9 And the sons H1121 of Eliab; H446 Nemuel, H5241 and Dathan, H1885 and Abiram. H48 This is that Dathan H1885 and Abiram, H48 which were famous H7148 H7121 in the congregation, H5712 who strove H5327 against Moses H4872 and against Aaron H175 in the company H5712 of Korah, H7141 when they strove H5327 against the LORD: H3068
Now Korah, H7141 the son H1121 of Izhar, H3324 the son H1121 of Kohath, H6955 the son H1121 of Levi, H3878 and Dathan H1885 and Abiram, H48 the sons H1121 of Eliab, H446 and On, H203 the son H1121 of Peleth, H6431 sons H1121 of Reuben, H7205 took H3947 men: And they rose up H6965 before H6440 Moses, H4872 with certain H582 of the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 two hundred H3967 and fifty H2572 princes H5387 of the assembly, H5712 famous H7148 in the congregation, H4150 men H582 of renown: H8034 And they gathered themselves together H6950 against Moses H4872 and against Aaron, H175 and said H559 unto them, Ye take too much H7227 upon you, seeing all the congregation H5712 are holy, H6918 every one of them, and the LORD H3068 is among H8432 them: wherefore then lift ye up H5375 yourselves above the congregation H6951 of the LORD? H3068 And when Moses H4872 heard H8085 it, he fell H5307 upon his face: H6440 And he spake H1696 unto Korah H7141 and unto all his company, H5712 saying, H559 Even to morrow H1242 the LORD H3068 will shew H3045 who are his, and who is holy; H6918 and will cause him to come near H7126 unto him: even him whom he hath chosen H977 will he cause to come near H7126 unto him. This do; H6213 Take H3947 you censers, H4289 Korah, H7141 and all his company; H5712 And put H5414 fire H784 therein, H2004 and put H7760 incense H7004 in them before H6440 the LORD H3068 to morrow: H4279 and it shall be that the man H376 whom the LORD H3068 doth choose, H977 he shall be holy: H6918 ye take too much H7227 upon you, ye sons H1121 of Levi. H3878 And Moses H4872 said H559 unto Korah, H7141 Hear, H8085 I pray you, ye sons H1121 of Levi: H3878 Seemeth it but a small thing H4592 unto you, that the God H430 of Israel H3478 hath separated H914 you from the congregation H5712 of Israel, H3478 to bring you near H7126 to himself to do H5647 the service H5656 of the tabernacle H4908 of the LORD, H3068 and to stand H5975 before H6440 the congregation H5712 to minister H8334 unto them? And he hath brought thee near H7126 to him, and all thy brethren H251 the sons H1121 of Levi H3878 with thee: and seek H1245 ye the priesthood H3550 also? For which cause H3651 both thou and all thy company H5712 are gathered together H3259 against the LORD: H3068 and what is Aaron, H175 that ye murmur H3885 H3885 against him? And Moses H4872 sent H7971 to call H7121 Dathan H1885 and Abiram, H48 the sons H1121 of Eliab: H446 which said, H559 We will not come up: H5927 Is it a small thing H4592 that H3588 thou hast brought us up H5927 out of a land H776 that floweth H2100 with milk H2461 and honey, H1706 to kill H4191 us in the wilderness, H4057 except thou make H8323 thyself altogether H8323 a prince H8323 over us? Moreover H637 thou hast not brought H935 us into a land H776 that floweth H2100 with milk H2461 and honey, H1706 or given H5414 us inheritance H5159 of fields H7704 and vineyards: H3754 wilt thou put out H5365 the eyes H5869 of these men? H582 we will not come up. H5927 And Moses H4872 was very H3966 wroth, H2734 and said H559 unto the LORD, H3068 Respect H6437 not thou their offering: H4503 I have not taken H5375 one H259 ass H2543 from them, neither have I hurt H7489 one H259 of them. And Moses H4872 said H559 unto Korah, H7141 Be thou and all thy company H5712 before H6440 the LORD, H3068 thou, and they, and Aaron, H175 to morrow: H4279 And take H3947 every man H376 his censer, H4289 and put H5414 incense H7004 in them, and bring H7126 ye before H6440 the LORD H3068 every man H376 his censer, H4289 two hundred H3967 and fifty H2572 censers; H4289 thou also, and Aaron, H175 each H376 of you his censer. H4289 And they took H3947 every man H376 his censer, H4289 and put H5414 fire H784 in them, and laid H7760 incense H7004 thereon, and stood H5975 in the door H6607 of the tabernacle H168 of the congregation H4150 with Moses H4872 and Aaron. H175 And Korah H7141 gathered H6950 all the congregation H5712 against them unto the door H6607 of the tabernacle H168 of the congregation: H4150 and the glory H3519 of the LORD H3068 appeared H7200 unto all the congregation. H5712 And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto Moses H4872 and unto Aaron, H175 saying, H559 Separate H914 yourselves from among H8432 this congregation, H5712 that I may consume H3615 them in a moment. H7281 And they fell H5307 upon their faces, H6440 and said, H559 O God, H410 the God H430 of the spirits H7307 of all flesh, H1320 shall one H259 man H376 sin, H2398 and wilt thou be wroth H7107 with all the congregation? H5712 And the LORD H3068 spake H1696 unto Moses, H4872 saying, H559 Speak H1696 unto the congregation, H5712 saying, H559 Get you up H5927 from about H5439 the tabernacle H4908 of Korah, H7141 Dathan, H1885 and Abiram. H48 And Moses H4872 rose up H6965 and went H3212 unto Dathan H1885 and Abiram; H48 and the elders H2205 of Israel H3478 followed H3212 him. H310 And he spake H1696 unto the congregation, H5712 saying, H559 Depart, H5493 I pray you, from the tents H168 of these wicked H7563 men, H582 and touch H5060 nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed H5595 in all their sins. H2403 So they gat up H5927 from the tabernacle H4908 of Korah, H7141 Dathan, H1885 and Abiram, H48 on every side: H5439 and Dathan H1885 and Abiram H48 came out, H3318 and stood H5324 in the door H6607 of their tents, H168 and their wives, H802 and their sons, H1121 and their little children. H2945 And Moses H4872 said, H559 Hereby ye shall know H3045 that the LORD H3068 hath sent H7971 me to do H6213 all these works; H4639 for I have not done them of mine own mind. H3820 If these men die H4191 the common death H4194 of all men, H120 or if they be visited H6485 after the visitation H6486 of all men; H120 then the LORD H3068 hath not sent H7971 me. But if the LORD H3068 make H1254 a new thing, H1278 and the earth H127 open H6475 her mouth, H6310 and swallow them up, H1104 with all that appertain unto them, and they go down H3381 quick H2416 into the pit; H7585 then ye shall understand H3045 that these men H582 have provoked H5006 the LORD. H3068 And it came to pass, as he had made an end H3615 of speaking H1696 all these words, H1697 that the ground H127 clave asunder H1234 that was under them: And the earth H776 opened H6605 her mouth, H6310 and swallowed them up, H1104 and their houses, H1004 and all the men H120 that appertained unto Korah, H7141 and all their goods. H7399 They, and all that appertained to them, went down H3381 alive H2416 into the pit, H7585 and the earth H776 closed H3680 upon them: and they perished H6 from among H8432 the congregation. H6951 And all Israel H3478 that were round about H5439 them fled H5127 at the cry H6963 of them: for they said, H559 Lest the earth H776 swallow us up H1104 also. And there came out H3318 a fire H784 from the LORD, H3068 and consumed H398 the two hundred H3967 and fifty H2572 men H376 that offered H7126 incense. H7004
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 26
Commentary on Numbers 26 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Mustering of Israel in the Steppes of Moab - Numbers 26
Before taking vengeance upon the Midianites, as they had been commanded, the Israelites were to be mustered as the army of Jehovah, by means of a fresh numbering, since the generation that was mustered at Sinai (ch. 1-4) had died out in the wilderness, with the sole exception of Caleb and Joshua (Numbers 26:64, Numbers 26:65). On this ground the command of God was issued, “ after the plague,”' for a fresh census and muster. For with the plague the last of those who came out of Egypt, and were not to enter Canaan, had been swept away, and thus the sentence had been completely executed. - The object of the fresh numbering, however, was not merely to muster Israel for the war with the Midianites, and in the approaching conquest of the promised land with the Canaanites also, but was intended to serve at the same time as a preparation for their settlement in Canaan, viz., for the division of the conquered land among the tribes and families of Israel. For this reason (Num 26) the families of the different tribes are enumerated here, which was not the case in ch. 1; and generally instructions are also given in Numbers 1:52 -56, with reference to the division of Canaan. - The numbering was simply extended, as before, to the male population of the age of 20 years and upwards, and was no doubt carried out, like the previous census at Sinai, by Moses and the high priest (Eleazar), with the assistance of the heads of the tribes, although the latter are not expressly mentioned here. - The names of the families correspond, - with very few exceptions, - to the grandsons and great-grandsons of Jacob mentioned in Gen 46. - With regard to the total number of the people, and the number of the different tribes.
Mustering of the Twelve Tribes. - Numbers 26:1-4. The command of God to Moses and Eleazar is the same as in Num 1, 2, and 3, except that it does not enter so much into details.
Numbers 26:3-4
“ And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them ” ( דּבּר with the accusative, as in Genesis 37:4). The pronoun refers to “the children of Israel,” or more correctly, to the heads of the nation as the representatives of the congregation, who were to carry out the numbering. On the Arboth-Moab , see at Numbers 22:1. Only the leading point in their words is mentioned, viz., “from twenty years old and upwards” (sc., shall ye take the number of the children of Israel), since it was very simple to supply the words “take the sum” from Numbers 26:2.
(Note: This is, at all events, easier and simpler than the alterations of the text which have been suggested for the purpose of removing the difficulty. Knobel proposes to alter וידבּר into ויּדבּר , and לאמר into לפקד : “Moses and Eleazar arranged the children of Israel when they mustered them.” But הדבּיר does not mean to arrange, but simply to drive in pairs, to subjugate (Psalms 18:48, and Psalms 47:4), - an expression which, as much be immediately apparent, is altogether inapplicable to the arrangement of the people in families for the purpose of taking a census.),
- The words from “the children of Israel” in Numbers 26:4 onwards form the introduction to the enumeration of the different tribes (Numbers 26:5.), and the verb יהיוּ (were) must be supplied. “ And the children of Israel, who went forth out of Egypt, were Reuben ,” etc.
Numbers 26:5-11
The families of Reuben tally with Genesis 46:9; Exodus 6:14, and 1 Chronicles 5:3. The plural בּני (sons), in Numbers 26:8, where only one son is mentioned, is to be explained from the fact, that several sons of this particular son (i.e., grandsons) are mentioned afterwards. On Dathan and Abiram , see at Numbers 16:1 and Numbers 16:32. See also the remark made here in Numbers 26:10 and Numbers 26:11, viz., that those who were destroyed with the company of Korah were for a sign ( נס , here a warning); but that the sons of Korah were not destroyed along with their father.
Numbers 26:12-14
The Simeonites counted only five families, as Ohad ( Genesis 46:10) left no family. Nemuel is called Jemuel there, as yod and nun are often interchanged (cf. Ges. thes . pp. 833 and 557); and Zerach is another name of the same signification for Zohar ( Zerach , the rising of the sun; Zohar , candor , splendour).
Numbers 26:15-18
The Gadites are the same as in Genesis 46:16, except that Ozni is called Ezbon there.
Numbers 26:19-22
The sons and families of Judah agree with Genesis 46:12 (cf. Genesis 38:6.); also with 1 Chronicles 2:3-5.
Numbers 26:23-25
The families of Issachar correspond to the sons mentioned in Genesis 46:13, except that the name Job occurs there instead of Jashub . The two names have the same signification, as Job is derived from an Arabic word which signifies to return.
Numbers 26:26-27
The families of Zebulun correspond to the sons named in Genesis 46:14.
Numbers 26:28-37
The descendants of Joseph were classified in two leading families, according to his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim , who were born before the removal of Israel to Egypt, and were raised into founders of tribes in consequence of the patriarch Israel having adopted them as his own sons (Gen 48).
Numbers 26:29-34
Eight families descended from Manasseh: viz., one from his son Machir , the second from Machir's son or Manasseh's grandson Gilead , and the other six from the six sons of Gilead . The genealogical accounts in Numbers 27:1; Numbers 36:1, and Joshua 17:1., fully harmonize with this, except that Iezer (Numbers 26:30) is called Abiezer in Joshua 17:2; whereas only a part of the names mentioned here occur in the genealogical fragments in 1 Chronicles 2:21-24, and 7:14-29. In Numbers 26:33, a son of Hepher , named Zelophehad , is mentioned. He had no sons, but only daughters, whose names are given here to prepare the way for the legal regulations mentioned in Num 27 and 39, to which this fact gave rise.
Numbers 26:35-37
There were four families descended from Ephraim ; three from his sons, and one from his grandson. Of the descendants of Sutelah several links are given in 1 Chronicles 7:20.
Numbers 26:38-41
The children of Benjamin formed seven families, five of whom were founded by his sons, and two by grandsons. (On the differences which occur between the names given here and those in Genesis 46:21.) Some of the sons and grandsons of Benjamin mentioned here are also found in the genealogical fragments in 1 Chronicles 7:6-18, and 1 Chronicles 8:1.
Numbers 26:42-43
The descendants of Dan formed only one family, named from a son of Dan, who is called Shuham here, but Hushim in Genesis 46:23; though this family no doubt branched out into several smaller families, which are not named here, simply because this list contains only the leading families into which the tribes were divided.
Numbers 26:44-47
The families of Asher agree with the sons of Asher mentioned in Genesis 46:17 and 1 Chronicles 7:30, except that Ishuah is omitted here, because he founded no family.
Numbers 26:48-50
The families of Naphtali tally with the sons of Naphtali in Genesis 46:24 and 1 Chronicles 7:30.
Numbers 26:51
The total number of the persons mustered was 601,730.
Instructions concerning the Distribution of the Land. - In Numbers 26:53, Numbers 26:54, the command is given to distribute the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes (“unto these”), according to the number of the names (Num 1:2-18), i.e., to the tribes and families that contained only a few persons, they were to make it small; to every one according to the measure of its mustered persons ( ל must be repeated before אישׁ ). In Numbers 26:55, Numbers 26:56, it is still further commanded that the distribution should take place by lot. “ According to the names on their paternal tribes shall they (the children of Israel) receive it (the land) for an inheritance .” The meaning of these words can only be, that every tribe was to receive a province of its own for an inheritance, which should be called by its name for ever. The other regulation in Numbers 26:56, “ according to the measure of the lot shall its inheritance (the inheritance of every tribe) be divided between the numerous and the small (tribe),” is no doubt to be understood as signifying, that in the division of the tribe territories, according to the comparative sizes of the different tribes, they were to adhere to that portion of land which fell to every tribe in the casting of the lots. The magnitude and limits of the possessions of the different tribes could not be determined by the lot according to the magnitude of the tribes themselves: all that could possibly be determined was the situation to be occupied by the tribe; so that R. Bechai is quite correct in observing that “ the casting of the lot took place for the more convenient distribution of the different portions, whether of better or inferior condition, that there might be no occasion for strife and covetousness,” though the motive assigned is too partial in its character. The lot was to determine the portion of every tribe, not merely to prevent all occasion for dissatisfaction and complaining, but in order that every tribe might receive with gratitude the possession that fell to its lot as the inheritance assigned it by God, the result of the lot being regarded by almost all nations as determined by God Himself (cf. Proverbs 16:33; Proverbs 18:18). On this ground not only was the lot resorted to by the Greeks and Romans in the distribution of conquered lands (see the proofs in Clericus, Rosenmüller, and Knobel ), but it is still employed in the division of lands. (For further remarks, see at Joshua 14:1.).
Mustering of the Levites. - The enumeration of the different Levitical families into which the three leading families of Levi, that were founded by his three sons Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, were divided, is not complete, but is broken off in Numbers 26:58 after the notice of five different families, for the purpose of tracing once more the descent of Moses and Aaron, the heads not of this tribe only, but of the whole nation, and also of giving the names of the sons of the latter (Numbers 26:59-61). And after this the whole is concluded with a notice of the total number of those who were mustered of the tribe of Levi (Numbers 26:62). - Of the different families mentioned, Libni belonged to Gershon (cf. Numbers 3:21), Hebroni to Kohath (Numbers 3:27), Machli and Mushi to Merari (Numbers 3:33), and Korchi , i.e., the family of Korah (according to ch. Numbers 16:1; cf. Exodus 6:21 and Exodus 6:24), to Kohath. Moses and Aaron were descendants of Kohath (see at Exodus 6:20 and Exodus 2:1). Some difficulty is caused by the relative clause, “ whom (one) had born to Levi in Egypt ” (Numbers 26:59), on account of the subject being left indefinite. It cannot be Levi's wife, as Jarchi, Abenezra, and others suppose; for Jochebed, the mother of Moses, was not a daughter of Levi in the strict sense of the word, but only a Levitess or descendant of Levi, who lived about 300 years after Levi; just as her husband Amram was not actually the son of Amram, who bore that name (Exodus 6:18), but a later descendant of this older Amram. The missing subject must be derived from the verb itself, viz., either היּלדת or אמּהּ (her mother), as in 1 Kings 1:6, another passage in which “his mother” is to be supplied (cf. Ewald , §294, b .).
Sons of Aaron: cf. Numbers 3:2 and Numbers 3:4; Exodus 6:23; Leviticus 10:1, Leviticus 10:2.
The Levites were not mustered along with the rest of the tribes of Israel, because the mustering took place with especial reference to the conquest of Canaan, and the Levites were not to receive any territory as a tribe (see at Numbers 18:20).
Concluding formula with the remark in Numbers 26:65, that the penal sentence which God had pronounced in Numbers 14:29 and Numbers 14:38 upon the generation which came out of Egypt, had been completely carried out.