What does Numbers 26:34 mean?

Numbers 26:34 concludes a section listing the clans descended from Manasseh, one of the two sons of Joseph whose descendants formed a tribe in Israel. The verse simply reports the outcome of a census: the various family groups within the tribe of Manasseh, when counted, totaled 52,700 men. This is a summary statement, tying together the genealogical listing that precedes it in the chapter, which names the specific clans (Machir, Gilead, Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, Hepher, and others) that made up the tribe.

The context is the second wilderness census, taken by Moses and Eleazar the priest on the plains of Moab, just before Israel entered the Promised Land (Numbers 26:1-4). This census differed in purpose from the first one taken in Numbers chapter 1 at the start of the wilderness journey. That first generation, which had rebelled against God at Kadesh-barnea and refused to trust him for the conquest of Canaan, had died out during the forty years of wandering, as God had declared (Numbers 26:64-65). This new census counted the rising generation, the children and grandchildren of those who had left Egypt, to determine military readiness and, more importantly, to establish how the land of Canaan would be divided among the tribes and families (Numbers 26:52-56). The number for Manasseh here is significant because it shows growth: compared to the first census, Manasseh's numbers had increased noticeably, one of the few tribes to grow rather than shrink during the wilderness years.