[When we first read this book and discovered that only male Israelites were included in the ‘census’, the women among us understandably took offense. We had already soured over the fact that the practice of having multiple wives and concubines was tolerated in the patriarchal culture of YHWH’s chosen people, the worst record being the supposedly “wise” King Solomon.
Again, this is where understanding the culture of those times is important — notice the wording in the title of this post. The women, children and the elderly, probably the slaves as well as foreigners, not to forget the Levites —were not counted because what was important in the census is the population that would fight the battles for the multitude wandering in the desert. Surely, such a formidable number of nomads travelling with their God posed a threat to the nation groups they would encounter in the desert of Sin. If those encounters were friendly, no problem; if they were threatening, then able-bodied males naturally would fight the battles to defend who? Well, the women, children, elderly and whoever else was not allowed to fight. This was our initial understanding, deduced mainly from the criteria given for the numbering.
Later we learned that tribal lines were traced only through the male population, so it still made sense that the census would focus on the same pattern of previous genealogies listing only the names of fathers and sons. That is what the culture dictated at the time and the practice probably affected later generations.
Until recently, wives would take on their husbands’ surname, losing their individuality and identity in becoming simply Mrs. so-and-so but at least, concubinage is illegal in democratic society. With the institution of marriage currently being threatened by same-sex demands to be legalized, single women are choosing to retain their family surname instead of taking on their husband’s. But enough of this diversion. Are you ready to tackle the book that most bible students would rather not read? Take heart, this IS an interesting and important book! Best to discover for yourself . . . read on.
Our interpretation the running commentary in Pentateuch & Haftarahs, ed. Dr. J.H. Hertz shown in [parenthesis]; all others are S6K commentary. Translation is EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses.—Admin1]
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Chapter I. MUSTERING THE PEOPLE
One month after the erection of the Tabernacle, Moses is commanded to muster all the men of military age, i.e. those twenty years of age and upwards.
The total number of adult males is given in v. 46 as 603,550. This number is exactly the same as the number of individuals who paid the poll-tax six months previously—possibly because the census was taken once only, and that at the time of the taking of the poll-tax. All that is commanded in the present chapter may only be ‘to prepare a classified return of the census already taken, with a view to the proper arrangement of the tribes in camps, as their wanderings were about to begin’ (H.Adler).
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Bamidbar/Numbers – 1
1 Now YHVH spoke to Moshe in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Appointment, on the first (day) after the second New-moon, in the second year after their going-out from the land of Egypt, saying:tent of meeting. The Tabernacle (the place ‘where I will meet with you’ to speak there unto thee; Exod. XXIX,42), the Tent of revelation.
2 Take up the head-count of the entire community of the Children of Israel, by their clans, by their Fathers’ Houses, according to the number of names, every male per capita;take ye. The plural is used because the command is to be carried out by both Moses and Aaron; see next v.
take ye the sum. equivalent to : Prepare a classified return of the census already taken. It is not quite synonymous in (Leviticus) III, 15,40, when the command is merely to number the first-born of the Levites.
all the congregation. Exclusive of the Levites.
their families. Their clans—subdivisions of a tribe.
father’s houses. Their septs, subdivisions of the clans. Both ‘family’ and ‘father’s house’ have each a wider and a narrower sense.
by their polls. lit. ‘skulls’, individual persons, as in the English poll-tax or head-money.
to go forth to war. Or, go forth to service. number them by their hosts. As military men: the march towards Canaan was to be that of a disciplined nation and not a rabble of runaway slaves (Luzzatto). The aged, infirm, and maimed were therefore exempted from the numbering, as were those under twenty years of age.
4 And with you let there be a man, a man per tribe, (the) man (who is) head of his Fathers’ House he is (to be).a man of every tribe. Twelve assessors, the head-man of each tribe, were to assist in the work of numbering.
Elizur. ‘God is my rock.’ Of the 24 proper names here given, 9 contain the Divine name El, God; 3 the name Tzur, Rock–a frequent appellation for God; and in 3 Shaddai occurs. Shaddai is usually translated ‘Almighty’ and derived from a Heb. root ‘to overpower.’ It has also been derived from the Arabic which means ‘to heap benefits’, and ‘to reconcile persons at enmity with one another’. This idea of beneficence and peace is amply borne out by the passage in Genesis in which Shaddai occurs (Gen. VII,1; VII,3; XLIII,14). The meaning conveyed by them is that of a Friend and Protector, who watches over the Patriarchs, shepherds them and bestows upon them and their descendants great moral and material good. Shaddai can therefore be translated ‘Dispenser of benefits’ (Baron David Gunzburg in Revue des Etudes Juives LVII).
Shedur. ‘Shaddai is a light.’
6 for Shim’on: Shelumi’el son of Tzurishaddai;Shellumiel. Either ‘at peace with God,’ or, ‘my friend is God’ (Hommel).
Zurishaddai. ‘My Rock is Shaddai.’
7 for Yehuda: Nahshon son of Amminadav; Numbers 1:8 for Yissakhar: Netan’el son of Tzu’ar;Nahshon. ‘Serpent,’ Animal names are common in all lands; cf the Germanic names, Wolf, Bear, etc.
Amminadab. ‘The (divine) Kinsman is generous.’
9 for Zevulun: Eliav son of Heilon;Nethaniel. ‘God hath given.’
9 for Zevulun: Eliav son of Heilon;Eliab. ‘God is Father.’
10 for the Sons of Yosef: for Efrayim: Elishama son of Ammihud; for Menashe: Gamliel son of Pedahtzur;Elishama. ‘God hath heard.’
Ammihud. ‘The (divine) Kinsman is glorious.’
Gamaliel. ‘God is my reward.’ In later times, it was the name of many famous rabbis.
Pedazhur. ‘The Rock hath redeemed.’
11 for Binyamin: Avidan son of Gid’oni;
Abidan. ‘The Father hath judged.
12 for Dan: Ahi’ezer son of Ammishaddai;Ahiezer. ‘The (divine) Brother is a help.’
Ammishaddai. ‘The people of Shaddai.’
13 for Asher: Pag’iel son of Okhran;Pagiel. ‘The lot or fate of (i.e. given by) God.’
14 for Gad: Elyasaf son of De’uel;Eliasaph. ‘God hath added.’
Deuel. Or, ‘Reuel’ (II,14). ‘God is a friend.’ Both forms seem to be an abbreviation of Daruel (Luzatto).
15 for Naftali: Ahira’ son of Einan.Ahira. Shortened form of Ahirea ‘the (divine) Brother is a friend.’
These names are invaluable documents of early life in Israel, and throw light on the religious feelings of the ancient Israelite. They are genuine and trustworthy, as they can each be paralleled in Babylonian and Arabian inscriptions. If, as alleged by hostile critics, these names were merely made to pattern and the product of the age of Ezra, they should be met with in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. This, however, is not the case; and, in fact, such characteristic names as those compounded with amim, Zur, and Shaddai are never found in post-Exilic times. ‘It is quite certain that the names contained in the lists in the Book of Numbers cannot be rightly assigned to any other period than that of Moses’ (Hommel).
16 These are the (ones) called-by the community, the exalted-leaders of the tribes of their fathers, heads of the divisions of Israel are they.elect of the congregation. Summoned as the congregation’s representative men.
princes. Chiefs.
the thousands. A ‘thousand’ denotes a large division of the people for judicial or military purposes (II Sam. XVIII,1; compare the similar use of the Old English word ‘hundred’.)
17 Now Moshe and Aharon took these men, who were indicated by name, 18 and the entire community they assembled, on the first (day) of the second New-moon; they declared-their-lineage according to their clans, by their Fathers’ Houses, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, per capita,on the first day. The classifying of the returns egan, but was not necessarily completed, on that one day.
they declared their pedigrees. Investigated the dates of their birth, to ascertain whether they were over 20 years of age; or, their pedigrees were written down (Ibn Ezra).
generations. Descendants.
21 their count, of the tribe of Re’uven: six and forty thousand, and five hundred. 22 For the Sons of Shim’on: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, those of his count, as numbered by name, per capita, every male from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 23 their count, of the tribe of Shim’on: nine and fifty thousand, and three hundred. 24 For the Sons of Gad: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 25 their count, of the tribe of Gad: five and forty thousand, and six hundred and fifty. 26 For the Sons of Yehuda: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 27 their count, of the tribe of Yehuda: four and seventy thousand, and six hundred. 28 For the Sons of Yissakhar: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 29 their count, of the tribe of Yissakhar: four and fifty thousand, and four hundred. 30 For the Sons of Zevulun: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 31 their count, of the tribe of Zevulun: seven and fifty thousand, and four hundred. 32 For the Sons of Yosef: For the Sons of Efrayim: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 33 their count, of the tribe of Efrayim: forty thousand and five hundred. 34 For the Sons of Menashe: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 35 their count, of the tribe of Menashe: two and thirty thousand, and two hundred. 36 For the Sons of Binyamin: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 37 their count, of the tribe of Binyamin: five and thirty thousand, and four hundred. 38 For the Sons of Dan: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name,from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 39 their count, of the tribe of Dan: two and sixty thousand, and seven hundred. 40 For the Sons of Asher: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 41 their count, of the tribe of Asher: one and forty thousand, and five hundred. 42 For the Sons of Naftali: their begettings by their clans, by their Fathers’ House, as numbered by name, from the age of twenty years and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces: 43 their count, of the tribe of Naftali: three and fifty thousand, and four hundred. 44 These are the accountings which Moshe and Aharon and the leaders of Israel counted, (the) twelve men-one man per Fathers’ House were they- 45 they were, all those accounted for of the Children of Israel by their Fathers’ House, from the age of twenty and upward, everyone going out to the armed-forces in Israel, 46 thus they were, all those accounted for: six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. 47 But the Levites, by the tribe of their fathers, were not counted in the midst of them.
47-54. The Levites, a summary of their duties and their place in the camp; see further in III and IV.
were not numbered. ‘The Levites are the Divine King’s Legion, and are hence worthy to enjoy the distinction of a separate census’ (Rashi).
48 YHVH spoke to Moshe, saying: 49 Mark, the tribe of Levi you are not to count, their head-count you are not to take up in the midst of the Children of Israel. 50 But you, make the Levites accountable for the Dwelling of Testimony, for all its implements and for all that belongs to it: they are to carry the Dwelling and all its implements, they are to attend to it, and around the Dwelling they are to camp.tabernacle of the testimony. A fuller description for the Tabernacle or Dwelling in which the ‘tables of the testimony’ (Exod. XXXI,18) were deposited; i.e. the two stone tablets of the Decalogue, that were placed inside the Ark, and were a testimony that the Divine Presence dwelt in Israel.
51 When the Dwelling moves on, the Levites are to take it down, and when the Dwelling is encamped, the Levites are to set it up; the outsider who comes-near is to be put-to-death!common man. I.e. a layman; here the word means one who was not a Levite. In III,10, the same term refers to one who does not belong to the priesthood.
draweth nigh. With the object of concerning himself with the service of the Levites, in connection with the Holy Tent and its furniture.
put to death. ‘But not by a human tribunal’ (Talmud).
52 The Children of Israel are to camp, each-one according to his encampment, each-one according to his banner-contingent, by their forces. 53 But the Levites are to camp around the Dwelling of Testimony- that there be no fury against the community of the Children of Israel- and the Levites are to keep the charge of the Dwelling of Testimony.the Levites . . . round about the tabernacle. Constituting a body-guard, to prevent the non-Levite from coming into contact with the holy vessels
keep the charge . . . testimony. Perform the duties devolving upon them in connection with the Sanctuary.
54 The Children of Israel did according to all that YHVH commanded Moshe, thus they did.