NUMBERS, BOOK OF (num ' bers), is the appellation given to the fourth book of Moses, which in the Septuagint is called 'ApLOALol, ar-ith moi', numbers, and in the Hebrew canon be-mid bar, 'in the desert.' 1. Contents. This book embraces more espe cially the continuation of the Sinaitic legislation, the march through the wilderness, the rejection of a whole generation, and the commencement of the conquest of Canaan. Thus we see that it treats on very different subjects, and on this ac count it has frequently been attempted to resolve it into separate fragments and documents, and to represent it as being composcd of the most hetero geneous materials. We will endeavor to refute this opinion, by furnishing an accurate survey of its contents, and by describing the internal con nection of its coinponent parts, so that the organi zation of the book may be clearly understood.
(1) Arrangements for Order. The stun and substance of the law having been stated in the preceding books, that of Numbers commences with the arrangements requisite for preserving good order in the camp of the Israelites. The
people are numbered for the express purpose of separating the Levites from those Israelites who had to bear arms, and of thus introducing into practice the law concerning the firstborn, for whom the tribe of Levi became a substitute. For this reason the people are not merely numbered, but also classed according to their descent; the order which each tribe should occupy in the camp is defined; and the Levites are introduced into their respective functions (chapters i-iv).
The camp, having been consecrated, was to be kept pure according to the law of Levitical cleans ings;consequently all persons were excluded from it who were afflicted with leprosy, who had be come unclean by a flux, and who had touched a