Numbers 1:19

19 just as ¹the LORD had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

Numbers 1:19 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 1:19

As the Lord commanded Moses
In this Moses and David differed in numbering the people of Israel; the one did it by an express command from God, and in obedience to it; the other without one, and against his will, ( 1 Chronicles 21:17 ) ;

so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai;
where they now were when this order was given, ( Numbers 1:1 ) ; and from whence they removed the twentieth day of this month, ( Numbers 10:11 Numbers 10:12 ) ; so that in less than three weeks time, perhaps much sooner, this affair was finished; and it may be, that the place of numbering them at this time is expressly observed, to distinguish it from another numbering of them, recorded in this book, which was done in the plains of Moab, ( Numbers 26:2 Numbers 26:3 ) .

Numbers 1:19 In-Context

17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,

18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first of the second month. Then they registered by ancestry in their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head,

19 just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

20 Now the sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers' households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war,

21 their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500 .

Cross References

• 1. 2 Samuel 24:1