Numbers 26 · WEB
The Second Census
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After the plague, Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,
2"Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel."
3Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
4"Take a census from twenty years old and upward," as Yahweh commanded Moses and the children of Israel, those who came out of the land of Egypt.
5Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. 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 forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty.
8The son of Pallu: Eliab.
9The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against Yahweh,
10and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; what time the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a sign.
11Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah didn't die.
12The 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;
13of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.
14These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.
15The sons 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;
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: forty thousand five hundred.
19The sons of Judah: Er and Onan. Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
20The sons of Judah after their families: 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: 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: seventy-six thousand five hundred.
23The sons of Issachar after 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: sixty-four thousand three hundred.
26The 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.
27These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered of them: sixty thousand five hundred.
28The sons of Joseph after 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.
33Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters. 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 fifty-two thousand seven hundred.
35These are the sons of Ephraim after 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: thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families.
38The 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;
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 after their families; and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand six hundred.
42These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families.
43All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were numbered of them, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.
44The sons of Asher after their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Berites.
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: fifty-three thousand four hundred.
48The sons of Naphtali after 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 forty-five thousand four hundred.
51These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel: six hundred one thousand seven hundred thirty.
52Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
53"To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.
54To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. To everyone according to those who were numbered of him shall his inheritance be given.
55Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.
56According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer."
57These are those who 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.
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 Miriam their sister.
60To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
61Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before Yahweh.
62Those who were numbered of them were twenty-three thousand, every male 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.
63These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children 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 children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
65For Yahweh had said of them, "They shall surely die in the wilderness." There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.
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Summary
After forty years and the death of the Exodus generation, God commands a second military census of the new generation standing in the plains of Moab. The total comes to 601,730 — slightly less than the 603,550 of the first census. The census will determine how land is apportioned in Canaan, with larger tribes receiving more land. The chapter closes with a sobering note: of all the men counted in the first census, only Caleb and Joshua survive to be counted again — exactly as God had said.
Themes
- The faithfulness of God — his word is exactly fulfilled
- A new generation ready for a new beginning
- Land as God's gift, distributed according to family and need
- The passing of one era and the beginning of another
- God's justice — the condemned generation is entirely gone
Key verses
- Num 26:51 — “These are those who were numbered of the children of Israel: six hundred one thousand seven hundred thirty.”
- Num 26:53-54 — “To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance.”
- Num 26:65 — “For Yahweh had said of them, 'They shall surely die in the wilderness.' There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.”
Context & background
The second census is taken in the plains of Moab (modern central Jordan, east of the Dead Sea, across the Jordan River from Jericho in the modern West Bank). This census frames the book of Numbers, bookending the first census at Sinai. The comparison reveals that the total military strength is nearly identical — God's blessing has sustained the nation through forty years of wilderness hardship. The census also functions as a land survey for the coming allocation in Canaan (modern Israel/Palestine), with proportional distribution by family size. The mention of Zelophehad's daughters (v. 33) sets up the inheritance case in chapter 27. The closing verse is the quiet, devastating fulfillment of Numbers 14: God's word was kept exactly.
Cross-references
- 1 Cor 10:1-12 — Paul uses the failure of the first generation as a warning not to fall as they did
- Deut 1:38 — Joshua is confirmed as Moses's successor who will bring the new generation into Canaan
- Josh 14:6-14 — Caleb receives his inheritance, one of only two survivors of the first generation
- Num 14:29-35 — The judgment that every adult male of the Exodus generation would die in the wilderness, now confirmed
- Num 1:46 — The first census total (603,550) compared to this one (601,730) — nearly identical despite forty years