Number of registered men from the tribe of Ephraim and from Manasseh's camp at the first census
The number 40,500 appears in Numbers as the result of the census of the tribe of Ephraim at Sinai (Num 1:33). Ephraim, son of Joseph, was the tribe that Jacob prophetically placed before his older brother Manasseh (Gen 48:19–20), and which became the bearer of a special blessing. The same number is found for Manasseh's army in Ephraim's camp (Num 2:19), linking the two tribes of Joseph closely together in the census lists. At the second census (Num 26:37), Ephraim's number had fallen to 32,500, a decline that can be seen in connection with the tribe's disobedience and rebellion in the wilderness. In the camp arrangement, Ephraim led the western grouping which also included Manasseh and Benjamin (Num 2:18–24), underscoring Ephraim's prominent role among Joseph's descendants and his position as leader of one of the four main groups around the tabernacle. In the census lists in Numbers 1–2, many similar numbers appear for various tribes. For example, Numbers 2:28 gives the number 41,500 for the tribe of Asher—not 40,500. A careful reading of the individual numbers is important to avoid confusion between the tribes. Rabbinic tradition sees Ephraim's decline from 40,500 to 32,500 at the second census as a sign of the consequences of sin, and links this among other things to the episode where Ephraim's descendants left Egypt too early (cf. 1 Chron 7:20–22 and Sanhedrin 92b). The encampment arrangement in Numbers 2, where the tribes are placed in four groups of three around the tabernacle, reflects a cosmic and liturgical order that symbolizes God's presence in the midst of His people.*