Numbers 1 Study Notes

1:1 The Lord spoke to Moses is a key phrase in the book of Numbers. It is best understood as a statement of divine revelation and instruction. Many of the approximately sixty-five uses of this phrase within the Pentateuch are complemented by a statement that the recipient of the instruction did exactly what the Lord commanded. Church tradition from the fourth century AD places Mount Sinai in the south central mountains of the Sinai Peninsula at Jebel Musa (“Mount of Moses”). Other mountains suggested included Jebel Sin Bisher in west central Sinai, and Jebel Helal in northeast Sinai. The tent of meeting was the place of divine disclosure that housed the ark of the covenant and other items used in worship. The mobile shrine (tabernacle) had just been constructed one month before (7:1, Ex 40:17). First day of the second month indicates that the first ten chapters of Numbers are not set forth chronologically but theologically. The military conscription census took place two weeks after the Passover described in 9:1-14.

1:2-4 Take a census translates the phrase “lift up the heads” (“skulls”), a phrase used in ancient Near Eastern military conscription texts. The patriarchal leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel were enlisted to stand and report to Moses and Aaron the count of the able-bodied men of age twenty and upward.

1:5-16 The names of the leaders of the twelve tribes are listed with their lineage by tribe and by their fathers. Through Nahshon of Judah came the lineage of Boaz, who married Ruth and fathered the Davidic ancestry (Ru 4:20-22), and hence the messianic line of Jesus Christ (Mt 1:4-16; Lk 3:23-33). Elishama’s grandson was Joshua son of Nun, the successor to Moses and leader of the Israelites in the conquest account.

1:17-19 The central theme of the book of Numbers is indicated here by the leaders who followed the Lord’s instructions in taking the census in vv. 1-4: they did just as the Lord commanded Moses. This phraseology occurs more than twenty times in the book.

1:20-43 The census of the militia of Israel was taken by patriarchal tribe, according to their family records. Judah was the largest tribe with 74,600, more than both of the Joseph tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh) combined.

1:44-46 The total of 603,550 is consistent with the round number 600,000 in 11:21 and Ex 12:37. Some scholars reduce this number by reinterpreting the Hebrew word ’eleph to mean “clan” instead of “thousand,” but the way the twelve subtotals add up to the grand total does not support that interpretation. Some suggest that the actual numbers were multiplied by ten as a rhetorical device to bring glory to God, which may have been acceptable in that culture but does not sit well with modern notions of accurate reporting (see note at Nm 3:43). According to the second census in chap. 26, the total militia prospects decreased by only 1,820 (3 percent) during forty years in the wilderness (see note at 26:51).

1:47-53 Based on the Levites’ zealous actions in defense of the faith in the golden calf incident (Ex 32:26-29), this tribe was granted the privilege of servicing the tabernacle and assisting the Aaronic priests. Though the Levites were not technically priests—that position was restricted to descendants of Aaron of the tribe of Levi—they performed duties similar to those in the priestly circles of ancient Ugarit, Mari, Emar, Assyria, and Babylon.