Numbers 26:3

3 And Moses and Elea'zar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

Numbers 26:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 26:3

And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them
With the children of Israel, with the heads of them, their chief and principal, to assist in taking the number of the people; as when they were numbered thirty years ago, when a prince out of each tribe was taken to be with Aaron and Moses in doing that business; but those princes were now all dead, and another race succeeded, who were now employed in this service; so the Targum of Jonathan says, they spoke with the rulers, and ordered them to number them:

in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, [near] Jericho:
or of Jericho, as the same Targum, on the other side of Jordan to that on which Jericho stood; for as yet the children of Israel had not passed that river, nor entered into the land of Canaan, in which Jericho was, but they were now opposite it; (See Gill on Numbers 22:1):

saying;
as follows.

Numbers 26:3 In-Context

1 After the plague the LORD said to Moses and to Elea'zar the son of Aaron, the priest,
2 "Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all in Israel who are able to go forth to war."
3 And Moses and Elea'zar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
4 "Take a census of the people, from twenty years old and upward," as the LORD commanded Moses. The people of Israel, who came forth out of the land of Egypt, were:
5 Reuben, the first-born of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Ha'nochites; of Pallu, the family of the Pal'luites;
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.