The author divides the commentary into five main units: The Israel at Mount Sinai (1:1 – 10:10); The jouney from Mount Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea (10:11 – 12:16); The Israelites at Kadesh-Barnea (13:1 – 19:22); The journey from Kadesh-Barnea to Moab (20:1 – 21:35); The Isrealites at Moab (22:1 – 36:13). The book of Numbers recorded ‘the Lord spoke to Moses’ about 150 times, in about 20 different ways. God ordered the census of Israelites, recorded in Chapters 1:1 – 4:49, to number all the men above 20 years, ‘able to serve in the army’. A man ‘choosen’ from each tribes helped the process and the tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, gad, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, the sons of Joseph – Ephriam and Manasse, Benzamin, Dan, Asher and Naphtali were found to be 6,03,550. The choosen men from each tribes were later designated as leaders during the arrangement of the Tribal camps (2:1-34), the offerings made in ‘the name of heads of each families’ (7:1-78) and when the Israel advanced from Mount Sinai (10:11 – 36). The Levi tribe was not counted in the census. They were given “wholly” to Aron for performing duties at the Tent of Meeting and the Tabernacle. Levi and its clans – Gerson, Kohath and Merari – were numbered, every male amonth old or more, totaling 22, 000 in Chapter 3. Continue reading →
