Bilangan 1:16

The Census of the Tribes

1:16 These were the ones chosen ¹  from the community, leaders ²  of their ancestral tribes. ³  They were the heads of the thousands ⁴  of Israel.

Bilangan 3:3

3:3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed ⁵  priests, whom he consecrated ⁶  to minister as priests. ⁷ 

Bilangan 4:45

4:45 These are those numbered from the families of the Merarites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the word of the Lord by the authority of Moses.

Bilangan 26:18

26:18 These were the families of the Gadites according to those numbered of them, 40,500. ⁸ 

Bilangan 26:22

26:22 These were the families of Judah according to those numbered of them, 76,500. ⁹ 

Bilangan 26:25

26:25 These were the families of Issachar, according to those numbered of them, 64,300. ¹⁰ 

Bilangan 26:34

26:34 These were the families of Manasseh; those numbered of them were 52,700. ¹¹ 

Bilangan 26:41

26:41 These are the Benjaminites, according to their families, and according to those numbered of them, 45,600. ¹² 

Bilangan 26:47

26:47 These are the families of the Asherites, according to those numbered of them, 53,400. ¹³ 

Bilangan 26:50-51

26:50 These were the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those numbered of them were 45,400. ¹⁴ 

Total Number and Division of the Land

26:51 These were those numbered of the Israelites, 601,730. ¹⁵ 

Bilangan 28:10

28:10 This is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, ¹⁶  besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering.

[1:16]  ¹ tc The form has a Kethib-Qere problem, but the sentence calls for the Qere, the passive participle in the construct – “the called of….” These men were God’s choice, and not Moses’, or their own choice. He announced who they would be, and then named them. So they were truly “called” (קָרָא, qara’). The other reading is probably due to a copyist’s error.

[1:16]  ² tn The word is נָשִׂיא (nasi’, “exalted one, prince, leader”). Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “princes.” These were men apparently revered or respected in their tribes, and so the clear choice to assist Moses with the leadership. See further, E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical na„sÃþá,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

[1:16]  ³ tn Heb “exalted ones of the tribes of their fathers.” The earlier group of elders was chosen by Moses at the advice of his father-in-law. This group represents the few leaders of the tribes that were chosen by God, a more literate group apparently, who were the forerunners of the שֹׁטְּרִים (shottÿrim).

[1:16]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has אַלְפֵי (’alfey, “thousands of”). There is some question over this reading in the MT, however. The community groups that have these leaders were larger tribes, but there is little certainty about the size of the divisions.

[3:3]  ⁵ tn The verb מָשַׁח (mashakh) means “to anoint”; here the form modifies the “priests.” The service of consecration was carried out with anointing oil (Exod 30:30). The verb is used for the anointing of kings as well as priests in the OT, and so out of that derived the technical title “Messiah” for the coming ideal king – the “Anointed One.”

[3:3]  ⁶ tn In this verse the expression is in a relative clause: “who he filled their hand” means “whose hands he filled,” or “whom he consecrated.” The idiomatic expression used here is from Lev 8; it literally is “he filled their hand” (מִלֵּא יָדָם, mille’ yadam). In the ordination service Moses placed some of the meat from the sacrifice in the hand of the ordinand, and this signified what he was going to be about – having his hand full, or being consecrated to the priesthood. There is some evidence that this practice or expression was also known in Mesopotamia. In modern ordination services a NT or a Bible may be placed in the ordinand’s hand – it is what the ministry will be about.

[3:3]  ⁷ tn The form is an infinitival construction for the word for the priest, showing the purpose for the filling of the hands.

[26:18]  ⁸ sn The Gadites decreased from 45,650 to 40,500.

[26:22]  ⁹ sn The Judahites increased from 74,600 to 76,500.

[26:25]  ¹⁰ sn The Issacharites increased from 54,400 to 64,300.

[26:34]  ¹¹ sn The Manassehites increased from 32,200 to 52,700.

[26:41]  ¹² sn The Benjaminites increased from 35,400 to 45,600. The Greek version has here 35,500.

[26:47]  ¹³ sn The Asherites increased from 41,500 to 53,400.

[26:50]  ¹⁴ sn The Naphtalites decreased from 53,400 to 45,400.

[26:51]  ¹⁵ sn This number shows only a slightly smaller total in the second census; the first was 603,550.

[28:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the burnt offering of the Sabbath by its Sabbath.”