Limitless Word
those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
Numbers 1:23 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Those that were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred.
  • BSB those registered to the tribe of Simeon numbered 59,300.
  • NKJV those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
  • NASB their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Quick answer

Simeon's fighting men number 59,300. The tribe's strength is recorded.

Overview

Simeon's high total here contrasts sharply with the sharp decline recorded in the second census in Numbers 26, likely due to judgment such as the plague at Baal-peor. The numbers testify both to God's blessing and, later, to the consequences of sin. Each total reflects real history under God's hand.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 4

  • Num 26:14These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.
  • Num 25:8–9He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
  • Num 2:13His division, and those who were counted of them, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
  • Num 25:14Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 1:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 1:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.