Essay zu Bamidbar 26:67

Out of the chaos of the wilderness, the element of order is reintroduced as we meet the new generation—which will conquer at least part of the land of Canaan. These children of slaves are now mustered, in the same tribal order as the census in Chap. 1. The purpose of the counting is set forth in vv.52–56: so that the Promised Land may be properly divided up, according to population. True to the scheme of Chap. 1, the Levites go through their own census (vv.57–62)—since they receive designated towns but not a large mass of land. The ending verses assure us that the census in this chapter does not include anyone of the Exodus generation, excluding Calev and Yehoshua. Thus we are on new ground.

Out of the chaos of the wilderness, the element of order is reintroduced as we meet the new generation—which will conquer at least part of the land of Canaan. These children of slaves are now mustered, in the same tribal order as the census in Chap. 1. The purpose of the counting is set forth in vv.52–56: so that the Promised Land may be properly divided up, according to population. True to the scheme of Chap. 1, the Levites go through their own census (vv.57–62)—since they receive designated towns but not a large mass of land. The ending verses assure us that the census in this chapter does not include anyone of the Exodus generation, excluding Calev and Yehoshua. Thus we are on new ground.