Introduction

The five books of Moses were collectively called the Pentateuch, a word of Greek origin meaning ‘the five-fold book.’ The Jews called them the Torah, i.e., ‘the law.’ It’s probable that the division of the Torah into five books proceeded from the Greek translators of the Old Testament.

The names by which these several books are generally known are Greek. Genesis through to Deuteronomy is known as the Torah which means Law. In Greek, the word Pentateuch is ‘Pente’ which means five and ‘uch’ which means Law. All the events recorded in the Book of Numbers took place around eleven months after the Israelites arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai. The book itself is appropriately named Numbers because within it there is a lot of counting.

There are three censuses’ recorded in the Pentateuch, the first one is recorded when Israel was at Mount Sinai, and a census was taken to organise the Israelite families in order to establish a regular support for the Levitical priesthood, Exodus 30:11-16. The second census was taken before departing from Mount Sinai in order to count the military men of the nation, Numbers 1-4. And finally, the third census was taken just before Israel entered Canaan, Numbers 26.

AUTHOR

It is generally accepted that Moses is the author of the book, and when we read through the book, we find the words, ‘the Lord spoke to Moses’ no less than eighty times. Throughout the book we find Moses taking on several roles within Israel, he is the lawgiver, the counsellor, the provider, the intercessor, the peacemaker, the religious and civil leader, and the servant of God on behalf of Israel.

DATE

We know the book covers a period of around thirty-nine years, which started with Israel leaving Mount Sinai, to the time they were getting ready to enter Canaan. If the book was written shortly before Israel entered Canaan, and if we accept the date of the exodus from Egypt to be around 1445 B.C., then Numbers was probably written sometime around 1,400 B.C.

OUTLINE

Israel gets ready for the journey to Canaan, Numbers 1:1-10:10.
The Israelites start complaining about everything, Miriam and Aaron dispute with Moses, and Israel refuse to listen to Joshua and Caleb and refuse to enter Promised Land, Numbers 10:11-14:45.
Israel wanders in the desert for forty years as a punishment for not trusting God, Numbers 15:1-21:35.
As Israel approach Canaan again, a king tries to hire Balaam to put a curse on Israel. Balaam is able only to bless the Israelites, not curse them, Numbers 22:1-26:1.
Moses takes another census of the people, Moses commissions Joshua to succeed him and God gives instructions on offerings and feasts, Numbers 26:1-30:16.
The Israelites take vengeance on the Midianites, Numbers 31:1-36:13.

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