John Gill

On Numbers 26:63

These are they that were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest,.... That is, these were the Levites, their families, and the number of males in them, which was taken by Moses and Eleazar, who might be only concerned in numbering the Levites, of which tribe they were: and

who also numbered the children of Israel; all the tribes of them, with the assistance of their princes:

in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho; as they were commanded by the Lord.

Keil & Delitzsch

On Numbers 26:63-65

Concluding formula with the remark in Num 26:65, that the penal sentence which God had pronounced in Num 14:29 and Num 14:38 upon the generation which came out of Egypt, had been completely carried out.

Matthew Henry

On Numbers 26:63-65

That which is observable in this conclusion of the account is the execution of the sentence passed upon the murmurers (Num 14:29), that not one of those who were numbered from twenty years old and upwards (and that the Levites were not, but either from a month old or from thirty years old to fifty) should enter Canaan, except Caleb and Joshua. In the muster now made particular directions, no doubt, were given to those of each tribe that were employed in taking the account, to compare these rolls with the former, and to observe whether there were any now left of those that were numbered at Mount Sinai, and it appeared that there was not one man numbered now that was numbered then except Caleb and Joshua, Num 26:64, Num 26:65. Herein appeared, 1. The righteousness of God, and his faithfulness to his threatenings, when once the decree has gone forth. He swore in his wrath, and what he had sworn he performed. Better all those carcasses, had they been ten times as many, should fall to the ground, than the word of God. Though the rising generation was mixed with the, and many of the guilty and condemned criminals long survived the sentence, even to the last year of the forty, yet they were cut off by some means or other before this muster was made. Those whom God has condemned cannot escape either by losing themselves in a crowd or by the delay of execution. 2. The goodness of God to this people, notwithstanding their provocations. Though that murmuring race was cut off, yet God raised up another generation, which was as numerous as they, that, though they perished, yet the name of Israel might not be cut off, lest the inheritance of the promise should be lost for want of heirs. And, though the number fell a little short what it was at Mount Sinai, yet those now numbered had this advantage, that they were all middle-aged men, between twenty and sixty, in the prime of their time for service; and during the thirty-eight years of their wandering and wasting in the wilderness they had an opportunity of acquainting themselves with the laws and ordinances of God, having no business, civil or military, to divert them from those sacred studies, and having Moses and Aaron to instruct them, and God's good Spirit, Neh 9:20. 3. The truth of God, in performing his promise made to Caleb and Joshua. They were to be preserved from falling in this common ruin, and they were so. The arrows of death, though they fly in the dark, do not fly at random, even when they fly thickest, but are directed to the mark intended, and no other. All that are written among the living shall have their lives given them for a prey, in the most dangerous times. Thousands may fall on their right hand, and ten thousands on their left, but they shall escape.

Tyndale Study Notes

On Numbers 26:63-65

26:63-65 The registration figures represent an entirely new generation of Hebrews, for everyone who came out of Egypt died in the wilderness except Caleb and Joshua. Joshua inherited Moses’ position as the leader of Israel (27:12-23; see “Joshua” Profile), and Caleb later played an important role as well (see “Caleb” Profile). Numbers 26 documents Israel’s transition from a generation under God’s condemnation (ch 14) to a people with a future, as predicted by Balaam’s four prophecies (chs 23-24).

Tyndale Open Study Notes · CC BY-SA 4.0