Bible Strands
Numbers 26:3
So on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, Moses and Eleazar the priest issued the instruction,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses and Eleazar the priest address the Israelite congregation on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, opposite Jericho, to execute a second census of men twenty years old and older. This directive follows the wilderness generation's judgment and immediately implements the Lord's command to count those eligible for military service.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיְדַבֵּר (va/y.da.Ber) literally means "and he spoke," marking the formal delivery of the census order. The prepositional phrase בְּעַרְבֹת מוֹאָב (be/'ar.Vot mo.'Av) anchors the event geographically to the "plains of Moab."
The thread — This geographic marker recurs in Numbers 22:1, Numbers 33:48, and Numbers 26:63 to establish the fixed encampment site before Israel crosses into the Promised Land.
Why it lands — The text requires a reader to acknowledge that covenant community identity is administered through authoritative leadership executing divine orders, and that readiness for the land depends on obedience to God's accounting rather than human assessment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
Cross-references
- Numbers 22:1 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- Numbers 33:48 They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
- Numbers 26:63 These were the ones numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
- Numbers 35:1 Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:
- Numbers 31:12 They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.
- Deuteronomy 4:46 while they were in the valley across the Jordan facing Beth-peor in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho. And the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead as far as Dan,
- Deuteronomy 34:6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows the location of his grave.
- Deuteronomy 34:8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.