnt to see in you a kind friend, a good father or mother, a forbearing master or mistress, a steward conscious that you must give account to God of the duties and responsibilities of your trust? Perhaps it has altered. You have married, and children have been granted to you. Have you been, and are you, a true Christian parent, caring for the souls of your children as well as their bodies, training them by your words and example for Heaven? Or, perhaps, the last ten years have been full of sadness to you. You are now a widow or widower, an orphan, or childless, a lone being. Have you learnt, though the heart was torn, to look up to the Father in heaven who chastens with suffering all whom He loves? And does the question the census paper asks you about your profession suggest no similar question about your Christian profession? Are you careful never to say or do anything which will bring discredit upon that profession? Do you watch the thoughts of your heart, that nothing base, or impure, or careless, shall enter in to dwell there? In the Book of the Revelation, Christians are taught that all, small and great, shall stand before God and be judged out of those things written in the books, according to their works. Then will be the great census; the names, ages, conditions, and professions of all will be known.
Able to go forth to war.
The lawfulness of war
I. This teacheth us that A godly man may lawfully be a warrior. If war were not in itself lawful, God would never have a muster taken of such as are able to bear arms. True, every good profession may be abused. Abraham is said to be the father of the faithful, yet he made war, and overthrew the enemies that had spoiled Sodom, and carried away the riches of it as a prey, and was not reproved of Melchizedeck, the priest of the living God, but refreshed together with his army. The like we might say of Moses, Joshua, the Judges, and other godly kings, who fought many battles by the commandment of the Lord. When the soldiers heard the preaching of John, the forerunner of Christ, they asked him what they must do; he did not dissuade them from war, but gave them directions how to behave themselves in that honourable profession. Neither did Peter, being sent for to come to Cornelius, command him to follow a new trade of life. Neither did Paul persuade Sergius Paulus, the deputy, a prudent man, to renounce that calling, which no doubt they would have done if the profession of chivalry had not stood with the profession of Christianity.
II. The reasons to confirm this truth.
1. God doth command it, and therefore doth allow it as just and lawful.
2. As God gave direct commandment, so the people of God going forth to battle were to call upon Him for a blessing, and to sanctify the work by prayer, and in doing so have been heard. Things in their own nature unlawful are so filthy that no invocation of Gods name can cleanse them; nay, they make such prayer foul and abominable. Seeing, therefore, God blesseth and delivereth such as go to war, it must needs follow that war and true religion may well stand together, so that one and the same man may be both a warrior and yet religious. (W. Attersoll.)
Able to fight:
Then there were some who were not able. There were some who were not designed for military pursuits. The Lord would say here: Examine the people; go carefully over them as to force, capacity, and providential destiny, and arrange that those who are able to go forth to war in Israel may be ready. There is always that wonderful other side. The Lord does not pour contempt upon men who cannot fight. He knows what they can do, and He will bless them if they keep within their capacity and their Divine call. Each mans business should be to inquire, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? am I a soldier, a leader, a sailor? am I a home-keeper? am I intended for obscurity? am I to be written down amongst Thy feeble ones? Thy will be done. Nor let us limit this word soldier to what we understand commonly by war. Let us get away from these narrow limitations and look at life largely. The fact is that life itself is war. You cannot get away from strife. You cannot get away from it in business; you found it in the nursery before you found it in the market-place. The Church is a battlefield. What, then, is to be done? Everything depends upon the spirit in which the strife is urged. We may go forth to good wars with an evil intent. Or we may take it good-heartedly, with a great rising of gladness within the soul, saying, This is Thy way, Lord, that we are to be made strong by fight; we begin by conflict, we are not to have our own way in the world; but give us the good spirit, loving, magnanimous. The great fight is within. If you are a living man, you are at war with yourself. Even supposing all your friends and enemies were at one with you, there would be a great war in the soul. You must do the evil deed. Yet you do not want to do it; you dare not speak about it; the war is secret, silent, profound, vital. God give you strength! You may overcome yet. Life is not only a war, but the war may be conducted under the very presence and with the very blessing of Christ. Whoso goes forth to war in that power comes back at eventide more than the conqueror. The text reads as if it were a direction in statistics. We cannot exclude the element of statistics from spiritual aggression and spiritual defence. How strong is Gods army in numbers? It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, saith the wise book; and God conceals from us the exact numerical strength of His army. The statistics of the army are kept in heaven. What if it should turn out that a little childs little finger-has won more victories than all the embattled hosts that went forth in mail? What we have to do is for each man to do his own share of the war, fight as if everything depended upon him. Christianity is the military religion. It will fight; it was born to fight. Christianity is dead against all evil. Not against great vulgar crimes only; there is not a magistrate on the bench who does not delight to punish crime. Crime is overt, external, rough, vulgar, and men are paid to sentence it to hard labour. Christianity deals with the spring, with the deceitful heart. Christianity is at war with motive, purpose, thought, intention of the heart. Therefore much of its war is done silently. It is not therefore the less vital and the less tremendous. Christianity insists that we shall fight evil spirits. It is soul against soul, spirit against spirit, thought against thought. There is no tragedy so sublime, so overwhelming, as the fight between the soul and the devil. Do not expect to win all at once. You are winning a little every day. Whatever fight you are waging you believe to be good, the mere fighting of the battle makes you stronger; you may he driven back for a little time, but you will come up again. Only, in Gods name, for Christs sake, do not lose your heart, or you will lose yourself. Let there be no doubt as to which side you are upon. People who are going between this side and that vide will be of no use in the fight and no use in the council. Let us have detiniteness of position. Let us have a clear, simple, honest profession of religion. Nor let any soul be discouraged because it cannot do much in the way of public battle. Some conquer by patience. Patience!–who can write the history of that great conqueror? Patience, that hardly sighs; patience, that scarcely ever turns its eyes to the clock to see how the weary time is going; patience, that puts the best view upon every case; patience, that sits up for the wanderer, though midnight be passed, saying all the while, that it really did not want to sleep; it is the inner interpretation of things; it is Gods view of life; it is love at its best. You are not doing much public fighting mayhap, but let me tell you what you are doing–you are succouring the soldiers that are out in the field; you spake so kindly to the good man when he left home in the morning that he went out as strong as ten men. And you are but some poor obscure servitor; your place is in the kitchen; you do what are called the humbler duties of life, but you make the whole house glad. You make the man of business go forth a happier and stronger man in the morning because of your simplicity and faithfulness and daily care. Understand that whoever gives one of Christs soldiers a cup of cold water with a loving hand and a loving glance wins part of the victory. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Our duty to the state
He is not worthy to be a member of a state, by whom the state is no whir bettered. The Romans well understood this, when they instituted their censors, to inquire into every mans course of life, and to note them, carbone nigro, with a character of infamy, that could not give some good account of their life. It is a thing pitiful to consider how many there are in this land of ours whose glory is their shame, the very drones and cumber-grounds of their country, the chronicle of whose life was long since summed up by the poet, Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati; no better than ciphers if you respect the good they do. But let them know that God will have no mutes in His grammar, no blanks in His almanack, no dumb shows on His stage, no false lights in His house, no loiterers in His vineyard. (J. Spencer.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Take ye the sum, c.] God, having established the commonwealth of Israel by just and equitable laws, ordained every thing relative to the due performance of his own worship, erected his tabernacle, which was his throne, and the place of his residence among the people, and consecrated his priests who were to minister before him he now orders his subjects to be mustered,
1. That they might see he had not forgotten his promise to Abraham, but was multiplying his posterity.
2. That they might observe due order in their march toward the promised land.
3. That the tribes and families might be properly distinguished; that all litigations concerning property, inheritance, c., might, in all future times, be prevented.
4. That the promise concerning the Messiah might be known to have its due accomplishment, when in the fulness of time God should send him from the seed of Abraham through the house of David. And,
5. That they might know their strength for war for although they should ever consider God as their protector and defence, yet it was necessary that they should be assured of their own fitness, naturally speaking, to cope with any ordinary enemy, or to surmount any common difficulties.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This is not the same muster with that Exo 38:26, as plainly appears, because that was before the building of the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day of the first month, Exo 40:2; but this was after it, to wit, on the first day of the second month, as is said Num 1:1. And they were for differing ends; that was to tax them for the charges of the tabernacle, but this was for other ends; partly, that the great number of the people might be known to the praise of Gods faithfulness, in making good his promises of multiplying them, and to their own comfort and encouragement; partly, for the better ordering of their camp and march, for they were now beginning their journey; and partly, that this account might be compared with the other in the close of the book, where we read that not one of all this vast number, except Caleb and Joshua, were left alive; which was an evident discovery of the mischievous nature of sin, by which so vast a company were destroyed, and a fair warning to all future generations to take heed of rebelling against the Lord, for which their ancestors had been so dreadfully plagued even to extirpation. It is true, the sums and numbers agree in this and that computation, which is not strange, because there was not much time between the two numberings, and no eminent sin among the people in that interval whereby God was provoked to diminish their numbers. Some conceive, that in that number, Exo 30; Exo 38, the Levites were included, which are here excepted, Num 1:47, and that in that interval of time there were grown up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the same age.
Of the children of Israel; so the stranger mixed with them were not numbered. The people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, Num 26:5; these great families into lesser families, called
the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by their fathers.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel,…. Excepting the Levites; nor were any account taken of the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with the children of Israel, only of them; and this account was taken, partly to observe the fulfilment of the divine promise to Abraham concerning the multiplication of his seed, and partly that it might be observed, that at the end of thirty eight years from hence, when they were numbered again, there were but three left of this large number, their carcasses falling in the wilderness because of their sins; and chiefly, as Aben Ezra observes, this sum was now taken to fix their standards, and for their better and more orderly journeying and encampment; for on the twentieth of this month they set forward on their journey from hence,
Nu 10:11; the word for the order is in the plural number, take ye, being given both to Moses and Aaron, who were to take the number, and did, Nu 1:3;
after their families; into which their tribes were divided:
by the house of their fathers; for if the mother was of one tribe, and the father of another, the family was according to the tribe of the father, as Jarchi notes, a mother’s family being never called a family, as Aben Ezra observes:
with the number of [their] names; of every particular person, whose name was inserted in a list or register:
every male by their poll; or head b; for none but males were numbered: the Lord’s spiritual Israel are a numbered people, written in the book of life, placed into the hand of Christ, and exactly known by him, even by name; yea, all that belong to him are numbered, and the very airs of their heads,
b “per capita sua”, Pagninus, &c,
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
B. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS ON THE CENSUS vv. 24
TEXT
Num. 1:2. Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; 3. From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies. 4. And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 1:2. Take a head count of all the congregation of the children of Israel by their families, by their fathers house-holds, according to the number of names; each male, head by head; 3. from twenty years of age and up, whoever is able to go to war in Israel; you and Aaron shall count them according to their armies. 4. Furthermore, there shall be a man of each tribe with you, each one the head of his fathers household.
COMMENTARY
The purpose for this census is simply stated by the fact that it is to include all 20-year old males and up, who are able to go to war. Therefore we may accept the term muster which is often used to describe the census. In Exo. 14:14 Jehovah had pledged to fight for Israel. The promise was repeated several times, as in Deu. 1:30; Deu. 3:22.
Why, then, is an army necessary at all? It is to be clear again and again that the people of God will be asked to assemble an army when under threat or specific martial instructions of God; it is no less clear that victory would come by the varied devices and power of God. Intervening clouds, locked chariot wheels and the release of divinely walled waters in the Red Sea had disposed of the Egyptian army (Exodus 14). The Amalekites were dealt a defeat at Rephidim, but only while Moses arms were supported and substained by Aaron and Hur. The army engaged the enemy in typical conflict, and God gave the victory (Exo. 17:8-13). We have only to mention Jericho, Aijalon, and Gideon to be reminded of a few of the numerous unusual means God has employed to make his people triumphant.
Each victory is thus seen as a cooperative act: the people, when they obey the detailed words of God, will see their faith justified when God discomfits the enemy. He did not do for them what they were able to accomplish alone, but supplemented their deeds by His own devices. Failure to comply with divine orders, specifically given or logically inferred, brought reverses and retribution, as when Achans sin prevented the capture of Ai (Joshua 7), and Sauls non-compliance in eliminating the Amalekites resulted in his losing the throne (1Sa. 15:1-28).
Responsibility for the counting of Israel is primarily given to Moses and Aaron. The work is to be further subdivided into tribal sections, and into families within the tribes. With such an organized scheme the total might be taken in a minimum of time, and without inconvenience.
Exempted from the first counting were all females, as well as all males below the age of twenty, all Levites, and other males who might be maimed, ill, aged or infirm. Only the most fit were suitable for military service. The nations they must face in the future are formidable, as reported by the spies later (Num. 13:28-29), and there is no place for the man, how willing, who is not physically able to endure the demands of a rigorous military exploit. God has never been pleased with less than our very best for His service. No man could bring Him a crippled or diseased animal in sacrifice; no handicapped Levite could perform priestly services before Him. Even the slightest defect eliminated either: but we should remember that we speak of physical service only. Our worship is quite another matter, for here God looks only at the heart, which is in no way whatever related to or affected by the physical body. David was selected rather than the other, older sons of Jesse not because of age or stature or countenancefactors which men consider importantbut because God had looked upon his heart (see 1Sa. 16:4-13); into this man God sent forth His Spirit mightily.
Counting the men by families probably indicated that they would also be organized in such units while serving in the army. The natural bond of blood should contribute to the general espirit de corps. Each man might well conceive of his service as a protection of his own home and loved ones. Nehemiah utilized such a plan with brilliant effectiveness in leading the Jews to rebuild the city walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 4:13-14 ff.). Like some other people, the Israelites Would also attach great importance to their genealogical records, which were carefully memorized and recited commonly by the children and old men alike.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
11.
For what special purpose was the number of this congregation to be taken? What other uses might be made of the census?
12.
How can the census be called accurate or complete with so many of the people excluded?
13.
Can we establish a formula for estimating the total number of the Israelites, since only males are counted, and with the exclusions based upon age and tribe?
14.
If God had pledged to fight their battles for the Israelites, why did the instructions state that those to be counted should be able to go to forth to war?
15.
Suggest some methods by which Moses and Aaron might implement their task of tallying the head count.
16.
Can you think of any reason that the census did not specify an age beyond which the men were not to be counted?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(2) After their families.The family or clan, mishpahah, included several fathers houses (see Kurtzs 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 Exo. 30:12. There is no corresponding clause in the account of the later numbering in Num. 26:2.
By their pollsi.e., man by man. The word gulgoleth denotes a mans head, or skull. Cf. Mat. 27:33.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Take ye the sum The chief object of this enrolment was probably for the more efficient organization of the military force of the nation. It may, however, have also subserved other purposes.
After their families This census was more than an individual enumeration: it was a tribal and family registration, and was necessary for the efficient organization of the army. The difference between the terms “families” and house of their fathers is not clear. From Jos 7:14, (see note,) we infer that the former includes the latter, though Prof. Bush suggests that the latter is merely explanatory of the former. See Exo 6:13-19, note. An incidental but very important result of this family registration was the documentary provision which it afforded for tracing the lineage of the Messiah. The formation of family surnames is seen in Num 26:5-7, like the English John- sons, the Scotch Macs, and the Irish O’s and Fitz’s.
The number of their names Although the Hebrew for sum and number would indicate some difference, it is not clear what it is. The majority of the versions translate them as synonymous.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Take you (ye) the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, by their heads, from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, you (thou) and Aaron shall number them by their hosts.’
The command is given to ‘take the sum’ of all men of military age in the twelve tribes (excluding Levi), in ‘the congregation of the children of Israel’, numbering them in their different regiments (‘hosts’). The intention was in order to organise the different sections of the army. This was ‘the Lord’s army’. What pride there probably was in its being numbered. What sad failure would result when as a result of unbelief it would flee from the Amorites. And yet God’s purposes would go forward and success would come in the end, not through the size of that army but through God’s power at work through weakness.
This numbering was to be done ‘by their families, by their father’s houses’, in other words ‘wider family by wider family’, and ‘tribe by tribe’. Each section would number its men available for action and the numbering would then be accumulated to give the number for the tribe. The numbering was to be of those available to ‘go forth to war’.
“The congregation of Israel.” A regular description for the tribes of Israel as a whole seen as one in their submission to Yahweh, seen as a people ‘gathered’ to serve Him. Sometimes it can refer to the mature menfolk, or sometimes to the whole of Israel.
“According to the number of the names.” This may refer to the names of the twelve tribes. But more probably it simply refers to the people as ‘names’ as it refers to them as ‘heads’ and ‘every male’ (compare Num 1:17). They are not just numbers, they have names. Compare Num 26:53.
We note that the command was given to Moses, but that Aaron was also to be involved in the matter in his new position as ‘the Priest’ (the High Priest). This linking is stressed in the passage Num 1:1 to Num 3:1 related to numbering (see Num 1:3; Num 1:17; Num 1:44; Num 2:1), although Moses alone is mentioned where Yahweh’s direct command is stressed (Num 1:19; Num 1:48; Num 1:54; Num 2:33-34). This is officially ‘the history of Moses and Aaron’ as confirmed by the colophon (Num 3:1).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 1:2. Take ye the sum See Exo 30:12; Exo 38:26 and the 26th chapter of this book. The tribes were divided into families, the families into houses or households, Jos 7:16-18 but here the house of their fathers seems of the same import with the tribes of their fathers: so in Num 1:4 the princes of the tribes, are called, heads of the houses of their fathers; and Num 1:44 the house of their fathers is the same as the tribe of their fathers, Num 1:47.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Had not this method of numbering by families a particular design, more clearly thereby to ascertain the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ? Heb 7:14 .
Let the Reader remark with me, what dignity God hath put upon his people, in thus causing them to be numbered. At this time there were many nations, aye and great ones too in their own esteem, but yet no account is made of them. Whereas this handful of people is taken account of, as if the whole world was nothing in comparison of them. Reader, cannot you explain it? The Bible doth most fully. They were the Segullah, the jewels, the precious ones of God. And if the Reader would know the reason the prophet will tell him. Isa 43:1-4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 1:2 Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of [their] names, every male by their polls;
Ver. 2. Take ye the sum. ] Hence this book is named in the Greek, Numbers.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Take ye. Compare Exo 30:11, Exo 30:12; Exo 38:25. In Exodus, moral law (prophet); Leviticus, ritual law (priest); Numbers, commonwealth law (king).
sum. Three numberings. Exo 30:11, Exo 30:12 (Compare Num 38:25, Num 38:26); here; and 26.
congregation. See note on Gen 28:3.
children = sons. Hebrew. banim, from banah, to build, because the family thus built up. Compare Gen 30:3. Rth 4:11. So throughout, polls. Edition of 1611 = poll. Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Part), App-6, skull or head put for person.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
second month
i.e. May; also Num 1:18.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Take ye the sum: This numbering was probably intended to illustrate the Divine faithfulness in thus increasing the seed of Abraham; to prepare them to preserve due order in their march; and to distinguish the tribes and families. Num 26:2-4, Num 26:63, Num 26:64, Exo 30:12, Exo 38:26, 2Sa 24:1-3, 1Ch 21:1, 1Ch 21:2, 1Ch 27:23, 1Ch 27:24
the children: Gen 49:1-3, Exo 1:1-5
after: Num 1:18, Num 1:22, Num 1:26-54, Exo 6:14-19
Reciprocal: Num 1:19 – General Num 1:44 – General 1Ch 23:24 – by their polls 2Ch 17:14 – to the house
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 1:2. Take ye the sum This is not the same muster with that spoken of Exo 38:26, as plainly appears, because that was before the building of the tabernacle, which was built and set up on the first day of the first month; (Exo 40:2;) but this was after it, on the first day of the second month. And they were for different ends; that was to tax them for the charges of the tabernacle; but this was for other purposes, as partly, that the great number of the people might be known to the praise of Gods faithfulness, in making good his promises of multiplying them, and for their own encouragement: partly for the better ordering of their camp and march, for they were now beginning their journey; and partly that this account might be compared with the other in the close of the book, where we read that not one of all this vast number, except Caleb and Joshua, were left alive; a fair warning to all future generations to take head of rebelling against the Lord. It is true, the sums and numbers agree in this and the former computation mentioned, (Exo 38:26,) which is not strange, because there was not much time between these two numberings, and no eminent sin among the people in that interval, whereby God was provoked to diminish their numbers. Some, indeed, suppose, that in that number (Exo 30:38.) the Levites were included, who are here excepted, (Num 1:47,) and that in that interval of time there were grown up as many more men of those years as there were Levites of the same age. Israel
So the strangers mixed with them were not numbered. Their fathers The people were divided into twelve tribes, the tribes into great families, (Num 26:5,) these great families into lesser families, called the houses of their fathers, because they were distinguished one from another by their fathers.