🔢WEB · Numbers 26:63
What does Numbers 26:63 mean?
"These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho."
— Numbers 26:63 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before Yahweh.
Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel.
These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
But among these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.
For Yahweh had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.
Explanation
Numbers 26:63 is a summary statement that closes out the second census recorded in the book of Numbers. In plain language, it simply tells us who conducted this counting of the Israelites (Moses and Eleazar the priest) and where it took place (the plains of Moab, on the eastern side of the Jordan River, across from the city of Jericho). It functions as a kind of official signature line, confirming the accuracy and authority of the numbers just given for each of the twelve tribes.
To understand the context, it helps to know that this is the second of two major censuses in Numbers. The first census (Numbers 1) took place near Mount Sinai at the beginning of Israel's wilderness journey, shortly after the exodus from Egypt. That entire generation, because of their unbelief and rebellion at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 14), was condemned to die in the wilderness rather than enter the Promised Land. Forty years later, as the nation stood poised to cross into Canaan, Moses and Eleazar (who had succeeded his father Aaron as high priest after Aaron's death) conducted this second census. Eleazar's presence is significant: Aaron himself had died during the wilderness years, marking the passing of leadership to the next generation, just as this census marked a new generation of Israelites ready to enter the land.
Theologically, this verse and the census it summarizes highlight both God's faithfulness and his justice. The chapter notes that among all those counted, "there was not a man of those who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest... For Yahweh
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