The book of Numbers and the great census

 If you've ever wondered why the book of Numbers, fourth book of the Torah, is called that, you need only run quickly through the first few chapters. Here is a sample of the great census of the fighting men of Israel from the beginning of the book:

• The registry of the people, made on the first day of the second month of the second year after the exodus, of all men over twenty. The military leaders of the tribes: Elisur son of Sedeur for Reuben, Salamiel son of Surisaddai for Simeon, Nahasson son of Aminadab for Juda, Nathanael son of Suar for Issachar, Eliab son of Helon for Zabulon, Elisama son of Ammiud for Ephraim, Gamaliel son of Phadassur for Manasses, Abidan son of Gedeon for Beniamin, Ahiezer son of Ammisaddai for Dan, Phegiel son of Ochran for Aser, Eliasaph son of Duel for Gad and Ahira son of Enan for Nephthali (chapter one).
• The military registry: Ruben 46,500, Simeon 59,300, Gad 45,650, Iuda 74,600, Issachar 54,400, Zabulon 57,400, Ephraim 40,500, Manasses 32,200, Beniamin 35,400, Dan 62,700, Aser 41,500, Nephthali 53,400. A total of 603,550 warriors (chapter one).
• The military camps: Iuda, together with Issachar and Zabulon, mustering 186,400 men on the east; Ruben, together with Simeon and Gad, mustering 151,450 men on the south; Ephraim, together with Manasses and Beniamin, mustering 108,100 men on the west; and Dan, together with Aser and Nephtali, mustering 150,600 men on the north. They would march in this order, too, with the Levites in the very middle of the line (chapter two). The Levites are not counted here, for they of all the twelve tribes are specifically to be exempted from a military role. 

I remember reading books in seminary that cast doubt on the fact that more than 600,000 people (and Numbers is here actually counting only fighting men, and exempting the Levites) could have made their way through the sea in the great Exodus story, and then across the desert to the holy mountain. One of the priests teaching at seminary had this theory that as the people made their way through the wilderness, they met and recruited other tribes they found along the way (see Numbers 11:4). I find that idea interesting; it would mean that the young Israelite nation was not composed solely of the actual descendants of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (not that all the escapees from Egypt were actual descendants), but that the Israelite identity (if we may use that modern term, and compare the situation to the Roman identity while the Empire still lived, and the present-day national identities) was an umbrella for a growing confederation of Semitic tribes that must have found something compelling about the new religion that was being instituted by God at Mount Sinai. This idea also explains the apparent disappearance of the native Canaanite people in the Holy Land, once the Israelites arrived and began to take possession of the land: these people to different degrees may simply have adhered to the new religion and become part of the covenant people.