Numbers 26:1

The Second Census

1 After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,

Numbers 26:1 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 26:1

And it came to pass after the plague
Related in the preceding chapter; how long after is not certain, perhaps before the war with Midian, exhorted to in the latter part of the foregoing chapter, and of which an account is given, ( Numbers 31:1-54 ) :

that the Lord spake unto Moses;
out of the tabernacle, or out of the cloud:

and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest;
the Lord had been used to speak to Moses and to Aaron; but now Aaron being dead, and Eleazar his son succeeding him in the priesthood, is joined with Moses, and the order here given is directed to them both:

saying:
as follows.

Numbers 26:1 In-Context

1 After the plague, the Lord said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,

2 "Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their ancestral houses of those 20 years old or more who can serve in Israel's army."

3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest said to them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [across from] Jericho,

4 "[Take a census of] those 20 years old or more, as the Lord had commanded Moses and the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt."

5 Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. Reuben's descendants: the Hanochite clan [from] Hanoch; the Palluite clan from Pallu;