🔢WEB · Numbers 9:1
What does Numbers 9:1 mean?
"Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,"
— Numbers 9:1 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
“Moreover let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season.
On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season—according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances, you shall keep it.”
Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.
Explanation
Numbers 9:1 is a brief introductory verse that sets the scene for the instructions about the Passover that follow in the rest of the chapter. In plain language, it simply tells us when and where God spoke to Moses: they were camped in the wilderness of Sinai, and the timing was the first month of the second year since Israel had left Egypt. This is a transitional statement, the kind of verse that easily gets skipped over, but it carries real weight in establishing the historical and chronological framework for what God is about to command.
The book of Numbers records the experiences of Israel during their wilderness wanderings, and Moses is traditionally understood as its author, writing under divine inspiration to instruct the covenant community. The audience is the nation of Israel, newly delivered from slavery in Egypt and now being shaped into a people who live under God's law and presence. What makes this verse interesting is its placement: chronologically, the events of Numbers 9 actually happened before some of the material already recorded earlier in the book, particularly the census in Numbers 1, which is dated to the second month of the second year. Numbers 9 goes back to the first month of that same year to describe Israel's second observance of the Passover, the one commanded in Exodus 12 to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt. This shows that the book of Numbers is not strictly organized in chronological order but sometimes grouped thematically, with the Passover instructions placed here to connect with the following material about the cloud, the tabernacle, and Israel's journeys.
Theologically, this verse quietly reinforces a p
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Biblical perspective
What does 9:11 mean in the Bible?
Searching for the meaning behind this number? Amos 9:11 is a genuine prophecy about restoration — God promising to rebuild what has been broken.
Several books of the Bible have a chapter 9, verse 11. Amos 9:11 stands out as a restoration promise that the New Testament connects to the inclusion of all nations.
Amos 9:11
"In that day I will raise up the tent of David who has fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old."
Romans 9:11
"For being not yet born, neither having done anything good or bad, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him who calls..."
ScriptureCompanion serves verses directly from a verified Bible database — no paraphrasing or AI-generated scripture. All quotes above are from the World English Bible (WEB).