Author and date the book has traditionally been ascribed to moses. God orders moses, in the wilderness of sinai, to number those able to bear armsof all. This book is actually a gold mine of spiritual truths. The book of numbers is composed of narrative, legislation, and archival records. The book of numbers is largely narrative history as far as its genre. Numbers 3 commentary commentary critical and explanatory.
The promised land the land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. Book of numbers interpreted and explained according to its. Numbers 30 niv vows moses said to the heads of the. The book of numbers was named after the first key word bemidbar in hebrew scripture, which appropriately means in the desert, the place where the israelites. Numbers presents an account of the 38year period of israels wandering in the desert following the establishment of the covenant of sinai compare 1. As it does for the rest of the pentateuch, universal jewish and christian tradition attributes the authorship of the book of numbers to moses. God gives additional laws to help his people live by gods holiness. Book of numbers simple english wikipedia, the free. Numbers with book summary versebyverse bible commentary. This book has long been out of print and very hard to find.
Its narrative begins at the point where exodus leaves off. Introduction to the book of numbers learn religions. The book of numbers was written between 1440 and 1400 b. The book of numbers becomes a warning and encouragement for us to follow god and trust his good plan for his people. What is the difference between the ceremonial law, the moral law, and the judicial law in the old testament. Commentary on the book of numbers by matthew henry old. If the lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. The purpose of the book of numbers is to tell about how israel prepared to enter the promise land, but sinned and was punished. Sinai after the levitical law is delivered, and follows the children of israel through the wilderness numbers.
While many christians may have given up on reading through the ot by the time they get to leviticus and numbers, perseverance is vital. Numbers is a historical book, whose name refers to the two censuses which were taken to number the people. Numbers commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. The first census was completed while the israelites were still at mount sinai chapters 12, and the second one came 38 years later when they arrived at the borders of canaan at the end. The hebrew name for these books is the torah, which means law. The sons of aaron, the levites taken instead of the firstborn. Study the bible online using commentary on numbers and more. The book of numbers interpreted and explained according to its spiritual or internal sense with copious references to the writings of emanuel swedenborg explanatory notes and. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. It reminds believers of the spiritual warfare in which they are engaged, for numbers is the book of the service and walk of gods people.
The fourth book of moses, numbers, also does not have much to offer the modern reader. The book of numbers is the fourth book of the law of moses, also known as the torah or pentateuch. The law includes the books of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. The bible book of numbers, chapter 1 bible explained. Chaldean numerology explained kindle edition by hamon cheiro, count louis, nagy, andras. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading cheiros book of numbers. Most of the events of the book are set in the wilderness. Key personalities include moses, aaron, miriam, joshua, caleb, eleazar, korah, and balaam. The israelites prepare to enter the promised land chapters 26. The book of numbers in the bible is the fourth book in the old testament. This book is called numbers because there are many lists of numbers in it. The book of numbers is the fourth book of the hebrew bible, and the fourth of five books of the jewish torah.
The latin vulgate picked up on the greek title and named the book numeri from which the english acquires the name numbers. Learn about faith and rebellion in the book of numbers. It is called a book of moses because it contains the story of moses and the israelites when they wander throughout the wilderness before ending up at israel also known as canaan or palestine, where god. This chapter contains an account of their families. The israelites travel through the desert chapters 1120. The children of israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. The book of numbers explained, my best friends husband book, the book of numbers is the fourth book of the hebrew bible, and the fourth of five books of the jewish torah. The book of leviticus as well as the book of numbers follow immediately after the book of exodus. The lord jesus includes the book of numbers in his words when explaining to his disciples all that was written concerning himself in the law of moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms.
The message of the book of numbers is universal and timeless. Moses, aaron, and miriam are suddenly called to the tabernacle, numbers 12. They contain gods instructions about how his people should live. The israelites at the start of their journey chapters 110. The lord appears in the pillar of the cloud, and converses with them, numbers 12. The book of numbers concentrates on events that take place in the second and fortieth years after the exodus. Theyve been in this same spot for about a year and now theyre getting ready to start out on their journey to this land flowing with milk and honey that god keeps talking about.
The book of numbers was named after the first key word bemidbar in hebrew scripture, which appropriately means in the desert, the place where the israelites spent forty years following the exodus. Most of the events of the book of numbers take place in the wilderness, between the second and fortieth years of the wandering of the israelites. Book of numbers overview insight for living ministries. While it is a fairly short distance from egypt to israel, it took the ancient jews 40 years to get there. Watch our overview video on the book of numbers, which breaks down the literary design of the book and its flow of thought. Leviticus, which interrupts the flow of narration, consists almost entirely of legislation independent of historic precedentwith the exception of lev. The israelites disobedience and lack of faith caused god to make them wander in the desert until all the people of that generation had diedwith a.
Miriam and aaron raise a sedition against moses, because of the ethiopian woman he had married, numbers 12. Most commentators divide numbers into three sections based on locale mount sinai. Numbers reiterates the value of faith and obedience. The levites numbered by their families, their duties. God gave rules about such sin, but the rules did not have a natural explanation. The majority of modern biblical scholars believe that the torah the.
The english title is a translation of the septuagint greek title referring to the numbering of the tribes of israel in chapters. The book of numbers continues the history of the people of israel after they escaped from egypt, and it tells what happened during the forty years when the israelites lived in the desert on their journey from mount sinai to canaan, this book is named numbers because it begins with moses counting the israelites to find out the number of people in each of israels twelve tribes. Leviticus stresses the role of sacrifice in creating and maintaining right relations between god and man. Milgrom suggests that the greek and vulgate titles, are probably derived from the oldest hebrew title homesh hapekudim the fifth of the torah the mustered mish. Numbers is so named because a census of israel is taken twice in the book. The book of numbers is all about gods people in the wilderness how they get there, how god deals with them in the wilderness, and how he brings them out of the wilderness on their way to the promised land. An overview of the book of numbers narrative spans 40 yrs. The book of numbers interpreted and explained according to its spiritual or internal sense, with copious references to the writings of emanuel swedenborg, explanatory notes and a commentary, by the rev. Summary of the book of numbers the story of the bible. Exodus ends by relating the erection of the tabernacle on the first day. This is the exact same place where the israelites have been hanging out since god freed them from slavery back in exodus. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament. There are numerous spiritual lessons to be learned from the fourth book of the old testament.
In numbers, israel travels through the wilderness on. Book of numbers bible survey who was aaron in the bible. The name numbers is a translation of arithmoi, from the septuagint, titled thus because the book contains many statistics, population counts, tribal and priestly figures, and other numerical data. Read numbers commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible complete. As its name implies, it is a detailed census report of the twelve tribes of israel, along with a checklist of the dates prescribed for certain sacrifices and festivals, a. If one understands the numbers to be literal and the men to represent about onefourth of the population, then the number of the israelites ranges from two to three million people 10 a literal understanding of the numbers in the census is in congruence with pharaohs fear of the rapidly increasing hebrews overrunning egypt ex 1. The journey begins the people are sorted according to tribe with the tabernacle at the center.
1569 552 885 1452 502 422 531 724 1570 343 1023 117 174 482 867 1058 633 1006 331 658 290 724 1145 1419 1599 378 1312 199 893 1209 672 568 1635 761 573 369 1273 38 506 1206 8 309 452 1486 1481 295