Numbers 10:36
in Numbers 10And when it came to rest, he would say: “Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And when it rested, he said, Return, O Jehovah, unto the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.
KJV
And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.
⋯
This verse in Numbers 10
Commentary
4 notes on this verseReturn, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel - These were the words spoken by Moses, at the moment the divisions halted in order to pitch their tents. In reference to this subject, and the history with which it is connected, the 68th Psalm seems to have been composed, though applied by David to the bringing the ark from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. See the notes on Psalm 68 (note). Many thousands, literally the ten thousand thousands.
This site's exposition
Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands
The resting sentence asks God to come back to the people rather than asking the people to settle. Many thousands is literally ten thousand thousands, and Barnes reads the line as a plea that the Lord restore the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel, taking the verb in the sense it carries at Psalm 85:4. Solomon prays the resting half of this pair at the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6:41, and Psalm 132:8 keeps it in nearly the same words, Arise, O Lord, into thy rest, thou, and the ark of thy strength.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And when it passed,....
So we read it: Return to the thousands of Israel, the ten thousand thousand, so the word is. Note, First, The church of God is a great body; there are many thousands belonging to God's Israel. Secondly, We ought in our prayers to concern ourselves for this body.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבְנֻחֹ֖ה | uvenuchoh | and when rested it | H5117 → | 142 times |
| יֹאמַ֑ר | yomar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שׁוּבָ֣ה | shuvah | return ! | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| רִֽבְב֖וֹת | rivot | [the] ten thousands of | H7233 → | |
| אַלְפֵ֥י | ʾalfei | [the] families of | H505 → | 505 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ׆ ס | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וּבְנֻחֹ֖הand when rested it
uvenuchohH5117 →142 times
יֹאמַ֑רhe said
yomarH559 →5305 times
שׁוּבָ֣הreturn !
shuvahH7725 →1056 times
יְהוָ֔הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
רִֽבְב֖וֹת[the] ten thousands of
rivotH7233 →
אַלְפֵ֥י[the] families of
ʾalfeiH505 →505 times
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ ׆ סIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 24:60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
it leads to
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 17:16
And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
- Ruth 4:11–12
“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.…
- Genesis 28:3
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Genesis 22:17
Through
Isaiah 63:17Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways and harden our hearts from fearing You? Return, for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.
it leads to
- Isaiah 6:10
Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
- Joshua 11:20
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts to engage Israel in battle, so that they would be set apart for destruction and would receive no mercy, being annihilated as the LORD…
- Isaiah 6:10
Through
Deuteronomy 1:10The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 10:22
Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
- Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- Deuteronomy 10:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.