Numbers 26:20
And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites. And the sons of Judah after their families were; of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.
The verse belongs to Israel's second census or numbering, listing the families of Judah descended from Shelah, Pharez or Perez, and Zerah. That numbering was taken at the close or end of the forty years of wandering, just before entering Canaan, in the plains of Moab, nearly forty years after leaving Egypt and thirty-eight years after the census at Sinai, the interval being covered by the thirty-six chapters of Numbers. It answers to the first numbering at the opening of the book in Numbers 1, using sameness with the earlier numbering with definite numbers of men of a certain age.
The two numberings are to be compared to note the differences among the tribes and see how they gained or lost members during the wilderness journey, with some tribes falling off or declining and others increasing or growing greatly. In that comparison, the adult males of Judah numbered 76,500, an increase of 1,900 over the 74,600 counted soon after leaving Egypt, while the total number of adult males in the whole nation changed little, from 603,550 to 601,730. With various laws and ordinances, the second numbering stands as a diversified reading of interest and profit containing valuable instruction.
The second numbering proves that God's threatened judgment had been fulfilled, for every man numbered the first time had died in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua, so that not one rebel against God remained alive. The failure came because the people were wicked and carried sin in their hearts until it broke out in open, wanton rebellion against God, for which he by solemn oath excluded them from the promised land and doomed them to die in the wilderness. The list therefore warns those on whom the ends of the world are come, whose hopes of entering the kingdom of God and whose tokens of God's favor, presence, and willingness to save cannot be greater than Israel's at the first numbering, that sin in the heart will inevitably bring ruin and cause them to come short of the promise as Israel did. The census was taken by Moses at God's command, and taking a census was not sinful when done with the Lord's consent, unlike David's later census.