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Saturday 4 March 2023

Numbers 26:1-51 - The Second Census

26:1-4

There was an earlier census in chapter 1, the main purpose of that one was to establish the number of fighting men. This one is more geared towards calculating the size of each tribe for the purpose of the land distribution. Aaron has died, so his son Eleazar is now the chief priest. The first census, Num 1:2, specifically restricted the counting to the men. This one is still limited to those twenty years and over, but does not explicitly limit it to the men.


26:5-51

We then get a list of the various tribes that were counted. 26:11 says that the sons of Korah did not die when the ground opened up at the rebellion (Num 16:32). The numbers are similar to those from the first census, which would imply it was limited to the men. Unless of course the deaths in the wilderness had been predominantly men, and the population had dwindled. The total comes to 601,730, this compares with 603,550 (Num 1:46) at the first census.


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