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Isra’el at Sinai: Preparation for the Departure
1:1 to 10:10

This first section of Numbers in Chapters 1 through 10 is dominated by a positive tone. The people of Isra’el obediently followed God’s instructions to prepare for the march from Sinai to the Promised Land. The twelve tribes of Isra’el undergo a census in which all warriors are counted and then organized into a four-sided military camp with three tribes on each of the four sides. Mitzvot are given that preserve the holiness of the camp. The people dutifully prepare for a holy war against the pagan Canaanite inhabitants of the Promised Land. These preparations for the journey through the wilderness dominate this section.10