NUMBERS
B. Analysis. Pe Ξ 11-18 Ps 71-16 19b a YD 3 6-10 14-22 Pe 17-198 «= 20-47 48-53 “1-34 “1-4 pt 4“.
ort. 88. 80 4 29-82 856-88 40-43 46-51 Ζ1-1616' 17-20 41-21 22-27 89 ἘΣ Aes 9 6 : Be ue 11’ 12-léa
Pt. eh oe 9.5 6-23 108
Pb of.
C. Critical Notes.
1-4: The tribes and their encampment.—These opening chapters relate the numbering of the secular tribes (ch. 1), with their relative positions in the camp (ch. 2), and the numbering of the Levitical clans with their respective duties (ch. 3f.). All comes from P, but not all from the same stratum. If the account of the ordering of the census in 1-6 be assigned to the great Law and History Book P¥, then the rest of the chapter re- lating the execution of the order is most naturally attributed to a later stage of the compilation, to which ch. 2 may also belong. Probably ΡῈ had briefer accounts of the census and the camp, which have been independently expanded in 117-88 and 2, just as similar expanded accounts are found in =x 35-40 and Lv 8 P* of the fulfilment of commands given in Ex 25-28 and 29 P*. The remains of P#’s narrative may perhaps be found in 1-4 (146) 54, The main grounds for this analysis are as follow : (1) The extreme elaboration of style, the same formula being 12 times repeated, with slight varia- tions ony in and 3, contrasted with the account of the Levitical census in ch. 3, which may be taken as a type of Ῥε, (2) In 27“ Aaron is associ- ated with Moses, cf. 4. But in 190 (οἵ, 3154. 40-42) it is Moses who conducts the census. In 3° Aaron is a gloss, for nwmbered is sing.; and 15° is robably the same. (3) The order of tribes is eared as one writer would hardly have varied it. Six different arrangements are given below for comparison. A adopts the strict genealogical order. 8B takes Rachel’s son after Leah’s children and puts Zilpah’s last. Comits Levi, gives Joseph’s sons in the order Ephraim, Manasseh, to make up 12, and places B’s last three in reverse order, Asher, Gad, aphtali. Ὁ puts Gad into Levi’s place after Simeon, E moves the group Judah, Issachar, Zebulun to the head of the list, while F sets Manasseh above Ephraim in correspondence with their altered proportion of numbers,
a. Gn 465 Ps Β. Ex 124 Ps oNul+l5 Ps g.Nu2&7& 1013-23 ps Reuben Reuben Reuben Judah Simeon Simeon Simeon Issachar Levi Levi Zebulun eee ἘΠ L Judah —
Ὁ uw Issachar Reuben Issachar Issachar Zebul i Zebulun Zebulun ᾿ eas i ran τῆς. ee \ J ---
anasseh hraim Asher }z Benjamin } R Benjamin ae Joseph * Dan Dan pe
R } B — Dan Benjamin Naphtali ἘΞ τος — δὰ
νεῖ 2 as } s a Asher Naphtali Asher Naphtali Naphtali
L=Leah’s sons, R=Rachel’s, Z=Zilpah’s, B=Bilhah’s, J Joseph’s. * Manasseh, Ephraim. t+ Joseph's place vacant, since the is of those who came down to join him in Egypt.
Gut. ‘fifth’) of the numberin;
* (Sota 860, Joma vil. 1; cf. Auusegixeds/u of Origen ap. ‘ ) =e
useb, HE vi. 25).
NUMBERS
p. Nu 1243 Ps ¥. Nu 261-51 Ps
Reuben . 46,500 Reuben 48,780 — 2,770 Simeon . 69,300 Simeon 2,200 —87,100 Gad . . 46,650 G . 40,600 — 6,150 Judah . 74,600 Judah . 76,500 —- + 1,900 Issachar . 54,400 Issachar . 64,300 + 9,900 Zebulun . 657,400 Zebulun 60,6500 + 8,100 Ephraim . 40,500 Manasseh . 52,700 + 20,600 Manasseh . 82,200 Ephraim . 82,600 + 8,000 Benjamin. 85,400 Benjamin 45,500 +10,200 Dan. . 62,700 Dan . 64,400 + 1,700 Asher . 41,500 Asher. 63,400 +11,900 Naphtali . 63,400 Naphtali . 45,400 — 8,000
603,550 601,730 — 1,820 1-83 looks like a late insertion. The phrase
‘Dwelling of the testimony’ ™- > is first found in Ex 38% P*, ®t seems to presuppose the descrip- tion of the encampment in ch. 2. The prohibition (*) to number Levi should precede and not follow the general account of the numbering. Perhaps this verse has been misplaced.
In ch. 2 we have a further variation of order in the names of the tribes, and the amount of un- necessary repetition is enormous. All the new information, i.e. about the position of the tribes in the camp and on the march, could have been pnt in a single sentence. One or two points of anguage confirm the assignment to P*. But the curious series of parenthetical notes of the census results (see conspectus above) may well have been added later still.
Chapter 3 is made up of differing elements. 1 can only be P*, because it follows the late repre- sentation of the ἀπο ΠΕ of other priests than the high priest. Observe also the order Aaron and Moses, and the use of the formula These are the generations, though the sons of Moses are not named, and the particulars have all appeared before (cf. Ex 6%, Lv 10'). 5° on the choice of the Levites for ministry, and the parts of 1 on the Levitical census, contain nothing unsuitable to Pe; and the three inserted paragraphs on the position and duties of the Levites (cf. “* and 89) might be also P%, but that the reference to ‘altars’ in *!, whereas P® knows only one altar, and the mention of ‘cords’ 38 87, alluded to elsewhere onl in P* Ex 3518 39”, indicate a later origin. 11-8 ae “1 recall P® in their use of ‘I am J”,’ and may rest on an older basis, but do not fit on to Ῥὲ here. #-# (observe that the introductory formula is not P8’s, cf. δι 1) and -5 (containing several rare phrases) rest on the idea of the Levites as substitutes for the firstborn, and develop it in the style of P*.