In contrast to the Book of Leviticus, which is mostly law, Numbers combines history and law. So there is far more interest and value in the book than the name in English would imply. Only two chapters are census reports (1 and 26). The rest tells of events between Sinai and the Jordan. For the most part these are not recorded elsewhere except for the brief summary in the first chapters of Deuteronomy. Interspersed with this history are religious and civil laws and instructions. Many of these are presented as preparation for settling in the land of Canaan, and it is expressly stated that they are for that time, rather than for the time at which they were given.
