Numbers 1:40
Of the children of Asher, 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 Asher, 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 verse records the enrollment of the tribe of Asher in the first numbering of Israel at Sinai, counting 41,500 men from twenty years old and upward who were able to go forth to war, taken carefully by generations, families and ancestral households with Levi, women and all under twenty excluded. It was made after the law had been given, the tabernacle erected with the ark of God's law within, the glory-cloud had taken possession of it, and God had fed Israel with manna and water from the rock while the pillar of cloud and fire remained over the camp. God had all their names taken down and marshalled the host in complete order preparatory to marching into Canaan, with every man so numbered expecting an inheritance in the land of promise. That first numbering of 603,550 is to be compared with the second numbering in the plains of Moab nearly forty years later, in which Asher increased to 53,400, showing how some tribes gained greatly while others declined. Nearly all those counted at first afterward died in the wilderness for rebellion under God's judgment, with only Caleb and Joshua surviving to the second census, and the census itself shows that numbering at God's command was not sinful as David's later numbering without God's consent in pride of military strength was.
Census Setting and Method
Numbers 1:40 belongs to the first of the two numberings of Israel under Moses, made at Sinai at the close of the first year in the wilderness, about one year after leaving Egypt and soon after the people left Egypt. It stands in the opening chapters that continue Leviticus, before the narrative that left Israel encamped at Sinai is resumed in chapter 9, and with the second numbering in the plains of Moab thirty-eight years later it gives the book its fitting name Numbers, answering to the Greek Arithmoi from which comes arithmetic. The numbering took place after the law had been proclaimed from the flaming mount, after the tabernacle had been erected with the ark containing God's law in its most holy place, and after the cloud of God's glory had taken possession of it. It followed God's giving of bread from heaven every morning and water from the smitten rock, and it was made while the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night remained over the camp.
The people were numbered carefully and separately by tribe, by generations, after families, and by ancestral households under careful supervision. Only men from twenty years old and upward who were able to go forth to war and were fit for military service were counted. The tribe of Levi was excluded altogether, and all females and all under twenty years of age were left out. The first numbering amounted to 603,550 men of war in all. That total included 41,500 eligible men in the tribe of Asher, whose count this verse records.
Purpose and Later Comparison
God took down all their names and marshalled their host in complete order preparatory to marching into Canaan. Everything indicated their speedy entrance, and every man so numbered expected an inheritance in the land of promise, which he might have had after such tokens of lovingkindness. The first numbering in Numbers 1 is to be compared with the second numbering in Numbers 26 in the plains of Moab at the end of the forty years of wandering, forty years after the first, thirty-eight years after the first by the other reckoning. The two numberings are to be set side by side to note the difference in the tribes and to see which gained or lost members over the forty years.
Asher increased from 41,500 to 53,400 over nearly forty years. This illustrates the wider pattern in which some tribes increased greatly while others declined or fell off in number. Nearly all those counted in the first census later died in the wilderness because of rebellion against God and His judgment, and only Caleb and Joshua survived to the second numbering.
The book is fittingly called Numbers because of these two numberings, answering to the Greek Arithmoi from which comes arithmetic. The verse stands in the opening chapters that continue Leviticus, before the narrative left with Israel encamped at Sinai is resumed in chapter 9 to record the experiences on the way to Kadesh-barnea. Numbering the people at God's command was not sinful; the wrong in David's later census was doing so without God's consent and in prideful reliance on military strength.