Ronald Bergey
Introduction to
Overview
Numbers recounts the history of God’s direction, discipline, and deliverance of his people, the Israelites, throughout their wilderness sojourn. His instructions prepare the exodus generation for its journey from Sinai. He guides them to Kadesh on the border of Canaan, where they tragically refuse to enter the Promised Land. Due to their disobedience, all those of at least twenty years of age die in the wilderness. God guides the generation that will enter Canaan to the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho. His instructions prepare them for life in the land. Despite their waywardness, the Lord remains faithful to his people and the promises made to their fathers.
Title
The title “Numbers” stems from the Latin Vulgate (Numeri), whose title for the book is drawn in turn from the LXX (Arithmoi). These names reflect censuses of the exodus generation (ch. 1) and the succeeding generation (ch. 26). The title also reflects other censuses (chs. 3; 4), as well as quantified lists of offerings (chs. 7; 28–29) and the tallied spoils of war (ch. 31).
The Hebrew title “In the wilderness of [Sinai]” (bemidbar [sinay]; 1:1) covers the first ten chapters, spanning the final nineteen days the Israelites spend at Sinai. But the name serves the entire book well. To arrive at Sinai from Egypt Israel first traverses the “wilderness of Etham” (33:8), then the “wilderness of Sin” (33:11). Numbers covers Israel’s thirty-eight-year sojourn in the “wilderness of Paran” (e.g., 10:12) and the “wilderness of Zin” (e.g., 13:21). “Wilderness” also describes portions of the Transjordan (21:23; 24:1).
Author
Whereas the expression “The Lord spoke to Moses” occurs over forty times in Numbers, only once is it said that “Moses wrote down . . . by command of the Lord” (33:2). What he transcribed was the travel log of forty stations between the Israelites’ departure from Egypt and their arrival at the plains of Moab. That Moses did write more of Numbers is deduced from Deuteronomy, which is explicitly attributed to his authorship (Deut. 31:9, 22, 24). His Deuteronomy discourses depend upon Numbers. The Israelites’ wilderness journey is clearly recalled (Deut. 1:1–3:29; 8:2–3), as are characters such as Dathan and Abiram (Deut. 11:6; Num. 16:1–33), Sihon and Og (Deut. 29:7; Num. 21:21–35), and Balaam (Deut. 23:4–5; Numbers 22–24). Moses mentions crucial moments such as the Kadesh revolt (Deut. 9:23; Num. 13:25–14:4), the Baal of Peor debacle (Deut. 4:3; Num. 25:1–3), his own forfeiture of entrance into Canaan (Deut. 1:37; 4:21; Num. 20:8–13), and Joshua’s appointment to succeed him (Deut. 3:28; 34:9; Num. 27:15–23). Laws from Numbers are expounded in Deuteronomy, such as those regarding the cities of refuge (Deut. 19:1–13; Num. 35:9–34). If these things were written down by Moses in Deuteronomy, it is likely he wrote their source (in Numbers) too.
To argue that someone else wrote Numbers many say that Moses would never have written, “Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3). Mosaic authorship of Numbers does not necessarily require that every word be attributable to him. (Just as he did not write his own obituary in Deut. 34:5–8.) He did not record all of the details of the Transjordan tribal settlement (Num. 32:34–39), which took place under Joshua (Num. 32:28–29; cf. Joshua 13). He unlikely would have known that Zelophehad’s daughters married sons of their father’s brothers (Num. 36:11), nor that their “inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan” (v. 12). Minor supplemental redactions such as these were made under the same superintendence of God’s Spirit as that guiding the principal author.
The testimony of Deuteronomy supports Mosaic authorship of Numbers. This was the conclusion of nearly all interpreters until the literary-criticism movement nurtured by rationalistic historicism. The canonical division—“the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44; cf. 16:16, 29, 31)—long predates its mention in the NT (cf. Sir. 1:1). “The Law of Moses” designates the Pentateuch, which includes Numbers. If nowhere explicitly stated, Mosaic authorship of Numbers is nonetheless scripturally implied.
Date and Occasion
Numbers contains an internal chronology. The book spans thirty-eight years. It opens on the first day of the second month of the second year after the exodus (1:1). Numbers 7:1–10:10 reverts to the first month (cf. 7:1; 9:1, 15). The departure from Sinai resumes the second-month chronology on the twentieth day (10:11). The chronology ends in the months between Aaron’s death in the fifth month of the fortieth year (33:38) and Moses’ discourses on the plains of Moab in the eleventh month of that year (Deut. 1:3). In light of the chronological statement at 1 Kings 6:1, it is possible to date the exodus to early in the second half of the fifteenth century BC, that is, 480 years before the construction of the temple, which began in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign. As such, Numbers would cover most of the latter half of that century.
Various elements in Numbers reflect a period prior to Israel’s national existence. For example, the form of the tabernacle, with the sacred tent representing God’s presence in Israel’s midst, mirrors the Egyptian military camp surrounding the tent of Rameses II. The shared custodial tabernacle responsibilities of priests and Levites is found also in Hittite sanctuary practice. The boundaries of Canaan as presented in Numbers are similar to those described in Egyptian sources from the fifteenth to the thirteenth century BC.1
The book includes two static settings at which Moses addresses the people. The first involves the instructions given at Sinai to the exodus generation shortly before its departure from there (chs. 1–10). The other comprises instructions given on the plains of Moab to the generation that will soon enter Canaan (chs. 26–36). While the intervening chapters 11–25 have no one specific setting—various episodes occur at different locations—it is noteworthy that the wilderness wanderings are virtually passed over in silence. Their different settings can be chiefly linked to or near Kadesh at the beginning and end of that period (13:26; 20:1, 22).
Genre and Literary Features
A striking literary feature of Numbers is the book’s plethora of genres (narrative, law, story, discourse, song, administrative lists, cultic calendars, travelogue, etc.) and its sundry subjects (people’s camps, bodily discharges, embezzlement, marital jealousy, Nazirite vow, offerings, seven lamps, silver trumpets, battles, tassels, the red heifer, vows and oaths, spoils of war and captive women, borders, inheritance, cities of refuge, etc.).
Another literary feature is the book’s alternance of narrative (N, including discourse) and law (L, including instructions and lists): 1:1–10:10 (L); 10:11–14:45 (N); ch. 15 (L); chs. 16–17 (N); chs. 18–19 (L); chs. 20–25 (N); 26:1–27:11 (L); 27:12–23 (N); chs. 28–30 (L); 31:1–33:49 (N); 33:50–36:13 (L). This alternance in not arbitrary but mutually reinforcing. Narrative can respond to law—for example, instructions regarding the departure (1:1–10:10) are executed in narrative form (10:11–14:45). And law can respond to narrative—for example, after the rebellion of the preceding narrative (10:11–14:45), laws (ch. 15) affirm God’s commitment to bring the Israelites’ children into the land. Placement of these diverse materials is far from arbitrary.
Theology of Numbers
Various theological themes, such as land and blessing, are addressed in the Section Overview and Comment sections (e.g., Section Overview of Numbers 13; 22; 34). Levitical ministry is nowhere more extensive developed than in Numbers. This too is developed in the comments, especially on chapters 3–4 and 18. Although they could rightly be treated here, the motifs of holiness and purity are treated in Interpretive Challenges as part of the discussion of the literary unity of Numbers.
The focus here is on examples of OT allusions to Numbers, taken as the cue to the book’s theological emphases. This summary dovetails with the following section of the Introduction (Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ).
The Welsh minister Matthew Henry (1662–1714) remarked in his commentary, “An abstract of much of this book we have in a few words [in] Ps. 95:10, ‘For forty years I was grieved with this generation,’ and an application of it to ourselves [in] Heb. 4:1, ‘let us fear lest we seem to come short.’”2 Henry implicitly points to the typological relationship of the nation of Israel to the church and of the Promised Land and life in it to the promise of eternal life in Christ and life in him indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
In the fourth book of the Psalter Psalm 106 echoes the tragic story of the exodus generation, as recounted in this fourth book of the Pentateuch:
Then they despised the pleasant land,
having no faith in his promise.
They murmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness. (Ps. 106:24–26; cf. Num. 13:27–14:4, 32–35)
The same psalm also speaks of the earth’s opening and swallowing up of Dathan, Abiram, and their followers at Korah’s rebellion (Ps. 106:17–18; cf. Num. 16:27–35). It recalls the licentious Baal of Peor idolatry of the next generation and Phinehas’s making atonement to save them from God’s wrath (Ps. 106:28–31; cf. Num. 25:1–13).
If Numbers stresses God’s judgment on sin, it also accentuates his mercy. Immediately after he pronounces judgment barring the exodus generation from the Promised Land, God shows his mercy to its children and his faithfulness to his covenant promise: “I will bring [your children] in” (14:31). He assures them by giving them laws applicable to that situation: “When you come into the land . . .” (15:2). He repeatedly reminds them that his commands are a “statute forever throughout your generations” (15:15, 23; 18:23; 35:29). He guides the new generation, as he had its parents, to the doorstep of Canaan at Kadesh, this time “beyond the Jordan at Jericho” (Num. 22:1; 26:3; 36:13).
For God’s people a millennium later Numbers is a reminder for Nehemiah and the remnant that his mercy triumphs over judgment: “Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God” (Neh. 9:31). After seventy years of wilderness exile, Nehemiah’s generation returns to the Promised Land.
These OT examples support the conclusion that in Numbers God’s grace is projected against the somber background of his people’s sinful faithlessness.
The Relationship to the Rest of the Bible and to Christ
The importance of Numbers for God’s people under the old covenant can be garnered from citations of and allusions to it in Deuteronomy (Deut. 1:1–3:29; 4:3, 45–49; 8:2–3, 15–16; 9:22–24; 11:6; 23:3–5, 21–23; 24:9; 29:7; 31:2; 32:49–52; 34:9), the Prophets (former prophets, Josh. 1:12–15; 2 Kings 18:4; latter prophets, Ezek. 20:13–24; 46:4, 13, 15; Hos. 9:10; Mic. 6:5; 7:14–15; Amos 2:10, 12; 5:25; Zech. 12:13), the Psalms (Pss. 78:14–41; 80:1–2; 95:7–11; 99:8; 102:4–8; 106:24–33; 121:4–8; 135:11; 136:20) and other books within the Writings (2 Chron. 30:2; Neh. 9:31; 13:2).
Such passages throughout the OT canon, combined with citations of and allusions to Numbers in the NT, underscore the book’s relevance for God’s people throughout the ages. Luke reports, “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [the risen Christ] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). Numbers contains key anticipations that Christ and NT authors interpret as realized in his person and work.
Jesus speaks of himself as the manna from heaven that sustained the Israelites in the wilderness, typifying the true Bread of Eternal Life (John 6:48–50; cf. Num. 11:7–9). Paul declares that Christ was the spiritual Rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness, providing saving spiritual drink (1 Cor. 10:4; cf. Num. 20:8–11). Jesus remarks that the bronze serpent hung on a pole by which anyone mortally bitten was delivered by obeying the command to look upon it pointed to his death on the cross for the eternal life of those who look to him in faith (John 3:14–16; cf. Num. 21:9).
Through the NT Scriptures Numbers continues to exhort and warn the church. God’s dealings with his people recorded in Numbers were, says Paul, “written down for our instruction” (1 Cor. 10:11). The exodus generation’s failure to attain the promised rest in Canaan due to unbelief in God’s promises served as a warning to the next generation, which arrived across the Jordan from Jericho. This principle is applied to the Hebrews—fearful judgment also awaits all who refuse to take hold of the promises of salvation rest in Christ (Hebrews 3–4; cf. Num. 14:34–35; Ps. 95:8–11). The Israelites’ rebellions in the wilderness serve, says Paul, “as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Cor. 10:6), referring to the immorality at Baal-peor (1 Cor. 10:7–8; cf. Num. 25:1–9). Paul advises the church not to “put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents” (1 Cor. 10:9; cf. Num. 21:4–9). He exhorts Gentile Christians, “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off” (Rom. 11:22). Peter warns of self-indulgent teachers in the church, likening them to those who “followed the way of Balaam” (2 Pet. 2:15; cf. Numbers 22–24; Rev. 2:14). Jude warns his readers, “I want to remind you . . . that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe” (Jude 5; cf. Num. 26:64–65). Jude likens false teachers who beset the church to Korah (Jude 11; cf. Numbers 16). Referring to the Baal-peor incident, Christ warns the church in Pergamum, “You have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality” (Rev. 2:14).
Understanding how God dealt with his people in the wilderness increases Christians’ awareness of God’s holiness and his just judgment of sin. This realization drives them to lay hold of his goodness and grace by faith in Christ Jesus alone for salvation from sin and judgment. Such goodness and grace provide the incentive and strength to live in a way pleasing to him.
Preaching from Numbers
Often considered theologically insignificant and literarily obscure, Numbers may be one of the least preached books of all Scripture. The early-third-century church father Origen acknowledged this and sought to remedy the problem via a series of sermons on Numbers.3
The temptation exists to preach moralizing sermons from Numbers. The book certainly does not lack examples to make the point that living contrary to God’s Word brings undesired results (the exodus generation died in the wilderness!). To emphasize that reality alone, however, misses the main point. Numbers reveals something far deeper.
The failure of God’s people to live in a way that brings divine blessing is deeply rooted in the covenant relationship between the Lord and his people. If tension in the relationship did not exist, there would be no need for a covenant. The Sinai covenant was made with a sinful people. It governed and adjudicated the relationship of corrupt people with a holy God. But it is God who chose his people in his goodness and initiated the covenant to restore a relationship lost in the fall and to sustain it with his blessing. It was predicated on redeeming grace: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Ex. 20:2). This fulfilled a promise made to Abraham also sealed in a covenant (Gen. 15:13–14). Keeping covenant with him by heeding his warnings, believing his promises, and obeying his commands was and is God’s will and desire. Doing so results in life and blessing, for God will always keep his covenant. Sadly, the human heart tends to fixate on desires contrary to the way of life blessed by God. As underscored in Numbers, this results in unhappiness, complaining, and turning away from the Lord. This in turn leads to his chastisement.
Moses’ intercessory prayers point to the way to confront the head-on collision in the relationship between sinful people and a holy God (Num. 14:13–19). As covenant mediator, he stands in the gap by seizing on God’s promises and character, especially his goodness and mercy as revealed in his covenant. Any need or crisis was matched by God’s faithfulness and covenant-keeping character. Certainly the Lord disciplines his wayward people—that too had been promised!—but he does so to draw them back into a relationship with him so they might live a life of blessing.
As demonstrated in Numbers, grace remains the key ingredient in the struggle against ungodly desires and living (Titus 2:11–12). Laying hold of God’s promises yields the fruit of godliness and provides the off-ramp from bad desires (2 Pet. 1:4). God does not require what he by his grace has not first provided. His greatest gift was in sending his Son, the mediator of the new covenant, who as the Great High Priest lives to make intercession based on his accomplished work of redemption (Heb. 4:14; 7:25).
If cues are taken from the overall theological thrust of Numbers and the way in which the book relates to the rest of Scripture and Christ, the preacher will find the book a rich mine to ply with his exegetical pickaxe. Preaching Numbers will unveil its precious treasure. God’s people will be warned of his judgment and strengthened in his grace.
Interpretive Challenges
Questions concerning large census numbers will be treated in the Comment section on Numbers 1. Those related to the way of the wilderness journey and the location of Mount Sinai are addressed in the Section Overview and Comment sections on chapter 33.
Two challenges are broached here: the unity of the book of Numbers and literary approaches to Numbers. Is there an overall structure of the book and a common thread binding the diverse genres and subjects together? And can the book be rightly understood by reading the present text as a whole?
Unifying Structure of Numbers
Remarks on unifying ties between individual chapters are made in the corresponding Section Overview and Comment sections. The focus here is on the overall internal structure of Numbers as the backbone of the book’s cohesion. Despite the ongoing debate as to whether the book’s diverse genres and seemingly unrelated subjects fit together, commentators do concur that Numbers contains a tripartite geographical structure based on Israel’s presence (1) in the wilderness of Sinai, (2) at and around Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran, and (3) in the Transjordan highlands and the plains of Moab. Travel narratives bridge these major movements.4
These geographical indices are generally used to outline the book. But the demarcations in verses, even chapters, often varies, particularly between the second and third parts. For example, the outline in the hallmark commentary of G. B. Gray is the following:
III. 21:10–36:135
The highly regarded commentary of J. de Vaulx presents another:
I. 1:1–10:10
III. 22:2–36:136
Comparing these and other outlines reveals that the differences (such as those italicized) involve the bridging travel narratives—chiefly, as here, that of the journey from Kadesh to the plains of Moab (20:22–22:1). Gray divides it at the narrative point at which, after leaving the Sinai Peninsula, the Israelites travel across the Arabah, south of the Dead Sea en route to Transjordan (21:9; cf. v. 10). De Vaulx includes the entire travel narrative, all the way to the encampment in the plains of Moab (22:1), in the second part of his outline.
Given the multiple interpretations of the literary contours of the topographical data, some commentators have opted for a binary division of Numbers: chapters 1–25; chapters 26–36. In support of this division literary and thematic echoes are pointed out; in particular both “halves” open with a census: the first of the “old” exodus generation (ch. 1) and the second of the “new” generation (ch. 26).7 Notwithstanding this and other pertinent parallels, several factors should be borne in mind regarding this generational and literary division.
First, a literary division of the book based on the two genealogies does not really reflect a thematic “old” and “new” generational divide, which is fundamental to this binary division. When those twenty years old and upward of the “old” exodus generation are condemned to perish in the wilderness (14:29), those under twenty years are already present and part of the “new” generation that will enter the Promised Land (14:31). Thus, from the beginning to the end of Numbers the new generation is present. The new generation increases during the thirty-eight-year sojourn while the old generation decreases and ultimately ceases.
Second, locating the divide between the old and new generations—based on the census of the latter in chapter 26—sidesteps the internal chronology of Numbers. Aaron’s death corresponds to the end of the traditional forty years (33:38) of the wilderness sojourn. His death is reported in chapter 20. Thus the old generation has passed away before the Israelites leave Kadesh (20:22) or reach the Transjordan (ch. 21; Deut. 2:14). Viewed as such, the twenty-four thousand who die in a plague for engaging in licentious idolatry at Peor (Num. 25:1–5, 9) are not the last remaining of the old generation. The death of the exodus generation reported in Numbers 26:64–65 antedates chapters 21–25.
Third, the old and new generation binary division smooths the edges of the sharp break within chapters 1–25, viewed as the first half of the book. Geographically, in chapter 10 Israel leaves Sinai for Kadesh (v. 11–12; cf. 13:26). Chronologically, chapters 1–10 involve a period of nineteen days, whereas chapters 11–25 cover the entire wilderness period. Thematically, the prompt obedience characterizing the leaders and the people in chapters 1–10 contrasts with their rife disobedience narrated in chapters 11–25, resulting in the forfeiture of their inheritance in Canaan.8 Also, viewed as the second half of Numbers, chapters 26–36 cover but a few months, which seems disproportional chronologically, not to mention literarily, compared to the other half (chs. 1–25). Moreover, the picture-perfect obedience often attributed to the “new” generation in those last eleven chapters is undermined by Moses’ own descriptions of them (e.g., “You have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men”; 32:14) and other Scripture (cf. Section Overview of Numbers 26). It is difficult to see how their obedience could be measured by instructions pertaining mainly to their future life in the land.
The tripartite outline proposed here draws upon literary features that dovetail with the geographical format.
The suggested structure contains outer frames: chapters 1–10 and chapters 26–36. Each is headed by a census, one of the exodus generation at Sinai and the other of the following generation in the plains of Moab. Each contains instructions, the former for the wilderness journey and the latter for life in the Promised Land. The twice occurring “In the midst of which I dwell” describes, in the first frame, the Lord’s presence in the midst of the wilderness camp that must not be defiled (5:3) and, in the second frame, his future presence in the midst of the land the new generation must not defile (35:34). The first frame covers a few weeks and the second several months.
This framing is reinforced by bracketing chapters. Within the chapter 1–10 side frame, after the census (ch. 1) chapters 2 and 10 form brackets. Chapter 2 contains instructions regarding the arrangement of the tribal camps and how they “shall set out” (2:9, 16, 17, 24, 31). Chapter 10 narrates the execution of these instructions as they “set out” (10:12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 33, 34, 35) from Sinai. Within the Numbers 26–36 side frame, headed by a census (ch. 26), the bracketing chapters 27 and 36 contain rulings concerning the land inheritance of the “daughters of Zelophehad.”
The framed center of Numbers (chs. 11–25) is also bracketed. Chapter 11 depicts the complaining, revolting exodus generation—the object of the Lord’s “anger” (vv. 1, 10, 33) and a “plague” (v. 33). It contains a supplement on Joshua (1st mention), whom Moses asks, “Are you jealous for my sake?” (v. 29). Chapter 25 describes the licentious idolatry of the new generation—also an object of the Lord’s “anger” (vv. 3, 4) and a “plague” (vv. 8, 9, 18). The chapter contains a supplement on Phinehas (his 1st mention), who was, Moses reports, “jealous for his God” (v. 13).
The side frames and the framed center are definable as compositional units. The book of Numbers is thus a structured whole.
Unifying Subjects of Holiness and Purity
In addition to the unifying structure of Numbers, the ritual realm is inherently related to the unity of the book. This realm encompasses four states, or spheres, presented in Leviticus 10:10 (cf. Ezek. 44:23) as paired opposites: holy (sacred) and common (ordinary/profane); unclean (impure) and clean (pure).9 The suggestion made here is that holiness and purity and their opposites bind together the diverse contents of Numbers.
These matters did not concern only the clergy; they were part of everyone’s daily life. In the compass of the whole book the chief concern in Numbers is for the Israelites not to defile (1) the camp in the wilderness and (2) the land of Canaan once they settle it. The reason for these concerns is one and the same: they occur at places “in the midst of which I [the holy God] dwell” (Num. 5:3; 35:34). Uncleansed impurity is dangerous, even potentially lethal, because it profanes the holy: God’s name. Safeguard against desecration of the holy and defilement of the pure is crucial not only for survival in the wilderness; dwelling in the land will depend on it. Everyone—priests, Levites, and laity—has a critical role to play. Otherwise they will suffer God’s wrath. The wilderness experience is the occasion for training in purity and holiness, which can then be applied to life in the Land of Promise.
To protect the people from God’s wrath, spaces are delimited to safeguard the holy from desecrating encroachment. The tabernacle has the tent of meeting, consisting of the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place and their sacred furnishings, the court and the holy altar, all surrounded by a high curtain. Outside the curtain, on the four compass points of the tabernacle, was a cordon made by the camps of the priests and Levites (1:53; 3:23, 29, 35, 38). Around that was a second cordon of the people’s military camps (1:52; 2:1–34; 10:1–36). The space beyond that was “outside the camp,” which also had a vital role in preventing the defilement of the sanctuary (e.g., 5:3–4; 15:35; 19:9; 31:13, 19).
In addition, clerics were assigned to protect the holy. From inside the tabernacle the priests safeguarded the tent of meeting, its sacred furnishings, and the altar from desecration. They prevented unqualified priests or Levites from intruding the sacred space. From outside the tabernacle, and from between the altar and the tabernacle entry, the Levites prevented encroachment by the people. Any intruder was to be put to death. By their mutual service the priests and Levites saved themselves (3:10; 4:19–20; 18:3, 7) and the people from the wrath of a holy God (1:51, 53; 8:19; 18:5). The people also played a vital role by keeping their camp pure by applying instructions given them to cleanse impurities (5:4; 19:12; 31:24).
Desecration of the holy was strictly forbidden and harshly punished (cf. below on legitimate desacralization). It involved encroachment, intentional sins, and uncleansed impurities. The following examples are, for the most part, limited to Numbers.
Encroachment involved unauthorized people or objects’ entering into the holy space and also ritual misdeeds performed there. Encroachment was not merely an accidentally incurred impurity and therefore could not be cleansed. The death of the intruder was the only answer. For their transgressions in the ritual realm Aaron’s sons, the priests Nadab and Abihu, and thousands of Korahite Levites and their followers perished (3:4; 16:32–35). Even the ritually purified Levites were forbidden to touch or look upon the most holy furnishings (4:15, 19–20).
Intentional sins desecrated the sanctuary, and so the guilty were cut off (15:30–31). As with encroachment, there was no ritual remedy for intentional sin. Examples include the Sabbath breaker (15:32–36), anyone who did not keep the Passover (9:13), the entire exodus generation for rebellion (14:32, 35), and anyone guilty of murder (35:30–34).
Anyone with certain impurities had to leave the camp to maintain its purity; they were quarantined “outside the camp” (5:2–3), especially those who contracted the highly contagious corpse impurity (19:13, 22; 31:19). Impurity outside the camp did not desecrate the holy if the proper cleansing procedure was followed. Once cleansed from their impurity, the person could reenter the camp (19:19; 31:24). But anyone not purified by the prescribed rituals in the given time frame while outside the camp would be cut off for having polluted the holy place (19:13, 20).
Desecration provoked God’s wrath (1:53; 16:46; 18:5; 25:11; cf. also 11:10, 33; 12:9; 25:3–4; 32:14), which was manifested in various ways. It could break out in a plague (8:19; 11:33; 14:37; 16:46; 25:8–9, 18; 26:1; 31:16) or fire (11:1; 16:35; 26:10). In some cases the offender was to be executed by the hand of man, either by the sword of priests or Levites (“He shall be put to death,” Hb. yumat; Ex. 32:27; Num. 1:51; 3:10, 38; 18:7) or by civil execution (15:35; 35:17). In other cases the punishment came directly from the hand of God (“They shall die,” yamut; 14:35; 17:13; 20:26; 26:65), sometimes by cutting off (karat) the offending party and/or his lineage (4:18; 9:13; 19:13, 20). The misdeeds of one or a few sometimes resulted in many deaths in the community at large (17:12–13; 18:5; 25:9; 31:16). The death of the entire exodus generation in the wilderness was due to the bad report of ten men (14:32, 35; 26:65).
A legitimate form of desacralization occurred in the redemption of the holy firstborn by the Levites (3:13), which returned the redeemed firstborn from a holy to the common state (3:40–41). Terminating a Nazirite vow necessitated the return from a holy state comparable to that of the high priest to the common state by a complex ritual process (cf. comment on 6:13–21). After a portion (“a contribution”) of holy first dough was offered, the rest could be used in an ordinary way (15:20–21). Once the contributions from the holy offerings were lifted, the remainder could be eaten by the priest’s family (18:11). After the Levites tithed (“a contribution”) the holy tithe from the people (18:26–28), the remaining nine-tenths was at their disposal (18:30–31). Priests who worked while performing Sabbath rituals also legitimately profaned the Sabbath (28:9–10; Matt. 12:5; John 7:23).
Contact with impurity defiled anyone or anything pure. Like infectious diseases, some physical impurities were contagious. Some of these impurities disappeared after a brief lapse of time and by washing. More severe ones required quarantine outside the camp (Num. 5:2–3) and offerings (cf. Lev. 13:46; 14:12; 15:2, 14–15, 29–30; cf. the special case of the Nazirite; Num. 6:9–12). Outside the camp had a pure place where the ashes from the red heifer were kept to make water for (i.e., to cleanse) impurity (19:9). The most defiling impurity, contact with a dead body, necessitated all the above antidotes in addition to the double aspersion with the water for impurity (9:10; 19:11–13; 31:19). Metallic objects made impure by contact with corpses could be purified by passing them through fire and sprinkling them with water for impurity; things that could not withstand fire were passed through the water (31:22–23). Once purified, people and objects were allowed back into the camp (31:24).
Impurities also resulted from unintentional sins (6:9–11). These were cleansed ceremonially. Their seriousness varied according to the level of responsibility in the hierarchy of religious or civil authority of anyone who caused the impurities, ranging from a high priest to a commoner (Lev. 4:3, 13, 15, 22, 27). The gravity was also signaled by the holy furnishing contaminated by the impurity and the means required to remove the impurity.
The common denominator in making purification was the “[de-]sin offering” (or “purification offering,” hattaʾt), mentioned nearly forty times in Numbers (e.g., 15:25). To make purification the blood of a substitute animal was applied to the tabernacle furnishing that had been made impure (Ex. 29:36). If the impurity was caused by a high priest or another religious leader, it was purged by the blood of a bull applied to the incense altar in the Holy Place (Lev. 4:7, 14, 18). If the impurity was caused by a civil leader or commoner, it was purged by the blood of a goat at the altar in the court (Lev. 4:25, 30; Ezek. 43:20). Impurity could even penetrate the Most Holy Place and defile the most sacred atonement cover (kapporet, “mercy seat”; cf. comment on Num. 7:89) of the ark of the covenant, which represented the Lord’s throne. Purging it with blood was done on the annual Day of Atonement by the high priest (Lev. 16:15). On other days blood was sprinkled seven times in front of the veil hiding the ark from view (Lev. 4:6). The sin offering is called the “sin offering of atonement” (Num. 29:11). Purging by substitutional blood was a means of making atonement (from kpr; Ex. 29:36; Lev. 14:19; Num. 6:11; 8:12, 19, 21; 15:25, 28; 28:22, 30; 29:5), which led to forgiveness (15:25, 26, 28). It necessitated the life (blood) of an animal as a vicarious payment for anyone who caused the impurity. As stated in the NT, “Under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb. 9:22).
Unifying Theme of Life and Death
Keeping the spheres or states of the ritual realm separate—particularly the holy from the impure—saved life. But mixing or confusing them led to death. Warnings include “You shall not profane the holy things . . . lest you die” (Num. 18:32) and “If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord” (19:20; cf. v. 13). In ritual contexts life and death are juxtaposed as binary opposites (e.g., “That they [the ritually pure Kohathite Levites] may live and not die when they come near to the most holy things”; 4:19).10 The priest, Phinehas, as mediator “stood between the dead and the living” (16:48). Indeed, the life and death motif undergirds all the ritual states surveyed above and unifies the diverse contents in Numbers.
Although this was generally expressed in negative terms (death), saving life was the implicit goal. As with any law, a prohibition makes unnecessary the stating of all that is permitted. Obviously, avoiding what causes death by observing the commandments on holiness and purity preserves life.
In relation to the tabernacle everything is organized in Numbers to preserve life. The people in the camps (militia and their families) are kept from encroaching the tabernacle by the Levites (1:50) “so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel” (v. 53; 18:5). God’s wrath spells death (e.g., 25:11). The Levites are kept from encroaching the sanctuary and the altar by the priests, “lest they die” (4:15). Thereby the priests protect themselves and the Levites, “lest they, and you, die” (18:3). “If any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death” (3:10; 18:7).
The death motif is recurrent in the laws and instructions. The law on impurity (5:1–4) addresses “contact with the dead” (5:2). The law on the Nazirite vow (6:1–12), requires that a Nazirite “shall not go near a dead body” (6:6) and specifies what must be done “if any man dies . . . beside him” (6:9). The instructions on the seven lamps (8:1–4) is vital, since the lamps illuminate the dark Holy Place. When leaving an encampment to set out on a journey, the priests are instructed to wrap the most holy furnishings carefully so that the Levites who carry them do not touch or even see them, “lest they die” (4:15, 20). In the second Passover law (9:6–14) “touching a dead body” (9:10) exempts anyone made impure from the first-month Passover. The law on tassels on garments (15:37–41) aims at preventing death by reminding Israel not to go “whor[ing] after” foreign gods (15:39; cf. Ex. 34:15–16; Deut. 31:16; Hos. 6:10). Conversely, touching tassels could restore life (Matt. 9:20; 14:36). Laws on the duties of priests and Levites (Numbers 18) reiterate their role of preventing encroachment, “lest they [the Levites], and you [the priests], die” (18:3; cf. v. 32) and “lest they [the people] . . . die” (18:22). The law on the red heifer and water for impurity made from its ashes (19:2, 11–22) concerns “whoever touches a dead person” (19:13).
The second census (ch. 26) contains obituary notices of well-known figures from the past (e.g., “Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan”; 26:19; cf. vv. 10, 61) and the contemporaneous comment “But the sons of Korah did not die” (26:11). It also reports the judgment pronounced on the exodus generation, “‘They shall die in the wilderness.’ Not one of them was left” (26:65). The legal appeal involving Zelophehad’s daughters (chs. 27; 36) depends on their father’s “[dying] for his own sin” (27:3), that is, not dying for being among those who rebelled. In the laws on the cities of refuge pertaining to manslaughter (35:16–34), a murderer is “guilty of death” and thus “shall be put to death” (35:30–31). Unpremeditated bloodshed remains unpurged until the “death of the high priest” (35:25, 28).
The Numbers narratives report a record number of deaths, posing a constant danger of corpse contamination. Hundreds of thousands of “dead bodies” (14:32) would fall in the wilderness; “there they shall die” (14:35). Notable individuals who “died” include Nadab and Abihu (3:4; 26:61), Miriam (20:1), Aaron (v. 28; 33:38), and Balaam (31:8). Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and their families “went down alive into Sheol” (16:33). Aaron’s staff that budded was put into the ark as a sign to the grumbling people, “lest they die” (17:10); the grumblers stated their fear—“Everyone . . . who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die” (17:13). From poisonous snakes “many people of Israel died,” but by looking at the bronze serpent anyone “shall live” (21:6, 8). This motif is related to another: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30:19). Blessing and curse is the main motif in the Balaam story and discourses (Numbers 22–24; cf. Section Overviews). Recognizing God’s blessing upon Jacob, Balaam exclaims, “Let me die the death of the upright” (23:10).
War is a constant threat, along with its own prospect of death. The censuses were designed to assign to companies those “able to go to war” (1:3; 26:2). In the law of the silver trumpets (10:1–10) one of their uses is to signal “when you go to war” (10:9). The people refuse to enter Canaan for fear they will “fall by the sword” (14:3). The law concerning the water for impurity prescribes its use on anyone who has touched someone “killed with a sword” (19:16). Military conflicts are waged in the wilderness with Amalekites (14:39–45), Canaanites (21:1–3), and Amorites (21:21–35). After the vengeance on the Midianites (31:1–8), purification is made for “whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain” (31:19). Astonishingly, among Israel’s soldiers, “there [was] not a man missing” (31:49). There will be deaths in future battles in Canaan (cf. 10:9; 33:50–56).
Laws and narratives contain the “breaking faith” (maʿal) offense, a term applied to high-handed or flagrant violations resulting in the perpetrator’s being “cut off” (15:30–31). In chapter 5 the civil case (vv. 5–7) and the moral case (vv. 12–30) each involve “breaking faith” (vv. 6, 12, 27). Each case contains mitigating circumstances averting the death penalty (cf. comments on 5:5–10; 5:11–31). The plague at Peor that kills twenty-four thousand strikes those who acted “treacherously” (maʿal; 31:16), referring to licentious idolatry. Even Moses will die outside the Promised Land for “breaking faith” (Deut. 32:51) at Meribah for not treating God as holy (Num. 20:11–13; he rebelled against God, 27:14). There are those who can or will be “put to death” (1:51; 3:10, 38; 15:35; 18:7; 35:16, 17, 18, 21, 30, 31) or “shall die” (14:35; 17:13; 20:26; 26:65) for various offenses.
Behind all impurity representing decay and death is the underlying opposite principle of purity as representing well-being and life. Menstruation causes impurity of an otherwise pure person (Lev. 15:19), as does emission of semen (Lev. 15:16). The grouping of abnormal discharges from sexual organs with leprosy and corpse contact in Numbers 5:2–3 is revealing. Being struck with the impurity of leprosy (5:2) results in being “as one dead” (12:12). Even menstruation or ejaculation, both sources of life, apparently represent death.11
The prescribed antidote to death is “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules,” which is followed by the promise “If a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord” (Lev. 18:5).12 But this promise applies to those who neither spurn God’s grace nor tempt his wrath. This is seen clearly in Numbers. Anyone who would—in obedience of faith in the promise of deliverance—look at the bronze serpent “shall live” (Num. 21:8).
Putting into practice God’s law preserves life. It involves a life of growing in holiness and purity, hallmarks of godly living. The Christian is exhorted, “Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1), “for God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” (1 Thess. 4:7).
Diachronic and Holistic Literary Approaches
Commentaries on Numbers from the nineteenth century to the present can be divided into two basic types: (1) diachronic or historical-critical, which interprets the text after dissection by source, tradition, or redaction criticism; and (2) synchronic or holistic, which interprets the text as is.
Concerning the former type, in the introduction to his recent two-volume Numbers commentary B. Levine defends the “proposition that in order to understand a Torah book we are required to disassemble and reassemble its sources in chronological sequence.” Such an approach, he argues, “holds forth the promise of identifying significantly different perceptions of the wilderness experience, perceptions that might be lost to us were we to study only the final product of the biblical process at the expense of the phases reflected in its literary development.”13 Levine’s principal guide is G. B. Gray’s 1903 commentary, which became the twentieth-century standard for a source-critical reading of Numbers. Gray’s work represented a counterreaction to C. F. Keil’s conservative (holistic) commentary published thirty-five years earlier. Gray considered Keil’s commentary “untenable” given the advance of critical scholarship.14 Ninety years later, Levine lauds Gray’s work, saying he knows of no other modern critical commentary on Numbers “as instructive as his.”15 Levine’s commentary also illustrates that, since Gray, for those who still adhere to the classical source-critical theory, literary boundaries have not appreciably moved concerning what is commonly labeled “priestly” (P) postexilic redaction (lists, laws, etc.), forming over three quarters of Numbers.
A prime example of the holistic type is the Numbers commentary of J. Milgrom. Concerning the holistic method Milgrom says, “It refuses to dissect the whole into parts and then consider these parts as having meaning apart from the whole. Rather, it studies a literary piece as a whole by demonstrating the interaction of its parts.” He concludes, “Actually, this approach is not new at all.”16 Indeed, the goal of centuries of traditional or conservative interpretation has been to ascertain the intended meaning of the present text as is.
Admittedly, juxtaposing these two types of commentaries runs the risk of oversimplifying the question, since diachronic and synchronic approaches are often used concurrently. Classification of those commentaries depends on which method has the upper hand.17
One final point. Since “priestly” material (labeled P) constitutes the bulk of Numbers, it should be noted that the postexilic date generally assigned to it has been challenged on all fronts by scholars who themselves hold to some form of literary criticism. They have shown on linguistic and other grounds that priestly materials are at least preexilic if not at home in the second millennium BC.18
Outline
I. Instructions for the Exodus Generation Preparing to Leave Sinai for Canaan (1:1–10:36)
A. The First Census of Men for Military Service (1:1–54)
1. Census Preparation and Execution (1:1–19)
B. The Camp Arrangement and Order of March (2:1–34)
1. General Instructions (2:1–2)
C. The First Census of the Tribe of Levi, the Levites’ Roles and Arrangement around the Tabernacle (3:1–51)
1. Priests Distinguished from the Levites (3:1–4)
2. Levites Assigned Their Duties and Positions around the Tabernacle (3:5–39)
3. Levites Redeem the Firstborn (3:40–51)
D. Levite Responsibilities and Totals (4:1–49)
1. Kohathite Responsibilities and Totals (4:1–20, 34–37)
2. Gershonite Responsibilities and Totals (4:21–28, 38–41)
3. Merarite Responsibilities and Totals (4:29–33, 42–45)
E. Laws on Purity of the Camp (5:1–31)
1. Physical Impurities (5:1–4)
3. Suspicion of Adultery (5:11–31)
F. The Nazirite Consecration (6:1–27)
1. Requirements of the Nazirite Vow (6:1–12)
2. Completion of the Nazirite Vow (6:13–21)
G. Offerings at the Tabernacle’s Consecration (7:1–89)
1. Gifts for the Transportation of the Tabernacle (7:1–9)
2. Gifts for the Dedication of the Altar (7:10–88)
3. The Voice Speaking to Moses (7:89)
H. Preparing for Service in the Tabernacle (8:1–26)
2. The Cleansing and Separation of the Levites (8:5–22)
3. The Senior Levites Redeployed (8:23–26)
I. The Passover and the Cloud (9:1–23)
1. Keeping the Passover (9:1–14)
2. The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle (9:15–23)
J. On the Way from Sinai to Canaan (10:1–36)
1. Silver Trumpet Signals (10:1–10)
2. The Orderly March (10:11–28)
3. Moses Requests Hobab’s Services (10:29–32)
4. Guidance by Ark and Cloud (10:33–36)
II. Trials in the Wilderness of Paran, the Transjordan Highlands, and the Plains of Moab (11:1–25:18)
A. Incidences at Taberah and Kibroth-hattaavah (11:1–35)
1. Complaining at Taberah, Divine Judgment, Moses’ Prayer (11:1–3)
2. Weeping over the Manna (11:4–10)
4. Elders Appointed to Share Moses’ Burden (11:16–30)
5. Quail and a Plague at Kibroth-hattaavah (11:31–35)
B. Miriam’s and Aaron’s Contention with Moses (12:1–16)
2. The Lord’s Reply and Remonstrance (12:4–10)
3. Aaron’s Confession, Moses’ Plea, and Travel Resumed (12:11–16)
C. Scouting the Land of Canaan (Num. 13:1–33)
1. Commissioning the Scouts (13:1–20)
2. Sending the Scouts (13:21–24)
3. Return and Report of the Scouts (13:25–33)
D. The Aftermath of the Scouts’ Report (14:1–45)
1. Immediate Reaction to the Scouts’ Report (14:1–10)
2. The Lord’s Initial Response and Moses’ Intercession (14:11–19)
3. The Lord’s Answer to Moses’ Prayer (14:20–25)
4. His Sentence Pronounced (14:26–38)
5. Aborted Attempt to Enter the Promised Land (14:39–45)
E. Regulations for Life in the Land (15:1–41)
1. Laws on Offerings (15:1–21)
2. Laws on Inadvertent and Willful Sins (15:22–31)
3. Sentence of a Sabbath Breaker (15:32–36)
4. Garment Tassel-Reminders (15:37–41)
F. The Rebellion over the Priesthood and Leadership (16:1–50)
1. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Rebel (16:1–19)
G. Test of Twelve Staffs (Num. 17:1–13)
1. Twelve Tribes’ Staffs Put before the Lord (17:1–7)
2. Aaron’s Staff Bears Almonds (17:8–13)
H. Service and Revenues of Priests and Levites (18:1–32)
1. Responsibilities and Rights of Priests and Levites (18:1–7)
2. Priests’ Revenues from the Offerings (18:8–19)
3. Levites’ Revenues from Tithes (18:20–32)
I. Red Heifer Ashes and Water for Impurity (19:1–22)
1. Preparation of Water for Impurity (19:1–10)
2. Application of Water for Impurity (19:11–22)
J. Final Incidents around Kadesh (20:1–29)
2. The Waters of Meribah (20:2–13)
3. Edom Refuses Passage (20:14–21)
K. Journey from the Negeb to Transjordan (21:1–35)
4. Amorite Kings Sihon and Og Defeated (21:21–35)
M. Balaam’s First Two Discourses (23:1–30)
N. Balaam’s Final Two Discourses (24:1–25)
O. Baal Worship at Peor (25:1–18)
1. Israel’s Infidelity (25:1–9)
3. Consequences for Midian (25:16–18)
III. Instructions beyond the Jordan at Jericho for the Generation Soon to Enter Canaan (26:1–36:13)
A. Census of the New Generation (26:1–65)
1. Census Ordered and Taken (26:1–51)
2. Census and Land Inheritance (26:52–62)
3. Reminder of the Reason for the Second Census (26:63–65)
B. Succession to Property and Leadership (27:1–23)
1. Succession to Property by Zelophehad’s Daughters (27:1–11)
2. Succession to Leadership by Joshua (27:12–23)
C. Regular Offerings (28:1–31)
2. Sabbath Offerings (28:9–10)
3. Monthly Offerings (28:11–15)
4. Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread Offerings (28:16–25)
5. Feast of Weeks Offerings (28:26–31)
D. Offerings on the Seventh Month (29:1–40)
1. Offerings for the Feast of Trumpets (29:1–6)
2. Offerings for the Day of Atonement (29:7–11)
3. Offerings for the Feast of Booths (29:12–38)
1. Vows and Oaths of Men (30:1–2)
2. Vows and Oaths of Women (30:3–16)
F. Vengeance on Midian (31:1–54)
1. War against Midian (31:1–11)
4. Division of Plunder (31:25–47)
5. Commanders’ Offering (31:48–54)
G. Transjordan Inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (32:1–42)
1. The Tribes’ Request and Moses’ Remonstrance (32:1–15)
2. The Tribes’ Proposition and Moses’ Consent (32:16–32)
3. The Tribes’ Transjordan Inheritance (32:33–42)
H. The Forty-Year Itinerary and Land Inheritance Instructions (33:1–56)
1. From Egypt to Sinai (33:1–15)
2. From Sinai to [Kadesh] (33:16–18a)
3. From [Kadesh] to Kadesh (33:18b–36)
4. From Kadesh to the Jordan at Jericho (33:37–49)
5. Instructions on Taking Possession of Canaan (33:50–56)
I. Inheriting the Land of Canaan (34:1–29)
1. Boundaries of the Land to Be Inherited (34:1–15)
2. Leaders Appointed to Oversee the Inheritance (34:16–29)
J. Cities for Levites and Cities of Refuge (35:1–34)
1. Cities for Levites (35:1–8)
K. Marriage of Daughter-Heirs (36:1–13)
Numbers 1–10 contains instructions to prepare the Israelites for their departure from the wilderness of Sinai for the land of Canaan. Chapter 1 opens the book’s “second year” supplement (1:1–10:10) to the Sinai pericope (Ex. 19:1–Lev. 27:34), which closes with Israel’s departure from Sinai nineteen days later (Num. 10:11). The Numbers 1–10 frame opens with a census (ch. 1) and then is literarily bracketed by chapter 2, containing instructions on the camps’ order of march, and by chapter 10, narrating those instructions’ execution. The same compositional pattern is found in the Numbers 26–36 frame (cf. Introduction: Interpretive Challenges: Unifying Structure of Numbers).Numbers 1–10