English · KJV

Numbers 1:8

“Leaders Appointed for the Census”Numbers 1:5–19

King James Version
Of Issachar; Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
Of Issachar H3485; Nethaneel H5417 the son H1121 of Zuar H6686.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Of Issachar: Nethanel the son of Zuar.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Of Issachar, Nethaneel, the sonne of Zuar:

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
`For Issachar--Nathaneel son of Zuar.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
4 Hebrew words
  1. לְיִשָּׂשכָרle·Yi·so·sh·Kharfor IssacharH3485Prep-l ¦ N-proper-mNoun Proper MasculineלְforיִשָּׂשכָרIssachar
  2. נְתַנְאֵלne·tan·'ElNethanelH5417N-proper-mNoun Proper Masculine
  3. בֶּןben[the] son ofH1121N-mscNoun Singular Masculine Construct
  4. צוּעָרtzu·'ArZuarH6686N-proper-mNoun Proper Masculine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Hebrew, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Hebrew word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Hebrew word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “the LORD” where the gloss reads “Yahweh”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

Translation
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In the KJVVerse 3,613 of 31,102 · 11.6%

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This verse

Nethaneel the son of Zuar, whose name means given of God, is named as the leader of the tribe of Issachar.

“Of Issachar;”

Issachar, Yissâˢkâr, means “he will bring a reward”, from Leah’s words at his birth (Genesis 30:18). The men of Issachar were later known for understanding the times and knowing what Israel ought to do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

“Nethaneel the son of Zuar.”

“Given of God”, the son of “small”.

Passage studyNumbers 1:5–19

Twelve Leaders Named for Israel’s Census

Summary

At Sinai, in the second year after Israel came out of Egypt, the LORD tells Moses to count every man of twenty years and upward who is able to go to war. Before the counting begins, he names the men who will help. One leader comes from each tribe, twelve in all, each named with his father, from Elizur of Reuben to Ahira of Naphtali. They are the renowned of the congregation, princes of their tribes and heads of thousands. Moses and Aaron take these named men, gather the whole congregation on the first day of the second month, and every man declares his family line. Then Moses numbers them, just as the LORD commanded. The list shows a God who orders his people with care, who knows them by name, and whose word his servant carries out exactly.

Why God gave Moses and Aaron twelve helpers

The census that opens Numbers (Numbers 1:1–46) counted every man of Israel twenty years old and upward who was able to go to war, and the count that follows these verses comes to more than six hundred thousand men. God gave Moses and Aaron help for so great a task. He commanded that a man from every tribe be with them, each the head of the house of his fathers (verse 4), and verse 5 opens the list with “the names of the men that shall stand with you”. The verb ʻâmad means to stand. These men stand beside Moses and Aaron as partners in the work, each answering for his own tribe.

The LORD had ordered his people’s leadership this way before. Jethro counselled Moses to share the work of judging with able men set over the people (Exodus 18:13–26), and Moses later recalled how he took wise men from the tribes and made them heads over Israel (Deuteronomy 1:9–18). Among God’s people the burden of leading is shared, and it is ordered, for God is the author of peace in all the churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33).

The renowned of the congregation

Verse 16 gives these men three titles. They were “the renowned of the congregation”, which in Hebrew is close to “the called ones”: men picked out from among the people and well known to them. The congregation, ʻêdâh, is the whole assembly of Israel, which Strong’s describes as a stated assemblage, a family or a crowd.

They were also “princes of the tribes of their fathers”. A prince, nâsîyʼ, is a chief, ruler or leader, properly an exalted one, and Numbers uses the word for the head of each tribe. The word for tribes here, maṭṭeh, means a branch or a rod, and from that a tribe.

And they were “heads of thousands in Israel”. Rôʼsh is the ordinary word for a head, used for whoever is chief or first. A thousand, ʼeleph, can mean a clan or large family as well as a company of about a thousand men.

So God chose men who already held a recognised place in their tribes and had experience leading large numbers of people. The census was one of many tasks they carried. They led their tribes in the camp and on the march, and each brought his tribe’s offering at the dedication of the tabernacle, as Eliasaph did for Gad (Numbers 7:42–47).

The order of the tribes in the list

Reuben first

Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn, and his tribe opens the list, even though Jacob’s last words over Reuben recalled his sin (Genesis 49:3–4). His place at the head of the roll follows the traditional order of the tribes.

Two tribes from Joseph

Verse 10 gives “the children of Joseph” two leaders, Elishama for Ephraim and Gamaliel for Manasseh. Before he died, Jacob took Joseph’s two sons as his own, to be counted like Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5). Joseph’s line therefore stands as two full tribes, a double portion among his brothers, which was an honour that usually belonged to the firstborn. The two tribes camp and march side by side (Numbers 2:18–24), and Moses blessed them together in his blessing on Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:13–17). Joseph’s name, Yôwçêph, means “let him add”, Ephraim, ʼEphrayim, means “double fruit”, and Manasseh, Mᵉnashsheh, means “causing to forget”.

Levi stands apart

The tribe of Levi is absent from this list. Levi was set apart for the service of the tabernacle and counted separately (Numbers 1:49, Numbers 3). With Joseph counted as two, the tribes in the census still number twelve.

Names that speak of God

Each leader is named with his father, “the son of”, and the word for son, bên, is one Strong’s explains as the builder of the family name. Naming the father was the ordinary way to identify a man and place him in his family and tribe. Many of these names, of sons and fathers alike, say something about God, and they read like short confessions of faith.

Several are built on El, God. Elizur, ʼĔlîytsûwr, means “God of the rock”, which some render “my God is a rock”. Shelumiel, Shᵉlumîyʼêl, is “peace of God”, Nethaneel, Nᵉthanʼêl, is “given of God”, and Eliab, ʼĔlîyʼâb, is “God of his father”. Elishama, Eliyshama, means “God of hearing”, and Gamaliel, Gamliyel, means “reward of God”. Eliasaph, ʼElyâçâph, means “God is gatherer”, and his father Deuel, Dᵉʻûwʼêl, is “known of God”. Pagiel, Pagʻîyʼêl, is “accident of God”, that is, an event or occurrence from God, and the name is also explained as “God meets”.

Others carry Shaddai, the Almighty, the name by which God made himself known to Abram (Genesis 17:1). Zurishaddai, Tsûwrîyshadday, means “rock of the Almighty”, and Ammishaddai, ʻAmmîyshadday, means “people of the Almighty”, which some render “my kinsman is Shaddai”. Shedeur, Shᵉdêyʼûwr, is glossed “spreader of light”, and some connect it with Shaddai as well, though its origin is uncertain.

The picture of God as a rock runs through Elizur, Zurishaddai and Pedahzur, Pedahtsuwr, whose name means “a rock (that is, God) has ransomed”. The men who would carry a nation through the wilderness bore names that pointed to God’s strength, his peace, his hearing and his saving power.

Other names describe people. Amminadab, ʻAmmîynâdâb, means “people of liberality”, Ammihud, ʻAmmîyhûwd, “people of splendour”, and Abidan, ʼĂbîydân, “father of judgment”, that is, a judge. Ahiezer, ʼĂchîyʻezer, is “brother of help”. Helon, Chêlôn, means “strong”, Gideoni, Gidʻônîy, “warlike”, Zuar, Tsûwʻâr, “small”, Enan, ʻÊynân, “having eyes”, and Ocran, ʻOkrân, “muddler”.

Ahira’s name, ʼĂchîyraʻ, means “brother of wrong”, an odd name for a leader. Yet Ahira stands among the renowned of the congregation, chosen to lead his tribe, because a name in Scripture need not describe the man who bears it.

Moses and Aaron gather the people

Moses and Aaron “took these men which are expressed by their names” (verse 17). Moses the lawgiver and Aaron the high priest act together. The verb lâqach is the common word for taking, here for bringing these men into the work. “Expressed” is nâqab, which literally means to puncture and figuratively to specify or designate. These were the very men God had marked out by name, shêm, and their appointment was settled before the counting began.

Then “they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month” (verse 18). The verb qâhal means to call an assembly together, and the whole congregation was summoned. The date is the day on which the LORD gave the command in verse 1, and one month after the tabernacle was set up (Exodus 40:17), so Moses and Aaron set to work at once.

Declaring their pedigrees

Each man “declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers”. The word under “pedigrees”, yâlad, means to bear or beget, and in this use to show lineage. Each man was registered by his family, mishpâchâh, and by his father’s house. Lineage mattered in Israel. It fixed a man’s tribe, his inheritance and his place in the community, and later the right to serve as a priest.

The count went “according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward”, so each man of an age for war was counted by name. “By their polls” translates gulgôleth, a skull, and so a head when people are counted. It was a head-by-head count in which every man was counted in person.

As the LORD commanded Moses

Verse 19 closes the passage: “As the LORD commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.” The verb for commanded, tsâvâh, means to charge or appoint. Forms of this sentence run through Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, and each time they record that God’s servant did what God said. Moses later urged Israel to do as the LORD their God had commanded them, turning aside neither to the right hand nor to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32).

“Numbered” is pâqad, a verb that covers attending to, visiting, inspecting, mustering, appointing and punishing. Here it is a muster, the count of a people made ready for the work God had for them. The wilderness, midbâr, is open pasture where cattle are driven, and so a desert. The wilderness of Sinai, Çîynay, is where Israel received the law, entered into covenant with God and built the tabernacle, and now it is where they are set in order for the journey. Moses later wrote down the stages of that journey at the LORD’s command (Numbers 33:1–2).

Why did God number Israel?

The census counted those able to go to war, which made Israel ready to travel and to take the land God had promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:1–3), the land he would give to his seed (Genesis 12:7) and had sworn to their fathers (Deuteronomy 1:8), a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8). It also set the tribes in order around the tabernacle for camping and marching (Numbers 2). A people only a year out of Egypt (Exodus 12:31) became an ordered nation, called to be a holy nation to the LORD (Exodus 19:5–6).

This census was commanded by God. David’s census in 2 Samuel 24 brought judgment on Israel. A second census in Numbers 26, at the end of the wilderness years, prepared for dividing the land among the tribes.

Christ, the Head and Shepherd of God’s people

These princes were heads of their tribes. Christ is the head of his body, the church (Colossians 1:18, Ephesians 1:22–23, Ephesians 5:23), “the captain of their salvation” (Hebrews 2:10) and the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). As God gave Israel leaders to stand with Moses, the ascended Christ gave gifts unto men, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints (Ephesians 4:8–16). His people are one body with many members, each in its place (1 Corinthians 12:12–28), labourers together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9), who honour those who have the rule over them (Hebrews 13:17). They are a holy nation as Israel was called to be (1 Peter 2:9), and the army mustered at Sinai has its answer in believers who stand in the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6:10–18).

The names themselves point to him. The rock in Elizur, Zurishaddai and Pedahzur meets us again where Paul writes, “and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4), and Christ builds his church upon the rock (Matthew 16:18). Shelumiel, “peace of God”, finds its fulfilment in Christ, for “he is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). Nethaneel, “given of God”, recalls that God gave his only begotten Son (John 3:16) and that every good gift is from above (James 1:17). Ahiezer, “brother of help”, recalls the Son of man who came to minister and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

Every man at Sinai was counted by his name. The good shepherd calls his own sheep by name (John 10:3), gives his life for them (John 10:11) and knows them (John 10:14). He is the great shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20–21) and the chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4), and the very hairs of our head are all numbered (Matthew 10:30). The names of the twelve tribes are written on the gates of the holy city (Revelation 21:12), and those who enter it are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:27, Revelation 20:15).

Moses did as the LORD commanded. Christ obeyed the Father perfectly, “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8), and said, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34).

What a roll of names shows of God

A list like this is easy to pass over, yet God had each of these names written down and kept. He knew Elizur and Ahira and their fathers, and he knows his people now in the same way, one by one, as surely as every man at Sinai was counted by his name.

The passage also shows that God cares about the practical ordering of his people’s life together. He gives leaders, he shares the burden of the work among many, and he sets each family in its place. And it shows that his word is given to be done. The passage ends with the LORD’s command and with Moses doing exactly what it said, and the God who gave that command is the God who leads his people still.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Numbers 1:1–16. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 16 verses
Passage under commentNumbers 1:1–16
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

I.We have here a commission issued out for the numbering of the people of Israel; and David, long after, paid dearly for doing it without a commission. Here is,

1.The date of this commission, Numbers 1:1.

(1.)The place: it is given at God's court in the wilderness of Sinai, from his royal palace, the tabernacle of the congregation.

(2.)The time: In the second year after they came up out of Egypt; we may call it the second year of that reign. The laws in Leviticus were given in the first month of that year; these orders were given in the beginning of the second month.

2.The directions given for the execution of it, Numbers 1:2, Numbers 1:3.

(1.)None were to be numbered but the males, and those only such as were fit for war. None under twenty years old; for, though some such might have bulk and strength enough for military service, yet, in compassion to their tender years, God would not have them put upon it to bear arms.

(2.)Nor were any to be numbered who through age, or bodily infirmity, blindness, lameness, or chronical diseases, were unfit for war. The church being militant, those only are reputed the true members of it that have enlisted themselves soldiers of Jesus Christ; for our life, our Christian life, is a warfare.

(3.)The account was to be taken according to their families, that it might not only be known how many they were, and what were their names, but of what tribe and family, or clan, nay, of what particular house every person was; or, reckoning it the muster of an army, to what regiment every man belonged, that he might know his place himself and the government might know where to find him. They were numbered a little before this, when their poll-money was paid for the service of the tabernacle, Exodus 38:25, Exodus 38:26. But it should seem they were not then registered by the house of their fathers, as now they were. Their number was the same then that it was now: 603,550 men; for as many as had died since then, and were lost in the account, so many had arrived to be twenty years old, and were added to the account. Note, As one generation passeth away another generation cometh. As vacancies are daily made, so recruits are daily raised to fill up the vacancies, and Providence takes care that, one time or other, in one place or other, the births shall balance the burials, that the race of mankind and the holy seed may not be cut off and become extinct.

3.Commissioners are named for the doing of this work. Moses and Aaron were to preside (Numbers 1:3), and one man of every tribe, that was renowned in his tribe, and was presumed to know it well, was to assist in it - the princes of the tribes, Numbers 1:16. Note, Those that are honourable should study to be serviceable; he that is great, let him be your minister, and show, by his knowing the public, that he deserves to be publicly known. The charge of this muster was committed to him who was the lord-lieutenant of that tribe. Now,

II.Why was this account ordered to be taken and kept? For several reasons.

1.To prove the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham, that God would multiply his seed exceedingly, which promise was renewed to Jacob (Genesis 28:14), that his seed should be as the dust of the earth. Now it appears that there did not fail one tittle of that good promise, which was an encouragement to them to hope that the other promise of the land of Canaan for an inheritance should also be fulfilled in its season. When the number of a body of men is only guessed at, upon the view, it is easy for one that is disposed to cavil to surmise that the conjecture is mistaken, and that, if they were to be counted, they would not be found half so many; therefore God would have Israel numbered, that it might be upon record how vastly they were increased in a little time, that the power of God's providence and the truth of his promise may be seen and acknowledged by all. It could not have been expected, in any ordinary course of nature, that seventy-five souls (which was the number of Jacob's family when he went down into Egypt) should in 215 years (and it was no longer) multiply into so many hundred thousands. It is therefore to be attributed to an extraordinary virtue in the divine promise and blessing.

2.It was to intimate the particular care which God himself would take of his Israel, and which Moses and the inferior rulers were expected to take of them. God is called the Shepherd of Israel, Psalm 80:1. Now the shepherds always kept count of their flocks, and delivered them by number to their under-shepherds, that they might know if any were missing; in like manner God numbers his flock, that of all which he took into his fold he might lose none but upon a valuable consideration, even those that were sacrificed to his justice.

3.It was to put a difference between the true born Israelites and the mixed multitude that were among them; none were numbered but Israelites: all the world is but lumber in comparison with those jewels. Little account is made of others, but the saints God has a particular property in and concern for. The Lord knows those that are his (2 Timothy 2:19), knows them by name, Philippians 4:3. The hairs of their head are numbered ; but he will say to others, "I never knew you, never made any account of you." 4. It was in order to their being marshalled into several districts, for the more easy administration of justice, and their more regular march through the wilderness. It is a rout and a rabble, not an army, that is not mustered and put in order.

Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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