Numbers

Composition

The fourth book in the Jewish Torah and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, the Book of Numbers is traditionally dated to 1450–1410 BCE. Authorship of the Torah, which is comprised of the first five books of the Biblical Old Testament—collectively known in Christianity as the Pentateuch—has historically been ascribed to the ancient Israelite leader and prophet Moses. As a matter of cultural and religious tradition, members and leaders of the Jewish and Christian communities both widely accept Moses as the author of the Pentateuch/Torah generally and the Book of Numbers specifically.

However, modern scholars have challenged these longstanding notions of Pentateuch/Torah authorship, problematizing them considering newly discovered evidence. One key piece of such evidence, known as the Zayit Stone, was discovered in 2005 in a rock wall in the town of Tel Zayit, Israel. The Zayit Stone contains what many experts believe to be the earliest known written example of the complete ancient Hebrew alphabet. The stone dates to about 1000 BCE, and its discovery vastly broadened expert understanding of the stylistic evolution of the ancient Hebrew language. Based on close, cross-referenced examinations comparing the development and linear progression of ancient Hebrew against written texts including the original iterations of the Pentateuch/Torah, a plurality of historians now reject the sole authorship theory of the early books of the Old Testament, believing its composition took place across too long a timeframe for it to have been written by only one person.

At the same time, experts have yet to form a comprehensive theory regarding the person or people who may have written these scriptural works if Moses was not their author (or sole author). Multiple alternative frameworks have been proposed to explain the origins of the Pentateuch/Torah. One such hypothesis suggests that Moses wrote part or most of the Biblical books traditionally ascribed to him, with religious scribes completing the work after Moses’ death. Another holds that the accounts and beliefs documented in the Pentateuch/Torah originated with Moses and were passed down orally for successive generations until they were finally codified in written form in the final millennium BCE.

Summary

The Book of Numbers takes its name from the Septuagint, which is the earliest known Greek translation of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). In the Septuagint, the book is titled Arithmoi, which was rendered by early English-speaking religious scholars as “numbers.” The numbers referenced in the title describe the numbering of Israel’s original twelve tribes, which occurs in chapters 1–4 of the Book of Numbers, which is also known as the Fourth Book of Moses. Its Hebrew name, Bemidbar, is often translated into English as “in the wilderness.” This description succinctly summarizes the work’s focus, which covers the religious history of the Israelite people after they left their encampment at the base of Mount Sinai and spent forty years wandering the region’s deserts. Its narrative spans a thirty-eight-year period, beginning with the concluding days of the Israelite camp at Mount Sinai and ending with the Israelites reaching the Jordan River across from their “promised land” in Canaan.

Chapters 1–9 are dominated by a meticulous documentation process, in which Moses numbers the twelve original tribes of Israel and conducts a census with the assistance of other senior Israelite leaders. The census specifically counts the number of males of military age within the ranks of the Israelites, yielding a final tally of 603,500. The count excludes the tribe of Levi, which was specifically assigned to priestly duties in the Tabernacle in Leviticus, the Old Testament book immediately preceding the Book of Numbers. In the early chapters of Numbers, God also speaks through Moses to specify how the various Israelite tribes will camp when they leave Mount Sinai and enter the desert wilderness. God also explains the Nazarite vow, which offers an elevated level of spiritual cleanliness and purity to anyone willing to abstain from wine, all foods and drinks extracted from grapevines, avoid having their hair cut, and avoid the ritual impurity arising from contact with graves and corpses.

Across chapters 10–21, the Israelites depart from the base of Mount Sinai and begin their journey toward the promised land of Canaan. Moses sends the “Twelve Spies”—one from each Israelite tribe—to conduct reconnaissance in Canaan. Ten of the spies return with negative reports, making the Israelites fearful of entering and claiming Canaan as their promised land. God decrees that the Israelites will therefore return to the wilderness and wander. In so doing, the Israelites face many difficult obstacles, trials, and challenges, with many community members suffering poisonous snake bites. Moses fashions a brass serpent on a dowel, which heals any afflicted Israelite who looks upon it.

The remainder of the Book of Numbers, comprised of chapters 22–38, documents the Israelites’ arrival in the land of Moab. Moab’s king, Balak, does not want the Israelites to remain in his territory and entreaties Balaam, a diviner of Balak, to curse them. Instead, Balaam blesses the Israelites and predicts the future coming of Jesus Christ. However, some members of the Israelite tribes fornicate with Moab women and engage in the worship of the pagan deity Baal, infuriating God. Their deviance is punished by God with death, and the Israelites continue wandering until its unruly and insubordinate elder generation has perished. God deems the devout younger generation that remains fit to enter Canaan and delivers instructions and details about the cities, regions, and geographic limits of the Israelites’ promised land.

Themes

Major themes of the Book of Numbers revolve around rebellion and insubordination, divine mercy and punishment, and the fulfillment of promise. The rebellion and insubordination theme is particularly prevalent throughout the book, recurring as the Israelites rebel against both God and Moses. Their rebellion against God reaches a particular intensity in Moab, where some Israelite men engage in salacious sex acts and others worship a false god. As the Israelites endure decades of seemingly aimless wandering through the desert wilderness, they also rebel against Moses, griping about their lack of food and water, and complaining that they are too vulnerable to defeat at the hands of their enemies. A small number of particularly defiant Israelites even threaten Moses’ life.

Among scholars and religious leaders who consider the accounts of the Book of Numbers to have a figurative element, many interpretations of the rebellion theme frame it as a commentary on humankind’s detachment and straying from its divine origins. Temptations such as fornication and the deification of false idols can be viewed as a metaphor for the difficulties humans typically encounter with remaining spiritually focused during their lifetimes.

Many of the rebellious expressions chronicled in the Book of Numbers meet with divine punishment at the hands of God. Again, this is most visible during the episode in Moab, where the Israelite fornicators and idol-worshippers are destroyed by God. In Numbers, God also levies punishments on other rebellious Israelites, sending plagues, fire, and poisonous snakes to kill them. However, these wrathful and exacting punishments are also tempered with multiple examples of divine mercy and provision. During their years in the desert and despite their rebelliousness, the Israelites continue to receive manna from God, a mysterious form of sustenance introduced in the Book of Exodus. God also spares the younger generation of Israelites from the destruction faced by the older, more insubordinate generation. Additionally, God intervenes when Balak, the king of Moab, coaxes Balaam with riches as he attempts to convince Balaam to curse the Israelites. God’s intervention inspires Balaam to bless the Israelites instead, shielding them from further oppression.

Fulfillment of promise is another important theme of the Book of Numbers. The major example of this theme arises from the Israelites purging their insubordination to reach the periphery of Canaan, their promised land. This brings the covenant God established with Abraham in the Book of Genesis to the precipice of realization: the covenant established that God would one day lead Abraham’s Israelite descendants to their promised land in Canaan, where the Israelites would build a society that would extend God’s blessing to all the nations of the world. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, a covenant is a sacred promise between God and human beings, in which God promises to provide a desirable reward or benefit if certain terms and conditions are met. The Book of Numbers concludes with the remaining generation of Israelites waiting on the banks of the Jordan River, ready to claim their promised land and realize the long-awaited fulfillment of their covenant.

Bibliography

Bellinger Jr., W.H. Leviticus, Numbers. Ada, MI: Baker Books, 2012.

Chandler, Lauren. With Us in the Wilderness: A Study of Numbers. Nashville, TN: Lifeway Christian Resources, 2021.

Cole, R. Dennis. The New American Commentary: Numbers. Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2000.

Mizen, Spencer. “A History of the Bible: Who Wrote It, and When?” History Extra, 7 Apr. 2020, www.historyextra.com/period/ancient-history/history-bible-origins-who-wrote-when-how-reliable-historical-record/. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.

Zavada, Jack. “Introduction to the Book of Numbers.” Learn Religions, 13 Nov. 2019, www.learnreligions.com/book-of-numbers-701116. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.