‘And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand.'
And the number who died in the plague were the equivalent of twenty four larger families. These deaths would probably occur over a period. Paul picks up on this and speaks of ‘twenty three thousand' dying ‘in one day' (1 Corinthians 10:8). As with the number here it is not to be taken arithmetically. He lessened the number to mean ‘the great majority of them' died in one day because he recognised, or someone from whom he quoted recognised, that not all would have died on the same day, and that if he did not reduce the number this would quickly be pointed out by his opponents. But he wanted to utilise the idea of ‘in one day' in order to make the greater impact. Numbers in fact does not say how long a period was in mind during which people died through the plague.