Information for the Book of
Numbers
Significant sections:
I. TITLE:
A. The Hebrew title is Bemidbar or "In the Wilderness"
(rbdmb) (of Sinai?)1
B. The Greek title in the translation of the OT (LXX) was
arithmoi (ARIQMOI) emphasizing the lists of numbers
recorded in the book (1--4; 26)
C. The Latin Vulgate picked up on the Greek title and
named the book Numeri from which the English acquires
the name Numbers.Milgrom suggests that the Greek and
Vulgate titles, "are probably derived from the oldest
Hebrew title homesh ha-pekudim `the fifth (of the
Torah) the mustered' (Mish. Yoma 7:1, Mish. Men. 4:3),
so named because of the several censuses recorded in
the book (chaps. 1-4,26).2
II. CHRONOLOGICAL SETTING:
A. The Passover occurred on the fourteenth day of the
first month of the year and the nation departed from
Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month (Num
33:3; Ex 12:2, 6)
B. The tabernacle was erected at Mount Sinai exactly one
year after the Exodus (on the first day of the first
month of the second year; Ex 40:2, 17)
C. One month later the nation prepared to leave Sinai for
the Promised Land (on the first day of the second month
of the second year; Num 1:1)
D. On the twentieth day of the second month of the second
year "the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of
the testimony and the sons of Israel went out on their
journeys from the wilderness of Sinai" (Num 10:11-12).
E. Deuteronomy opens with a reference to the first day of
the eleventh month of the 40th year. This is 38 years,
eight months and ten days after the nation departed
from Sinai (Deut 1:3; cf. Num 10:11-12)
Therefore, Numbers covers a period of time known as the
wilderness wanderings which lasted 38 years, nine
months and ten days.3
F. Hill and Walton offer the following timetable for
events after the Exodus:4
Exodus from Egypt 15th day of 1st month Exod. 12:2, 5; Num.
33:3
Arrival at Mount 1st day of 3d month Exod. 19:1
Sinai
Yahweh reveals 3d day of 3d month Exod. 19:16
himself at Sinai
Completion of 1st day of 1st month of Exod. 40:1, 16
tabernacle 2d year
Command to number 1st day of 2d month of Num. 1:1
Israel 2d year
Departure from Sinai 20th day of 2d month of Num. 10:11
2d year
Arrival at Kadesh 1st month of 40th year? Num. 20:1
Death of Miriam 1st month of 40th year? Num. 20:1
Death of Aaron and 1st day of 5th month of Num. 20:29
thirty days of 40th year
mourning
Departure for Moab 1st day of 6th month of Num 20:22; 21:4
40th year?
Moses Addresses 1st day of 11th month Deut. 1:2-3
Israel in Moab of 40th year
Death of Moses and ? Deut. 34:8
thirty days of
mourning
Joshua and Israel 10th day of 1st month Josh. 1:19
enter Canaan of 41st year
III.
CRITICAL CONCERNS IN NUMBERS:
A. Mosaic Authorship: Although many critics questions
Mosaic authorship of Numbers because of their view of
sources in the book,5 it is better in view of they
underlying assumptions of JEDP and the supporting
historical evidence to give the book the benefit of the
doubt and assume Mosaic authorship which was then
edited at later times into its present canonical form6
B. Numbers in Numbers:
1. The design of the census in Numbers:7
a. To ascertain and recruit manpower for war
(Num 1:3)
b. To allot work assignments in the forced labor
gangs and the religious cult (Num 3:4)
c. To establish a basis for taxation (cf. Ex
30:11-16)
d. To order the Hebrew tribes in marching and
camping formations (Num 2)
e. To contribute to the organization of former
slaves into a unified people
2. Two census are taken in Numbers (1; 26):
a. The first census was taken in the second
month of the second year after the Exodus
(Num 1:1) numbering the first generation of
post-Exodus Israelites
b. The second census was taken in the fortieth
year after the Exodus numbering the second
generation of post-Exodus Israelites (Num
20:1, 22-29; 33:38)
c. Both census were taken of Israelite men who
were of fighting age (twenty years of age and
older) Num 1:1-4; 26:1-4.
Census Figures in Numbers 1 and 268
Tribe Reference Figures Reference Figures
Reuben 1:20-21 46,500 26:5-11 43,730
Simeon 1:22-23 59,300 26:12-14 22,200
Gad 1:24-25 45,650 26:15-18 40,500
Judah 1:26-27 74,600 26:19-22 76,500
Issachar 1:28-29 54,400 26:23-25 64,300
Zebulun 1:30-31 57,400 26:26-27 60,500
Ephraim 1:32-33 40,500 26:35-37 32,500
Manasseh 1:34-35 32,200 26:28-34 52,700
Benjamin 1:36-37 35,400 26:38-41 45,600
Dan 1:38-39 62,700 36:42-43 64,400
Asher 1:40-41 41,500 36:44-47 53,400
Naphatali 1:42-43 53,400 26:48-50 45,400
Totals 603,550 601,730
Average 50,296 50,144
High 74,600 76,500
Low 32,200 22,200
Greatest increase: Manasseh (20,500)
Greatest decrease: Simeon (37,100)
3. Significance of the Numbers in the Census:9
a. If one understands the numbers to be literal
and the men to represent about one-fourth of
the population, then the number of the
Israelites ranges from two to three million
people10A literal understanding of the
numbers in the census is in congruence with
Pharaoh's fear of the rapidly increasing
Hebrews overrunning Egypt (Ex 1:7-12), the
promises made to Abraham about becoming a
great nation (Gen 12:2; 17:5-6), the earlier
census taken during the first year in the
wilderness (Exod 30:12--16; 38:26), and other
traditions about the numbers of adult males
who left Egypt (Ex 12:37; Num 11:21)11
b. Some argue that the numbers cannot be literal
for the following reasons:
1) The Sinai wilderness did not have the
ability to sustain such a large number
of people and animals
2) Israel was unable to subdue and displace
the Canaanites
c. Other non-literal approaches have been
suggested for the reading of the numbers in
the census:
1) The census totals are misplaced census
lists from the time of David
2) The census totals are part of the
writer's "epic prose" style intended to
express the wholeness of Israel and the
enormity of YHWH's deliverance of the
people (e.g., figurative)
3) The census totals are literary fiction
and/or exaggerations corrupted by
centuries of revising the Pentateuch
4) The Hebrew word for "thousands" from the
lack of vowel markings in the writings
and could be read as "clan," "tribe," or
even unit" (cf. Judg 6:15; Zech 9:7) or
even "chieftain" or "armed warrior"
(e.g., Gen 36:15).Hill and Walton write,
"Hence the census lists of Numbers
record either military 'units" or an
unspecified number of warriors or
individual (armed) fighting men. Such
accounting lowers the Israelites army to
a figure somewhere between 18,000 and
100,000 men, with the total Hebrew
population numbering between 72,000 and
400,000 people.It is argued that these
drastically reduces figures are more
consistent with available historical and
archaeological data regarding population
patterns during the period of the Hebrew
Exodus. this approach also corroborates
the biblical affirmations about the size
of Israel when compared with surrounding
nations (cf. Deut 7:1-7; Exod 23:29)12
C. Culture in Ritual: It seems that the rituals described
in Numbers are to be closely tied to an understanding
of Israel's culture and thus Israel herself.
1. Just as all cultures have rituals which are
expressions of who they are (even if those rituals
appear from the perspective of those doing them to
be non-ritual), so is it that Israel's rituals are
expressions of who they are.
2. Wenham has offered suggested interpretations of
ritual in Leviticus and Numbers based upon studies
in anthropology which suggest very plausible means
by which one might interpret Israel's cultural
ritual13
IV. STRUCTURE IN NUMBERS:14
A. The order (or disorder) of Numbers is often considered
to be a difficulty for many in interpreting the book15
B. Wenham offers several suggestions for understanding the
literary structure of this book:16
1. The mixture of law and narrative is designed to
remind the readers that saving history concerns
everyone and that now is when they must do the
will of God
2. The inclusion of law with narrative is designed to
emphasize promise in that Israel can fulfill it17
3. The rondo, or variation, form in Exodus,
Leviticus, and Numbers emphasizes large cycles
which bring out "the parallels between the three
journeys, and between the three occasions of law-
giving, at Sinai, Kadesh and the plains of
Moab."18 The following charts emphasize this19
Exodus to Numbers
Egypt (Ex 1--13), Sinai (Ex 19--Num 10), Kadesh
(Num 13-20), Plains of Moab (Num 22-36)
Journeys
Red Seat to Sinai to Kadesh Kadesh to Moab
Sinai
Led by cloud = Nu 10:11ff
Ex 13:21
Victory over cf. 21:21-35
Egypt 14
Victory song cf 10:35f 21:14-15
15:1-18
Miriam 15:20- = 12 = 20:1
21
People = 11:1 = 21:5
complain 15:23-
24
Moses' = 11:2 = 21:7
intercession
15:25
Well 15:27 = 21:16
Mana and = 11:4-5
quails 16
Water from = 20:2-13
rock 17:1-7
Victory over cf. 21:1-3
Amalek 17:8-16
Jethro 18:1-12 cf. 10:29-32
Stops
Topic Sinai Kadesh Moab
Divine Ex 19:5-6; Nu 12:2 22:24
promis 23:23ff.
es
40 24:28 13:25 --
days
Rebell 32:1-8 14:1ff 25:1-3
ion
Moses' 32:11-13 14:13-19 --
interc
ession
Judgme 32:34 14:20-35 25:4
nt
Plague 32:35 14:37 25:8-9
Law of 34:18ff; Lv. 1-7 15:1-31 28-29
sacrif etc.
ice
Trial Lv.24:10-23 15:32-36 27:1-11
Rebell Lv. 10:1-3 16:1-35 --
ion
agains
t
Priest
s
Atonem Ex 32:26-29 16:36-50 25:7-13
ent
throug
h
priest
s and
Levite
s
Priest Lv. 6-7; 22 17-18 31:28-30; 35:1-
ly 8
prerog
atives
Impuri Lv. 11-16; Nu.9:6-19 31:35-9ff.
ty 14
rules
Census Nu. 1-4 -- 26
V. PURPOSES OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS:
A. To fill-in the historical period from the Exodus and
Sinai revelation to the preparations in Moab to enter
the Promised Land
B. To explain that the 38 year period in the wilderness
was a consequence for the unbelief of the older
generation (Dt 1:35ff)
C. To demonstrate God's faithfulness and forbearance
against the backdrop of Israel's unfaithfulness,
rebellion, apostasy and frustration20
D. To present laws as case studies which do not have a
precedent in what has been spoken thus far.21
E. To narrate the preparation of Israel for entry into the
Promise Land22 by describing the journey from Sinai to
the region beyond Jordan, and the legal decisions made
in the wilderness23
___________________________
1 Milgrom writes, "It was also entitled va-yedabber after
the first word (see Rashi on Exod. 38:26), as is the case with
the other Torah books. The present Hebrew Title Bemidbar (the
fifth word of the opening verse) seems more apt since it actually
encompasses all the events described in the book that took place
'in the wilderness'" (Leviticus, xi).
2 Leviticus, xi.
3 La Sor et al write, "No effort will be made to press these
date formulas, for Numbers makes no theological significance of
them other than a general reference to the 'forty years' in the
wilderness (cf. 14:33f.). However, it is highly unlikely that
they were mere fictions of postexilic editors. It is not
unreasonable to suppose that in addition to the written log of
the stages of the journeyings (33:2) Moses also kept a record of
the dates--at least those preserved in the account" (OTS, 163, n.
1).
4 SOT, 133.
5 La Sor et al,
6 After marshalling supporting evidence for an early Numbers
Wenham writes, "This evidence lends weight to the book's own
testimony that the traditions on which it is based originated in
the Mosaic period. How much expansion, revision and rewriting
they underwent in the centuries before they reached their final
form, possibly in the early days of the monarchy, is hard to
determine by critical methods. It is perhaps fairer to give the
tradition the benefit of the doubt, than to assume everything
must be late unless there is evidence to the contrary. But
precise dating of the material is largely irrelevant to exegesis,
for it is the final form of the text that has canonical authority
for the church ..." (Numbers, 24-25).
Likewise, Hill and Walton write, "The book itself contains
only one reference to Moses as an author of the material, and
that is specifically limited to the itinerary of the Israelites
in their desert trek from Egypt to Moab (Num. 33:2). Elsewhere
the text implies that priests were also recording and preserving
the divine instruction and regulations, especially those
pertinent to their duties associated with the tabernacle (cf.
5:23).
As with Leviticus, the introductory formula 'and the Lord
said to Moses' pervades every chapter of the book. Until more
solid evidence surfaces to the contrary, it may be assumed by
analogy to the book of Exodus that the bulk of the text in
Numbers is the literary product of Moses, stemming from the
fifteenth or thirteenth century B. C. (depending on the date of
the Hebrew Exodus).
However, the references to Moses in the third person in the
narrative (e.g., Num 12:3; 15:22-23) and the sporadic editorial
insertions designed to inform a later audience (e.g., 13:11, 22;
27:14; 31:53) suggest that the book took its final form sometime
after the death of Moses. It seems correct to assume that the
substantial portions of the history and legislation of Numbers
originated with Moses during the thirty-eight years of desert
wandering that the book recounts (cf. Num. 33:38; Deut. 1:3).
Whether he transcribed the words of Yahweh himself or dictated
them to a scribe is unclear. But Numbers and the rest of the
Pentateuch were cast in the form of a unified, five-volume book
sometime between the days of Joshua and the elders of Israel
(Josh. 24:31) and the era of Samuel (cf. 1 Sam. 3:19-21) [Survey
of the Old Testament, 130-31).
7 This following is adapted form Hill and Walton, SOT, 136.
8 This chart is adapted from the charts by Walton and Hill,
SOT, 137; and La Sor et al, OTS, 167; Wenham, Numbers, 60.
9 For fuller discussions of this difficult matter see
Wenham, Numbers, 60-66; Budd, Numbers, 6-9.
10 See also Wenham, Numbers, 59. This still seems like the
best solution to this writer, even though it is not without
difficulties.
11 See Milgrom, Numbers, who himself concludes that "At
present, then, there is no choice but to assume that the number
600,000 was meant to be understood literally" (p. 339; cf also
pp. 336-38.
12 Hill and Walton, SOT, 137. They offer no real solution
to this difficulty, but unfortunately affirm that one's
presuppositions determine one's conclusion, "Yet it must be
emphasized that none of the interpretive options for the Numbers
census figures is without problems or inconsistencies. Generally
speaking, one's view of Scripture determines a person's stance on
the biblical numbers, with one end of the spectrum inclined
toward literalness, and the other end skeptical about their
historicity and reliability, and between them a moderate view of
openness toward alternative readings" (ibid.).
13 Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary
(Inter-Varsity Press, 1981), 25-39. An example of his discussion
of an anthropologically-based approach to ritual symbolism is as
follows: "First, this approach seeks to understand the whole
ritual system and not just parts of it, or more precisely to
understand the parts in the light of the whole. This may be
illustrated by Douglas' approach to the food laws. Earlier
commentators picked on certain elements in the food laws as
suggestive of a particular interpretation. For instance, sheep
were clean because they reminded man of his divine shepherd,
while serpents were unclean because they recalled the agent of
the fall. But multitudes of animals in the list found no easy
explanation of this type, for example, camels, eagles,
grasshoppers, etc. Douglas drew attention to that feature of the
list in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 that the biblical writers
seem to concentrate on, namely the means of locomotion of the
animals, how many feet and what type of feet they have. From
surveying the lists as a whole she deduced that the animal world
mirrors the human world. Just as there are three principal
divisions among men, Gentiles, Jews, and priests, so there are
three classes of animals: unclean, that may not be eaten; clean,
i.e. edible; and sacrificial beasts. Her theory of
correspondence between the human and the animal kingdoms is
confirmed by other texts scattered throughout the Pentateuch.
Secondly, Soleer has independently arrived at a similar
analysis of the food laws to that of Douglas. Indeed his study
represents an advance on her work, showing that the
correspondences between animals and men run even deeper than
earlier realized. The birds listed as unclean are unclean,
because they are birds of prey, i.e. eat flesh with blood in it,
a mortal sin under Old Testament law (Lv. 17:10-14). It is the
herbivorous land animals that are clean, and according to Genesis
9:3 (cf. 1:29f.) man too was vegetarian until after the flood.
It is also worth noting that Carmichael, using more traditional
methods of exegesis, has arrived at similar conclusions. He
argues that in Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 22:110 the ox, the best
of the sacrificial and clean animals, symbolizes Israel, while
the ass, an unclean beast, pictures Canaan. This convergence of
interpretation, based on several different methods of study,
suggests that the symbolic dimensions of biblical thought are at
last being understood.
Thirdly, this interpretation is corroborated in the earliest
commentaries on these laws. For example, the second-century BC
Letter of Aristeas sees the behaviour of clean animals as models
for human conduct. Acts 10 links the preaching of Peter to the
Gentiles with eating unclean animals. In other words, as soon as
men of all nations could belong to the people of God, those food
laws which had symbolized Israel's election of and served to
separate her from the nations became irrelevant too" (ibid., 33-
34).
14 For a good discussion of the literary structure of
particular units in Numbers see Migrom, Leviticus, xii-xxxi.
15 Martin North, Leviticus, 2.
16 Wenham, 14-18.
17 "The clearest example of this is to be found in chapter
15, where the demand to offer grain, oil, and wine along with
animal sacrifice is an implicit pledge that one day Israel will
enter Canaan despite the events described in the previous
chapters 13--14. The six laws about the land (22:50 to the end)
similarly remind the reader that the promise is on the verge of
fulfillment" (Numbers, 15).
18 Wenham, Numbers, 16. In addition see Milgrom for a
literary structure of the Hexateuch (Numbers, xiii-xxxi).
19 These are adapted from Wenham, Numbers, 16-17.
20 The success of Israel in fulfilling her role as God's
mediatorial agent to exercise God's rule on earth does not rest
on her but on the One who chose her into that position. There is
a certain irony in God's permissive will in that He allows evil
to draw people closer to Him. Although sin appears to be allowed
to interfere with what God is doing, it does not ultimately
triumph. The question is not whether man can obey but whether
man will obey (with the strength of the Lord).
As Johnson writes, "Numbers continues to reveal YHWH in His
Presence among the people who permits Israel's disobedience to
delay entrance into the land promised yet in the discipline of
His permissive will prepared the next generation to enter the
land in obedience administered under the responsibility demanded
by law" ("Synopsis of Numbers" [unpublished class notes in 371
Seminar in the Pentateuch, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fall
1989], 1).
21 Although some of the didactic sections are parallel with
Leviticus (e.g., the prescription concerning the seasonal feasts
in 28; 29; cf. Lev 1--7; 23), much is unique to Numbers. Some of
these prescriptions strongly anticipate the settlement of the
Promised Land and thus affirm that Israel will enter and posses
the land (the test of an unfaithful wife (5:11-31), supplementary
offerings (15:1-21), tassels on one's garment (15:37-41), water
of purification (19:1ff).
22 Budd writes, "One of his [the author's] chief concerns is
to establish principles of attitude and behavior which are a
precondition of possession and enjoyment of the land" (Numbers,
xvii).
23 Maryono writes, "Moses also wanted Israel to learn from
history. Together with describing in detail the great things God
has done to and for them he also listed carefully various
commands of God to govern their whole life. Their position as
covenantal people obligates them to subject the whole area of
their life under the control of God: worship, social, family, and
individual. They are also to know that the land they will posses
is a covenantal land. The Lord dwells in it, therefore, they are
called to guard the purity of the land. Obedience to His
commands will assure the possibility of enjoying the blessing in
the land. Then Moses warns the people ... [that] grave
consequences shall [occur if] they fail to obey God. Their
covenantal position does not exclude them from the possibility of
receiving server judgment" (Petrus Maryono, "The Synopsis of
Numbers" [paper submitted for course 371 Seminar in the
Pentateuch, Dallas Theological Seminary, Fall 1989], 8).