Numbers 26
And there was not left a man of them, except for Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun
In Numbers 26, Moses and Eleazar take a new census of the tribes of Israel and count all the war-ready men. There is no one left of the previous generation of Israel in that census outside of Joshua and Caleb. Moses knows that he will not enter the land with the new generation counted here.
Bible Passage:
26:1 And it came to pass after the plague, that YAHWEH spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, 2 “Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel.” 3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4 “Take the sum of the people, from twenty years old and upward; as YAHWEH commanded Moses.” And the children of Israel, that came forth out of the land of Egypt were:
5 Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6 of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. 7 These are the families of the Reubenites; and they that were numbered of them were 43,730. 8 And the sons of Pallu: Eliab. 9 And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram, who were called of the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah. When they strove against YAHWEH, 10 the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah. When that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, they became a sign. 11 However, the sons of Korah did not die.
12 The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; 13 of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. 14 These are the families of the Simeonites, 22,200.
15 The sons of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16 of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; 17 of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. 18 These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those that were numbered of them, 40,500.
19 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; and Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the sons of Judah after their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. 21 And the sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. 22 These are the families of Judah according to those that were numbered of them, 76,500.
23 The sons of Issachar after their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; 24 of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. 25 These are the families of Issachar according to those that were numbered of them, 64,300.
26 The sons of Zebulun after their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. 27 These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those that were numbered of them, 60,500.
28 The sons of Joseph after their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir begat Gilead. Of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. 30 These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; 31 and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32 and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. 33 And Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters. The names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These are the families of Manasseh; and they that were numbered of them were 52,700.
35 These are the sons of Ephraim after their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. 36 And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. 37 These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those that were numbered of them, 32,500. These are the sons of Joseph after their families.
38 The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39 of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. 40 And the sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. 41 These are the sons of Benjamin after their families; and they that were numbered of them were 45,600.
42 These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those that were numbered of them, were 64,400.
44 The sons of Asher after their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Berites. 45 Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. 46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47 These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those that were numbered of them, 53,400.
48 The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. 50 These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and they that were numbered of them were 45,400.
51 These are they that were numbered of the children of Israel, 601,730.
52 And YAHWEH spoke to Moses, saying, 53 “To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54 To the many, you shall give more inheritance, and to the few, you shall give less inheritance. To every one according to those that were numbered of him shall his inheritance be given. 55 However, the land shall be divided by lot. They shall inherit according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. 56 According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the many and the few.”
57 And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. And Kohath begat Amram. 59 And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram, Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. 60 And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 Nadab and Abihu died, when they offered strange fire before YAHWEH. 62 And they that were numbered of them were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward. For they were not numbered among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.
63 These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there was not a man of them that were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For YAHWEH had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Reflection:
It is a sad reflection of the Israelite’s lack of faithfulness and obedience in the wilderness during the last generation, but the people have actually shrunk in number, at least among the warring age male population. They previously had 603,550 men. Now all they have is 601,730 men. It has been 40 years, meaning they have had double the amount of time for those born in the first year of the wanderings to age into that 20 year old and above population. Still, they have somehow lost enough people for that number to shrink, and I imagine a lot of that is due to the judgments God was so often giving the people because of their grumbling. Despite that, God has still cared for the people in the wilderness. Like he says later on in the Scriptures, their shoes and their clothes have not worn out even after 40 years of wandering in the harsh desert.
Questions and Answers:
Verse 10: What was roaring? [Sophia, 3]
Good listening Soph! It never says that anything was roaring, but that the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up Korah and his company. It means that a big crack in the earth opened up and and they fell in it. It’s using language to talk about the ground like it ate them up, kind of like a lion, which is I’m guessing what you were thinking of.
This is talking about Korah’s rebellion which happened back in Numbers 16. It’s found in Reuben’s family line though because Dathan and Abiram are the two men from the Reubenites who allied with Korah to rebel against Moses and Aaron’s leadership.
Verse 20: Do you know who descended from Tamar? [Monique, 33]
Yeah, the two sons are Perez and Zerah, you can find them back in Genesis 38. They are the twin boys that Judah had through Tamar. Remember Zerah stuck his hand out first and they tied a scarlet cord around his arm, but he retracted his hand. Then Perez “breached” his way through to come out first. That’s what Perez means in Hebrew, a “breach.” Zerah means “dawning” generally, but comes to be applied to the color scarlet, probably because of the sunrise colors.
Verse 39: I like the name Shephupham. [Gwendolyn, 9]
What a fun name, right? This was a really interesting etymology here. The root here is “shaphaph,” which has to do with the concept of going through a border between two things, and that association is used very widely. So you end up with a lot of words from this root that skirt the border between two things. So “saphah” is the “edge” of something, like a “riverbank.” “Suph” is the name for reeds, because they mark the transition between the land and water. “Shephi” is used in Job 33 to talk about a man being emaciated and his bones “sticking out” from his body.
So the word that most resembles “Shephupham” is “Shephiphon.” That is the name for some type of snake, probably based on the fact that it is a snake that strikes out from its burrow in the ground and then retreats back into it. Because of that, most of the etymologies will say that “Shephupham” means “serpent.”
Verse 59: I like after all this time, we hear Moses’ mother’s name. [Monique, 33]
Sorry to break it to you, but we have actually heard it before. Jochebed’s name is first mentioned back in the genealogy found in Exodus 6. The only other time she is mentioned by name in the Bible is here.
It is very interesting that Moses’ genealogy is not near as prominently featured in the Bible, the concern is much more focused on Aaron and his lineage since it is the heritage of the priests. It reminds us how unique Moses’ role is in the nation of Israel. Like the later prophets that followed him in history, he is specifically chosen and called by God. There is no lineal component to his ministry, unlike other important offices in Israel, such as the priesthood or kingship.
Verses 60-61: Why does it list Aaron’s sons, but not Moses’ sons? [Gwendolyn, 9]
There could be multiple reasons, all of which we have talked about before at different times. Moses’ lineage may not matter in the same way because his sons were not full Israelites. Their mother was a Midianite, so it’s possible that it made them somewhat outsiders to the rest of Israel. It’s also possible the disgrace his descendants bring to his line cause them to be left out. We find out about this in Judges 18, that Jonathan, Moses’ grandson, was a false priest to the tribe of Dan. Although some English translations say Manasseh’s grandson, the most reliable documents we have say “Mosheh” rather than “Manasseh,” which is why other English translations say Moses’ grandson.
Lastly, like I said for the last question, the line of priests came through Aaron, not Moses. That was the line that was more important to track because of it’s importance to the nation of Israel. All the priests had to descend from Aaron directly, so maintaining those genealogical records was imperative.
Verse 65: Is Moses left alive too? [Elisha, 8]
Yes, Moses is currently alive when that statement is made, but Moses knows that he won’t be allowed to enter into the land and YAHWEH will tell him shortly in Numbers 31 to prepare to die once they have taken vengeance on the Midianites for what happened at Baal-peor. Although narratively, we are very close to Moses’ death, we thankfully still have another book to receive words from this great man of God in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy is Moses’ re-telling of the law to the next generation so that they can hear the laws of YAHWEH afresh from Moses before he dies. We find out at the end of this chapter that the entire previous generation has died out, so they may now prepare to enter the land under Joshua’s leadership. They have a few last things to attend to before they enter the land though.
Recording of the Passage:
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