26 May, 2001
04 Sivan, 5761
Focus Passage: (Numbers 1:1 - 54)
The Census and G-d's People
There are two censuses described in Bamidbar, one at Sinai (chap. 1) and the other on the plains of Moab, at the conclusion of the wilderness pilgrimage and prior to entering the land (chap. 26). A third census recorded in the Tanach came near the end of Davis's reign when he commanded Joab to number the people (2 Samuel 24:1-9).
Three objectives motivated taking a census in the Tanach: taxation, manpower for was, and allotting the work of the Levites in cultic service. The apparent purpose of the census in chapter 1 and again in chapter 26 was to establish the numerical strength of Israel's military force.
Yet there may well have been factors operative in the census other than the identification and enumeration of Israel's military forces. For example, one recalls the manner in which the writer of the Torah consistently categorized and developed the whole of Israel's life according to pattern and groups. Whether one is dealing with creation, the attention given to genealogies, or the minute details given to the specifications for the worship center, this unique order and appropriate divisions certainly shows a rationale with theological grounds.
Also the census itself was a prerogative reserved for G-d, and G-d alone keeps the register of those who are to live or die (Ex. 32:33-34). David's census was condemned apparently because it abandoned the principles of a holy war for a conscripted army.
Although there is no hard evidence, the similarity between the naming of the animals as a symbol of authority (Gen 2: 19-20) and the numbering of the people is so marked as to suggest lines of common theological significance. It is possible that there were psychological and theological connections of counting and numbering which are lost to our era. But may it not be that numbering the people was a way of affirming that they belonged to G-d? Through this technique there was the affirmation of their identity as people of G-d. The operative principle was cultic, not solely military, for by this act they were symbolically affirmed as people of G-d set on a holy mission.
Shalom U'Vracha,
Thomas, Greta, and Talie
