Numbers
Israel’s census, forty years in the wilderness, and the approach to the promised land.
What the sources say, and how sure we are
- The text says
Numbers says Moses recorded Israel’s journeys, stage by stage.Num 33:2
- The text says
Israel refuses to enter the land after the spies’ report, and that generation dies in the wilderness over forty years.Num 13–14
- Debated
The census gives a total of 603,550 fighting men, which implies a population of two million or more. Some scholars read the Hebrew word for “thousand” (elep) as meaning clans or units, which would give much smaller numbers. Others accept the figures as given.Num 1:46; Num 26:51
- Debated
Tradition ascribes the book to Moses, and many scholars see later editing or a longer process of composition.
- Christian conclusion
Paul and the letter to the Hebrews use the wilderness generation as a warning to the church.1 Cor 10:1–12; Heb 3:7–4:11