Numbers Chapter 1 of 36 about 5 min read

Numbers 1

What happens in this chapter

Numbers 1 is the opening chapter of the fourth book of the Bible. The 54-verse chapter records the first census of the Israelite men of fighting age, taken at Mount Sinai one year and one month after the exodus from Egypt.

The chapter opens with God commanding Moses to take the census. The count is of all men aged twenty and over who are able to serve in the army, registered by tribe and by family. Moses is assisted by Aaron and by one named leader from each of the twelve tribes; the leaders are listed by name.

The census itself is recorded tribe by tribe in nearly identical formulas. For each tribe the chapter gives the leader's name and the total count. Reuben is counted first, with 46,500 men. Simeon follows with 59,300. The list continues through Gad, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. Judah is the largest tribe at 74,600 men.

The total fighting force comes to 603,550 men. The tribe of Levi is deliberately excluded from this count because the Levites have a separate assignment: to take care of the tabernacle, to carry it when the Israelites move, and to camp around it as a buffer between it and the rest of the people. The chapter closes with Levi's special role established. The next chapter will organize the camp itself.

Verse 1. On the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the Wilderness of Sinai. He said:

Verse 2. “Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.

Verse 3. You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.

Verse 4. And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you.

Verse 5. These are the names of the men who are to assist you: From the tribe of Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

Verse 6. from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;

Verse 7. from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;

Verse 8. from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

Verse 9. from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

Verse 10. from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

Verse 11. from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

Verse 12. from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

Verse 13. from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

Verse 14. from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;

Verse 15. and from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

Verse 16. These men were appointed from the congregation; they were the leaders of the tribes of their fathers, the heads of the clans of Israel.

Verse 17. So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name,

Verse 18. and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older,

Verse 19. just as the LORD had commanded Moses. So Moses numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai:

Verse 20. From the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 21. those registered to the tribe of Reuben numbered 46,500.

Verse 22. From the sons of Simeon, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 23. those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.

Verse 24. From the sons of Gad, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 25. those registered to the tribe of Gad numbered 45,650.

Verse 26. From the sons of Judah, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 27. those registered to the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.

Verse 28. From the sons of Issachar, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 29. those registered to the tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400.

Verse 30. From the sons of Zebulun, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 31. those registered to the tribe of Zebulun numbered 57,400.

Verse 32. From the sons of Joseph: From the sons of Ephraim, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 33. those registered to the tribe of Ephraim numbered 40,500.

Verse 34. And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 35. those registered to the tribe of Manasseh numbered 32,200.

Verse 36. From the sons of Benjamin, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 37. those registered to the tribe of Benjamin numbered 35,400.

Verse 38. From the sons of Dan, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 39. those registered to the tribe of Dan numbered 62,700.

Verse 40. From the sons of Asher, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 41. those registered to the tribe of Asher numbered 41,500.

Verse 42. From the sons of Naphtali, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,

Verse 43. those registered to the tribe of Naphtali numbered 53,400.

Verse 44. These were the men numbered by Moses and Aaron, with the assistance of the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family.

Verse 45. So all the Israelites twenty years of age or older who could serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.

Verse 46. And all those counted totaled 603,550.

Verse 47. The Levites, however, were not numbered along with them by the tribe of their fathers.

Verse 48. For the LORD had said to Moses:

Verse 49. “Do not number the tribe of Levi in the census with the other Israelites.

Verse 50. Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.

Verse 51. Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must be put to death.

Verse 52. The Israelites are to camp by their divisions, each man in his own camp and under his own standard.

Verse 53. But the Levites are to camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony and watch over it, so that no wrath will fall on the congregation of Israel. So the Levites are responsible for the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

Verse 54. Thus the Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Last updated: May 15, 2026