Numbers 26

Counting a new generation

God orders a new census

1After the plague, the LORD told Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, 2Count all the Israelite adults ages 20 and older. List them by their families—tribes and extended family clans in each tribe. Count everyone able to fight in a war. 3The Israelites were camped on the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, in the Moab plains. There, Moses and Eleazar the priest told the people, 4“Take a census of the adults ages 20 and older, exactly as the LORD told Moses to do it.”
These are the men who came from Egypt:

Reuben’s tribe

5These are the men from the tribe of Reuben, oldest son of Israel.[1]
Hanoch families, named after their ancestor.
Pallu families, named after Pallu.
6Hezron families, named after Hezron.
Carmi families, named after Carmi.
7Families in Reuben’s tribe had 43,730 men.

Sidebar about Pallu family revolt

8Pallu’s son was Eliab.
9Eliab’s sons were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abriam. Dathan and Abriam were the infamous leaders who conspired with Korah in a revolt against Moses and Aaron, and against the LORD. 10But the ground opened and swallowed them, along with Korah. Fire killed 250 others in the revolt. This was a warning to all Israelites. 11Korah’s sons were spared.

Simeon’s tribe

12These are the men from Simeon’s tribe.
Nemuel’s families, named after Nemuel.
Jamin families, named after Jamin.
Jachin families, named after Jachin.
13Zerah families, named after Zerah.
Saul families, named after Saul.
14Families in Simeon’s tribe had 22,200 men.

Gad’s tribe

15These are the men from Gad’s tribe.
Zephon families, named after Zephon.
Haggi families, named after Haggi,
Shuni families, named after Shuni.
16Ozni families, named after Ozni.
Eri families, named after Eri.
17Arod family, named after Arod.
Areli family, named after Areli. 18Families in Gad’s tribe had 40,500 men.

Judah’s tribe

19Judah’s sons were Er and Onan, but both died in Canaan.
20These are the men from Judah’s tribe.
Shelah families, named after Shelah.
Perez families, named after Perez.
Zerah families, named after Zerah.
21Hezron families, named after Hezron, a son of Perez.
Hamul families, named after Hamul, a son of Perez.
22Families in Judah’s tribe had 76,500 men.

Issachar’s tribe

23These are the men from Issachar’s tribe.
Tola families, named after Tola.
Puvah families, named after Puvah
24Jashub families, named after Jashub.
Shimron families, named after Shimron.
25Families in Issachar’s tribe had 64,300 men.

Zebulun’s tribe

26These are the men from Zebulun’s tribe.
Sered families, named after Sered.
Elon families, named after Elon.
Jahleel families, named after Jaheel.
27Families in Zebulun’s tribe had 60,500 men.
28Joseph’s sons were Manasseh and Ephraim. Each son had a tribe.

Manasseh’s tribe

29These are the men from Manasseh’s tribe.
Machir families, named after Machir, who was Gilead’s father.
30Gilead families, named after Gilead, father of Iezer and Helek.
Iezer families, named after Iezer.
Helek families, named after Helek.
31Asriel families, named after Asriel
Shechem families, named after Shechem.
32Shemida families, named after Shemida.
Hepher families, named after Hepher.
33Zelophehad was Hepher’s son. He had no sons, only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
34Families in Manasseh’s tribe had 52,700 men.

Ephraim tribe

35These are the men from Ephraim’s tribe.
Shuthelah families, named after Shuthelah.
Becher families, named after Becher.
Tahan families, named after Tahan.
36Eran families, named after Eran, son of Shuthelah.
37Families in Ephraim’s tribe had 32,500 men.

Benjamin’s tribe

38These are the men from Benjamin’s tribe.
Bela families, named after Bela.
Ashbel families, named after Ashbel.
Ahiram families, named after Ahiram.
39Shephupham families, named after Shephupham.
Hupham families, named after Hupham.
40Bela’s sons were Ard and Naaman.
Ard families, named after Ard.
Naaman families, named after Naaman.
41Families in Benjamin’s tribe had 45,600 men.

Dan’s tribe

42These are the men from Dan’s tribe.
Shuham families, named after Shuham.
43Shuman families in Dan’s tribe had 64,400 men.

Asher Tribe

44These are the men from Asher’s tribe.
Imnah families, named after Imnah.
Ishvi families, named after Ishvi.
Beriah families, named after Beriah.
45These families came from the Beriah families:
Heber families, named after Heber.
Malkiel families, named after Malkiel.
46Asher’s daughter was Serah.
47Families in Asher’s tribe had 53,400 men.

Naphtali’s tribe

48These are the men from Naphtali’s tribe.
Jahzeel families, named after Jahzeel.
Guni families, named after Guni.
49Jezer families, named after Jezer.
Shillem families, named after Shillem.
50Families in Naphtali’s tribe had 45,400 men.
51Total Israelite men registered for war: 601,730.

Divvy up the land

52The LORD told Moses, 53Divide the land among the tribes. Give the bigger tribes extra land for their people. 54Tribes with a lot of people get a lot of land. Tribes with fewer people get less land. The amount of land depends on the number of people in the tribe. 55Assign the location of the land by random. Have the tribes throw dice[2] for it. They should throw in the birth order of their tribal ancestors. 56The land should be assigned by throwing dice, for larger tribes as well as the smaller ones.

Levi’s tribe

57These are the men from Levi’s tribe.
Gershon families, named after Gershon.
Kohath families, named after Kohath.
Merari families, named after Merari.

58These are Levi’s families:
Libnites, Hebronites, Mahlites, and Korahites. Kohath was the father of Amram.
59Amram married Jochebed. She was Levi’s daughter, born in Egypt. She gave birth to Amram, Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
60Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
61Nadab and Abihu died when they brought an unacceptable incense offering to the LORD.[3]

62The Levite family had 23,000 males ages one month and older. They weren’t counted with the others because they would not get any tribal territory.[4] 65That’s because the LORD had said, “As surely as I’m alive today you’re going to die in the badlands.”[5] Not one man survived except Caleb,[6] son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun.

Footnotes

Intro Notes for Numbers

126:5

Israel was the name God gave Jacob when Jacob returned home to what is now Israel and Palestinian territory (Genesis 32:28).