Numbers 1:1

The Men of Israel Are Counted

1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting. It happened in the Desert of Sinai. The LORD spoke to him on the first day of the second month. It was the second year after the people of Israel came out of Egypt. The LORD said,

Numbers 1:1 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 1:1

And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai
Which is different from the wilderness of Sin, ( Exodus 16:1 ) ; and had its name from the mountain so called, on which God gave the law of the decalogue, and where the Israelites had been encamped eleven months, ( Exodus 19:1 Exodus 19:2 ) ;

in the tabernacle of the congregation;
which had now been set up a whole month, and out of which the Lord had delivered to Moses the several laws recorded in the preceding book in that space of time, ( Exodus 40:17 ) ( Leviticus 1:1 ) ;

on the first [day] of the second month;
the month Ijar, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of our April, and part of May, and was the second month of the ecclesiastical year, which began with Abib or Nisan:

in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt;
that is, the children of Israel, who had now been a year and half a month out of it:

saying,
as follows.

Numbers 1:1 In-Context

1 The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting. It happened in the Desert of Sinai. The LORD spoke to him on the first day of the second month. It was the second year after the people of Israel came out of Egypt. The LORD said,

2 "Count all of the men of Israel. Make a list of them by their tribes and families. List every man by name. List them one by one.

3 Count all of the men who are able to serve in the army. They must be 20 years old or more. I want you and Aaron to make a list of them company by company.

4 One man from each tribe must help you. Those who help must be the heads of their families.

5 "Here are the names of the men who must help you. "From the tribe of Reuben will come Elizur, the son of Shedeur.