|  Home  |  Old Testament Studies  |  Numbers Table of Contents  |  Previous Section   |  Next Section  |

NUMBERS 26

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS

1. This book of Moses is called "Numbers" because of the two "censuses," chapters 1 and 26.
   
   
2. List of tribes and their numbers.

   	Numbers 1	Numbers 26
   1. Reuben	46,500	43,730
   2. Simeon	59,300	22,200
   3. Gad	45,650	40,500
   4. Judah	74,000	46,500
   5. Issachar	54,400	64,300
   6. Zebulun	54,400	60,500
   7. Ephraim	40,500	32,500
   8. Manasseh	32,200	52,700
   9. Benjamin	35,400	45,600
   10. Dan	62,700	64,400
   11. Asher	41,500	53,400
   12. Naphtali	43,400	45,400
   	603,550	601,730

   
   
3. These numbers seem far too large. It is possible the term "thousand" is the key to a smaller number.

   See SPECIAL TOPIC: THOUSAND (eleph) and

   1. Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 65-67
   2. Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 51-54
   3. Gleason Archer, Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, pp. 129-134

      If Israel were this large she would have no problem defeating the Canaanites, but she needs YHWH's help.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:1-4a
  ¹Then it came about after the plague, that the Lord spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, ²"Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' households, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel. " ³So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁴"Take a census of the people from twenty years old and upward, as the Lord has commanded Moses."

26:1 "the plague" This refers to Num. 25:6-9. See notes there.

26:2 This is parallel to Num. 1:2-3. It is a military census. Israel is about to enter Canaan.

However, in this case the current size of the tribes would determine how large their land allotment was (cf. Num. 26:52-56).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:4b
  ^4bNow the sons of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:5-11
  ⁵Reuben, Israel's firstborn, the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; ⁶of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. ⁷These are the families of the Reubenites, and those who were numbered of them were 43,730. ⁸The son of Pallu: Eliab. ⁹The sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the Lord, ¹⁰and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning. ¹¹The sons of Korah, however, did not die.

26:9 The rebellion of Korah and some families of Reuben is recorded in Numbers 15. See notes there.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:12-14
  ¹²The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; ¹³of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. ¹⁴These are the families of the Simeonites, 22,200.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:15-18
  ¹⁵The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; ¹⁶of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; ¹⁷of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. ¹⁸These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered of them, 40,500.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:19-22
  ¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. ²⁰The sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. ²¹The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. ²²These are the families of Judah according to those who were numbered of them, 76,500.

26:20 "Perez" This will become the line of David, the line of Jesus.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:23-25
  ²³The sons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; ²⁴of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. ²⁵These are the families of Issachar according to those who were numbered of them, 64,300.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:26-27
  ²⁶The sons of Zebulun according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. ²⁷These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered of them, 60,500.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:28-34
  ²⁸The sons of Joseph according to their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. ²⁹The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir became the father of Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. ³⁰These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; ³¹and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; ³²and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. ³³Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. ³⁴These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

26:29 "Gilead" This person (BDB 166) is listed as a descendant of Manasseh (same variety with "Shechem," Num. 26:31). This is a good name to show how these functioned in the OT.

1. a person ‒ here; Jdgs. 11:1-2
2. a tribe ‒ here; Jdgs. 5:17
3. a region ‒ Josh. 22:9; Jdgs. 10:17
4. sometimes a city

This is true of many of the names and one is not always sure which possibility is meant.

26:33 See note at Num. 26:46.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:35-37
  ³⁵These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. ³⁶These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. ³⁷These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered of them, 32,500. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:38-41
  ³⁸The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; ³⁹of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. ⁴⁰The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. ⁴¹These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,600.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:42-43
  ⁴²These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families. ⁴³All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were numbered of them, were 64,400.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:44-47
  ⁴⁴The sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. ⁴⁵Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. ⁴⁶The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. ⁴⁷These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered of them, 53,400.

26:46 No reason is given why this one "daughter" is mentioned. Daughters are mentioned when there are no sons in Num. 26:33 (cf. Num. 27:1-11; 36:1; Josh. 17:3).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:48-50
  ⁴⁸The sons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; ⁴⁹of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. ⁵⁰These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:51
  ⁵¹These are those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:52-56
  ⁵²Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁵³"Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. ⁵⁴To the larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to the smaller group you shall diminish their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance according to those numbered of them. ⁵⁵But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. ⁵⁶According to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups."

26:53-56 This procedure is also mentioned in Num. 33:54; 34:13. It is done in Joshua 12-19. See SPECIAL TOPIC: URIM AND THUMMIM.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:57-62
  ⁵⁷These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. ⁵⁸These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. ⁵⁹The name of Amram's wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. ⁶⁰To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the Lord. ⁶²Those who were numbered of them were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

26:57-62 The Levites are numbered for service not for war (cf. Numbers 3). They do not receive a land inheritance. They do receive 48 cities (cf. Numbers 35; Joshua 20-21).

26:60-61 This reflects Leviticus 10. See notes there.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 26:63-65
  ⁶³These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. ⁶⁴But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. ⁶⁵For the Lord had said of them, "They shall surely die in the wilderness." And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

26:63-65 This new census was necessary

1. for military purposes
2. to adjust the number because of the judgment of YHWH on the generation that believed the spies' report (i.e., Numbers 13)

26:65 "They shall surely die" This is an intensified grammatical feature (an INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and IMPERFECT VERB from the same root, BDB 559, KB 562). This is a fulfillment of Num. 14:26-39.

▣ "except Caleb. . .Joshua" These are the two spies who brought a positive report. Only these two of that whole generation entered Canaan (cf. Num. 14:30,38). Not even Moses, Aaron, or Miriam entered.

|  Home  |  Old Testament Studies  |  Numbers Table of Contents  |  Previous Section   |  Next Section  |