Biblical Parallels Index – Bemidbar 26
Overview
This index is meant to help the reader explore Biblical parallels, be they two accounts of the same event or law, stories with similar motifs and themes, or units of text which are linguistically similar and perhaps alluding one to the other. The page includes links to tools that aid in comparison, primary sources that touch upon the parallels, and summaries of and links to articles which analyze them in depthץCensuses
The book of Bemidbar is farmed by two sets of censuses, those detailed in Bemidbar 1-4 and that of Bemidbar 26, earning the book its name ספר הפקודים (or in English: Numbers). These two countings of the nation are part of a larger group of censuses that take place throughout the Wilderness period.
Tools
- See Makbilot Bamikra for links to each of the verses which discuss the counting of the nation in the Wilderness (Shemot 12:37, Shemot 30:12 / 38:26, Bemidbar 1, Bemidbar 11:21, and Bemidbar 26).
- Use the Tanakh Lab to compare the two censuses that frame Sefer Bemidbar. Both the total tally and the numbers of the individual tribes change from one count to another, with some tribes growing larger, and others (notable Shimon) shrinking in size. The objective of the census of Chapter 26 is explicitly stated, to divide the land for inheritance, but no purpose is given for the count of Chapter 1.
Articles
- Articles Relating to all the Censuses
- In his article, Rounding of the Numbers of the Censuses of Bnei Yisrael, R"E Samet notes that when comparing the numbers listed in the various censuses, some appeared to be round to hundreds, some to tens and some not at all. The article looks to both medieval exegetes and modern scholars to attempt to explain the Torah’s methods of rounding
- Articles Relating to the Censuses of Bemidbar 1 and 26
- See על מפקד בני ישראל לפני הכניסה לארץ, by R. Tamir Granot, which points out that the first census seems unnecessary to record, since its data became irrelevant after the spies’ sin. Therefore, R. Granot suggests that there is a literary rather than historical significance to the recording of the two censuses. The second census is a means of repairing that which was religiously problematic in the first. In developing this theory, R. Granot draws on the story of David’s census in Melakhim II 24 as well.
- See Who Needs This Census?, by R. Elchanan Samet, for contrast of the census in Bemidbar 1, for which no reason is given, and that in Bemidbar 26, which is explicitly for the purpose of dividing the land. R. Samet explores a wide range of explanations as to the purpose and meaning of the census in Parashat Bemidbar including that it was necessary for war or for the set up of the camp, that it was a demonstration of Godly love, or that it was needed for God's presence to descend.
- See Not Just Numbers, by R. Yair Kahn, for analysis of the two censuses that frame Sefer Bemidbar and how they express a major theme of the book: the establishment of "the camp of Israel". As seen in the method of counting "by head", this a united, but not a uniform group, made of unique individuals who each contribute to the whole. The framing of the book with two censuses highlights how though the first attempt at creating a "camp of Israel" failed, with the nation perishing in the wilderness, after 40 years a second generation successfully takes their place.