Lux Domini

Numbers 26

Chapter context

What is happening in Numbers 26?

pilgrimagerebellionjudgmentmercy

Numbers 26 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as crises involving spies, Korah, serpents, and Balaam. Numbers combines census lists, camp order, priestly concerns, wilderness rebellion, judgment, mercy, and renewed preparation for entering the promised land. Read this chapter with the wider themes of pilgrimage, rebellion, and judgment in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

1 And it came to pass after the plague, that the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,   2 Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.   3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,   4 Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward; as the LORD commanded Moses and the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt.   5 Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, of whom cometh the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the Palluites:   6 Of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.   7 These are the families of the Reubenites: and they that were numbered of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty.   8 And the sons of Pallu; Eliab.   9 And the sons of Eliab; Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD:   10 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died, what time the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men: and they became a sign.   11 Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.   12 The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites: of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites: of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites:   13 Of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.   14 These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty and two thousand and two hundred.   15 The children of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites: of Haggi, the family of the Haggites: of Shuni, the family of the Shunites:   16 Of Ozni, the family of the Oznites: of Eri, the family of the Erites:   17 Of Arod, the family of the Arodites: of Areli, the family of the Arelites.   18 These are the families of the children of Gad according to those that were numbered of them, forty thousand and five hundred.   19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan: and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.   20 And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.   21 And the sons of Pharez were; of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.   22 These are the families of Judah according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and sixteen thousand and five hundred.   23 Of the sons of Issachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites: of Pua, the family of the Punites:   24 Of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites: of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.   25 These are the families of Issachar according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and four thousand and three hundred.   26 Of the sons of Zebulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Sardites: of Elon, the family of the Elonites: of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.   27 These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those that were numbered of them, threescore thousand and five hundred.   28 The sons of Joseph after their families were Manasseh and Ephraim.   29 Of the sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: and Machir begat Gilead: of Gilead come the family of the Gileadites.   30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites:   31 And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites:   32 And of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites: and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.   33 And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters: and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.   34 These are the families of Manasseh, and those that were numbered of them, fifty and two thousand and seven hundred.   35 These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthalhites: of Becher, the family of the Bachrites: of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.   36 And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.   37 These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those that were numbered of them, thirty and two thousand and five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families.   38 The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites: of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites: of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites:   39 Of Shupham, the family of the Shuphamites: of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.   40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites: and of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.   41 These are the sons of Benjamin after their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and six hundred.   42 These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families.   43 All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those that were numbered of them, were threescore and four thousand and four hundred.   44 Of the children of Asher after their families: of Jimna, the family of the Jimnites: of Jesui, the family of the Jesuites: of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.   45 Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites: of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.   46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Sarah.   47 These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those that were numbered of them; who were fifty and three thousand and four hundred.   48 Of the sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites: of Guni, the family of the Gunites:   49 Of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites: of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.   50 These are the families of Naphtali according to their families: and they that were numbered of them were forty and five thousand and four hundred.   51 These were the numbered of the children of Israel, six hundred thousand and a thousand seven hundred and thirty.   52 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,   53 Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.   54 To many thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to few thou shalt give the less inheritance: to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those that were numbered of him.   55 Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.   56 According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few.   57 And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.   58 These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korathites. And Kohath begat Amram.   59 And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt: and she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.   60 And unto Aaron was born Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.   61 And Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before the LORD.   62 And those that were numbered of them were twenty and three thousand, all males from a month old and upward: for they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.   63 These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.   64 But among these there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.   65 For the LORD had said of them, They shall surely die in the wilderness. And there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.  

Study helps

Glossary

Eleazar Person v. 1, 3, 60, 63

God has helped. (1. ) The third son of Aaron ( Ex. 6:23 ). His wife, a daughter of Putiel, bore him Phinehas ( Ex. 6:25 ). After the death of Nadab and Abihu.

Jericho Place v. 3, 63

Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell es Sultan.

Jordan Place v. 3, 63

Biblical river. Modern identification: Jordan River.

Moab Place v. 3, 63

Biblical region. Modern identification: Tall el Hammam.

Egypt Place v. 4, 59

The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.

Pallu Person v. 5, 8

Separated, the second son of Reuben ( 1 Chr. 5:3 ); called Phallu, Gen. 46:9 . He was the father of the Phalluites ( Ex. 6:14 ; Num. 26:5 , 8).

Reuben Person v. 5

Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 29:32 ). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22 , brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4).

Carmi Person v. 6

Vine-dresser. (1. ) The last named of the four sons of Reuben ( Gen. 46:9 ). (2. ) A descendant of Judah ( 1 Chr. 4:1 ). He is elsewhere (2:18) called Caleb (q. v. ). (3. ) The son of Zimri, and the father of Achan.

Eliab Tribe v. 8-9

To whom God is father. (1. ) A Reubenite, son of Pallu ( Num. 16:1 , 12; 26:8, 9; Deut. 11:6 ). (2. ) A son of Helon, and chief of the tribe of Zebulun at the time of the census in the wilderness ( Num. 1:9 ; 2:7 ).

Abiram Person v. 9

Father of height; i. e., “proud. ” (1. ) One of the sons of Eliab, who joined Korah in the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron.

Dathan Person v. 9

Welled; belonging to a fountain, a son of Eliab, a Reubenite, who joined Korah (q. v. ) in his conspiracy, and with his accomplices was swallowed up by an earthquake ( Num. 16:1 ; 26:9 ; Deut. 11:6 ; Ps. 106:17 ).

Korah Person v. 9-11

Ice, hail. (1. ) The third son of Esau, by Aholibamah ( Gen. 36:14 ; 1 Chr. 1:35 ). (2. ) A Levite, the son of Izhar, the brother of Amram, the father of Moses and Aaron ( Ex. 6:21 ).

Nemuel Person v. 9, 12

Day of God. (1. ) One of Simeon’s five sons ( 1 Chr. 4:24 ), called also Jemuel ( Gen. 46:10 ). (2. ) A Reubenite, a son of Eliab, and brother of Dathan and Abiram ( Num. 26:9 ).

Jachin Person v. 12

Firm. (1. ) The fourth son of Simeon ( Gen. 46:10 ), called also Jarib ( 1 Chr. 4:24 ). (2. ) The head of one of the courses (the twenty-first) of priests ( 1 Chr. 24:17 ).

Simeon Person v. 12

Hearing. (1. ) The second son of Jacob by Leah ( Gen. 29:33 ). He was associated with Levi in the terrible act of vengeance against Hamor and the Shechemites (34:25, 26).

Gad Person v. 15, 18

Fortune; luck. (1. ) Jacob’s seventh son, by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid, and the brother of Asher ( Gen. 30:11-13 ; 46:16 , 18). In the Authorized Version of 30:11 the words, “A troop cometh: and she called,” etc.

Canaan Place v. 19

Biblical region. Modern identification: Canaan.

Shelah Person v. 20

Petition. (1. ) Judah’s third son ( Gen. 38:2 , 5, 11, 14). (2. ) A son of Arphaxad ( 1 Chr. 1:18 ).

Hamul Person v. 21

Spared, one of the sons of Pharez, son of Judah ( 1 Chr. 2:5 ). His descendants are called Hamulites ( Num. 26:21 ).

Tola Person v. 23

A scarlet worm. (1. ) Eldest son of Issachar ( Gen. 46:13 ). (2. ) A judge of the tribe of Issachar who “judged” Israel twenty-three years ( Judg. 10:1 , 2), when he died, and was buried in Shamir. He was succeeded by Jair.

Tolaites People v. 23

Descendants of Tola ( Num. 26:23 ; 1 Chr. 7:1 , 2).

Zebulun Person v. 26

Dwelling, the sixth and youngest son of Jacob and Leah ( Gen. 30:20 ). Little is known of his personal history. He had three sons (46:14).

Noah Person v. 33

Rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah ( Gen. 5:25-29 ), who was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of Adam’s death.

Zelophehad Tribe v. 33

First-born, of the tribe of Manasseh, and of the family of Gilead; died in the wilderness.

Becher Tribe v. 35

First-born; a youth, the second son of Benjamin ( Gen. 46:21 ), who came down to Egypt with Jacob.

Benjamin Person v. 38, 41

Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.

Beriah Person v. 44-45

A gift, or in evil. (1. ) One of Asher’s four sons, and father of Heber ( Gen. 46:17 ). (2. ) A son of Ephraim.

Heber Person v. 45

Passing over. (1. ) Son of Beriah and grandson of Asher ( Gen. 46:17 ; 1 Chr. 7:31 , 32). (2. ) The Kenite ( Judg. 4:11 , 17; 5:24), a descendant of Hobab. His wife Jael received Sisera.

Sarah Person v. 46

Princess, the wife and at the same time the half-sister of Abraham ( Gen. 11:29 ; 20:12 ). This name was given to her at the time that it was announced to Abraham that she should be the mother of the promised child.

Naphtali Person v. 48, 50

My wrestling, the fifth son of Jacob. His mother was Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid ( Gen. 30:8 ). When Jacob went down into Egypt, Naphtali had four sons ( Gen. 46:24 ). Little is known of him as an individual.

Kohath Person v. 57-58

Assembly, the second son of Levi, and father of Amram ( Gen. 46:11 ). He came down to Egypt with Jacob, and lived to the age of one hundred and thirty-three years ( Ex. 6:18 ).

Kohathites People v. 57

The descendants of Kohath. They formed the first of the three divisions of the Levites ( Ex. 6:16 , 18; Num. 3:17 ).

Merari Person v. 57

Sad; bitter, the youngest son of Levi, born before the descent of Jacob into Egypt, and one of the seventy who accompanied him thither ( Gen. 46:11 ; Ex. 6:16 ).

Merarites People v. 57

The descendants of Merari ( Num. 26:57 ). They with the Gershonites and the Kohathites had charge of the tabernacle, which they had to carry from place to place ( Num. 3:20 , 33-37; 4:29-33).

Amram Person v. 58-59

Kindred of the High; i. e., “friend of Jehovah. ” (1. ) The son of Kohath, the son of Levi. He married Jochebed, “his father’s sister,” and was the father of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses ( Ex. 6:18 , 20; Num. 3:19 ).

Jochebed Person v. 59

Jehovah is her glory, the wife of Amram, and the mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses ( Num. 26:59 ). She is spoken of as the sister of Kohath, Amram’s father ( Ex. 6:20 ; comp. 16, 18; 2:1-10).

Levi Person v. 59

Adhesion. (1. ) The third son of Jacob by Leah. The origin of the name is found in Leah’s words ( Gen. 29:34 ).

Miriam Person v. 59

Their rebellion. (1. ) The sister of Moses and Aaron ( Ex. 2:4-10 ; 1 Chr. 6:3 ). Her name is prominent in the history of the Exodus. She is called “the prophetess” ( Ex. 15:20 ).

Abihu Person v. 60-61

Father of Him; i. e., “worshipper of God”, the second of the sons of Aaron ( Ex. 6:23 ; Num. 3:2 ; 26:60 ; 1 Chr. 6:3 ). Along with his three brothers he was consecrated to the priest’s office ( Ex. 28:1 ).

Ithamar Person v. 60

Palm isle, the fourth and youngest son of Aaron ( 1 Chr. 6:3 ). He was consecrated to the priesthood along with his brothers.

Wilderness of Sinai Place v. 64

Biblical region. Modern identification: Jebel Musa.

Caleb Tribe v. 65

A dog. (1. ) One of the three sons of Hezron of the tribe of Judah. He is also called Chelubai ( 1 Chr. 2:9 ). His descendants are enumerated (18-20, 42-49). (2. ) A “son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah” ( 1 Chr. 2:50 ).

Jephunneh Person v. 65

Nimble, or a beholder. (1. ) The father of Caleb, who was Joshua’s companion in exploring Canaan ( Num. 13:6 ), a Kenezite ( Josh. 14:14 ). (2. ) One of the descendants of Asher ( 1 Chr. 7:38 ).

Joshua Tribe v. 65

Jehovah is his help, or Jehovah the Saviour. The son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, the successor of Moses as the leader of Israel. He is called Jehoshua in Num. 13:16 (A. V. ), and Jesus in Acts 7:45 and Heb. 4:8 .

Nun Person v. 65

Beyond the fact that he was the father of Joshua nothing more is known of him ( Ex. 33:11 ).