John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai , etc.] Which is different from the wilderness of Sin, ( Exodus 16:1); and had its name from the mountain so called, on which God gave the law of the decalogue, and where the Israelites had been encamped eleven months, ( Exodus 19:1,2); in the tabernacle of the congregation ; which had now been set up a whole month, and out of which the Lord had delivered to Moses the several laws recorded in the preceding book in that space of time, ( Exodus 40:17 Leviticus 1:1); on the first [day] of the second month ; the month Ijar, as the Targum of Jonathan, which answers to part of our April, and part of May, and was the second month of the ecclesiastical year, which began with Abib or Nisan: in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt ; that is, the children of Israel, who had now been a year and half a month out of it: saying , as follows.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-43 - The people were numbered to show God's faithfulness in thus increasin the seed of Jacob, that they might be the better trained for the war and conquest of Canaan, and to ascertain their families in order to the division of the land. It is said of each tribe, that those wer numbered who were able to go forth to war; they had wars before them though now they met with no opposition. Let the believer be prepared to withstand the enemies of his soul, though all may appear to be peace.
Original Hebrew וידבר1696 יהוה3068 אל413 משׁה4872 במדבר4057 סיני5514 באהל168 מועד4150 באחד259 לחדשׁ2320 השׁני8145 בשׁנה8141 השׁנית8145 לצאתם3318 מארץ776 מצרים4714 לאמר׃559
