These are the clans of the Reubenites, and those listed were 43,730.
This is the register of the tribes as they were now enrolled, in the same order that they were numbered in ch. 1. Observe, I. The account that is here kept of the families of each tribe, which must not be understood of such as we call families, those that live in a house together, but such as were the descendants of the several sons...
Commenting on Numbers 26:5-51
These are the families of the Reubenites--the principal households, which were subdivided into numerous smaller families. Reuben had suffered great diminution by Korah's conspiracy and other outbreaks [Num 16:1].
Num 26:5-11 The families of Reuben tally with Gen 46:9; Exo 6:14, and 1Ch 5:3. The plural בּני (sons), in Num 26:8, where only one son is mentioned, is to be explained from the fact, that several sons of this particular son (i.e., grandsons) are mentioned afterwards. On Dathan and Abiram, see at Num 16:1 and Num 16:32.
Commenting on Numbers 26:5-11