Numbers 2:32

Summary

2:32 These are the Israelites, numbered according to their families. ¹  All those numbered in the camps, by their divisions, are 603,550.

Numbers 3:43

3:43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of the names from a month old and upward, totaled 22,273.

Numbers 11:21

11:21 Moses said, “The people around me ²  are 600,000 on foot; ³  but you say, ‘I will give them meat, ⁴  that they may eat ⁵  for a whole month.’

Numbers 16:49

16:49 Now 14,700 people died in the plague, in addition to those who died in the event with Korah.

Numbers 26:37

26:37 These were the families of the Ephraimites, according to those numbered of them, 32,500. ⁶  These were the descendants of Joseph by their families.

Numbers 31:6

Campaign Against the Midianites

31:6 So Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from every tribe, with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who was in charge ⁷  of the holy articles ⁸  and the signal trumpets.

Numbers 31:35

31:35 and 32,000 young women who had never had sexual intercourse with a man. ⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.” So also in v. 34.

² tn Heb “the people who I am in their midst,” i.e., among whom I am.

³ tn The Hebrew sentence stresses the number. The sentence begins “600,000….”

⁴ tn The word order places the object first here: “Meat I will give them.” This adds to the contrast between the number and the statement of the Lord.

⁵ tn The verb is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the sequence from the preceding imperfect tense. However, this verb may be subordinated to the preceding to express a purpose clause.

³ sn This is a significant reduction from the first count of 40,500.

⁴ tn The Hebrew text uses the idiom that these “were in his hand,” meaning that he had the responsibility over them.

⁵ sn It is not clear what articles from the sanctuary were included. Tg. Ps.-J. adds (interpretively) “the Urim and Thummim.”

⁵ sn Here again we encounter one of the difficulties of the book, the use of the large numbers. Only twelve thousand soldiers fought the Midianites, but they brought back this amount of plunder, including 32,000 girls. Until a solution for numbers in the book can be found, or the current translation confirmed, one must remain cautious in interpretation.