Numbers 26

This chapter belongs to the latter part of the book of Numbers. After the plague that followed the Baal-peor incident in Numbers 25 has ended, a second census is taken of the new generation that will enter Canaan. The first census appears in Numbers 1.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 The LORD commands Moses and Eleazar the priest to number the men twenty years old and upward who are able to go to war. The census takes place on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.
• Verses 5–11 The tribe of Reuben numbers 43,730. The text recalls how Dathan and Abiram died together with the company of Korah, and adds that the sons of Korah did not die.
• Verses 12–50 The totals for the remaining tribes: Simeon 22,200; Gad 40,500; Judah 76,500; Issachar 64,300; Zebulun 60,500; Manasseh 52,700; Ephraim 32,500; Benjamin 45,600; Dan 64,400; Asher 53,400; and Naphtali 45,400. The section on the tribe of Manasseh mentions Zelophehad, who had no sons but only five daughters.
• Verse 51 The total number of the children of Israel is 601,730.
• Verses 52–56 The LORD directs that the land be divided into larger and smaller portions according to population, yet distributed by lot according to the names of the tribes.
• Verses 57–62 The families and genealogy of the Levites are recorded. Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam; Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire. The Levite males one month old and upward number 23,000; because they had no inheritance, they were not counted among the children of Israel.
• Verses 63–65 Not one of those numbered in the wilderness of Sinai remained, except Caleb and Joshua.

Key Verses

• Numbers 26:11 "Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not." This verse shows that descendants survived even from the household of a rebel.
• Numbers 26:53 "Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names." This verse shows that the census was taken for the purpose of dividing the land.
• Numbers 26:65 This verse records that no one remained except Caleb and Joshua, confirming that the sentence pronounced in Numbers 14 had been carried out.

People and Places

• Dathan and Abiram: Sons of Eliab of the tribe of Reuben. They rebelled against Moses together with Korah and were swallowed up by the earth.
• Zelophehad: Son of Hepher of the tribe of Manasseh, who had only daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
• Nadab and Abihu: Sons of Aaron.
• Plains of Moab: The plain east of the Jordan, opposite Jericho, where Israel stayed before entering Canaan.

Points for Reflection

• Whereas the census in chapter 1 counted the Exodus generation, chapter 26 counts the new generation after the forty years in the wilderness. Many interpreters regard this contrast as forming the structure of the book of Numbers as a whole.
• The tribe of Simeon, which numbered 59,300 at the first census (chapter 1), declined sharply to 22,200. Some interpreters connect this decline to the events of chapter 25, though the text itself does not state the reason.
• Some hold that the figures exceeding 600,000 should be taken literally. Other scholars propose that the Hebrew word translated "thousand" refers to a clan or military unit.
• The surviving descendants of Korah are read in connection with the "sons of Korah" named in the titles of several psalms.
• The account of the daughters of Zelophehad continues in Numbers 27.
• In the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 10 and Hebrews 3 cite the generation that fell in the wilderness as a warning example for believers.