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The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1-65
THE FINAL NUMBERING OF THE ELECT Both the numberings of the children of Israel are to be spiritually interpreted of that knowledge which God has of his elect, and of their inscription in the registers of life. The peopl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1
It came to pass after the plague. This plague was the last event which seriously diminished the numbers of the Israelites; perhaps it was the last event which diminished them at all, for it seems to be throughout implie…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1-62
THE SECOND CENSUS I. THE PURPOSE OF IT. 1. The number of those able to go to war in Israel had still to be ascertained. Though the people are now reposing in unaccustomed and grateful quietude, with the promised Canaan…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:2
Take the sum of all the congregation. This was certainly not commanded with a view to the war against Midian, which was of no military importance, and was actually prosecuted with no more than 12,000 men (Numbers 31:5).…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:3
Spake with them, i.e; no doubt with the responsible chiefs, who must have assisted in this census, as in the previous one (Numbers 1:4), although the fact is not mentioned.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:4
Take the sum of the people. These words are not in the text, but axe borrowed from Numbers 26:2. Nothing is set down in the original but the brief instruction given to the census-takers—"from twenty years old and upward…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 26:5-51
This is the register of the tribes as they were now enrolled, in the same order that they were numbered in Numbers 1:1-54. Observe, I. The account that is here kept of the families of each tribe, which must not be under…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:5
The children of Reuben. The four names here registered as distinguishing families within the tribe of Reuben agree with the lists given in Genesis 46:9; Exodus 6:14; 1 Chronicles 5:3.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:7
These … the families of the Reubenites. The mustering according to families was the distinguishing feature of this census, because it was preparatory to a territorial settlement in Canaan, in which the unity of the fami…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:8
And the sons of Pallu. This particular genealogy is added because of the special interest which attached to the fate of certain members of the family. The plural "sons" is to be explained here not from the fact (which h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:10
Swallowed them up together with Korah. יַתִּבְלַע אֹתָם וְאֶת־קֹרַח. Septuagint, κατέπειν αὐτοὺς καὶ κορέ. This distinct statement, which is not modified in the Targums, seems decisive as to the fate of Korah. If i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:11
The children of Korah died not. The confused nature of the narrative in Numbers 16:1-50 is well exemplified by this statement; we should certainly have supposed from Numbers 16:32 that Korah's sons had perished with him…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:12
The sons of Simeon. As in Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15, with the omission of Ohad, who may not have founded any family. In such cases it is no doubt possible that there were children, but that for some reason they failed…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:15
The children of Gad. Cf. Genesis 46:16, the only other enumeration of the sons of Gad.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:20
The sons of Judah after their families. The Beni-Judah, or "men of Judah," according to their sub-tribal divisions, are clearly distinguished from the "sons of Judah" as individuals, two of whom are mentioned in the pre…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:23
The sons of Issachar. As in Genesis 46:13; 1 Chronicles 7:1, except that in Genesis we have Job instead of Jashub; the two names, however, appear to have the same meaning.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:26
The sons of Zebulun. As in Genesis 46:14.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:29
The sons of Manasseh. There is considerable difficulty about the families of this tribe, because they are not recorded in Genesis, while the details preserved in 1 Chronicles 7:14-17 are so obscure and fragmentary as to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:33
Zelophehad … had no sons, but daughters. This is mentioned here because the case was to come prominently before the lawgiver and the nation (cf. Numbers 27:1; Numbers 36:1; 1 Chronicles 7:15).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:35
The sons of Ephraim. These formed but four families, three named after sons, one after a grandson. In 1 Chronicles 7:21 two other sons of Ephraim are mentioned who were killed in their father's lifetime, and a third, Be…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:38
The sons of Benjamin. These formed seven families, five named after sons, two after grandsons. The list in Genesis 46:21 contains three names here omitted, and the rest are much changed in form. Them is still more diver…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:42
The sons of Dan. These all formed but one family, named alter Shuham (elsewhere Hushim), the only son of Dan that is mentioned. It is possible that Dan had other children, whose descendants were incorporated with the Sh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:44
The children of Asher. Of these three families were named after sons, two after grandsons. In Genesis 46:17; 1 Chronicles 7:30, 1 Chronicles 7:31 a sixth name occurs, Ishuah, or Isuah. It is possible that its similarity…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:48
The sons of Naphtali. As in Genesis 46:24; 1 Chronicles 7:13.