Israelites who came out of Egypt (26:4). The second census of Israel’s military provides genealogical information not listed in the first census (see ch. 1; on the purpose of genealogies, see comment on 3:1). Lists of successive kings of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon were common among the cuneiform texts excavated at Nineveh and Babylon.255 The genealogical census lists in Numbers connect the second generation of Israelites with the first generation, whom God delivered from Egypt. The familial relationships also form the basis for the land distribution by lot noted in 26:52–56; 33:53–54 (see comments on 1:20–46).
The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730 (26:51). See the sidebar on “Large Numbers in the Book of Numbers” at 1:46. If one takes the interpretation of ʾelep (“thousand”) as “troop, clan,” the second census total is 596 troops, totaling 5,730 men (a growth of 180 men).
Distributed by lot (26:55). The antiquity of these texts is echoed in the practice of census taking in the ancient Near East of the second millennium B.C. Census taking for military and land distribution purposes is known from the royal archives of Mari dating to the nineteenth century B.C.256 Milgrom also notes the clan register is reflective of the “premonarchical period, when Israelite society was based solely on clan structure.”257 The principle of proportion is described in explicit terms—greater territory for larger tribes, smaller portions for the less populated. Clan apportionment is assumed under the aegis of their ancestral tribe.
The proportional distribution takes into consideration the percentage of arable land available or accessible by clearing or irrigation. Joshua will later challenge tribes to harvest forested areas for ample farming acreage (Josh. 17:17–18). The second principle governing land allocation is that of providential probability. The Lord oversees the tossing of the lots and thereby brings his decision to pass. Distribution of land for tribal inheritance follows this method; that inheritance is to remain within the tribal family for posterity.258