The Second Census

(Book of Numbers 26:1 - 26:65)
After the plague had ended, Jehovah told Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, "Take a census of the entire Israelite community, family by family, recording all those men 20 years and above and able to bear arms."

Therefore, on the plains of Moab by the River Jordan, opposite the city of Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest instructed the elders of Israel to take a census of men above the age of 20, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

The Israelites who had emigrated from Egypt were listed as follows:

Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, the clans descended from him and their ancestral founder,
Hanochites from Hanoch
Palluites from Pallu
Hezronites from Hezron
Carmites from Carmi

From the clans of Reuben were counted 43,730 men.

Pallu was the ancestor of Eliab, who was the father of Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram.  This was the same Dathan and Abiram, the tribal chiefs that joined Korah in his rebellion against Moses and Aaron, defying Jehovah.  As a warning, the earth opened up and swallowed them along with Korah, while Korah's followers, 250 of them, were consumed by fire.  (Korah's sons, however, were not killed at that time.)

Simeon:
Jemuelites from Jemuel
Jaminites from Jamin
Jakinites from Jakin
Zoharites from Zohar
Shaulites from Shaul

From the clans of Simeon were counted 22,200 men.

Gad:
Zephonites from Zephon
Haggites from Haggi
Shunites from Shuni
Oznites from Ozni
Erite from Eri
Arodite from Arodi
Arelite from Areli

From the clans of Gad were counted 40,500 men.

Judah (from his surviving sons, for he had two sons, Er and Onan, that died in Canaan):
Shelanites from Shelah
Perezites from Perez
Zerahites from Zerah
Hamulites from Hamul

From the clans of Judah were counted 76,500 men.

Issachar:
Tolaites from Tola
Puites from Puah
Jashubites from Jashub
Shimronites from Shimron

From the clans of Issachar were counted 64,300 men.

Zebulun:
Seredites from Sered
Elonites from Elon
Jahleelites from Jahleel

From the clans of Zebulun were counted 60,500 men.

Joseph, from the clans of Mannaseh and Ephraim:

Mannaseh:
Makirites from Makir, who was the father of Gilead
    Gileadites from Gilead
        Iezerites from Iezer, a descendant of Gilead
        Helekites from Helek, a descendant of Gilead
Asrielites from Asriel
Shechemites from Shechem
Shemidaites from Shemida
Hepherites from Hepher
    (Zelophedad, a son of Hepher, had no sons, only         daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah,     Milkah, and Tirzah.)

From the clans of Mannaseh were counted 52,700 men.

Ephraim:
Shuthelahites from Shuthelah
    Eranites from Eran, descendant of Shuthelah
Bekerites from Beker
Tahanites from Tahan

From the clans of Ephraim were counted 32,500 men.

Such were the clans descended from Joseph.

Benjamin:
Belaites from Bela
    Ardites from Ard, descendant of Bela
    Naamites from Naaman, descendant of Bela
Ashbelites from Ashbel
Ahiramites from Ahiram
Shuphamites from Shupham
Huphamites from Hupham

From the clans of Benjamin were counted 45,600 men.

Dan:
Shuhamites from Shuham

From the clans of Dan were counted 64,400 men.

Asher:
Imnites from Imnah
Ishvites from Ishvi
Beriites from Beriah
    Heberites from Heber, a descendant of Beriah
    Malkielites from Malkiel, a descendant of Beriah
(Asher also had a daughter named Serah.)

From the clans of Asher were counted 53,400 men.

Naphtali:
Jahzeelites from Jahzeel
Gunites from Guni
Jezerites from Jezer
Shillemites from Shillem

From the clans of Naphtali were counted 45,400

In total, the number of Israelite men counted in the census numbered 601,730.

Jehovah instructed Moses, "Divide the land among the tribes and distribute it in accordance to the census and in proportion to each tribe's population.  In other words, give the larger tribes more land, the smaller tribes less, each grant of land being in proportion to the size of the tribe receiving it.  The land that is to be granted to each tribe will be determined by lot and in accordance with the census.  All grants of land, to groups large and small within the tribes, will be determined by lot as well."

Levi:
Gershonites from Gershon
Kohathites from Kohath
Merarites from Merari

There were also Levite subclans, the Libnites, the Hebronites, the Mahlites, the Mushites, and Korahites.

(It may be mentioned that Kohath was the father of Amram; Amram's wife's name was Jochebed, also a descendant of Levi and born among the Levites in Egypt.  Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.  To Aaron were born the sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar -- but Nabad and Abihu were killed before the altar when they offered a sacrificial fire from an unauthorized source.

Men a month old or more from the Levite clans numbered 23,000.  However, the Levites were not included in the census itself with the rest of Israel's people, because they were to receive no allotment of land.

This is the result of the census when Moses and Eleazar the priest counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the River Jordan, opposite the city of Jericho.  Not one of them was counted by Moses and Aaron the priest when they conducted the first census in the desert of Sinai, for Jehovah had promised, "They will all die off in the desert!"  The only ones left alive among them were Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Notes
1. While the Israelites experienced (inexplicably) a tremendous growth in their numbers during their Egyptian captivity, after 40 years of freedom they suffer a loss in population.  This might be due to harsh conditions in the desert, but they are supposedly being fed manna by Jehovah, who also locates water for them when they are without.  There are probably some battle losses, but much of the decrease in population could be due to the many purges Jehovah has instigated, killing thousands.  The population of males old enough to bear arms in the first census was 603, 550, in the second census, 40 years later, it is 601, 730, a loss of 1,870.  Tribe by tribe, the losses and gains are as follows: Reuben, -24,300, Simeon, -37,100, Gad, -5,150, Judah, +1,900, Issachar, +9,900, Zebulun, +3100, Mannaseh, +20,500, Ephraim, -8,000, Benjamin, +10,200, Dan, +1700, Asher, +11,900, Naphtali, -8,000.  Most tribes do gain population, particularly, Mannaseh, Asher, Benjamin, and Issachar, but large losses by Simeon and also by Ephraim and Naphtali offset the gains and create a net loss of population over the 40 years.  It must be remembered that these number are only adult males; the total population including women and children would be several times greater.  As has been stated many times before the numbers are impossibly high and hugely inflated.

2. The Levites, not included in either census, had a population of 22,000 males above a month old at the time of the first census, and that grew to 23,000 by the time of the second census.

3. Excluding Levi, the first generation after Jacob consists of 11 males that produce descendants.  The second generation consists of 42 males, founders of clans.  This is less than 4 sons per member.  Given 4 sons per male as an average and that the daughters would all marry Israelite cousins, the third generation should consist of 168 males and the fourth, the generation of Moses, 672,  Assuming the that Moses was a young man during the Exodus (which is the only way the story makes sense), it was his generation and the one before his that has died out at the end of the 40 years, leaving the fifth and sixth generations to settle the Promised Land. The fifth generation should consist of roughly 2688 males and the sixth, 10,752.  This suggests a male population of 13,440, a reasonable amount, not the preposterous 601,730.  (Even the seventh and eighth generations add up to little more than 235,000 males.)

4. After 40 years all the men who were over 20 years old in the first census have died out (except for Caleb and Joshua and perhaps some Levites like Moses and maybe Aaron's sons).  This means that no one is alive older than 60, that those who were 20 when the first census was taken have all died.  Even considering a short life expectancy for desert nomads feeding on manna, it seems remarkable that no one would live to old age.  Has Jehovah, by some means, exterminated all the seniors?

The Census

(Book of Numbers 1:1 - 1:54)

One year after the Israelites had made their exodus from Egypt, on the first day of the second month, Jehovah spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle in the desert of Sinai.  He instructed him, "Take a census of the entire population of Israel, recording each person's name, his family, and his tribe.  You and Aaron must make a registry of every male who is twenty years of age or more and is able to bear arms.  You are to be assisted in this by each of the tribal chiefs.

"The names of the chiefs and their tribes are as follows:

Reuben: Elizur, the son of Shedeur
Simeon: Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai
Judah: Hahshon, the son of Amminadab
Issachar: Nethanel, the son of Zuar
Zebulun: Eliab, the son of Helon
Joseph (Ephraim): Elishama, the son of Ammihud
Joseph (Manasseh): Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur
Benjamin: Abidan, the son of Gideoni
Dan: Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai
Asher: Pagiel, the son of Ochran
Gad: Eliasaph, the son of Deuel
Naphtali: Ahira, the son of Enan

"These are the chosen leaders, the elders of the ancestral clans, the chiefs of the tribes of Israel."

Moses and Aaron summoned these leaders and, on that same day, assembled the entire population of Israel.  All the people were listed according to their family and tribe and the men twenty years old and above were individually registered, just as Jehovah had instructed Moses.  And so a census was taken there in the desert of Sinai.

Men twenty years old and above and able to bear arms were listed by name.  The following is the tally from each of Israel's tribes:

Reuben, Israel's first born: 46,500
Simeon: 59,300
Gad: 45,650
Judah: 74,600
Issachar: 54,400
Zebulun: 57,400
Joseph (Ephraim): 40,500
Joseph (Manasseh): 32,200
Benjamin: 35,400
Dan: 62,700
Asher: 41,500
Naphtali: 53,400

These were the men registered by Moses, Aaron, and the chiefs representing the tribes of Israel.  All men twenty years old and above and able to bear arms were listed by family.  Their total number was 603,550. 

Those of the ancestral tribe of Levi, however, were not counted with the others, for Jehovah had told Moses, "You should not count those of the tribe of Levi or include them in the census with the rest of the Israelites.  The Levites are to be stewards of the Holy Tabernacle, its equipment and furnishings, everything it contains.  They must tend and maintain it and transport it, and they must make their camp around it.  When the Tabernacle is to be moved, they will take it down, and when it is to be set up again, it is they who will do it.  If any unauthorized person approaches the Tabernacle, he is to be put to death. Each tribe of Israel will be assigned their own area in the encampment, marked with their tribal banner.  But the Levites will camp around the Tabernacle so that I may not vent my wrath upon the people of Israel.  They will guard and protect the Tabernacle."

The people of Israel did all that Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Notes
1. Numbers picks up the story of the Israelites a year after the Exodus, eleven months after their encampment beneath the holy mountain in Sinai.  Presumably the Tabernacle and its furnishings described in Exodus have been built.

2. Taking a census makes sense from an administrative and logistical point of view.  A new nation, forged from the tribes of Israel, descended from the sons of Jacob, was being formed, even if it had not yet reached the land on which it would settle.  Although censuses date to the early history of Egypt, historically citizens have had an ambivalent attitude toward them.  Numbering the populace has not always seemed benign, but has often been disparaged as the intrusive instrument of tyrants. --- It is interesting that in the New Testament Jesus would supposedly come to be born in Bethlehem because of a census.

3. A former census described in Exodus was taken in order to raise "money" through taxes.  The purpose of this census is to lay a foundation for the organization of a national army.

4. The numbers given for the various tribes must be regarded as fanciful.  A total of over 600,00 men able to bear arms would suggest a total population of 3 or 4 million, even more, if the Israelites were as prolific as the biblical texts suggest.   If the Israelites had remained in Egypt for 400 or 430 years as the biblical texts claim, technically there might be enough time for such a population to accrue.  However, since life spans in ancient times were short due to wars, disease, famine, poor nutrition, bad sanitation, and minimal medical care, it is very unlikely.  The frenetic population boom of a slave class asserted by the text conflicts with the reality that in ancient times population numbers were often stable and growth, if any, was slow.  (It should be mentioned that Israelite bondage being four centuries in length is problematic considering there were only 5 generations between Jacob and Moses!)   It is sheer nonsense to entertain the idea that such a horde could subsist in the desert wastes of Sinai, let alone journey en masse under any sort of effective leadership.   As has been noted before, an exodus of any more than a few thousand souls would have been impractical, if not impossible.  And there is, in fact, no historical or archaeological evidence to support any sort of exodus.  

5. That the numbers of this census and the names of the tribal chiefs would be remembered and regarded as important enough to be remembered nearly a thousand years later by biblical authors is remarkable.  One does suspect that the authors of Numbers cooked the books a bit to make the more important and respected tribes (Judah, for instance) look good with higher population numbers.  (Of course the record of the census may, like much of the Old Testament, be facilely interpreted as nationalistic propaganda intended to aggrandize ancestors.)

6. One also wonders how the census would have been recorded since the only writing the Israelites could have known would have been Egyptian hieroglyphics.

7. The second month, Iyar, occurs in April-May.

8. The Levites are charged not only to protect the Tabernacle from the common people, but to protect the common people from Jehovah.  It’s as if Jehovah was radioactive or a ferocious animal that needed to be caged.  To approach Jehovah or to violate what he regarded as sacred meant death.  His anger was not to be aroused or it meant destruction to the people.  The Levites (Moses and Aaron were Levites -- what a coincidence!) were intermediaries between Jehovah and his Israelite worshipers --- and placaters.  They, therefore, enjoyed special privileges, such as being exempt from military service.  The Levites must have numbered in the tens of thousands.  How would the Tabernacle find employment for all of them?  Some, to be sure, could be priests, but how many priests could serve in a single place of worship.  Many Levites would have to have been nothing more than glorified roustabouts who put up and took down the Tabernacle and its compound.  What would the rest of them do?  Would the Tabernacle have the need for thousands and thousands of “roustabouts”? -- even The Greatest Show on Earth doesn’t require so many.