🔢WEB · Numbers 1:6
What does Numbers 1:6 mean?
"Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai."
— Numbers 1:6 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions.
With you there shall be a man of every tribe; everyone head of his fathers’ house.
These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: Of Reuben: Elizur the son of Shedeur.
Of Simeon: Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.
Of Judah: Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar.
Of Zebulun: Eliab the son of Helon.
Explanation
Numbers 1:6 is a brief entry in a longer list, simply naming the man appointed to represent the tribe of Simeon during a census that God commanded Moses to take of Israel. The verse states plainly that Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai, was the leader chosen from Simeon's tribe. There is no hidden meaning or symbolism to decode here — it is a straightforward administrative record identifying a specific tribal leader by name and lineage.
The context is the early wilderness period after Israel's exodus from Egypt, roughly one year after leaving. Moses, at God's command, organized a military census of all Israelite men twenty years old and older who were able to fight, in order to prepare the nation for its journey toward the Promised Land and for the conflicts that would come with conquering it. To carry out this census accurately, God directed that one leader from each of the twelve tribes assist Moses and Aaron. Numbers 1:5-15 lists these twelve men by name, tribe, and father, and Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai is the representative named for the tribe of Simeon. This same Shelumiel reappears later in Numbers (2:12; 7:36, 41; 10:19) as the tribal leader who presents offerings and leads Simeon's contingent when the camp moves.
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