Numbers 26:1-10

1 After the plague, 26 1 ADONAI said to Moshe and El'azar, the son of Aharon the cohen,

2 "Take a census of the entire assembly of the people of Isra'el twenty years old and over, by their ancestral clans, all who are subject to military service in Isra'el."

3 Moshe and El'azar the cohen spoke with them on the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden across from Yericho, explaining,

4 "Those twenty years old and over who came out of the land of Egypt, as ADONAI ordered Moshe and the people of Isra'el."

5 [The census results begin with] Re'uven, the firstborn of Isra'el. The descendants of Re'uven were: of Hanokh, the family of the Hanokhi; of Pallu, the family of the Pallu'i;

6 of Hetzron, the family of the Hetzroni; and of Karmi the family of the Karmi.

7 These were the the families of the Re'uveni; of them were counted 43,730.

8 The sons of Pallu: Eli'av;

9 and the sons of Eli'av: N'mu'el, Datan and Aviram. These are the same Datan and Aviram, men of reputation in the community, who rebelled against Moshe and Aharon in Korach's group, when they rebelled against ADONAI;

10 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up together with Korach when that group died, and the fire consumed 250 men, and they became a warning sign.

Numbers 26:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 26

In this chapter an order is given to number the people of Israel a second time, Nu 26:1-4 and the account begins with Reuben, the firstborn, and the families that sprung from him, and the number of them, Nu 26:5-7 and Dathan and Abiram being of this tribe, the affair of them and Korah is afresh related, Nu 26:8-11, then the tribe of Simeon, its families and number, Nu 26:12-14, next the tribe of Gad, and their families and number, Nu 26:15-18, after that the tribe of Judah, its families and number, Nu 26:19-22 then follows the tribe of Issachar, its families and number, Nu 26:23-25, next to that the tribe of Zebulun, its families and number, Nu 26:26,27 then the sons of Joseph, and first Manasseh, his families and number, Nu 26:28-34 and then the tribe of Ephraim, its families and number, Nu 26:35-37, after that the tribe of Benjamin, its families and number, Nu 26:38-41 next the tribe of Dan, its families and number, Nu 26:42,43 and which is followed by the tribe of Asher, its families and number, Nu 26:44-47, and the muster is closed with the tribe of Naphtali, its families and number, Nu 26:48-50, and the sum total of all the numbers is given, Nu 26:51 and then follows another order to divide the land of Canaan by lot, when conquered, to the several tribes, according to their names and number, Nu 26:52-56 and an account is given of the number of the Levites and their families, their number being taken not with the other tribes, but by themselves, and which is summed up, Nu 26:57-62 and the chapter is concluded with observing, that it appeared upon this numbering of the people, that there were but two persons living of those that were first numbered among the children of Israel, Nu 26:63-65.