They that were numbered, were forty and three thousand, &c.— By comparing this with chap. Numbers 1:21 it appears, that, in thirty-eight years, this tribe was diminished by near three thousand men. Some whole households had been destroyed; see Numbers 26:9. Instead of families, some would render the word nations or kindreds, as in Psalms 22:27.
Related Commentaries of Numbers 26:7
Numbers 26:7
7 These are the families of the Reubenites: and they that were numbered of them were forty and three thousand and seven hundred and thirty.