Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 6

Chapter 26 of Numbers had to be separated into many short posts because Blogger limits the number of labels per post.  An important census was being taken at this time and I want to acknowledge all the names mentioned.  Here are the previous posts:

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 1

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 2

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 3

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 4

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 5

Now continuing with part 6:

(Numbers 26:44) The children of Asher after their families: of Jimna, the family of the Jimnites; of Jesui, the family of the Jesuites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.

The census continued with the children of the tribe of Asher, his sons, Jimna, Jesui, and Beriah, and their families.

(45) Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.

Additionally, the Beriites from Asher's son Beriah were divided into two families after Beriah's sons, Heber and Malchiel.

(46) And the name of the daughter of Asher, Sarah.

Asher's daughter, Sarah, is mentioned here, even though she obviously was not counted in the census.  She was either a remarkable woman in her own right, or as the medieval Jewish philosopher, Maimonides, claimed, "...she was an heiress; for though Asher had many sons, this was his wife's daughter by another man, who had no sons, and the inheritance was his daughter's, and therefore is so particularly mentioned..." (John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible).

(47) These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered of them, fifty-three thousand four hundred.

Asher's tribe numbered 53,400 able-bodied men of war twenty years of age and older.  This was a large increase of 11,900 over the census taken 38 years earlier.

(48) The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; (49) Of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.

The sons of Naphtali were Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem, and all their families were counted.

(50) These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were forty-five thousand four hundred.

The tribe of Naphtali numbered 45,400, a decrease of 8000 able-bodied men of war twenty years and older since the first census 38 years prior.

(51) These were the numbered of the children of Israel, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.

The total numbered in the census were 601,730 able-bodied men of war twenty years and older.  This was a decrease of only 1820 men since the census 38 years prior to this one.  That is notable when you consider how many times the people were struck with plagues because of their disobedience and idolatry.  God continued to bless them with increased numbers while in the wilderness so that even after His severe rebukes, His people were still a formidable presence.

(52) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (53) “To these the land shall be divided as an inheritance, according to the number of names. (54) To many you shall give more inheritance, and to few you shall give less inheritance; to every one shall his inheritance be given according to those who were numbered of him."

After the census was taken, the Lord told Moses that their promised land was to be divided among the tribes as an inheritance.  The tribes with the larger numbers were to be given a larger inheritance, and those with smaller numbers were to be given a smaller inheritance.  The size of their inheritance was to be directly related to their numbers.

(55) "Notwithstanding the land shall be divided by lot; according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. (56) According to the lot shall their possession be divided between many and few."

The Lord continued speaking to Moses, telling him that even though He had instructed that the larger tribes be given larger inheritances and smaller tribes smaller ones, their actual possessions would be determined by lots.  By the casting of lots, God Himself would determine exactly which possession each tribe would receive, but they would be as He had previously said, larger possessions to larger tribes, and smaller to smaller.

As Blogger limits the number of labels per post, and I would like to keep all the names of each tribe together, I will stop here and continue with yet another post to end the chapter with the tribe of Levi:

Census of Israel in the Plains of Moab, Part 7