THE NEW AMERICAN COMMENTARY is for the minister or Bible student who wants to understand and expound the Scriptures. Notable features include:* commentary based on THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION;* the NIV text printed in the body of the commentary;* sound scholarly methodology that reflects capable research in the original languages;* interpretation that emphasizes the theological unity of each book and of Scripture as a whole;* readable and applicable exposition.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go. Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Numbers by Dennis R. Cole in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Theology & Religion & Religion. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
BOOK ONE: THE END OF THE FIRST GENERATION IN THE WILDERNESS (1:1–25:18)
I. FAITHFULNESS OF ISRAEL AT SINAI (1:1–10:10)
1. Sinai Cycle A: Census and Consecration of the Tribes of Israel (1:1–6:27)
(1) Historical Setting: Prologue (1:1)
(2) Military Conscription of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (1:2–46)
Census Instructions (1:2–4)
Census Assistants Enlisted (1:5–16)
Census Directed by Moses (1:17–19)
Census Results by Tribal Households (1:20–43)
Census Summary and Total (1:44–46)
EXCURSUS: THE LARGE NUMBERS IN NUMBERS
Responsibilities of Uncounted Levites (1:47–53)
Census Conclusion: Faithful Obedience (1:54)
(3) Holy Arrangement of the Israelite Camps (2:1–34)
Introduction (2:1–2)
East Side, South Side West Side, North Side Encampments (2:3–31)
Conclusion: Faithful Obedience (2:32–34)
(4) Responsibilities and Census of the Levite Clans (3:1–4:49)
Introduction: Genealogy of Aaron and Moses (3:1–4)
Levite Consecration to Service (3:5–10)
Levite Replacement of the Firstborn (3:11–13)
Genealogical Delineation of Levite Clans (3:14–20)
Census and Responsibilities of the Levite Clans (3:21–39)
Dedication of the Levites in Firstborn Redemption (3:40–51)
Further Responsibilities and Census of Levites for Service (4:1–49)
Kohathite Service Detailed (4:1–20)
Gershonite Service Detailed (4:21–28)
Merarite Service Detailed (4:29–33)
Summary Census of Levites (4:34–49)
(5) Purification Laws for the Faithful Community (5:1–31)
Cultic Isolation of Various Disease Carriers (5:1–4)
Restitution for Wrongs Done (5:5–10)
The Case of a Suspected Adulterous Wife (5:11–31)
(6) The Sacred Nazirite Vow (6:1–21)
Introduction (6:1–2)
Prohibitions (6:3–8)
Purification from Corpse Defilement (6:9–12)
Completion Rituals of the Nazirite Vow (6:13–20)
Summary (6:21)
(7) The Priestly Blessing (6:22–27)
2. Sinai Cycle B: Tabernacle and Celebration (7:1–10:10)
(1) Offerings of the Leaders of the Israelite Tribes (7:1–89)
Historical Setting and Introduction (7:1–11)
Tribal Gifts Delineated (7:12–83)
Summary of Offerings Presented (7:84–88)
Yahweh Speaks with Moses in the Tabernacle (7:89)
(2) Menorah Lamp Arrangement (8:1–4)
(3) Installation of the Levites (8:5–26)
Ritual Cleansing (8:5–7)
Presentation of Levites with Sacrifices (8:8–11)
Offering of Sacrifices (8:12–14)
Levite Substitutionary Role (8:15–19)
Summary of the Levite Dedication (8:20–22)
Postlude: The Levite Retirement (8:23–26)
(4) The Second Passover: With New Delineations (9:1–14)
(5) Pattern of the Journey: The Lord and the Cloud (9:15–23)
(6) The Silver Trumpets (10:1–10)
Gathering and Disembarking the Camps (10:1–7)
Rallying for Battle and Rejoicing in Festival Offerings (10:8–10)
The first section of the Book of Numbers contains five cycles of material, two devoted to the sanctification of the people before leaving Mount Sinai (chaps. 1–6,7–10a), and three devoted to the rebellion and judgment of the nation after leaving Mount Sinai (chaps. 10b–15; 16–19; 20–25). Each cycle is composed of the following elements: (1) historical setting, (2) twelve tribal listings or census references, (3) cycle development, (4) Levitical and priestly matters, and (5) sacrifices, offerings, and legal stipulations which define the nature of the community of faith. Variations from this general pattern serve to highlight particular aspects under consideration within the cycle.
I. FAITHFULNESS OF ISRAEL AT SINAI (1:1–10:10)
The setting for the initial two cycles of material in the Book of Numbers is the Sinai Desert, with particular focus on the tabernacle, the epicenter of Israelite religious life.
1. Sinai Cycle A: Census and Consecration of the Tribes of Israel (1:1–6:27)
The first cycle introduces several key themes in the Book of Numbers: the twelve-tribe confederation of the descendants of the sons of Jacob, the special status of the priests and Levites, and the consecration of the nation via sacrifices, offerings, and vows. Numbers picks up where Exodus leaves off, in the region of Sinai desert and specifically at Mount Sinai, the paramount place of revelation. Numbers also continues the important theme of the Word of Yahweh, which dominates the Pentateuch.
(1) Historical Setting: Prologue (1:1)
1The LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said:
1:1 The Book of Numbers commences with one of the key phrases of the Pentateuch,
YHWH
…
, “[Then] Yahweh spoke to Moses … saying.”1 On the use of this verse to provide a Hebrew title to the book, see “Introduction: Title.”
The term
occurs at least sixty-one times in the book, of which fifty have Yahweh as the speaker.2 Of the other eleven occurrences, Moses is the speaker in nine, Miriam and Aaron in one, and on one occasion (21:5) the people speak against God in a passage that completes the cycles of rebellion. Seven times
functions as a major sectional divider, plus ten times as a minor division marker. Allen noted that divine speech is recorded “over 150 times and in more than twenty ways.”3 When Yahweh spoke, the words were always of paramount importance.
Divine speech commences in Scripture with the creative activity of God in Genesis 1. Creation of the cosmos serves as the basis for communication and the establishment of a relationship between God and man in Genesis 3. Though other ancient Near Eastern religions aspired to convey the communicative capabilities of their gods,4 in resounding polemics the former and latter prophets decried the foreign deities as speechless, motionless, and incapable of action.5 Precisely how this divine disclosure between the eternal God and his servant Moses transpired remains a mystery. Biblical writers such as Jeremiah (
-YHWH
, “the word of the LORD was to me,” or “the word of the LORD became a realization to me,” 1:4) utilized varied expressions for the process. Theologians have probed this enigma for millennia, giving rise to varied theories of inspiration. But however this communication was accomplished, whether by audible human speech form, mental and spiritual impression and compulsion, or by intellectual impregnation of ideas, the prophet Moses became the instrument for divine illumination of humankind of the will and word of God. Communication ...
