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1:1-10:10 Israel Prepares to Enter the Land. Numbers tells how Israel moved from Mount Sinai to the Jordan Valley, the eastern border of the Promised Land. All the material in the first 10 chapters relates Israel's preparations for a war of conquest.

1:1-46 The First Census. This census has two purposes: (1) to demonstrate the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Gen. 22:17); and (2) to count the number of men over 20 years old who could fight. Both considerations should give the people confidence in their battle for the land.

1:1 The wilderness of Sinai is the area near Mount Sinai (see map). Israel has been encamped there since Ex. 19:1 and will set out on their journey in Num. 10:11. The tent of meeting, otherwise known as the tabernacle and described in Exodus 25-31; 35-40, had been completed just one month earlier (Ex. 40:2) and now served as God's earthly dwelling in which he gave instructions to Moses. It thus reminded Israel of both Sinai and the garden of Eden.

1:3 All . . . able to go to war shows that the invasion of Canaan is imminent.

1:4-19 By appointing the chiefs of the tribes to count their own tribe, the census was begun on the very day it was commanded (v. 18).

1:20-46 The results of the census are recorded tribe by tribe. The number of men between the ages of 20 and 60 comes to a total of 603,550, which is the same number found in Ex. 38:26 (cf. Ex. 30:12-16); these are identified as every man able to go to war in Israel (see Num. 1:45-46). When women, children, and men under 20 and over 60 are included, the total population would probably have been about 2 million. This remarkable fulfillment of the promises should have given the people every confidence that the invasion of Canaan would succeed. (Regarding questions that have been raised concerning these large numbers, see Introduction: The Large Numbers in the Pentateuch).

1:26-27 Judah is the largest tribe. This, like its position in the camp (2:3) and leading the nation on the march (2:9), indicates Judah's preeminence among the tribes. David and Jesus came from the tribe of Judah.

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