Numbers

The book of Numbers takes its English name as a translation of the Latin name of the book in the Vulgate, Numeri, and the Greek name of the book in the Septuagent, Αριτημοι. Both names refer to the two numberings in the book, which occur in Chapters 1-4, and in Chapter 26.

Jerome (340? - 420) and Epiphanius (315? - 403) referred to the book as "The Lord Spoke." It was common Jewish practice to name scriptures by their first one or two words. In the case of Numbers, the Jews didn't follow this tradition because the the phrase didn't unambiguously identify the book.

Numbers begins two years after the Israelites escaped from Egypt and ends thirty-eight years later with them looking at the Promised Land from the Transjordan area. The name of the book in the Jewish Bible is b'midhbar (or Bemidbar), which, appropriately enough, means "in the wilderness."