Numbers

Ronald B. Allen, Tremper Longman III, David E. Garland

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9780310531753
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

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A staple for students, teachers, and pastors worldwide, The Expositor's Bible Commentary (EBC) offers comprehensive yet succinct commentary from scholars committed to the authority of the Holy Scriptures. The EBC uses the New International Version of the Bible, but the contributors work from the original Hebrew and Greek languages and refer to other translations when useful.

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• The complete NIV text
• Extensive commentary
• Notes on textual questions, key words, and concepts
• Reflections to give expanded thoughts on important issues

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Text and Exposition

OVERVIEW

Two types of response are possible for the modern reader who first glances at ch. 1 of the book of Numbers. One is ennui, a sense of boredom. First the reader is told about the command of the Lord for Moses and Aaron to take a military census of Israel. This sounds rather unpromising. Then the reader is assaulted by a list of unfamiliar, compound Hebrew names (1:5–15), names that are a threat to any but the most self-assured Scripture reader. As though this were not enough, the reader then finds twelve two-verse paragraphs that are identical in wording except for the name of the tribe and the sum of its people (1:20–43).

Worse, the paragraphs all center on numbers. The first chapter of the book teams with numbers; everywhere we turn we read number after number. No wonder the book has come down to us in English with a singularly uninspiring title! Who but a mathematician could rise with joy to a book called “Numbers”?

But these same features may bring another response, especially for the reader who approaches tasks with curiosity. This is the response of intrigue, interest, and even wonderment. Surely the Torah was not written to bore the reader—ancient or modern! The listing of names was never meant simply to test the skills of a reader, nor could the repetitions merely have been designed to test a person’s resolve to continue reading—no matter what! There must be significance in these names, numbers, and repetition.

Further, we soon discover that the tedious repetition in ch. 1 is not unique to the book. The repetition of ch. 7 similarly seeks to undermine whatever appreciation we might try to muster up for the values underlying such repetitious language.

Thus the expectations of the modern reader in approaching this text are irrelevant to a valid evaluation of the purpose and nature of the book. As with any book of Scripture—indeed, any book of intrinsic merit—the book of Numbers must be read on its own grounds. The Bible sets its own agenda; the materials of Scripture take their own shape. That its interests and methods may be different from our own is beside the point. If this book is to be received by the modern reader with the integrity and demands of Scripture as a significant part of the divine outbreathing (2Ti 3:16)—the fourth portion of the Torah, the book of Moses—then we must set bias aside, avoid negative prejudgments, escape first impressions, and come to the book as it is.

The best approach toward any obtuse or “difficult” portion of Scripture is to pepper it with questions. In the case at hand we might ask: Why would the ancient sages feel it important to include the names of each tribal representative? Why was it believed impressive to list the number of men from each tribe in such a formal manner, requiring the measure of repetition as 1:20–43 presents? What are the values suggested by these repeated paragraphs? Is it possible that in this alien aesthetic form these verses of repeated phraseology are not to be regarded as tiresome at all but something of dignity, solemnity, and even beauty? Is there perhaps an impressive nature to these paragraphs that speaks of the pride of each tribe?

Indeed, the repetitions are likely instructive as to the power of God and his faithfulness to his promises. That reader who first turned his face away from these pages with disdain may have turned away from something that is intended to bring praise to God and confidence among his people. It becomes our point of view that these numbers, in their highly stylized environments, are a matter of celebration of the faithfulness of Yahweh to his covenantal people. So as we come to these numbers and words, let us come to them on their own terms to see what in them is impressive—and what in them is instructive for us.

I. THE EXPERIENCE OF THE FIRST GENERATION IN THE WILDERNESS (1:1–25:18)

OVERVIEW

An explanation is given in the Introduction (Unity and Organization) for the unusual outline this commentary presents. Following the lead of Dennis T. Olson, I see the macrostructure of the book of Numbers as a bifid of unequal parts. The two censuses (chs. 1–4, 26) are the keys to our understanding the structure of the book. The first census (chs. 1–4) concerns the first generation of the exodus community; the second census (ch. 26) focuses on the experiences of the second generation, the people to whom this book is primarily directed. The first generation of the redeemed was prepared for triumph but ended in disaster. The second generation now has an opportunity for greatness—if only the people will learn from the failures of their fathers and mothers the absolute necessity of robust faithfulness to Yahweh despite all obstacles.

A. The Preparation for the Triumphal March to the Promised Land (1:1–10:36)

OVERVIEW

The record of the experiences of the first generation is presented in two broad parts. Chapters 1–10 record the story of their preparation for triumph; chs. 11–25 follow with the sorry record of repeated acts of rebellion and unbelief, punctuated by bursts of God’s wrath and instances of his grace.

1. Setting Apart the People (1:1–10:10)

OVERVIEW

As the book as a whole presents itself as a bifid of unequal parts, so chs. 1–10 also form a bifid of unequal sections: 1:1–10:10 records the meticulous preparation of the people for their triumphal march into Canaan; 10:11–36 describes their first steps under the leadership of Moses.

a. The Census of the First Generation (1:1–4:49)

i. The muster (1:1–54)

(a) The command of the Lord (1:1–4)

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: 2“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3You and Aaron are to number by their divisions all the men in Israel twenty years old or more who are able to serve in the army. 4One man from each tribe, each the head of his family, is to help you.

COMMENTARY

1 Each phrase of verse 1 is significant for our study; we need to move slowly here. One of the most pervasive emphases in the book of Numbers is that Yahweh spoke to Moses, and through Moses, to Israel. From the opening words of the book (1:1) to its closing words (36:13), this concept is stated over 150 times and in more than twenty ways. One Hebrew name for the book of Numbers is way^e dabbēr (“and [Yahweh] spoke”), the first word in the Hebrew text. This name is highly appropriate, given the strong emphasis on God’s revelation to Moses in Numbers.

The opening words set the stage for the chapter and, indeed, for the entire book. The phrase, “the LORD [Yahweh] spoke to Moses,” presents a point of view that will be repeated (and restated) almost to the point of tedium throughout this book. Yet it is just such a phrase that is so important to the self-attestation of the divine origin of Numbers. The phrasing announces the record of a divine disclosure of the eternal God to his servant Moses, and from Moses a faithful transmission to the people of God. This type of phrase does not satisfy our curiosity as to how Moses heard the word of God, whether as the articulated words of a human voice; a mystical inner sensation, perhaps a clearly articulated cluster of words in his mind; or some vague mental image. This phrase merely presents the source and reception of communication. Numbers 12:6–8 is the major text describing the Lord’s use of Moses as his prophet. This section will indicate something of the special manner of the divine disclosure to Moses, but the phrasing that is most characteristic merely states the most important point: Yahweh spoke to Moses.

That the subject of the verb “spoke” is Yahweh points to his initiation and, by that measure, to his grace. The fact that God speaks at all to anyone is evidence of his mercy, that he continued to speak to Moses throughout his leadership of the people of God is a mystery, and that he spoke to Moses with the intent that others would read these words throughout the centuries is a marvel. The repetition of phrases such as this throughout the Torah serves for emphasis. We are to be duly impressed with the fact that the Lord is the Great Communicator, that of his own volition he reached out to Moses to convey to him the divine word and to relate through him to the nation the divine will. Other gods are mute. Other gods are silent. Other gods are no God at all. But the God of Scripture, the Lord of covenant—Yahweh, God of Israel—speaks! What he desires more than anything else is a people who will hear him, who will take joy in obeying him, and who will bring him pleasure by their response.

The second phrase of v.1 (NIV) centers on the place of God’s speaking to Moses: “in the Tent of Meeting” (b^eʾōhel mô ʿēd); this phrase follows “in the Desert of Sinai” in the Hebrew construction). There are other terms and phrases used for this tent in Numbers. It is called “the tabernacle” (hammiškān; vv.50, 51) and “the tabernacle of the Testimony” (miškan hāʿēdut; vv.50, 53). The expression “the Tent of Meeting” speaks of the revelatory and communion aspect of the tent. The term “tabernacle” by itself points to the temporary and transitory nature of the tent; it was a moveable and portable shrine, specially designed for the worship of God by a people on the move. The expression “the tabernacle of the Testimony” suggests the covenantal significa...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Contributors
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Numbers
• Introduction
• I. THE EXPERIENCE OF THE FIRST GENERATION IN THE WILDERNESS (1:1–25:18)
• II. THE PROSPECTS FOR THE SECOND GENERATION TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND (26:1–36:13)