Numbers 26:38

The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites: of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites: of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites:

Cross-References

The verse stands in the second numbering of Israel in Numbers 26, taken at the end of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, nearly forty years after coming out of Egypt and just before entering Canaan, answering to the first numbering in Numbers 1. The census in which it stands was taken at the Lord's command, so it was not sinful like David's census, whose wrong was counting the people without the Lord's consent. It lists the families of Benjamin descended from Bela, Ashbel, and Ahiram as part of the tribal count. In this numbering Benjamin stood at 45,600 adult males, an increase of 10,200 from 35,400 at the first numbering, while the national total of adult males had changed little, standing at 601,730 compared with 603,550.

Comparing this census with the first shows how the tribes changed during the wilderness journey, with some falling off and others increasing, some prospering while others declined, some gaining members and others losing them. Not one man counted the first time, except Caleb and Joshua, was alive to be counted the second time, for every other person had fallen in the wilderness. The list proves beyond dispute and impresses the fact that God's threatened judgments were accomplished and fulfilled. The judgment came because the people were wicked and sin was in their midst, breaking out at last in open and wanton rebellion against God, so that by a solemn oath He excluded them from the promised land and doomed them to die in the wilderness. The second numbering warns those upon whom the ends of the world are come that strong hope of entering the kingdom of God and great tokens of God's favor and presence and willingness to save do not guarantee entrance, for carrying sin in the heart brings certain ruin.

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