Numbers 26:53-65

53 “The land is to be allotted to them as an inheritance based on the number of names.
54 To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one; each is to receive its inheritance according to the number of those listed.
55 Be sure that the land is distributed by lot. What each group inherits will be according to the names for its ancestral tribe.
56 Each inheritance is to be distributed by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”
57 These were the Levites who were counted by their clans: through Gershon, the Gershonite clan; through Kohath, the Kohathite clan; through Merari, the Merarite clan.
58 These also were Levite clans: the Libnite clan, the Hebronite clan, the Mahlite clan, the Mushite clan, the Korahite clan. (Kohath was the forefather of Amram;
59 the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites[a] in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.
60 Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the LORD with unauthorized fire.)
62 All the male Levites a month old or more numbered 23,000. They were not counted along with the other Israelites because they received no inheritance among them.
63 These are the ones counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
64 Not one of them was among those counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Desert of Sinai.
65 For the LORD had told those Israelites they would surely die in the wilderness, and not one of them was left except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Numbers 26:53-65 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 26

In this chapter an order is given to number the people of Israel a second time, Nu 26:1-4 and the account begins with Reuben, the firstborn, and the families that sprung from him, and the number of them, Nu 26:5-7 and Dathan and Abiram being of this tribe, the affair of them and Korah is afresh related, Nu 26:8-11, then the tribe of Simeon, its families and number, Nu 26:12-14, next the tribe of Gad, and their families and number, Nu 26:15-18, after that the tribe of Judah, its families and number, Nu 26:19-22 then follows the tribe of Issachar, its families and number, Nu 26:23-25, next to that the tribe of Zebulun, its families and number, Nu 26:26,27 then the sons of Joseph, and first Manasseh, his families and number, Nu 26:28-34 and then the tribe of Ephraim, its families and number, Nu 26:35-37, after that the tribe of Benjamin, its families and number, Nu 26:38-41 next the tribe of Dan, its families and number, Nu 26:42,43 and which is followed by the tribe of Asher, its families and number, Nu 26:44-47, and the muster is closed with the tribe of Naphtali, its families and number, Nu 26:48-50, and the sum total of all the numbers is given, Nu 26:51 and then follows another order to divide the land of Canaan by lot, when conquered, to the several tribes, according to their names and number, Nu 26:52-56 and an account is given of the number of the Levites and their families, their number being taken not with the other tribes, but by themselves, and which is summed up, Nu 26:57-62 and the chapter is concluded with observing, that it appeared upon this numbering of the people, that there were but two persons living of those that were first numbered among the children of Israel, Nu 26:63-65.

Cross References 25

  • 1. ver 55; Joshua 11:23; Joshua 14:1; Ezekiel 45:8
  • 2. Numbers 33:54
  • 3. Numbers 35:8
  • 4. S Leviticus 16:8; Numbers 34:14
  • 5. S Genesis 46:11; Exodus 6:16-19
  • 6. Exodus 6:20
  • 7. S Exodus 2:1
  • 8. S Exodus 6:20
  • 9. S Exodus 2:4
  • 10. S Exodus 15:20
  • 11. Exodus 6:23; Numbers 3:2
  • 12. S Leviticus 10:1-2
  • 13. Numbers 3:4
  • 14. Numbers 3:39
  • 15. Numbers 1:47
  • 16. S Numbers 18:23
  • 17. S Numbers 2:33; Deuteronomy 10:9
  • 18. S Numbers 1:19
  • 19. S ver 3
  • 20. Numbers 22:1
  • 21. S Numbers 14:29; Deuteronomy 2:14-15; Hebrews 3:17
  • 22. Numbers 1:44
  • 23. Numbers 14:28; 1 Corinthians 10:5
  • 24. Numbers 13:6
  • 25. S Numbers 11:28; Joshua 14:6-10

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or "Jochebed, a daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi"
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