Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites: of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.
This record names the Heberites and the Malchielites as family groups descended from Beriah, giving the families of Asher at that time and contributing to the numbering of the tribes of Israel. It belongs to the second numbering of Israel in Numbers 26, the census that Moses took at the Lord's command.
That numbering was taken at the close of Israel's forty years of wandering, in the plains of Moab just before entering Canaan. It came nearly forty years after leaving Egypt and forty years after the first numbering taken soon after coming out of Egypt. By another reckoning, the plains-of-Moab numbering came thirty-eight years after the census at Sinai.
The chapter is to be compared with the first census in chapter 1 to note the differences among the tribes and show how they changed during the wilderness journey. Some tribes increased and prospered greatly, while others fell off, lost members, and declined.
The second numbering showed that God had carried out His judgment, for the generation counted at the first numbering and sentenced to die in the wilderness was no longer alive, with none left alive except Caleb and Joshua. The second numbering impresses that God fulfills His threatened judgments, for the people failed because they were wicked and broke out in open, wanton rebellion against God, so that by solemn oath He excluded them from the land and doomed them to die in the wilderness.
This record names the Heberites and the Malchielites as family groups descended from Beriah, giving the families of Asher at that time and contributing to the numbering of the tribes of Israel. It belongs to the second numbering of Israel in Numbers 26, the census that Moses took at the Lord's command.
That numbering was taken at the close of Israel's forty years of wandering, in the plains of Moab just before entering Canaan. It came nearly forty years after leaving Egypt and forty years after the first numbering taken soon after coming out of Egypt. By another reckoning, the plains-of-Moab numbering came thirty-eight years after the census at Sinai.
The chapter is to be compared with the first census in chapter 1 to note the differences among the tribes and show how they changed during the wilderness journey. Some tribes increased and prospered greatly, while others fell off, lost members, and declined.
The second numbering showed that God had carried out His judgment, for the generation counted at the first numbering and sentenced to die in the wilderness was no longer alive, with none left alive except Caleb and Joshua. The second numbering impresses that God fulfills His threatened judgments, for the people failed because they were wicked and broke out in open, wanton rebellion against God, so that by solemn oath He excluded them from the land and doomed them to die in the wilderness.