Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 1:17
And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by [their] names:
17 46. The numbers ascertained by the census.
There can be no doubt that the numbers given in chs. 1 3 and 26 are purely artificial. Gray ( Numbers, pp. 10 15) shews that (1) they are impossible, (2) when compared with each other they yield absurd results, (3) they are inconsistent with numbers given in Hebrew literature earlier than P .
(1) The number of male Israelites of fighting age is put at 603,550, which appears in round numbers as 600,000 in Num 11:21, Exo 12:37. But the fighting men could form hardly more than a quarter of the whole; so that the population would reach a total of some 2 millions. The present population of the Sinaitic peninsula is estimated at from 4,000 to 6,000, and a body of over 2 million people could not find subsistence even if dispersed all over the peninsula.
(2) The male first-born numbered 22,273 (Num 3:43); and it is fair to suppose that the number of families in which the first-born child was a female would be about the same, giving a total of some 44,546 families; in which case there was an average of about 50 children to a family.
Again, from Num 3:12 we gather that the ‘first-born’ means the first-born of the mother, not the eldest son of a father who might have several wives. There were, therefore, 44,546 mothers. But this number (assuming that the number of women over 20 years of age was the same as that of the men, i.e. 600,000) involves the extreme improbability that only 1 in 14 women over 20 years of age had any children.
(3) According to Jdg 5:8 the tribes of Benjamin, Ephraim. Manasseh, Naphtali, Zebulun and Issachar yielded only 40,000 persons, i.e. apparently fighting men. But in these six tribes the fighting men were 273,300 at the first census, and 301,000 at the second (Numbers 26).
Again, in Judges 18 it is related that the Danites had no proper territory belonging to them; and therefore 600 armed men (obviously the greater part of the tribe) migrated to the north. But the fighting men of Dan numbered 62,700 at the first census, and 64,400 at the second. See, further, the additional note at the end of the chapter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And Moses and Aaron took these men,…. They doubtless sent for them, and acquainted them with the nomination of them, by the Lord himself, for such a service; and they took them with them to the place where the number of the people was to be taken:
which are expressed by [their] names: in Nu 1:16, and that as declared by the mouth of God himself.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This command was carried out by Moses and Aaron. They took for this purpose the twelve heads of tribes who are pointed out (see at Lev 24:11) by name, and had the whole congregation gathered together by them and enrolled in genealogical tables. , to announce themselves as born, i.e., to have themselves entered in genealogical registers (books of generations). This entry is called a , mustering, in Num 1:19, etc. In vv. 20-43 the number is given of those who were mustered of all the different tribes, and in Num 1:44-47 the total of the whole nation, with the exception of the tribe of Levi. “ Their generations ” (Num 1:20, Num 1:22, Num 1:24, etc.), i.e., those who were begotten by them, so that “ the sons of Reuben, Simeon, ” etc., are mentioned as the fathers from whom the mishpachoth and fathers’ houses had sprung. The before in Num 1:22, and the following names (in Num 1:24, Num 1:26, etc.), signifies “ with regard to ” (as in Isa 32:1; Psa 17:4, etc.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by their names: 18 And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 19 As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20 And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 21 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred. 22 Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 23 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 24 Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 25 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty. 26 Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 27 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 28 Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 29 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 30 Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 31 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 32 Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 33 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred. 34 Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 35 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred. 36 Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 37 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred. 38 Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 39 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred. 40 Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 41 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred. 42 Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 43 Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.
We have here the speedy execution of the orders given for the numbering of the people. It was begun the same day that the orders were given, The first day of the second month; compare Num 1:1; Num 1:18. Note, When any work is to be done for God it is good to set about it quickly, while the sense of duty is strong and pressing. And, for aught that appears, it was but one day’s work, for many other things were done between this and the twentieth day of this month, when they removed their camp, ch. x. 11. Joab was almost ten months numbering the people in David’s time (2 Sam. xxiv. 8); but then they were dispersed, now they lived closely together; then Satan proposed the doing of it, now God commanded it. It was the sooner and more easily done now because it had been done but a little while ago, and they needed but review the old books, with the alterations since made, which probably they had kept an account of as they occurred.
In the particulars here left upon record, we may observe, 1. That the numbers are registered in words at length (as I may say), and not in figures; to every one of the twelve tribes it is repeated, for the greater ceremony and solemnity of the account, that they were numbered by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, to show that every tribe took and gave in the account by the same rule and in the same method, though so many hands were employed in it, setting down the genealogy first, to show that their family descended from Israel, then the families themselves in their order, then dividing each family into the houses, or subordinate families, that branched from it, and under these the names of the particular persons, according to the rules of heraldry. Thus every man might know who were his relations or next of kin, on which some laws we have already met with did depend: besides that the nearer any are to us in relation the more ready we should be to do them good. 2. That they all end with hundreds, only Gad with fifty (v. 25), but none of the numbers descend to units or tens. Some think it was a special providence that ordered all the tribes just at this time to be even numbers, and no odd or broken numbers among them, to show them that there was something more than ordinary designed in their increase, there being this uncommon in the circumstance of it. It is rather probable that Moses having some time before appointed rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties (Exod. xviii. 25), they numbered the people by their respective rulers, which would bring the numbers to even hundreds or fifties. 3. That Judah is the must numerous of them all, more than double to Benjamin and Manasseh, and almost 12,000 more than any other tribe, v. 27. It was Judah whom his brethren must praise because from him Messiah the Prince was to descend; but, because that was a thing at a distance, God did in many ways honour that tribe in the mean time, particularly by the great increase of it, for his sake who was to spring out of Judah (Heb. vii. 14) in the fulness of time. Judah was to lead the van through the wilderness, and therefore was furnished accordingly with greater strength than any other tribe. 4. Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, are numbered as distinct tribes, and both together made up almost as many as Judah; this was in pursuance of Jacob’s adoption of them, by which they were equalled with their uncles Reuben and Simeon, Gen. xlviii. 5. It was also the effect of the blessing of Joseph, who was to be a fruitful bough, Gen. xlix. 22. And Ephraim the younger is put first, and is more numerous than Manasseh, for Jacob had crossed hands, and foreseen ten thousands of Ephraim and thousands of Manasseh. The fulfilling of this confirms our faith in the spirit of prophecy with which the patriarchs were endued. 5. When they came down into Egypt Dan had but one son (Gen. xlvi. 23), and so his tribe was but one family, ch. xxvi. 42. Benjamin had then ten sons (Gen. xlvi. 21), yet now the tribe of Dan is almost double in number to that of Benjamin. Note, The increasing and diminishing of families do not always go by probabilities. Some are multiplied greatly, and again are diminished, while others that were poor have families made them like a flock, Psa 107:38; Psa 107:39; Psa 107:41; and see Job xii. 23. 6. It is said of each of the tribes that those were numbered who were able to go forth to war, to remind them that they had wars before them, though now they were in peace and met with no opposition. Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast as though he had put it off.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 17-21:
“These men,” those listed in verses 5-16.
The language implies that the census was completed in one day. This meant that the necessary family lists were prepared in advance, likely the same list used in the poll tax, Ex 30:11; 37:25, 26.
“Pedigree,” yalad (hiph), “to one’s birth or pedigree,” from a verb meaning “to give birth.”
This census included males, twenty years old and upward.
Reuben was first to be counted, a total of 46,500 men.
Reuben was Jacob’s eldest son, the first child born to Leah. He was denied the traditional rights of the frist-born, because of the sin of incest, Ge 35:22; 49:3, 4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
B. THE COUNTING, TRIBE BY TRIBE vv. 1743
TEXT
Num. 1:17. And Moses and Aaron took these men Which are expressed by their names: 18. And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. 19. As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai. 20. And the children of Reuben, Israels eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 21. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben were forty and six thousand and five hundred.
22. Of the children of Simeon, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, those that were numbered of them, according to the number of their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 23. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.
24.
Of the children of Gad, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 25. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.
26. Of the children of Judah, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 27. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.
28. Of the children of Issachar, by their generations, after then families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 29. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.
30. Of the children of Zebulun, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 31. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.
32. Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 33. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.
34. Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 35. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.
36. Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 37. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.
38. Of the children of Dan, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 39. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.
40. Of the children of Asher, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 41. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Asher, were forty and one thousand and five hundred.
42. Of the children of Naphtali, throughout their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; 43. Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 1:17. And Moses and Aaron took these men who have been named. 18. They gathered the entire congregation of people in one place, on the first day of the second month. Then they registered themselves by families, by their fathers houses, from twenty years of age and over, head by head, 19. As the Lord had commanded Moses. So they were counted in the wilderness of Sinai:
20. The children of Reuben, firstborn son of Israel, their generations, according to their families by their fathers houses, by the number of names, head by head, every male twenty years old and over, all who were able to go to war21. the total for the tribe of Reuben was 46,500. [Again, the formula for the text may be applied, tribe by tribe, through Num. 1:43, refer to the KJV already given.]
COMMENTARY
Apparently the census is completed in one day, which would -require fine preparation in advance. We had been given an approximation of the figure in Exo. 12:37, and an exact number in Exo. 38:26. However, the figures might have been Supplied by Moses after the date of reference, in a later composition of the book; or, the first and earlier reference may have been a well-calculated estimate. We are not to suppose that the named princes made their counts alone; this would have been an impossible chore. The totals no doubt resulted when the numbers of individual families were simply added together and combined at graduating levels within the tribes, until a final sum might be reckoned as the composite of all smaller subgroups.
The impressive totals listed for each tribe, as well as that for the nation as a whole, have been subjected to harsh critical comments, Butzer, IB, simply affirms that No fertile land, let alone a desert, could have provided sufficient nourishment for such a mobile population, nor indeed could it have journeyed as ch. 33 relates. . . . The artificiality of the numbers here is evidenced by the fact that half the tribes are below, and half above, the fifty-thousand mark. His conclusion had been previously stated: The result is quite unhistorical. (pp. 145, 146).
In response, we must notice that the text nowhere affirms that the people lived upon the products of the land through which they moved, and in which they were to live for forty years. Apparently he is unwilling to allow the record to speak for itself: that God miraculously provided a great quantity of manna and meat as necessary to the host. Discount this provision, and his argument becomes plausible; but so it is with every critical argument calling Gods powers into question. It seems reasonable to conclude that the Israelites did not live on manna alone; doubtless they ate of their sizeable herds and flocks, and gained some sustenance, however limited, from the land.
With reference to the thought that the numbers divide equally above and below the fifty-thousand mark, we may ask why the arbitrary figure is chosen at all. It has absolutely no significance in itself, and sounds more like the contrived argument of one who has already made up his mind than that of one who is attempting objectivity.
Gray had posed the problem of sustenance in the desert (ICC, p. 12), based upon a quotation from Robinson that a body of two millions of men could not subsist there a week without drawing their supplies of water, as well as of provisions, from a great distance. To Robinsons words Gray adds, By a miracle, no doubt, this multitude might have been sustained; but it ought to be observed that the miracles actually recorded are not on an adequate scale . . . (to care for such needs), (Ibid )., The presumptions of such a conclusion are clear: that we are told of every occasion which God provided essential food and water for the people; that we are aware of every source of water then available; and that their actual requirements are now to be compared to the contemporary extravagances with which we are familiar. We are speaking of a slave people who are quite accustomed to subsisting on a bare minimum of necessities. They are now relatively inactive, further reducing the necessary input of food and water.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
22.
Why is the tribe of Joseph divided into two: Manasseh and Ephraim?
23.
Find a reasonable formula for computing an estimate of the total population of Israel, based upon the known factors here.
24.
Arrange the tribes in order of their numerical count, from the largest to the least. Can you establish any relationship between this head count and the area or location each tribe was given in the Promised Land in Joshua 13; Joshua 14; Joshua 15; Joshua 16; Joshua 17; Joshua 18; Joshua 19?
25.
What value is there in repeating the exact formula for each tribe in the census?
26.
Suggest some plans Moses, Aaron and the tribal heads might have used to organize the people for the census.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
‘And Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name, and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees (their ‘begetting’) after their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their heads.’
These chieftains, these ‘men who are mentioned by name’ because of their prominence, then returned to their tribes and gathered them on the day in question and each of the male members of the tribe ‘declared their begetting’, that is, their claim to connection with the tribe, clan group by clan group, in their tribes, according to the number of names, for all those of twenty years old and upwards. In other words each tribe mobilised its fighting men, identifying them with the tribe. By now those of the mixed multitude (Exo 12:38) who had determined to become Yahwists (Exo 12:48) would have been incorporated into the tribes by adoption, and have become ‘children of Israel’, and members of a chosen tribe, ‘descended’ from the tribal patriarch.
“After their clans, by their fathers” houses, according to the number (assessment) of the names.’ Note the division into clans, and then into wider families (fathers’ houses), and then into smaller groupings (the ‘assessment of the names’).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
EXPOSITION
THE CENSUS TAKEN (Num 1:17-46).
Num 1:17
These men. Designated by direct command of God; yet probably the same, or some of the same, selected by Moses for obvious personal and social reasons a short time before (Exo 18:25).
Num 1:18
On the first day of the second month. The natural meaning is that the census was completed in one day. If so, the “census papers,” the pedigrees and family lists, must have been ready beforehand. Notice had in fact been given more than a month before, and the lists made up, when the poll-tax was paid.
Num 1:19
As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them. The usual note of absolute obedience to the Divine instructions; but it serves to express the fundamental difference between this numbering and David’s.
Num 1:21
Forty and six thousand and five hundred. All the numbers (save of Gad only) are in unbroken hundreds. It might have been so arranged by miracle; but such an overruling would have no assignable object, and therefore it is far better to fall back on the obvious and natural explanation that the totals were approximate. If they were simply the poll-tax figures unaltered, it would be natural to suppose that the offerings were made up in fifty-shekel lots, and the offerers divided as nearly as possible into hundreds. For military purposes a certain number of supernumeraries would be convenient. In the one excepted case of Gad a half-hundred appears for some unexplained cause,
Num 1:24
Gad. He is here ranked immediately after Reuben and Simeon, because he was placed with them in the encampment (see above, Num 1:5).
Num 1:26
Judah. The immense and disproportionate increase of Judah is no doubt a difficulty in itself; but it is quite in keeping with the character assigned to him in prophecy and the part played by him in history.
Num 1:32
Of the children of Joseph. Both are numbered as separate tribes, but Ephraim already takes precedence, not as being larger, which is not considered in this list, but according to prophecy (Gen 48:5, Gen 48:14).
Num 1:38
Of the children of Dan. The enormous numerical increase in this tribe is the more remarkable because it is clearly intimated that Dan had but one son, Hushim or Shuham (Gen 46:23; Num 26:42). It may, of course, be said that he had other sons not enumerated, but such an assumption is arbitrary and improbable in the face of the family genealogies in chapter 26. If he had any other sons, they did not leave any families behind them. But if the sojourning of the Israelites in Egypt was 430 years, according to the plain statement of Exo 12:40, even this increase is quite within possible, and even probable, limits, considering the peculiar circumstances and the known fecundity of the race. For if Hushim, who came into Egypt with his grandfather, had only three sons born to him within the next twenty-five years, and if his descendants doubled themselves every quarter of a century, which is not an uncommon rate of increase under certain circumstances, then his numbers would have fully reached 200,000 by the time of the exodus. Perhaps the most puzzling feature about the increase is the great inequality with which it was spread over the various tribes, a fact of which we cannot even suggest any explanation.
Num 1:46
Six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. See Exo 38:26. As the adult male Levites numbered about 10,000, this represents an increase of 13,000 since the exodus. Some thousands had died through the Divine displeasure, but, on the other hand, the natural mortality may have ceased. It was evidently in the purpose of God that all who crossed the Red Sea should also enter their promised land.
HOMILETICS
Num 1:17-46
GOD’S ARMY
We have here, spiritually, the army of the living God numbered and arrayed unto the march and the victory. Consider, therefore
That it would appear, as far as we can gather from the increase in numbers, that none had died since the exodus, save through disobedience and idolatry. Even so, none can perish or be lost from the vast army which has come through the Red Sea of the blood of Christ, save through their own disobedience, through departing in their heart from the living God, and making them other gods. The armies of God do not and cannot decrease by death, by violence, or accident: such things have no dominion over them; only sin can separate from the society of the elect, from the communion of saints.
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE
Num 1:44-46
THE TWO NUMBERINGS IN THE WILDERNESS
The Bible abounds in statistics. The historical books, in particular, bristle with genealogies and census-tables. “Numbers” gets its name from the circumstance that it contains the tabulated results of two distinct numberings. The statistical chapters are commonly passed over in the consecutive reading of the Scripture, in the family, and in the Church. The wine of the kingdom does not flow from them freely; all the rather ought care to be taken to read and expound them occasionally. All Scripture is profitable; and the statistical chapters, hard and barren as they look, are no exception.
I. For one thing, these chapters serve admirably to ANCHOR THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE ON THE FIRM GROUND OF HISTORY. The Lord Jesus was not a mythical character, not a mere play of glorious colour on a bank of unsubstantial vapour. He was the son of a daughter of David’s house. His genealogy is extant; and a long chain of family registers, imbedded in the historical books of the Old Testament, afford the means of verifying it. The sacred writers are never afraid to descend from the region of moral and religious disquisition into the region of exact numbers, which can be sifted and weighed in the light of our modern statistical science. The importance of all this can hardly be exaggerated, especially for an age like the present, which so confidently calls in question the historical verity of the Scriptures. To come to these census chapters in Numbers. The critics laugh at the idea that a nation of two millions and more were led out of Egypt by Moses and sojourned in the wilderness for forty years. Objections formidable enough are brought forward; but the objectors have to face the fact that the history, besides giving the round numbers, explain how they were made up. What is more; the details are found, on examination by men expert in statistics, to have such an air of reality that the ablest commentator (Knobel) of the Critical School, can think of no more feasible explanation than to suggest that some Levite must have laid his hands on the report of some real census, taken in a later age, and inserted it here in the Pentateuch. How writings so dishonestly compiled should have reached the high moral elevation of the Pentateuch, the critic has omitted to explain. He is certainly right in taking the chapters in Numbers for veritable census-tables.
II. NOR IS IT ONLY IN THIS GENERAL VIEW OF THEM THAT THESE STATISTICAL CHAPTERS ARE INSTRUCTIVE, The facts recorded (like all the authentic facts of God’s providential government of men) are very suggestive.
1. Observe how unequally the several tribes have multiplied. Compare Judah and his 74,600 with Benjamin and his 35,400. All family histories and national histories are full of similar inequalities. There are great nations (France, Spain) in which the population is stationary or receding; others, similarly situated, in which there is steady increase (Germany, Russia). In the course of two or three centuries, facts like these must powerfully affect the history of the world. What hopes with regard to the future are excited by observing that, as a rule, it is the Protestant nations that are multiplying, and replenishing the earth, and subduing it!
2. How the blessing delivered by Jacob bears fruit after he has gone; in Gen 49:1-33, two sonsJudah and Josephare honoured above the rest.
(a) To Judah is assigned the primacy of honour and power forfeited by Reuben, the firstborn (Gen 49:8-12). How the fulfillment of this comes to light in the census at Sinai! His tribe outnumbers all the others save one; his tents occupy the place of honour in the camp, being pitched towards the rising of the sun; his standard (the lion of the tribe of Judah) leads the van in the march; in the captain of his best, Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, we recognize the ancestor of our Lord.
(b) Joseph, the best-beloved of the twelve, was to be a fruitful vine, a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. His two sons were to become each a several tribe, “as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine” (Gen 48:5, Gen 48:6; Gen 49:22-26). This also is exactly accomplished; not only are Ephraim and Manasseh reckoned as two tribes, but each takes rank with the other tribes in respect both to honour and numbers. Contemplating these facts in the light of Jacob’s blessing, we can perceive a moral purpose in them; Joseph and Judah were the two who excelled in godliness and magnanimity. The faithful God keepeth covenant to a thousand generations (comp. Psa 103:17).
3. How a family, which at one time promised well; may catch a blight and fade away. Mark the story of Simeon; at Sinai he was one of the most populous of the tribes; thirty-eight years later he is much the smallest. From nearly 60,000 he has shriveled into about 22,000. This downward course went on after the conquest. Simeon’s allotted inheritance was next to that of the tribe of Judah; and ere many generations passed he seems to have been absorbed by his more energetic and prosperous brother. The statistics of the Bible, being the digested statement of facts in the Divine government of families and nations, are mines where those who choose to dig find much silver. “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”B.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Num 1:17 And Moses and Aaron took these men which are expressed by [their] names:
Ver. 17. Which are expressed by their names. ] And they are all excellent good names and very significant; hereby is testified to posterity that they forgat not the name of their God when they were in the iron furnace, but could say, as Psa 44:17 , “All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten thee; though thou hast sore broken us, in the place of dragons,” &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 1:5-15, Joh 10:3, Rev 7:4-17
Reciprocal: Lev 24:16 – blasphemeth 1Ch 16:41 – expressed