Why Were the People Counted Again in Numbers 26?

The people were counted again in Numbers 26 to identify the congregation that would receive an inheritance in the land. At the same time, this census confirmed that none of the generation counted in the wilderness of Sinai remained except Caleb and Joshua. Numbers 26 presents these events in order, beginning with the census after the plague and continuing through the instructions for distributing the inheritance and the comparison between the two censuses.

A New Census Began After the Plague

After the plague, the LORD told Moses and Eleazar the priest to take a census of the entire congregation of Israel. They were to count the men twenty years old or older, according to their ancestral houses, who were able to serve in Israel’s army. Moses and Eleazar delivered this command on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan, across from Jericho.

The passage records each tribe from Reuben to Naphtali according to its clans. Rather than merely giving a total, it repeatedly identifies which clans descended from each ancestor. After listing the count for every tribe, it gives the total number as 601,730.

The census record also includes accounts of death. Dathan and Abiram joined Korah’s company in opposing Moses and Aaron, and the earth swallowed up the company. Korah’s sons, however, did not die. The passage also records that Judah’s sons Er and Onan died in Canaan, and that Nadab and Abihu died when they offered unauthorized fire. The census does more than list the number of people still alive. It also distinguishes between those whose family lines were cut off and those who remained.

The Census Determined How the Land Would Be Divided

Once the census was complete, the LORD commanded that the land be divided among the people as an inheritance according to the number of names. Larger tribes were to receive larger inheritances, while smaller tribes were to receive smaller ones. The reason the clans and their populations were counted in such detail becomes clear in these instructions for distributing the land.

The inheritance was not determined by population alone. The land was to be divided by lot, and each tribe was to receive its inheritance under the name of its ancestral tribe. The passage therefore mentions both the size of each inheritance according to the census and the casting of lots. The recipients of the inheritance were not left undefined; the land was to be divided according to the counted congregation and the names of their tribes.

The Levites were counted separately, including every male one month old or older. Their number was 23,000. They were not included in the census of the other Israelites, however. The passage directly explains that this was because they were not given an inheritance among the Israelites. Even within the same census, a distinction was made between the tribes that would inherit land and the Levites, who would not.

Comparing the Two Censuses Revealed Who Remained

At the end of the chapter, those counted by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness of Sinai are compared with those now counted by Moses and Eleazar. Not one person from the first census appeared in the new list. This was because the LORD had said that they would surely die in the wilderness. The only exceptions were Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

The long list in Numbers 26 therefore serves two purposes. It identifies the congregation that would inherit the land, and it confirms the fulfillment of God’s word concerning the generation counted before. The survivors of the plague were counted according to their clans, and their numbers became the basis for determining the relative size of each tribe’s inheritance. The final comparison makes it clear that the people in the current census were not the same generation as those in the first.

Today, as you read Numbers 26, mark the command to take the census in verses 1–4, the distribution of the inheritance in verses 51–56, and the comparison between the generations in verses 63–65. Then summarize the three sections in your own words by answering three questions: “Who was counted?” “Why were they counted?” and “Who remained?” This is a practical way to keep the purpose and outcome of the census in view, even amid the chapter’s many names and numbers.