Numbers 1:36
Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war; Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
Numbers 1:36 records the separate counting of the tribe of Benjamin by generations, families, houses of the fathers and number of the names, of men from twenty years old and upward who were able to go forth to war. The number for Benjamin was 35,400, part of a total of 603,550 fighting men that did not include Levi at all, nor any females, nor any under twenty, in a census commanded by God through Moses and not in itself sinful. It was taken about one year after Israel entered the wilderness, when the people were ordered into marching formation in completest order preparatory to marching into and speedily entering the land of promise. It belongs to the first numbering at the beginning of the forty years of wandering, forty years before the second numbering in Numbers 26, and though every one counted might have had an inheritance in the land of promise, all except Caleb and Joshua later died in the wilderness, showing God fulfilled His judgment against the rebellious generation.
Wording and Historical Setting
The verse records the enrollment of the children of Benjamin by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. The number counted for Benjamin was 35,400. The whole count of that numbering totaled 603,550 fighting men and did not include the tribe of Levi at all, nor any females, nor any under twenty years of age.
The census was commanded by God through Moses, and was not in itself sinful. The numbering was taken about one year after Israel entered the wilderness, when the people were ordered into marching formation in completest order preparatory to marching into and speedily entering the land of promise. It came after the law had been proclaimed from the flaming mount, after the tabernacle had been erected and the ark containing the law carried into its most holy place, after the cloud of glory had taken possession of the building, after God had given bread from heaven every morning and smitten the rock to give water, and while the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night remained with the camp.
In the connected story it comes after the building of the tabernacle and the establishing of its services and the sin of Nadab and Abihu and before leaving Mount Sinai. Each tribe was numbered separately in a careful census conducted under census inspectors. It belongs to the first of the two censuses that give the book its name, taken at Sinai, the second being taken in the plains of Moab thirty-eight years later; the counting shows the fitness of the Greek title Arithmoi, from which comes the word arithmetic.
It stands in the first chapters that continue Leviticus, before the narrative of Exodus that left Israel encamped at Sinai is resumed beginning with chapter 9 for the journey toward Kadesh-barnea. Unlike this census, the later census by David was sinful because he ordered it without the Lord's consent and trusted in the size of his forces.
Later Comparison and Judgment
The counting belongs to the census at the beginning of the forty years of wandering, made forty years before the second numbering in Numbers 26 taken at the close of the forty years. Comparison of the first and second numberings shows the difference in the tribes, with some tribes increasing greatly while others declined and decreased in number. Benjamin's place in the first census, with its age limits of twenty years old and upward for men able to go to war and its totals by family and father's house, can be compared with the second census to see how Benjamin's numbers changed and whether the tribe gained or lost during the wilderness journey.
Every one counted expected to have an inheritance in the land of promise and might have had it after such tokens of loving-kindness. All who were counted then, except Caleb and Joshua, later died in the wilderness after rebelling against God, so the first census together with the later numbering shows God fulfilled His judgment against the rebellious generation.
The numbering is part of the connected Bible story given to children.