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Numbers 1:1-2
New Catholic Bible
Numbers 1:1-2
New Catholic Bible
The Census and the Preparation to Depart from Sinai[a]
Chapter 1
The Census. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the tent of meeting on the first day of the second month of the second year after they left the land of Egypt, saying,[b] 2 “Take a census of the community of the people of Israel, arranging them by their families, by their clans, listing every single man by name.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Numbers 1:1 The final editor of the Book has somewhat exaggerated the figures, undoubtedly in order to highlight the extraordinary fecundity of the people of the promise (Gen 13:16). Perhaps he was also mistaken about the meaning of the Hebrew word translated as “thousand”: at the time of the Exodus the word did not mean “thousand” but referred to the small contingent of men that each clan had to supply in time of war.
- Numbers 1:1 From the first verse of this book to the very last, it is Moses in his role as prophet—spokesperson of the Lord—that is emphasized time and again. Moses’ unique position is described in Num 12:6-8.
