Israelite census

God told Moses to number the men Israel when they came out from Egypt then again nearly 40 years later. The first a year after leaving Egypt, the second before they entered the promised land. The census of the 12 tribes included the 2 subtribes of Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh. The 12 tribes were divided into 4 companies of 3 tribes, each headed by 1 of the 3 tribes. They camped on different sides of the tabernacle. Levi was not included as they were set apart for service to God. They were counted separately and camped around the tabernacle.

The first census was in the 2nd year after leaving Egypt (Numbers 1). The census data is repeated in Numbers 2 with the division totals. The tribe of Levi is documented in Numbers 3. The second census was in the 40th year after leaving Egypt (Numbers 26).

All males aged 20 and over were counted for the nation census. All males aged 1 month and over were counted for the Levite census.

Israel had grown rapidly from ~70 males a little over 200 years earlier. Because of their unfaithfulness in refusing to fight the Canaanites they died in the desert. A similar number of men over the age of 20 (but none over 60) were alive ~40 years later. While every Israelite over the age of 20 died in the desert (Numbers 14), this may not have included the Levites. There was no spy sent from the tribe of Levi (Numbers 13), Levi had previously been zealous for the Lord (Exodus 32), and the Levite Eleazer (Exodus 6:25) entered Canaan (Joshua 17:4). Caleb and Joshua were also excluded from the punishment (Numbers 14:30).

Here are the numbers for the 2 censuses. The number of Levites does not add up; the sum of the 3 clans is 22,300 but the total given is 22,000. It is likely that the total is correct thus there is probably a transcription error for Gershon or Kohath.

Company	Tribe	Clan	Census 1		Census 2
			Numbers 1-3		Numbers 26
Reuben	Reuben		46500		43730
South	Simeon		59300		22200
	Gad		45650		40500
				151450
Judah	Judah		74600		76500
East	Issachar		54400		64300
	Zebulun		57400		60500
				186400
Ephraim	Ephraim		40500		32500
West	Manasseh		32200		52700
	Benjamin		35400		45600
				108100
Dan	Dan		62700		64400
North	Asher		41500		53400
	Naphtali		53400		45400
				157600
	Total		603550		601730
	Levi
		Gershon	7500
		Kohath	8600
		Merari	6200
			22000	(22300)	23000