NIV Zondervan Study Bible

Title

Numbers is an unfortunate title for this book. It comes from the Septuagint (the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT) and was likely inspired by the census-counts the book contains (chs. 1–4, 26). Its Hebrew name, “In the wilderness,” refers to the fifth Hebrew word contained in its opening verse (1:1). But neither title captures its focus. If length were not an issue, a more appropriate title might be “A Tale of Two Generations of Israelites, One Faithless and One Faithful.”

Author

The book identifies Moses as writing down information recorded in the travel itinerary of 33:3–49 (33:2). In addition, the phrases “the LORD said (spoke) to Moses” and “the LORD commanded Moses” occur more than 60 times (e.g., 1:1; 2:1, 33; 3:5). While these phrases are not explicit commands for him to write down the Lord’s words, God elsewhere tells him to do so (Exod 17:14; 34:27), and it would have been natural for him to continue this practice. All this leads to the conclusion that Moses is responsible for the bulk of the book’s material (while not denying that a final editor added some information, such as at 12:3). For further discussion, see Introduction to the Pentateuch.

Historical Setting

Numbers covers events that happened sometime between 1450 and 1240 BC (see “Dates in Exodus”). Geographically, the book opens at Mount Sinai, where the Israelites arrived in Exod 19. They remained there for the rest of Exodus (chs. 19–40), all of Leviticus, and the beginning of Numbers, finally breaking camp in Num 10:11–12. They arrived at the southern border of the promised land in 12:16 but rebelled against the Lord’s command to enter (chs. 13–14). Because of this, they spent the next 38 years in the wilderness until finally arriving at the plains of Moab (22:1), just east of the promised land, where they would stay for the rest of Numbers (see “The Israelites’ Location: Where and How Long”). It was here they received the book of Deuteronomy and awaited final orders to go into the promised land under Joshua (Josh 3).

Theological Themes

Broadly speaking, Numbers tells this story: The Lord, the covenant God of the Israelites, provides them with final instructions for preparing to march into the land he has sworn to give to them (1:1—10:10). They could do so with confidence because the Lord himself would be going along in their midst (10:33–36). But the adult Israelites of the exodus generation continue to grumble and complain as they had done in the book of Exodus. Ultimately, they reject the Lord and the leaders he appointed, turn to other gods, and cause the leaders themselves to commit gross sin (10:11—25:18). The Lord punishes them but also responds repeatedly with mercy, refusing to treat the people as a whole as their sins deserve (chs. 14, 21, 25). Finally, after the exodus generation has died out, the Lord prepares the next generation of Israelites to enter the promised land and live there as his covenant people (chs. 26–36).

In the course of telling this story, Numbers emphasizes different theological themes, and these may be grouped under three headings: the Lord, the people, and the land. As part of the Pentateuch, Numbers focuses on the promises made to the patriarchs. These promises focus on the Lord calling a specific people (Israel) to himself and promising to give them a land (Hebrew ʾereṣ) where they could walk in fellowship with him (Gen 12:1–3, 7; 17:1–8). What should not be missed is that these promises are in direct keeping with the Lord’s intent for humanity from the very beginning. The Bible begins with the story of the Lord creating people (Adam and Eve) and commanding them to fill all the earth (Hebrew ʾereṣ) as they walked in fellowship with him and reflected his image to the world (Gen 1–2). The Lord’s intent has always been to enjoy fellowship with his created people and to have them fill all the earth with his character—love, justice, mercy, goodness, and peace. To return to Numbers, this means that Israel’s purpose is nothing less than to carry out the Lord’s creational purpose for humanity: walking in close fellowship with their King as they live out his love, justice, and mercy, in this way filling all the land with his holy kingdom, in anticipation of the time when God’s kingdom will fill the earth.

The Lord

Three themes focus on the Lord:

1. The Lord’s Presence. The covenant-keeping King of Israel dwells in the midst of his covenant people. He does this in the tent of meeting, which serves as his portable royal residence (see note on 1:1). He appears there in a cloud of divine glory (see “The Glory of God”), assuring the Israelites he is with them and will march before them into the promised land (10:33–36). The people are to respond to the Lord’s presence among them by following him with bold confidence into the promised land (see notes on 21:1–3, 21–35; 36:13) and by living holy lives (15:38–41).

In terms of the larger biblical story, this theme of the Lord’s presence among his people runs from one end of the Bible to the other. In the OT, it begins before Numbers (Gen 3:8; Exod 29:42–46; 40:34–38; etc.) and continues after it (Deut 31:6; Josh 1:9; 1 Kgs 8:10–12; Ps 46:7; Isa 43:5; etc.). In the NT, Jesus becomes the ultimate expression of God dwelling among his people (John 1:14), a presence that continues among us to this day (Rev 1:12–20) and will find its complete expression in the new heaven and the new earth (Rev 21:3–4). As in Numbers, the Lord’s ongoing presence should fill his people today with bold confidence in carrying out his kingdom mission (Matt 28:18–20). It should also inspire us to live holy lives of reverence before him (2 Cor 7:1; Heb 12:18–29; see “Holiness”), especially since God himself dwells within us by his Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19).

2. The Lord’s Faithfulness to His Covenant Promises. The Lord has been and continues to be faithful to the covenant promises he made to Israel’s forefathers: he will be their God (10:33–36; cf. Gen 17:7; 26:24), make them a great people (1:20–46; 22:2–4; cf. Gen 13:16; 15:5; 26:4), give them the promised land (21:1–3, 21–35; cf. Gen 12:7; 15:18; 26:3), bless the nations through them (15:14–16; cf. Gen 12:3; 26:4), and generally, bless them (6:27; 23:7–10; 24:3–9; cf. Gen 12:2–3). “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind” (23:19a). Because he is faithful to his promises, the Israelites can follow him with full confidence that the blessings of the covenant will be theirs.

The Lord’s faithfulness to his promises continues after Numbers as Israel experiences the blessings of the covenant, in particular, making it safely into the long-awaited promised land (see Joshua). The Lord’s faithfulness gives the Israelites freedom to pursue covenant living boldly and wholeheartedly, knowing that the Lord’s promises are certain and sure for those who trust in him. The NT applies this truth to those who follow Jesus, affirming they can have full confidence that the Lord will be faithful to his promises to them and will ensure that they receive all the blessings of the new covenant, particularly eternal life now and eternal fellowship with him in the far greater promised land to come (John 14:1–3; 1 Cor 1:4–9; 2 Cor 1:20–22; Phil 1:6; 1 Thess 5:23–24; Heb 6:13–20).

3. The Lord’s Patience, Mercy, and Justice. The Lord is patient and merciful with his people, yet committed to justice. The Lord shows his patience and mercy again and again by forgiving his people and not unleashing on them the full fury their sins deserve (see notes on 14:13–19, 20, 22). But the Lord’s patience does not mean that his justice never comes, and sometimes his punishment can be very severe (e.g., 11:33–34; 12:9–10; 15:32–36; 16:31–35, 47–49). His judgment strongly warns Israel (and us!) not to rebel against the King and Creator. “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb 10:31).

The Lord’s patience and mercy toward his people continue throughout the OT (Pss 30:5; 103:1–18; Mic 7:18) and into the NT (Rev 2:21). They shine forth with greatest clarity in the death of Jesus on behalf of sinners (John 3:16; Rom 5:8; Eph 5:2; 1 John 4:9–10) and in the Lord’s delay of ushering in final judgment (Rom 2:4; 2 Pet 3:9). (See “Love and Grace.”) But the theme of the Lord’s justice continues as well. It breaks out among the people of God (Acts 5:1–11; 1 Cor 11:30; Jas 5:16) and the nations (Acts 12:21–23), and it will do so at the final judgment for those without faith in Jesus (John 3:18, 36; 5:24; 8:24; Acts 4:12; Rom 6:23). (See “Justice.”) Again, this is a stark reminder that we must embrace the Lord, keeping his covenant and following him wholeheartedly.

The People

Five major themes focus on the Israelites (see “People of God”):

1. Unity. The Lord’s people are to be unified in order to carry out their kingdom mission together. Numbers emphasizes the Israelites’ unity time and again: the census lists (they are “the sons of Israel” and therefore blood relatives [1:20–46; 26:4b–51]); the list of gifts at the tabernacle dedication (every tribe participated equally [7:10–88]); sending one spy from each tribe to scout the land (13:2); sending 1,000 from each tribe to fight Midian (31:4); and requiring that the tribes settling on the east side of the Jordan help the remaining tribes battle for Canaan on the west side (ch. 32).

The NT also focuses on the necessity of unity among the Lord’s covenant people. In his longest recorded prayer, Jesus prays that his followers may have “complete unity” so that the world might know that his message is true (John 17:20–23). Paul pictures the unity of the Lord’s people by describing Jesus as “the chief cornerstone” of “a holy temple” made up of the people of God (Eph 2:20–21). This is a temple “in which God lives by his Spirit” (Eph 2:22) and where the glory of God is made manifest in the earth (Eph 3:20–21; see “Temple”), especially as his people show one another his love (Eph 4:1–6).

2. Respecting Callings. The Lord’s people are to respect the different callings of the individuals among them. God called Moses to serve as the chief leader of the people (12:6–8), and he called Aaron and the priests to the special privilege of serving in his tabernacle (1:47–53; 3:5–39; 4:1–49; 16:1—17:11). As many of these references show, the first-generation Israelites often failed to respect these callings.

Believers today are likewise to respect the different callings of their brothers and sisters (1 Cor 12:4–31) as well as the authority structures the Lord has put in place (1 Thess 5:12–13; 1 Tim 5:17). Believers must respect their leaders (Heb 13:17) and provide for their material needs (1 Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6). The NT also emphasizes that Jesus is a leader incomparably greater than any who have gone before. While Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house, Jesus is the ruling Son of God over God’s house (Heb 3:1–6); while Aaron was a high priest who atoned for Israel’s sins by means of sacrifices in a temporary way (Heb 10:1–4), Jesus is the great high priest who offered himself as a sacrifice that atones for sins once and for all (Heb 10:5–14; see “Sacrifice,” The Day of Atonement). If the Israelites were to follow their leaders in Numbers, how much more are we to follow Jesus today (Heb 3:7–11)!

3. Disobedience. This theme occurs especially in the book’s second section (10:11—25:18), where the first-generation Israelites doubt the Lord’s provision (11:1–9; 14:1–10; 20:2–5; 21:4–5), question the authority structure he sets up (see Introduction: Theological Themes [The People, 2]), and go astray by worshiping other gods (25:1–3). This rebellion not only results in the Lord’s judgment (see Introduction: Theological Themes [The Lord, 3]) but ultimately prevents that generation from receiving the covenant promise of land (14:22–23, 28–35).

Ps 95:7–11 and especially 1 Cor 10:1–13 and Heb 3:6—4:13 return to the theme of the Israelites’ disobedience. These passages view the faithless generation in Numbers as a warning: hardening your heart against the Lord and turning away from him is extremely dangerous. The NT passages warn believers not to reject Jesus and therefore fail to receive the covenant promise of the eternal promised land awaiting those who follow him (see Heb 10:19–31, 36).

4. Need for a Mediator. God’s people need a mediator, especially when they rebel defiantly against the Lord. When the Israelites rebelled, there was no automatic forgiveness by means of sacrifice (see notes on 15:22–31), though it was possible that a mediator—such as Moses or Aaron or a priest—could either stand in the gap and carry out an act that atoned for the people (16:47; 25:7–13) or could plead for the Lord to be gracious and forgive (11:2; 12:13; 16:20–24; 21:7). (See “Sacrifice,” Blood.)

Any mediation sinners could ever need has been accomplished fully and finally in Jesus, the “one mediator between God and mankind” (1 Tim 2:5), who is able to fulfill this role perfectly because he “gave himself as a ransom for all people” (1 Tim 2:6; see Heb 9:12). Jesus continues to mediate for believers to this day and is at this very moment “at the right hand of God . . . interceding for us” (Rom 8:34; see Heb 7:23–25; 9:24; 1 John 2:1). For this reason, the repentant people of God should never fear losing God’s love. Nothing and no one can “separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39; see Rom 8:34–38).

5. Obedience. This theme, which contrasts with the previous two, occurs especially with the exodus generation in the book’s first section (1:54; 2:33–34; 4:49; 8:20, 22; 9:5) and with the next generation in the book’s final section (26:4–63; 31:7, 31; 36:10). Not surprisingly, the Lord’s judgment against them is absent in these sections. Instead, we see the Lord’s covenant people enjoying his presence, demonstrating their faith by obediently living out their calling and privileges as his covenant people, and preparing to follow him into the promised land.

The NT also emphasizes that obedience is a necessary sign of faith and is required in order to have fellowship with the Lord (John 14:15, 23–24; 15:1–8; Jas 2:14–26). In addition, Jesus emphasizes that to obey is to testify to the reality of our heavenly Father: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16; cf. Deut 4:5–8). Our obedience is indeed for the sake of the nations.

The Land

Two themes concern the land:

1. Inheritance. The Israelites will one day inherit the land, i.e., Canaan, which the Lord earlier promised Israel’s forefathers in his covenant with them (Gen 12:7; 15:18; 26:3; see map; see also “Covenant”). This is especially clear in the closing chapters of Numbers, which provide numerous laws to inform the Israelites how to live once they enter the land (33:50—36:13) and end with the Israelites on the land’s border, ready to march in (36:13). The Lord has promised Israel this land, and they will one day live in it.

The theme of inheriting the physical land of Canaan begins to take place in the book of Joshua. But the NT also applies this theme to the eternal inheritance that awaits those who become God’s children through faith in Jesus (Rom 8:1, 12–17; Gal 4:4–7; Eph 1:13–14; Col 1:12–14; Heb 9:13–15; 1 Pet 1:3–6). This inheritance radically redefines how believers live since their focus is not on the things of this world but on the praise from their covenant King in the world to come (Matt 6:19–24).

2. Mission. Israel’s land was to have a special place in the Lord’s mission of filling the earth with his kingdom. In many ways the promised land was to function in the world the way the tabernacle functioned in Israel. (See “Temple.”) For example, just as the tabernacle was to be kept pure and holy because the Lord lived there (Lev 15:31), so too was the land of Israel to be kept holy because the Lord lived there: “Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites” (35:34; cf. Lev 18:24–30; 20:22–26; see “Holiness”). And just as the Israelite priests functioned as priests at the tabernacle, so too the Israelites were to function as priests in the earth (Exod 19:6; see note on Num 15:37–41). In short, the land was to be a place where the nations could see the type of life the Lord intended for his creation: a holy people, enjoying covenant fellowship with their Creator and King, extending his kingdom of mercy, love, purity, and justice in all the earth.

While the actual land of Canaan was to be an area of sacred space in Numbers, the area of sacred space was never to be limited to the actual land of Canaan either in the OT (cf. Ps 67) or in the NT (Acts 1:8). What is more, the NT redefines sacred space in terms of the body of believers: wherever they are, it is a holy place, the temple of God (1 Cor 3:16; 2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:20–22; 1 Pet 2:5). The church is given the mission to spread and fill the entire earth so that the temple of God encompasses everything. This is the very thing Jesus teaches us to pray: “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). We can have confidence to do this because Jesus is the supreme King, and he goes with us in this mission (Matt 28:18–20; see “Mission”).

Interpretive Issues

Ch. 1 and ch. 26—which occur roughly 40 years apart—both contain a census of the Israelites “twenty years old or more” (1:18; 26:2). The totals are 603,550 (1:46) and 601,730 (26:51), with the Levites not included in these totals (1:47; cf. 3:14–39; 26:57–62). How these numbers should be understood is widely debated. Four main approaches may be briefly noted.

1. The numbers are literal. This is perhaps the most traditional approach, although it creates a difficulty. The difficulty is not whether the Lord could do the miraculous in multiplying the people so quickly (the Lord can do anything he desires); the difficulty is that taking these numbers at face value creates tension with other passages. In Josh 4:13, e.g., Israel has 40,000 fighting men, a number far fewer than the 603,550 given in Num 1:46 (cf. also Josh 8:3). In addition, an army of over half a million men would make Israel’s army far larger than what we believe to have been true of other armies at the time, even though Israel is called “the fewest of all peoples” (Deut 7:7). This tension suggests finding a different approach.

2. The numbers are symbolic. This approach has two different versions. In the first, the symbolism may be unlocked using gematria, a system in which numbers correspond to letters of the alphabet and work as a code to spell out different words. In the second, the numbers are related to astronomical phenomena. For example, when Benjamin’s total of 35,400 (1:37) is divided by 100, the number is the same as the number of days in a short lunar year: 354. Very few scholars have adopted either of these approaches because they either fail to explain all the data or can explain it only by complex (and many would say arbitrary) calculations.

3. There is a misunderstanding of the Hebrew word ʾelep. The Hebrew word ʾelep usually means “1,000” and has traditionally been translated this way in chs. 1; 26. But it can also mean “family” or “clan,” and a word built on the same root can mean “tribal leader.” Some scholars have therefore suggested that the text originally referred to one of these other meanings. For example, Reuben’s total of 46,500 (1:21) represents 46 families (not 46 thousand) and these total 500 people. But such approaches either fail to explain the final totals in 1:46 and 26:51(which understand ʾelep to mean “1,000” throughout these chapters) or explain them by means of complicated and conjectural textual emendations.

4. The numbers are deliberate hyperbole. The final approach has the fewest problems and thus the most to commend it. It understands the numbers as being intentionally inflated. Some who adopt this approach suggest that the numbers were inflated by a factor of 10, though others suggest that it is no longer possible to identify the way in which the numbers were inflated. At first glance, this is the least attractive approach to many moderns, who tend to believe that if numbers are not reported with scientific accuracy, they are misleading. But such was not the case in the ancient Near East. There is clear evidence that numbers were often inflated, particularly in a military context (as demonstrated by examples from Ugaritic and Assyrian texts dating from the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC, the same general time period in which Numbers was written). It was neither unusual nor extraordinary. Indeed, the people to whom Numbers was written would have immediately been able to recognize that the numbers were inflated (in keeping with convention). There is no reason to believe that the original readers would have seen this as deceptive. Indeed, they may have seen it as a way of emphasizing what was true: the Lord had indeed been faithful to his covenant promise to make Abraham into a numerous people (Gen 12:2; 15:5).

Despite the lack of an interpretive consensus among scholars concerning the numbers themselves, it is likely that the numbering of the people tribe by tribe would have served, at the very least, to remind the Israelites that the Lord had fulfilled his promise to make them into a numerous people. And since he had been faithful to that covenant promise, he could also be trusted to fulfill his covenant promise to give them a land. They could march into Canaan with full confidence in their covenant King.

Outline

I. The Death of the Exodus Generation in the Wilderness (1:1—25:18)

A. Preparing to Enter the Promised Land (1:1—10:10)

1. The Census of Israel and the Arrangement of the Tribal Camps (1:1—2:34)

a. The Census (1:1–54)

b. The Arrangement of the Tribal Camps (2:1–34)

2. The Censuses of the Levites and Their Tabernacle Responsibilities (3:1—4:49)

a. The Tribe of Levi (3:1–51)

b. The Kohathites (4:1–20)

c. The Gershonites (4:21–28)

d. The Merarites (4:29–33)

e. The Numbering of the Levite Clans (4:34–49)

3. Laws Related to the Camp’s Purity and the Priests’ Roles (5:1—6:27)

a. The Purity of the Camp (5:1–4)

b. Restitution for Wrongs; Priestly Portions (5:5–10)

c. The Test For a Wife Suspected of Adultery (5:11–31)

d. The Nazirite (6:1–21)

e. The Priestly Blessing (6:22–27)

4. The Tabernacle’s Dedication and Related Matters (7:1—9:14)

a. Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle (7:1–89)

b. Setting Up the Lamps (8:1–4)

c. The Setting Apart of the Levites (8:5–26)

d. The Passover (9:1–14)

5. Transition: Getting Ready to Depart for the Promised Land (9:15—10:10)

a. The Cloud Above the Tabernacle (9:15–23)

b. The Silver Trumpets (10:1–10)

B. Rebellion Against the Lord and the Death of the Exodus Generation (10:11—25:18)

1. The Israelites Leave Sinai (10:11–36)

2. Initial Acts of Unbelief (11:1—12:16)

a. Fire From the Lord (11:1–3)

b. Quail From the Lord (11:4–35)

c. Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses (12:1–16)

3. Arrival at Kadesh, Full-Scale Rebellion, the Lord’s Judgment (13:1—14:45)

a. Exploring Canaan (13:1–25)

b. Report on the Exploration (13:26–33)

c. The People Rebel (14:1–45)

4. Further Laws, Emphasizing Especially the Need for Covenant Faithfulness (15:1–41)

a. Supplementary Offerings (15:1–21)

b. Offerings for Unintentional Sins (15:22–31)

c. The Sabbath-Breaker Put to Death (15:32–36)

d. Tassels on Garments (15:37–41)

5. Challenging the Authority Structure Established by the Lord (16:1—18:32)

a. Korah, Dathan and Abiram (16:1–50)

b. The Budding of Aaron’s Staff (17:1–13)

c. Duties of Priests and Levites (18:1–7)

d. Offerings for Priests and Levites (18:8–32)

6. The Water of Cleansing (19:1–22)

7. Further Rebellions, Initial Victories (20:1—21:35)

a. Water From the Rock (20:1–13)

b. Edom Denies Israel Passage (20:14–21)

c. The Death of Aaron (20:22–29)

d. Arad Destroyed (21:1–3)

e. The Bronze Snake (21:4–9)

f. The Journey to Moab (21:10–20)

g. Defeat of Sihon and Og (21:21–35)

8. The Story of Balak and Balaam (22:1—24:25)

a. Balak Summons Balaam (22:1–20)

b. Balaam’s Donkey (22:21–41)

c. Balaam’s First Message (23:1–12)

d. Balaam’s Second Message (23:13–26)

e. Balaam’s Third Message (23:27—24:14)

f. Balaam’s Fourth Message (24:15–19)

g. Balaam’s Fifth Message (24:20)

h. Balaam’s Sixth Message (24:21–22)

i. Balaam’s Seventh Message (24:23–25)

9. Moab Seduces Israel (25:1–18)

II. The Next Generation: A New Start for Israel on the Border of the Promised Land (26:1—36:13)

A. The Second Census (26:1–65)

B. Zelophehad’s Daughters (27:1–11)

C. Joshua to Succeed Moses (27:12–23)

D. Offerings and Festivals (28:1—29:40)

1. Daily Offerings (28:1–8)

2. Sabbath Offerings (28:9–10)

3. Monthly Offerings (28:11–15)

4. The Passover (28:16–25)

5. The Festival of Weeks (28:26–31)

6. The Festival of Trumpets (29:1–6)

7. The Day of Atonement (29:7–11)

8. The Festival of Tabernacles (29:12–40)

E. Vows (30:1–16)

F. Vengeance on the Midianites (31:1–24)

G. Dividing the Spoils (31:25–54)

H. The Transjordan Tribes (32:1–42)

I. Stages in Israel’s Journey (33:1–56)

J. Commands and Regulations for Life in the Promised Land (34:1—36:13)

1. Boundaries of Canaan (34:1–29)

2. Towns for the Levites (35:1–5)

3. Cities of Refuge (35:6–34)

4. Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters (36:1–13)