Numbers 26:62
And those that were numbred of them, were twenty and three thousand, all males from a moneth old and vpward: for they were not numbred among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance giuen them among the children of Israel. Numbers 26:62 (KJV)
The book of Numbers is the fourth book in the Old Testament and continues the account of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. The events described in this passage occur after the people had spent forty years wandering in the wilderness, a period that resulted from their disobedience and lack of faith.
In Numbers 26 Moses is commanded by God to take a census of the Israelites who were eligible for military service. The purpose of the census was to determine the number of males twenty years of age and older who would be fit for war, thereby providing a clear picture of the military‑age population for tribal organization and future land distribution.
The tribe of Manasseh is recorded in Numbers 26:37‑38 as having fifty‑two thousand seven hundred males aged twenty and older. This figure illustrates the size of the tribe’s fighting force and was used in planning the allocation of the Promised Land. Half of the tribe of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan River together with the tribes of Reuben and Gad (Numbers 32), while the other half received inheritance west of the Jordan (Joshua 17).
The Levites were set apart for priestly duties and therefore did not receive a territorial inheritance like the other tribes. Instead they were given cities and pasturelands scattered throughout the territories of the other tribes (Numbers 35:1‑8). Because of their special status the Levites were counted separately from the general military census. Their own census, which included males from one month old and upward (Numbers 3:39), resulted in a total of twenty‑two thousand Levites.
The verse cited above (Numbers 26:62) explains that the group numbered at twenty‑three thousand consisted entirely of males from a month old upward. They were not counted among the children of Israel because they had no inheritance among the other tribes. This distinction underscores the unique role of the Levites and the way the census differentiated between those who would inherit land and those served a priestly function.
