New Model Army

Numbers contains two censuses, one in chapter 1 and another in chapter 26. The total numbers are almost identical. In the first census, the count is 603,550 (1:46), while the second counts 601,730 (26;51). Israel dies in the wilderness, and Israel is reborn.

But the people counted in the two censuses are quite different. The recurring phrase in chapter 1 is: “Of the sons of X, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, their numbered men of the tribe of X were Y.” The first census counts adult men over the age of 20. It’s the mustering of an army.

In chapter 26, the recurring introductions are on this model: “The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. These are the families of the Simeonites, 22,200” (vv. 12-14). There is no mention of the 20-year-old age limit, no emphasis on “males,” no mention of the ability to go to war. Instead, we have lists of families within each tribe, and sometimes explicit mention of women (26:33).

The second census is still a mustering of troops, but the new Israel has been transformed into an army of families, including women and children. The army of strong young males cowered and fled before the giants of the land, claiming that they didn’t want to go into the land because they wanted to protect the women and children. But the women and children form part of the army of the conquest; they are the ones who take the land. Militant all-male Adamic Israel died in the wilderness; but Yahweh made the wilderness blossom like a rose and from the dead Adamic Israel Yahweh brought a new Eve.