Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 1:20
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;
The enrollment, being taken principally for military purposes (compare Num 1:3, Num 1:20), would naturally be arranged by hundreds, fifties, etc. (cf. 2Ki 1:9, 2Ki 1:11, 2Ki 1:13). In eleven tribes the number enrolled consists of complete hundreds. The difference, in this respect, observable in the case of the tribe of Gad here Num 1:25, and of the tribe of Reuben at the later census Num 26:7, is probably to be accounted for by the pastoral, and consequently nomadic, habits of these tribes, which rendered it difficult to bring all their members together at once for a census. Judah already takes precedence of his brethren in point of numbers (compare Gen 49:8 note), and Ephraim of Manasseh (compare Gen 48:19-20).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Num 1:20-46
Those that were numbered.
The first army of Israel, an illustration of the Church militant
I. The necessity of this army. The Church must be militant.
1. Internal foes have to be conquered. Carnal appetites, evil passions, &c.
2. External foes have to be conquered. Ignorance and superstition, immorality and irreligion, dirt and disease, vice and crime.
II. The authority for organising this army. Gods command.
III. The composition of this army.
1. Israelites only. Thoroughly decided Christians are needed now.
2. Able men only. Christ gives strength even to the weak and timid.
3. All the able men. None exempt. We must either vanquish our spiritual enemies, or they will vanquish us. Neutrality is out of the question here. Neither can we do our fighting by proxy.
IV. The conquering spirit of this army. When our faith in God is strong, we are invincible. When it fails, we are overthrown by the first assault of the enemy. True faith gives glorious visions to the spirit, inspires us with heroic courage, girds us with all-sufficient strength. Conclusion–
1. A call to decision. Who is on the Lords side?
2. A call to courage. Our arms are tried and true; our great Leader is invincible; let us then be strong and of a good courage.
3. A call to confidence. Our courage, to be true, must spring from faith, By trust we triumph. (W. Jones.)
The necessity of war:
I believe in war. I believe there are times when it must be taken. I believe in it as a medicine. Medicine is not good to eat, but when you are sick it is good to take. War is not a part of the gospel; but while men and the world are travelling on a plain where they are not capable of comprehending the gospel, a rude form of justice is indispensable, though it is very low down. If you go to a plain still higher, war seems to be a very poor instrumentality. And if you go yet higher and higher till you reach that sphere where the crowned Sufferer stands, how hideous war seems! ]n the earlier periods of society it is recognised as having a certain value; but its value is the very lowest, and at every step upward, till you come to this central Divine exhibition, it loses in value. Always it is a rude and uncertain police of nations. It is never good. It is simply better than something worse. Physical force is the alternative of moral influence; if you have not one, you must have the other. (H. W. Beecher.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
By their generations, Heb. to wit, their generations, i.e. the persons begotten of Reubens immediate children, who are here subdivided into families, and they into houses, and they into particular persons.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20-44. These are those that werenumberedIn this registration the tribe of Judah appears themost numerous; and accordingly, as the pre-eminence had been assignedto it by Jacob [Ge 49:8-12],it got the precedence in all the encampments of Israel. Of the twohalf-tribes of Joseph, who is seen to be “a fruitful bough”[Ge 49:22], that of Ephraim wasthe larger, as had been predicted. The relative increase of all, asin the two just mentioned, was owing to the special blessing of God,conformably to the prophetic declaration of the dying patriarch. Butthe divine blessing is usually conveyed through the influence ofsecondary causes; and there is reason to believe that the relativepopulousness of the tribes would, under God, depend upon theproductiveness of the respective localities assigned to them. [Fortabular chart, see on Nu 26:64.]
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son,…. Were numbered first, and next to them those of Simeon and Gad, for they were numbered according to the order in which they were to be encamped; for under Reuben’s standard were Simeon and Gad, and under Judah’s Issachar and Zebulun, and under Ephraim’s Manasseh and Benjamin, and under Dan’s Asher and Naphtali; and according to their order were the tribes numbered:
by their generations: or “their generations”, the birth, descent, and pedigree of them:
after their families, by the house of their fathers: according to the families and houses to which they belonged;
according to the number of the names by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward; their names were taken down, the number of them counted by their heads, even all the males that were above twenty years of age:
all that were able to go forth to war; which phrase, as it suggests that before this age they were not reckoned able bodied men for war, in common, though some might; so it seems to except all infirm persons, by reason of age and otherwise: now in all the other account of the numbering of the rest of the tribes, the same forms of expression are used as here, only the tribe of Simeon, which is the next, these words are left out, “by their polls, every male”, which being twice observed, need not be repeated, since by these instances it might be sufficiently known that the number was taken by a poll, and only of males; so that in Nu 1:23, there is nothing material to observe, or anything different from what is in this verse, but the particular sums of each tribe numbered, which stand thus: of the tribe of Reuben 46,500; of the tribe of Simeon, 59,300; of the tribe of Gad, 45,650; of the tribe of Judah, 74,600; of the tribe of Issachar, 54,400; of the tribe of Zebulun, 57,400; of the tribe of Ephraim, 40,500; of the tribe of Manasseh, 32,200; of the tribe of Benjamin 35,400; of the tribe of Dan, 62,700; of the tribe of Asher 41,500; of the tribe of Naphtali, 53,400; in which may be observed the various increase of the tribes, agreeably to divine predictions, and according to the sovereign will and infinite wisdom of God: Reuben, the firstborn, did not excel in number, six of the tribes having more in number than he: Judah had by far the greatest increase of them all, from whom the chief ruler was to come, and even the King Messiah; and in process of time was to become a kingdom of itself; Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph, was much more fruitful than Manasseh, his elder, more than eight thousand being numbered of the former than of the latter, all which agree with Jacob’s prophecies,
Ge 49:4; nor had they always the greatest number who had the most sons at their going down into Egypt; for though Simeon, who had then more sons than Reuben, had at this time a larger posterity; yet Gad, who had more than Simeon, had now fewer descendants; and Dan, who had but one son at that time, had now almost double the number of Benjamin, who then had ten sons: and it may be observed of other tribes, that their increase was not in proportion to the number of the sons of the patriarchs then; see Ge 46:8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
20. And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son If any disputatious person should contend that one family could not increase in 250 years to so great an amount, and thus should reject as nebulous what surpasses the ordinary rule of nature, we must bear in mind what I have already stated, that, inasmuch as this increase depended on the power of God, nothing is more absurd than to measure it by ordinary rules. For the intention of the Spirit is to represent to our eyes the incredible power of God in a conspicuous and signal miracle. Meanwhile, if you compared the tribe of Reuben with some of the others, it presents in its numbers some marks of the curse, so that we may gather that Reuben was degraded from the honors of his primogeniture; for the tribes of Simeon, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali were more numerous, whilst from Joseph alone, who was one of the youngest, a posterity descended which almost doubled it in numbers. God’s blessing, however, is most conspicuous in the tribe of Judah, in correspondence with the prophecy of Jacob; for by this prerogative, as it were, it was already called to the right of primogeniture and to supremacy, inasmuch as it surpassed all the principal ones.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) By their generations.The toledoth, or generations, included the whole of the descendants of the head of the tribe (Gen. 5:1; Gen. 6:9).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The Numbering or Assessment of the Tribes (excluding Levi).
(For more detail on these ‘numbers’ see the Book Comments in e-Sword).
The tribes were now assessed tribe by tribe in order to give a total picture, (L=sons of Leah, R=sons of Rachel, B=sons of Bilhah, Z=sons of Zilpah), commencing with Jacob’s firstborn, Reuben. The order is slightly unusual. Reuben (L), Simeon (L), Gad (Z), Judah (L), Issachar (L), Zebulun (L), Ephraim (R), Manasseh (R), Benjamin (R), Dan (B), Asher (Z), Naphtali (B). While on the whole the sons of the full wives are mentioned first, Gad (born of Zilpah) replaces Levi among the sons of Leah (L) for no obvious reason except that one of the concubine tribes had to join the Leah tribes in order to make up the ‘threes’ once Levi dropped out, and Gad were noted for their resilience, fierceness and righteousness for Yahweh (Gen 49:19; Deu 33:20-21). The ‘sons’ of Rachel (R) then follow. After them come the other sons of the concubines Bilhah (B) and Zilpah (Z), not in sequence but seen as combined
Num 1:20-21
‘And the children of Reuben, Israel’s first-born, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, by their heads, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred.’
The ‘numbering’ or ‘assessment’, whatever it actually involved, was carried out methodically according to their family history (toledoth) commencing with the clan, then with the wider family groupings, then with the smaller groupings (the number of the names, compare Num 1:18), then with the individuals (‘the heads’). All in the tribe of Reuben were mobilised amounting to forty six ’lph (wider families/ military officers) and five ‘hundreds’ (men in five military or social units) ready for war.
We note here that Reuben is named first, and declared to be ‘the firstborn of Israel’, distinguishing his status (see also Num 26:5). Thus the sons of Rachel and the concubines were not seen as including ‘firstborns’. There was only one firstborn in the family, the firstborn of the father.
Num 1:22-23
‘Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those that were numbered of them according to the number of the names, by their heads, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Simeon, amounting to fifty nine wider families/military officers and three ‘hundreds’ (men in three military or social units) ready for war.
Note again the grading downwards. Clans, fathers’ houses, the number of the names, the ‘heads’ (individuals).
Num 1:24-25
‘Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty and five thousand six hundred and fifty.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Gad, amounting to forty five wider families/military officers and six ‘hundreds’ (men in six military or social units) and a ‘fifty’ (a smaller military or social unit). The addition of the fifty may confirm that this is a serious ‘numbering’, that while it is not a strict head count, it is not just a rough estimate. But it may be that the people would have expected that there would be this odd unit attached to one of the tribes, possibly representing the total of non-Israelite non-absorbed resident aliens combining with the army. Or it may be intended to signify covenant connection of the whole (five intensified). The fact that the Levites also contained a fifty suggests the second is nearer to the truth.
“By their clans, by their fathers” houses, according to the number of the names.’ We note that at this point the ‘heads’ are dropped out. The concern is with units not individuals.
Num 1:26-27
‘Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Judah, were threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Judah, amounting to seventy four families/military officers and six ‘hundreds’ (men in six military units) ready for war.
Num 1:28-29
‘Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty and four thousand and four hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Issachar, amounting to fifty four families/military officers and four ‘hundreds’ (men in four military units) ready for war.
Num 1:30-31
‘Of the children of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Zebulun, were fifty and seven thousand and four hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Zebulun, amounting to fifty seven families/military officers and four ‘hundreds’ (men in four military units) ready for war.
Num 1:32-33
‘Of the children of Joseph, namely, of the children of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty thousand and five hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Ephraim, of Joseph, amounting to forty families/military officers and five ‘hundreds’ (men in five military units) ready for war.
Num 1:34-35
‘Of the children of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Manasseh, were thirty and two thousand and two hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Manasseh (of Joseph) amounting to thirty two families/military officers and two ‘hundreds’ (men in two military units) ready for war.
Num 1:36-37
‘Of the children of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Benjamin, were thirty and five thousand and four hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Benjamin, amounting to thirty five families/military officers and four ‘hundreds’ (men in four military units) ready for war.
Num 1:38-39
‘Of the children of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war, those who were numbered of them, of the tribe of Dan, were threescore and two thousand and seven hundred.’
A similar mobilisation took place for the tribe of Dan, amounting to sixty two families/military officers and seven ‘hundreds’ (men in seven military units) ready for war.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
There is certainly somewhat very striking in those scriptures which mention the number of the children of Israel. It is plain, that it is of the highest importance in the divine esteem, otherwise the Holy Ghost would not have caused it to be so particularly set down. Compare this with Rev 7:4-8 . Then hear what Paul saith, Rom 9:27 , and Rom 11:26 . Let the Reader pause to remark with me the superiority of attention, in point of numbers, which is paid to the tribe of Judah. Heb 7:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Reuben. Lost his dignity in Gen 49:3, Gen 49:4; not many in number here.
eldest son. See App-45.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Num 2:10, Num 2:11, Num 26:5-7, Gen 29:32, Gen 46:9, Gen 49:3, Gen 49:4, 1Ch 5:1
Reciprocal: Gen 35:22 – Now the sons Gen 46:8 – Reuben Exo 30:14 – from twenty Num 1:18 – according
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 1:20. By their generations That is, the persons begotten of Reubens immediate children, who are here subdivided into families, and they into houses, and they into particular persons.