Numbers 1:19

19 As the Lord 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 Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name,

18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually.

19 As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.

20 Now the children of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers' house, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war:

21 those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.