King James Version
Numbers
Numbers in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Numbers: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Moses, in Jewish and Christian tradition. Numbers records Moses writing the stages of the journey. Critical scholars see the book as joined from several sources. |
|---|---|
| Date | Traditional about 1446–1406 BC. Critical scholars commonly date the final form to about 550–400 BC. |
| Place written | Not stated. The setting moves from Sinai to the plains of Moab, near the Jordan in modern Jordan. |
| Genre | Narrative and law: census, wilderness journey, and preparation to enter Canaan. |
| Chapters | 36 |
| Verses | 1288 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Numbers 6:24–26Numbers 6:24 · King James VersionThe LORD bless thee, and keep thee:Numbers 6:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
Numbers 33:2Numbers 33:2 · King James VersionAnd Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.
Numbers 33:2 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) says Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys. The rest of the book is narrated about Moses in the third person. Josephus counts Moses’ five books. (2) The Talmud takes the Torah as Moses’ writing and says he also wrote the portion of Balaam, Numbers 22–24. (3) Critical scholars assign Numbers to priestly and non-priestly sources. Traditional scholars note the wilderness viewpoint and the book’s own record of Moses writing.
Who It Is Not
Balaam is the speaker of oracles in Numbers 23–24, not the book’s author. The Talmud treats Moses as the writer of that portion. (3)
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives the Pentateuch 1446–1406 BC and notes it may have been oral until much later. (4) Numbers 1:1Numbers 1:1 · King James VersionAnd the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
Numbers 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) dates the first census to the second year after the exodus. The book covers about forty years.
Audience and Setting
Israel on the edge of the land. The purpose is to record God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unbelief in the wilderness, and to prepare a new generation to enter Canaan.
Rulers at the Time
Balak king of Moab hires Balaam in Numbers 22:4Numbers 22:4 · King James VersionAnd Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time.
Numbers 22:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan are defeated in Numbers 21. This page does not assign them dates.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Census at Sinai | Numbers 1–10 |
| Rebellion and spies | Forty years of wandering decreed. Numbers 11–14 |
| Wilderness years | Korah, the bronze serpent, Sihon and Og. Numbers 15–21 |
| Plains of Moab | Balaam, second census, laws for the land. Numbers 22–36 |
| Composition | Traditional 1446–1406 BC. Critical often 550–400 BC. (4) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Kadesh | Often identified with springs at Ain el-Qudeirat or Ain Qedeis in the northeastern Sinai, Egypt. The identification is debated. | Numbers 13:26Numbers 13:26 · King James VersionAnd they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.Numbers 13:26 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| Plains of Moab | The Jordan valley east of the river near Jericho, in modern Jordan. | Numbers 22:1Numbers 22:1 · King James VersionAnd the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.Numbers 22:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
Numbers 1–10 organize the camp at Sinai. Numbers 11–14 tell of complaining, the spies, and the refusal to enter. Numbers 15–21 cover the wilderness years. Numbers 22–24 are Balaam’s oracles. Numbers 25–36 prepare the new generation.
Key Themes
The priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24–26Numbers 6:24–26 · King James Version6:24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
6:25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
6:26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Numbers 6:24–26 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Unbelief and judgment in Numbers 14:11–23Numbers 14:11–23 · King James Version14:11 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
14:12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they.
14:13 And Moses said unto the LORD, Then the Egyptians shall hear it, (for thou broughtest up this people in thy might from among them;)
14:14 And they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land: for they have heard that thou LORD art among this people, that thou LORD art seen face to face, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, by day time in a pillar of a cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night.
14:15 Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying,
14:16 Because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.
14:17 And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my LORD be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,
14:18 The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
14:19 Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.
14:20 And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word:
14:21 But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.
14:22 Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;
14:23 Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
Numbers 14:11–23 · King James VersionOpen the Source. God’s faithfulness in Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
The large census figures in Numbers 1 and Numbers 26 are debated, as with Exodus. Some read the Hebrew word for thousand as a military unit. This page does not choose. The talking donkey in Numbers 22 is raised by skeptics, and the answer depends on whether miracles are possible, which is a prior question.
How the Book Points to Christ
Jesus compares himself to the bronze serpent in John 3:14John 3:14 · King James VersionAnd as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
John 3:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source, from Numbers 21:9Numbers 21:9 · King James VersionAnd Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
Numbers 21:9 · King James VersionOpen the Source. 1 Corinthians 10:41 Corinthians 10:4 · King James VersionAnd did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
1 Corinthians 10:4 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the rock that followed Israel was Christ. Balaam’s star out of Jacob, Numbers 24:17Numbers 24:17 · King James VersionI shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
Numbers 24:17 · King James VersionOpen the Source, has long been read messianically. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
Numbers is among the books found at Qumran. (5)
Canon Reception
Never disputed. (2)
Further Reading
References
- Book of Numbers, 1:1; 33:2Numbers 1:1 · King James Version
And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
Numbers 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b, 14b (The English on Sefaria is the William Davidson edition, which is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The baraita gives the order of the Prophets and the Writings and asks who wrote each book.)
- When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Numbers (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Numbers as 1446–1406 BC, and says those books may have been mostly oral tradition until much later. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.