Numbers 1:38, commentary and pictures

Numbers 1:38 records the count of Dan's fighting men twenty years old and upward, numbering 62,700 toward the total of 603,550, with Levi, women, and those under twenty left out. They were enrolled by generations, families, and fathers' houses, by name, each tribe counted separately. This was the first of the two numberings that give the book its name, taken in the wilderness at Sinai about a year after the Exodus after the tabernacle and its services were established, with the second taken in the plains of Moab forty years later. The men so marshaled in order under their standards around the sanctuary were the army made ready to march to Canaan, every man expecting his inheritance in the promised land. Compared with the second census the number shows the judgment on the rebellious generation that died in the wilderness, with only Caleb and Joshua remaining, and stands as a census taken at God's command without trouble unlike David's numbering from pride.

Census Context and Details

This verse belongs to the first of the two numberings of Israel that give the book its name, made in the wilderness at Sinai about a year after the Exodus at the beginning of the forty years of wandering. That first numbering came after the building of the tabernacle and the establishing of its services and before leaving Mount Sinai, while the second numbering was made in the plains of Moab forty years later, thirty-eight years after the first. The numbering came after the law had been proclaimed from the flaming mount, the tabernacle had been erected with the ark containing God's law placed in its most holy place, and the cloud of God's glory had taken possession of it. It came after God had given bread from heaven every morning and water from the smitten rock, with the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night abiding with the camp.

The counting was by generations, after families, by the house of the fathers, according to the number of the names. Each tribe was counted separately under census inspectors. The verse counts the children of Dan from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war. Dan numbered 62,700 at that census, contributing to a total of 603,550 men of war. That numbering excluded the tribe of Levi, all females, and all under twenty years of age.

The taking down of all their names marshaled the host in complete order. It belongs to the order of Israel's encampment under four great standards, Judah the lion, Ephraim the ox, Reuben the man, and Dan the eagle, with each tribe also under its own tribal standard and with the sanctuary in the center. The Greek title Arithmoi, from which comes the word arithmetic, fittingly describes the book's contents.

Purpose and Later Significance

The men counted here were the host made ready to march toward Canaan, every man expecting an inheritance in the land of promise that he might have had after such tokens of loving-kindness as bread from heaven every morning, water from the smitten rock, and the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night abiding with the camp. The taking down of all their names marshaled them in complete order preparatory to marching into the land of promise, with everything indicating their speedy entrance into Canaan. This first numbering recorded those who could have entered Canaan, for each man counted was expected to march toward Canaan and receive an inheritance there.

The first census is to be compared with the second census in Numbers 26, made forty years later, to see how the tribes' numbers changed over the forty years of wandering. That comparison shows the difference in the tribes, with some increasing greatly and others decreasing. For Dan in particular the count of males twenty years old and upward able to serve in war in the first census can be set beside the second census to see how the tribe's numbers changed during the wilderness journey.

The later numbering showed that all who had rebelled had died in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua, fulfilling God's threatened judgment against the rebellious generation. Thus the first numbering stands as the record of a people who could have entered Canaan, while the second stands as proof that the judgment was fulfilled.

The numbering here is an example of a census taken at God's command without trouble, in contrast to David's unauthorized numbering, which arose from pride and confidence in his own strength. The numbering is also one episode in the connected story of the whole Bible told for children, belonging to the story of Israel after the building of the tabernacle and the establishing of its services and before leaving Mount Sinai, with practical moral lessons woven in where a child could not draw them unaided.