Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 1-4/0
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This topic has not yet undergone editorial review
Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 1
Censuses Besides the census of our chapter, there are three other places in Torah which provide a total count of the population and one, in Parashat Pinchas, which fully describes an entire census, giving detail similar to that provided in Bemidbar 1.
Tools
- See Makbilot Bamikra for links to each of the verses which discuss the counting of the nation in the Wilderness (Shemot 12:37, Shemot 38:26, Bemidbar 1, Bemidbar 11:21, and Bemidbar 26. A comparison of the verses highlights that the census of Shemot and Bemidbar 1, taken a few months apart, resulted in identical tallies. How could this be? Moreover, what was the need to take two censuses in such a short time frame?
- Use the Tanakh Lab to compare the two censuses that frame Sefer Bemidbar, that described in Chapters 1-2 and that in Chapter 26. Here, both the total tally and the numbers of the individual tribes change from one count to another, with some tribes growing larger, and others (notable Shimon) shrinking in size. Also, though the objective of the census of Chapter 26 is explicitly stated, to divide the land for inheritance, no purpose is given for the count of Chapter 1.
Articles
- In his article, Rounding of the Numbers of the Censuses of Bnei Yisrael, R"E Samet notes that when comparing the numbers listed in the various censuses, some appeared to be round to hundreds, some to tens and some not at all. The article looks to both medieval exegetes and modern scholars to attempt to explain the Torah’s methods of rounding.
