Numbers 1:54

. And his host,.... The host of Issachar; and those that were numbered thereof, [were] fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 54,400 men. Which had been numbered, for it does not appear that there was a fresh account taken; see Numbers 1:29. Numbers 2:7 Ver. 7. [Then] the tribe of Zebulun,.... He pitched next; though the order of their encampment was not, as it may seem, first Judah, after him Issachar, and below him Zebulun; for Judah lay between these two, the one before him, and the other behind him; and it was Issachar that was behind, and Zebulun before, as Aben Ezra observes; they were pitched on each side of the standard of Judah, one on one side, and the other on the other side: and Eliab, the son of Helon, [shall be], captain of the children of Zebulun; see Numbers 1:9; each tribe had its own captain; nor does it appear that there was a general over those captains, that had the command of the camp, consisting of three tribes, but Moses was the generalissimo of all the camps. Numbers 2:8 Ver. 8. And his host,.... That is, the host of Zebulun; and those that were numbered thereof, [were] fifty and seven thousand and four hundred. 57,400 men; see Numbers 1:31. Numbers 2:9 Ver. 9. All that were numbered in the camp of Judah [were] an hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four hundred, throughout their armies,.... 186,400 men.

1:47-54 Care is here taken to distinguish the tribe of Levi, which, in the matter of the golden calf, had distinguished itself. Singular services shall be recompensed by singular honours. It was to the honour of the Levites, that to them was committed the care of the tabernacle and its treasures, in their camps and in their marches. It was for the honour of the holy things that none should see them, or touch them, but those who were called of God to the service. We all are unfit and unworthy to have fellowship with God, till called by his grace into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and so, being the spiritual seed of that great High Priest, we are made priests to our God. Great care must be taken to prevent sin, for preventing sin is preventing wrath. Being a holy tribe, they were not reckoned among other Israelites. They that minister about holy things, should neither entangle themselves, nor be entangled, in worldly affairs. And let every believer seek to do what the Lord has commanded.

And the children of Israel did according to all the Lord commanded Moses,.... Pitched their tents by their own camps and standards; did not come near the tabernacle but kept at a proper distance from it, and did not meddle with things they had no concern, with, and which were peculiar to the Levites: so they did; which is repeated to show how readily, punctually, and perfectly they observed the command of God with respect to this affair.

47-54. But the Levites … were not numbered among them—They were obliged to keep a register of their own. They were consecrated to the priestly office, which in all countries has been exempted customarily, and in Israel by the express authority of God, from military service. The custody of the things devoted to the divine service was assigned to them so exclusively, that "no stranger"—that is, no person, not even an Israelite of any other tribe, was allowed, under penalty of death, to approach these [Nu 16:40]. Hence they encamped round the tabernacle in order that there should be no manifestation of the divine displeasure among the people. Thus the numbering of the people was subservient to the separation of the Levites from those Israelites who were fit for military service, and to the practical introduction of the law respecting the first-born, for whom the tribe of Levi became a substitute [Ex 13:2; Nu 3:12].

Moses was not to muster the tribe of Levi along with the children of Israel, i.e., with the other tribes, or take their number, but to appoint the Levites for the service of the dwelling of the testimony ( Exodus 38:21 ), i.e., of the tabernacle, that they might encamp around it, might take it down when the camp was broken up, and set it up when Israel encamped again, and that no stranger (zar, non-Levite, as in Leviticus 22:10 ) might come near it and be put to death (see Numbers 3:10 ). The rest of the tribes were to encamp every man in his place of encampment, and by his banner (see at Numbers 2:2 ), in their hosts (see Numbers 2 ), that wrath might not come upon the congregation, viz., through the approach of a stranger. קצף, the wrath of Jehovah, breaking in judgment upon the unholy who approached His sanctuary in opposition to His command ( Numbers 8:19 ; Numbers 18:5 , Numbers 18:22 ). On the expression "keep the charge" (shamar mishmereth), see at Genesis 26:5 and Leviticus 8:35 .

Whence we gather that in the 87,000 both the 22,600 ( 1 Chronicles 7:2 ) and the 36,000 ( 1 Chronicles 7:4 ) are included, and their brethren consequently must have amounted to 28,400 (22,600 + 36,000 + 28,400 equals 87,000). In the time of Moses, Issachar numbered, according to Numbers 1:29 , 54,400; and at a later time, according to Numbers 26:25 , already numbered 64,300 men.

Whence we gather that in the 87,000 both the 22,600 ( 1 Chronicles 7:2 ) and the 36,000 ( 1 Chronicles 7:4 ) are included, and their brethren consequently must have amounted to 28,400 (22,600 + 36,000 + 28,400 equals 87,000). In the time of Moses, Issachar numbered, according to Numbers 1:29 , 54,400; and at a later time, according to Numbers 26:25 , already numbered 64,300 men.

The third and fourth added together will produce the number of 29,840. "According to this calculation, all these generations will amount to the following numbers: - Hezronites 34,360 Hamulites. 10,400 Shelanites and Zarhites 29,840 Total 74,600 5. Issachar - 54,400 "Issachar had five sons. Suppose that three of them had each five children, and the other two, six, we shall have 27 for the first generation. If we then imagine that of these 19 had each nine sons, and each of the other eight 10, the second generation will be 251. Now 241 of these, multiplied by 12, will produce 2,892, and the 10 others, multiplied by 13, will make 130; consequently the third generation will amount to 3,022. If 3,018 of these had each 17 sons, and each of the other four had 18, the fourth generation will be 51,378; the third and fourth generations, then, will produce a number of 54,400.

those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of Naphtali, were fifty-three thousand four hundred. These are those that were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, the twelve men: each one was for the house of his fathers. And all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, according to their fathers` houses, from twenty years old and upward, all that went forth to military service in Israel, all they that were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. For Jehovah had spoken to Moses, saying, Only thou shalt not number the tribe of Levi, neither take the sum of them among the children of Israel. But thou, appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all its vessels; and they shall serve it, and round about the tabernacle shall they encamp; and when the tabernacle setteth forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encampeth, the Levites shall set it up; and the stranger that cometh near shall be put to death. And the children of Israel shall encamp every man in his camp, and every man by his own standard, according to their hosts;