🔢WEB · Numbers 1:17
What does Numbers 1:17 mean?
"Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name."
— Numbers 1:17 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel.
Of Naphtali: Ahira the son of Enan.”
These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.
Moses and Aaron took these men who are mentioned by name.
They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one.
As Yahweh commanded Moses, so he counted them in the wilderness of Sinai.
The children of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, one by one, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war;
Explanation
Numbers 1:17, in its plain sense, simply reports an action: Moses and Aaron enlisted the specific men who had just been named as tribal leaders to help them carry out a task God had commanded. The verse itself is short and transitional, but it makes clear that Moses and Aaron did not act alone or arbitrarily—they gathered the very individuals who had been designated by name in the verses just before, each one a head of his tribe, to assist in the work ahead.
The context is the opening chapter of Numbers, which takes place about a year after Israel left Egypt, while the people are camped in the wilderness of Sinai. God instructs Moses to take a census of all Israelite men of fighting age, organized by tribe, so the nation can be numbered and organized for its journey toward the Promised Land. Moses, as the primary leader, and Aaron, the high priest, are given the responsibility of overseeing this census. In verses 5–16, God specifies one leader from each of the twelve tribes by name to assist in this task—these are respected, established heads of their family lines.
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