Numbers 1 Footnotes
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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.