Editing Book of Numbers (section)

==Themes==
[[File: Figures A Plague Inflicted on Israel While Eating the Quails.jpg|thumb|A Plague Inflicted on Israel While Eating the Quail (illustration from the 1728 ''Figures de la Bible'')]]

David A. Clines, in his influential ''The Themes of the Pentateuch'' (1978), identified the overarching [[Theme (literature)|theme]] of the five books as the partial fulfilment of a promise made by God to the patriarchs, [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]]. The promise has three elements: posterity (i.e., descendants&nbsp;– Abraham is told that his descendants will be as innumerable as the stars), divine-human relationship (Israel is to be God's chosen people), and land (the land of Canaan, cursed by Noah immediately after the Deluge).{{sfn|Clines|1997|p=29}}

The theme of the divine-human relationship is expressed, or managed, through a series of [[Covenant (biblical)|covenant]]s (meaning treaties, legally binding agreements) stretching from Genesis to Deuteronomy and beyond. The first is the covenant between God and Noah immediately after the Deluge in which God agrees never again to destroy the Earth with water. The next is between God and Abraham, and the third between God and all Israel at Mount Sinai. In this third covenant, unlike the first two, God hands down an elaborate set of laws (scattered through Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers), which the Israelites are to observe; they are also to remain faithful to Yahweh, the god of Israel, meaning, among other things, that they must put their trust in his help.{{sfn|Bandstra|2004|p=28–29}} 

It is important to note that among the reasons this law was given was to establish the Israelite people as Yahweh's people. The laws and instructions were as much for identity as they were for obedience. Yahweh by providing all the different instructions and laws was affirming that the Israelite people were his and would bear his identity.<ref name="Rooker">{{Cite book |last=Rooker |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMJF-3jBfg4C&pg=PA232 |title=The World and the Word: an Introduction to the Old Testament. |date=2011 |publisher=B & H Pub. Group |others=Michael A. Grisanti, Eugene H. Merrill |isbn=978-1-4336-7374-0 |location=Nashville |oclc=782868195}}</ref>{{rp|246}}

The theme of descendants marks the first event in Numbers, the census of Israel's fighting men: the huge number which results (over 600,000) demonstrates the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham of innumerable descendants, as well as serving as God's guarantee of victory in Canaan.{{sfn|Olson|1996|p=14}} As chapters 1–10 progress, the theme of God's presence with Israel comes to the fore: these chapters describe how Israel is to be organized around the Sanctuary, God's dwelling-place in their midst, under the charge of the Levites and priests, in preparation for the conquest of the land.{{sfn|Ska|2006|p=38}}

The Israelites then set out to conquer the land, but almost immediately they refuse to enter it, and Yahweh condemns the whole generation who left Egypt to die in the wilderness. The message is clear: failure was not due to any fault in the preparation, because Yahweh had foreseen everything, but due to Israel's sin of unfaithfulness. In the final section, the Israelites of the new generation follow Yahweh's instructions as given through Moses and are successful in all they attempt.{{sfn|Ska|2006|p=38}} The last five chapters are exclusively concerned with land: instructions for the extermination of the Canaanites, the demarcation of the boundaries of the land, how the land is to be divided, holy cities for the Levites and "cities of refuge", the problem of pollution of the land by blood, and regulations for inheritance when a male heir is lacking.{{sfn|Clines|1997|p=62}}

A large part of the theological theme in Numbers is the righteousness and holiness of God being met with human rebellion. The two censuses not only show the different response of two generations but rather that God had remained faithful despite the rebellion of the Israelites. The theme of the book should seem to be more centrally focused on the faithfulness and holiness of God as this is a common theme that runs through the whole of the Pentateuch, not just the book of Numbers.<ref name="Rooker" />{{rp|247}}

=== Census numbers ===

The book of Numbers records in some detail the population of the fighting men in Israel, providing a figure of approximately 600,000 soldiers. This would translate to a total population of 1.5 to 2.5 million Israelites. However, scholars have proposed multiple alternatives, as such a large number of Israelites does not conform to modern historical knowledge of the period or archaeological evidence. Some scholars see the book of Numbers as unhistorical, and the figures given as either greatly exaggerated or simply fabricated, opting instead to focus on Numbers as a theological book and not a historical one.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vaux |first=Roland de |title=The Early History of Israel |date=1978 |publisher=Westminster Press |isbn=0-664-20762-6 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=3669566}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bellinger |first=W. H. Jr. |title=Leviticus, Numbers |date=2012 |publisher=Baker Books |isbn=978-0-8010-4560-8 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich. |oclc=793844579}}</ref>

On the other hand, some Biblical scholars speculate that the literature is not referring to the actual number, and that the word for "thousand" is actually referring to a noun signifying a group or clan. However, this interpretation poses a problem, as it undermines the validity of the text, "assumes a misunderstanding and mistransmission of the text in all the census lists of Exodus and Numbers (not to mention other texts)"{{sfn|Ashley|1993|pp=65–66}} and produces several inconsistencies in the book of Numbers that cannot be resolved. Most scholars who hold this view posit a much lower number for the fighting  men of Israel, closer to 20,000.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wenham |first=J. W. |date=1967-05-01 |title=Large Numbers in the Old Testament |url=https://tyndalebulletin.org/article/30680-large-numbers-in-the-old-testament |journal=Tyndale Bulletin |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=19–53 |doi=10.53751/001c.30680|doi-access=free }}</ref> Another theory is that of an error in transmission, with J.W. Wenham arguing that "biblical texts are often corrupted by the simple addition of zeroes to the numbers",{{sfn|Ashley|1993|pp=65–66}} although the flaw in this suggestion "is that the mistake in zeroes would easily occur only where numbers were represented by figures rather than by words",{{sfn|Ashley|1993|pp=65–66}} and there is "little or no evidence that figures were used in the biblical texts during the biblical period."{{sfn|Ashley|1993|pp=65–66}} Based on the nature of the book and the many accounts of tax payment and records of animals and persons, it is most likely that Numbers is referring to an actual account of a numerical tally of the Israelite people. A more likely explanation for the large number stated in the book is that the actual numerical metrics cannot really be established today. This requires us to take the values given as they are, as any other alternatives raises more problems than solutions.<ref name="Rooker" />{{rp|246}} In his commentary on the book of Numbers, [[John Calvin]] acknowledged that even among his contemporaries, "certain sceptics"<ref name="Calvin">{{cite book |last=Calvin |first=John |author-link=John Calvin |date=1996 |title=Calvin's Commentaries Volume 2 |location=Ada, MI |publisher=Baker Book House |page=22}}</ref> had questioned the veracity of the figures quoted, but defended the [[Biblical inerrancy|inerrancy]] of the text by invoking the miraculous "interference of God".<ref name="Calvin"/>

According to Timothy R. Ashley's analysis: 

<blockquote>"No one system answers all the questions or solves all the problems. [...] In short, we lack the materials in the text to solve this problem. When all is said and done, one must admit that the answer is elusive. Perhaps it is best to take these numbers as R.K. Harrison has done — as based on a system familiar to the ancients but unknown to moderns. According to Harrison the figures are to be taken as "symbols of relative power, triumph, importance, and the like and are not meant to be understood either strictly literally or as extant in a corrupt textual form."{{sfn|Ashley|1993|pp=65–66}}</blockquote>