Numbers 1 Footnotes

1:1 A key starting point for understanding the book of Numbers is found in the first phrase of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible—“in the Wilderness.” God indeed revealed himself to a prophet named Moses in the historical context of the Sinai wilderness. Some commentators have suggested that the book was a result of the work of priestly writers and editors nearly a thousand years after Moses, arguing they composed a mythical historical background for the so-called “law of Moses” at the instigation of the Persian government during its political and religious reforms.

1:2 The instruction for Moses, Aaron, and the tribal leaders to carry out a census of the available militia took place thirteen months after the exodus from Egypt, placing the context in about 1445 or 1275 BC, depending upon the dating of the exodus event.

1:17-45 The format of the Israelite military census parallels that of Assyrian military censuses of the eighth century BC. Armies were assembled and counted before going into a major campaign. In the idiom of the period this was a literal head count; the Hebrew expression is “lifting up the skulls.”

1:32 The tribe of Joseph is divided into two clans, each of which is counted as a tribe. The book of Genesis highlights the special consideration given to Joseph, the most faithful of Jacob’s sons. The dual counting of Joseph’s sons compensates for the exclusion of the Levites from the military census, preserving the number of twelve for the tribes in the full reckoning of the Israelite nation.

1:44-46 The total of 603,550 for the Israelite able-bodied militia would suggest a total population of two to three million people now preparing to leave Mount Sinai.

1:51 The penalty for encroaching upon the sanctity of the tabernacle is death, as noted here for the first time in Numbers. Limiting access to the holiest place was a serious matter, and violation of God’s holiness carried grave consequences. The priests themselves were subject to death for violation of the ritual laws; even Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu were struck down when they offered an unholy sacrificial fire in the tabernacle (Lv 10:1-3). Hence the Levites were to continue in their original role as the defenders of the holiness of God.