This book is filled with details on how the people of god should live, eat, sacrifice, celebrate, and more. The book of numbers was named after the first key word bemidbar in hebrew scripture, which appropriately means in the desert, the place where the israelites spent forty years following the exodus. In christianity, the old testament is the name of the first part of the bible, the one written before jesus christ. The book of genesis uses narrative form to tell us god created the universe and our world. In spite of the difficulties imposed by numbers on todays readers, the main point of the book is of immense importance for gods people in any age. The book of numbers gets its english name by way of the septuagint, which used the term because of the census that begins the book and the second one in chapter 26. The king james version kjv, also known as the authorized version av or king james bible kjb, is an english translation of the christian bible for the church of england. Book of numbers simple english wikipedia, the free. The book of numbers new international commentary on the. Numbers 1 niv the census the lord spoke to moses in bible. Numbers begins and ends with moses counting all the people in the nation, which is how the book gets its name. The english title is a translation of the septuagint greek title referring to the numbering of the tribes of israel in chapters. The quran calls the first five books of the old testament the tawrat in judaism, the collection of inspired books is known as tanakh.
The old testament abbreviated ot is the first part of the christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the twentyfour books of the hebrew bible or tanakh, a collection of ancient religious hebrew writings by the israelites believed by most christians and religious jews to be the sacred word of god. The message of the book of numbers, is universal and timeless. As its name implies, it is a detailed census report of the twelve tribes of israel, along with a checklist of the dates prescribed for certain sacrifices and festivals, a. Summary of the book of numbers the story of the bible. The name refers to the new covenant or promise between god and humanity through the death and resurrection of jesus christ. An account is given of their murmuring and unbelief, for which they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness nearly forty years. Theyve been in this same spot for about a year and now theyre getting ready to start out on their journey to this land flowing with milk and honey that god keeps talking about. First century jews believed there were 22 holy books that comprised the complete number of their divine scriptures. As it does for the rest of the pentateuch, universal jewish and christian tradition attributes the authorship of the book of numbers to moses. Old testament numbers, hebrew bemidbar in the wilderness, also called the fourth book of moses, the fourth book of the bible.
A passagebypassage analysis follows, which draws useful insights on old testament ritual from modern social anthropology. The promised land the land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. The old testament also known as the jewish tanakh is the first 39 books in. The book of numbers derives its name from the account of the two censuses taken of the hebrew people, one near the beginning and the other toward the end of the journey in the wilderness chaps. Numbers 1 commentary james burton coffman commentaries. Gordon wenham numbers tyndale old testament commentaries, 1981. Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament.
In this examination of numbers, martin noth explores the community of the twelve tribes, the organization of the levites, various divine ordinances, and other important themes in the book of numbers. In his effort to bridge the great gulf between the book and our age, wenham first explains the background of numbers, discussing its structure, sources, date and authorship as well as its theology and christian use. Start a free 30day trial today and get your first audiobook free. The book of numbers tells a story that has two main characters god and israel. Unfortunately, adam and eve did not listen to god and were punished, called the fall.
The way the story is told sounds odd and often harsh to readers today. Both jews and christians believe these texts to be holy. The new testament has remained at 27 books since early times. Yet numbers can be complicated and confusing for students, exegetes, and pastors to unravel the importace of numbers. Numbers presents an account of the 38year period of israels wandering in the desert following the establishment of the covenant of sinai compare 1. Most modern versions of the bible contain 66 books, 39 in the old testament and 27 in the new testament. Timothy ashley removes much of the confusion by dividing the hebrew text into five major sections and showing how each section contributes to the entire books theological. Zephaniah was a prophet of god, sent to help gods people tribe of judah towards spiritual revival. This summary of the book of numbers provides information about the title, author s, date of writing, chronology, theme. Genesis creation, the fall, the flood, the spread of the nations, abraham, isaac, jacob, and joseph.
This is the exact same place where the israelites have been hanging out since god freed them from slavery back in exodus. The fourth book of moses called numbers geneva bible. It describes a period of transition from the exodus generation to the generation that would enter the promised land. There are various references to the book of numbers in the new testament. I just rearranged them into the phone number and added them up. The hvisual as well as the numbers 5, 12, 5, 12, and 5 were from the old testament made simple by melvin short. This book is called numbers from the several numberings of the people contained in it. Critics often argue that the numbers in the bible are not literal or are impossible to accept. The second part of christian bibles is the new testament, written in the koine.
A list of books with brief descriptions of contents. The book of numbers is the fourth book of the law of moses, also known as the torah or pentateuch. The law includes the books of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. The old testament book of numbers if a man vow a vow unto the lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond. Numbers relates the story of israels journey from mount sinai to the plains of. The hebrew title of the book bemidbar, in the desert is more descriptive of its contents. Asked in bible statistics and history, new testament. Glen scrivener is an evangelist and author of several books, including 3 2 1. Since im a good little christian, i wont take credit for something i didnt come up with. In the book of numbers, for example, a census indicated that men twenty years old or older formed an army of more than 603,000 numbers 1. It is called a book of moses because it contains the story of moses and the israelites when they wander throughout the wilderness before ending up at israel also known as canaan or palestine, where god promised they will settle the book is called numbers because at the start god ordered a counting of the people a. But in almost all modern versions it is common to numerate the old testament as 39 books.
The book of numbers in the bible is the fourth book in the old testament. Commentary on the book of numbers by matthew henry old. Originally, the number of books in the bible was 49. Numbers 5 niv the purity of the camp the lord said bible. The old testament has 39 books total, which consist of. Average number of verses per chapter in each book of the ot.
If the lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. The book of the law refers to the old testament law of moses. It is called a book of moses because it contains the story of moses and the israelites when they wander throughout the wilderness before ending up at israel also known as canaan or palestine, where god. It continues the story of the wandering israelite people which began in exodus and continued in leviticus. All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by. The ancient babylonians and egyptians had a developed numerology based on astrological divination, which is forbidden in the hebrew scriptures. Numbers tells the story of israels wanderings through the wilderness en route to the promised land of canaan. The new testament is a collection of 27 books, usually placed after the old testament in most christian bibles. Moses is the central figure within the book, and in at least two instances numbers mentions him recording events by the lords commands numbers 33.
Moses is the central figure within the book, and in at least two instances. The message of the book of numbers is universal and timeless. The following are five of the most helpful commentaries on this neglected book of scripture. Numbers is the fourth book of the fivepart section of the old testament known as the pentateuch. The fourth book of moses, numbers, also does not have much to offer the modern reader. It reminds believers of the spiritual warfare in which they are engaged, for numbers is the book of the service and walk of gods people. But numbers and the rest of the pentateuch were cast in the form of a unified, fivevolume book sometime between the days of joshua and the elders of israel josh. The book of numbers read by simon peterson by simon peterson available from rakuten kobo. It continues the story of that journey begun in exodus, and describes briefly the experiences of the israelites for a period of thirtyeight years, from the end of their. The first four books of the new testament are matthew, mark, luke, and john. Numbers, hebrew bemidbar in the wilderness, also called the fourth book of moses, the fourth book of the bible. The english title is a translation of the septuagint greek title referring to the numbering of the tribes of israel in chapters 14.
The book of numbers was written between 1440 and 1400 b. A brief summary of each of the books of the old testament bible and their genre genesis. What are the first four books in the old testament answers. The book of numbers tells the story that has two main character. The book of numbers is the fourth book in the old testament and comes after the book of leviticus.
It extends from the giving of the law at sinai, till their arrival in the plains of jordan. But god is faithful to his covenant, and the themes of covenant, sin, punishment, and redemption persist throughout numbers and the entire old testament. The ancient chaldeans sectioned the stars into twelve regions. Also included is an appendix on daughters rights of inheritance.
The 39 old testament books actually comes from 22 books originally by combining several books into one e. The book of numbers narrates a key chapter in the story of israel. The book of numbers seems to follow naturally after the book of leviticus in the order of the books of moses in the old testament. Easily memorize the old testament books with a phone. Exodus enslavement, moses, ten plagues, passover, leave egypt, red sea crossing, mt. Books of the bible list order complete new and old testament. The book of numbers is the fourth book of the hebrew bible, and the fourth of five books of the. After the children of israel received the laws at mount sinai, they began the journey as described in the book of exodus, and they were ready to march directly into the land of canaan.
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