Analysis of Participants in the Second Major Division of Numbers

: While many scholars demarcated the text of Numbers using rhetorical criteria such as theme or plot, this study discovered the syntactic-hierarchical structure of Numbers and found the demarcations by Elaborate Divine Speech Formulae. I used the text-linguistics of Eep Talstra and the linguistic inventory of ETCBC (Eep Talstra Center for Bible and Computer). The text-hierar-chical structure resulted in two major divisions, Num 1–8 and9–36, and also six embedded sections, 1:1–3:13, 3:14–8:26, 9:1–20:22, 20:23–33:49, 33:50–34:29, and 35:1–36:13, within them. First, the analysis of participants verifies the validity of the demarcations displaying weak connectivity in terms of shared participants, and strong separability in terms of unique participants. Second, the analysis of participants elaborates well on the discourse function of each of the two major divisions and the six sections. In this paper, I focus on the second major division.


Purpose of this article
The text-linguistics of Eep Talstra 2 seeks to discover the text-hierarchical structure, in which the function of a demarcation marker is defined as whether it opens a major division or a section.In the process, a researcher observes thorough linguistic features at all linguistic levels (grapheme, word, phrase, clause, sentence, verse, and text).A researcher observes mainly clause type, and adjunct phrases in the same clause, judges the relationships between clauses, and discovers the text-hierarchical structure of a text.My study demarcated the book of Numbers by syntactic patterns in which a divine speech formula is combined with a locative phrase or a time phrase or double locative phrases or a combination of a locative or time phrase. 3I tested additionally the validity of the demarcation by ' analysis of participants.This article works on Num 9-36. 4 Whereas the Elaborate divine speech formula [divine speech formula + Locative + Locative + Time phrase] in Num 1:1 starts the first major division, the EDSF [divine speech formula + Locative + 1 Ph.D. in Old Testament Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2021) under the supervision of Willem van Peursen, who is the professor of Old Testament Theology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the director of the Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer (ETCBC). 2 Eep Talstra made the theoretical methodology based on the linguistics of Harald Weinrich and Wolfgang Schneider.See Jin Gyusang, "Analysis of Participants in the First Major Division of Numbers," Evangelical Old Testament Studies vol.22 (2022): 2. Available from: doi:10.22782/eots.2022.22..001. 3I call this syntactic pattern as Elaborate divine speech formula, whose abbreviation is EDSF.EDSF can occur with five types.1) DSF + locative phrase, 2) DSF + double locative phrases, 3) DSF + time phrase, 4) DSF + locative + time phrases, 5) DSF + double locative phrases + time phrases.From here on I will call Elaborate Divine Speech Formula as EDSF.For more elaboration, you can see "Investigating the Text-hierarchical Structures and Composition of Numbers," 53-55.
Time phrase] in Num 9:1 starts the second major division of Numbers. 5 The EDSFs [divine speech formula + Locative + Locative phrase] have the function of demarcating the sections in the second major division. 6I consider Num 9-36 as the second major division, which is comprised of Num 9:1-20:22, 20:23-33:49, 33:50-34:29, and 35:1-36: 13.In terms of participants, two sections that were demarcated by EDSF can be compared with each other.I will display whether each section indicates weak connectivity and strong separability to its adjacent section.Shared participants that occur commonly in two sections would indicate connectivity, while unique participants that occur only in one of the two sections would indicate separability to its adjacent section.If that is so, the outcomes would validate the demarcation.
Scholars who demarcated the text of Numbers by historical-critical or tradition-critical methodologies pointed out Num 9:14 or 10:11 as the beginning of the second major division of Numbers. 7I will analyze Num 9-36 and observe its relationship to the preceding division (Num 1-8), which is necessary to describe the function of the second major division, in order to decide whether Num 9:1 is indeed the second major break in Numbers.

The comparison of participants (types and tokens)
Here we compare the four sections in Num 9:1-36:13 to see their connectivity and separability to each other and whether the outcome validates the demarcations between the sections.To observe the connectivity and separability between the four sections that are demarcated by EDSF [divine speech formula + Locative + Locative phrase] in Num 9:1-36:13, I compare a preceding section and the following section in terms of participants (types and tokens).First, I will see whether shared participants that occur commonly in both sections would indicate weak connectivity, and whether unique participants in each of them would indicate a strong separability to its adjacent section.If the outcome confirms it, it will support the validity of the demarcations by EDSF.To compare fairly sections with different sizes, I convert the frequency of shared participants and unique participants into their relative frequency. 8Second, I will observe the change in the relative frequency of the shared participants, which could increase or decrease in the latter section.While shared participants indicate connectivity between the sections, the change in their relative frequency would indicate a change in the relationship or an event or the plot of an event between the participants, so the change would indicate the separability between the sections.I will interpret the change by rhetorical criteria of plot or theme. 5Both Num 1:1 and 9:1 have a similar order of constituents with clause type WayX, divine speech formula, locative phrase, and time phrase.Each of them is followed by an extensive subordinate clause that elaborates on the preceding time phrase in the preceding main clause.Based on the high similarity, I embedded Num 9:1 under 1:1.For more details, you can see "Investigating the Text-hierarchical Structures and Composition of Numbers," p. 22-38. 6 In this division the EDSF (Divine Speech Formula + double locative phrases) occurs in Num 20:22, 33:50 and 35:1, thus splitting Num 9:1-36:13 into four sections: Num 9:1-20:22, 20:23-33:49, 33:50-34:29 and 35:1-36:13. 7Gyusang Jin, "Investigating the Text-hierarchical Structures and Composition of Numbers," Ph.D. diss., Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit, 2021.6-8.As for the second major division of Numbers, Rendtdorff prefers Num 9:14, Noth and Von Rad argue for Num 10:11, and S.R.Driver indicates Num 10:28. 8Frequency (token) indicates the number of occurrences of each participant.Relative frequency indicates the percentage of this participant.For example, if YHWH occurs 10 times in a text, then the frequency is 10.If YHWH occurs 70 times, Moses occurs 30 times in a text, the percentage of YHWH is 70%, that of Moses is 30%.

Observing the change of the percentage of the shared participants between two sections
In the table below the left two columns include the total frequency of shared participants or unique participants or the sum of both (types in the upper level, tokens in the lower level) in a major division; the right two columns present their relative frequency (percentage). 9As seen in the right two columns the relative frequency of shared participants decreases and that of unique participants increases in the latter section relative to the former section.In section 4.1.,we will see which shared participants occur and if their percentage increases or decreases, and also which unique participants occur.I will interpret the change of the shared participants and the occurrence of unique participants by rhetorical criteria of plot or theme, and elaborate on how the outcomes indicate the separability between the two sections.First, we compare the two major divisions of Numbers.As seen in the table above, the preceding section and the following section show weak connectivity and strong separability in terms of the relative frequency of participants.Moreover, the two sections show strong separability and weak connectivity in terms of the relative frequency of all participants.Therefore, the upper and lower tables support the validity of the demarcation.In terms of the relative frequency of all participants, Num 1:1-8:23 and Num 9:1-36:13 show strong separability.On the other hand, there are shared participants whose percentage in each section increases from the preceding to the following section.The rhetorical criteria plus the change in the percentage indicates the separability between the two sections.

Figure 2. The shared participants whose percentage increases in the latter section
The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is bigger than that in the preceding section. 10The shared participants, whose percentage increases in the following section are: YHWH, Moses, and the sons of Israel.

YHWH
YHWH in the former section commands, then participants obey.Communication is simple.By contrast, in the latter section, YHWH commands, however, participants disobey, rebel, grumble, and collapse.In response to them, YHWH punishes, expresses anger, and instructs participants.The communication between YHWH and the other participants is mutual, active, full of struggle, and destructive.The high relative frequency of YHWH in the latter section indicates the busyness of YHWH.

Moses
Moses in the former section obeys.On the other hand, in the latter section, Moses invites arbitrarily Hobab as a guide of the camp of Israel, although already the cloud of YHWH had led them in Num 9:15-23, as well as the ark of the covenant would lead in Num 10:33-36.The narrator's witness before and after the invitation of Moses confirms that Moses's invitation is wrong.Moses in the latter section complains before YHWH, and faces the rebellion of Miriam, Aaron, and Korah's gathering. 10The number of types of participants is too large to be displayed in a limited text.I chose only a few participants whose relative frequency is high.The same applies to the other sections in this paper.He is deprived of the leadership to bring Israel into the land of Canaan.The high relative frequency of Moses in the latter section indicates his busyness.

Sons of Israel
The sons of Israel in the former section go through a census, the systematization of the 12 camps of the army of Israel takes place, they get the laws relevant to the relationship between husband and wife, the Nazirite, and participate in the presentation of the Levites.On the other hand, the sons of Israel disobey Passover regulations, march, grumble, doubt, despair, rebel, commit adultery and idolatry, collapse, and appear in a travelogue.The high relative frequency of the sons of Israel in the latter section indicates the busyness of the sons of Israel.

The anger of YHWH
The anger of YHWH occurs within the alerting of Israel not to approach the tent of meeting in Num 1:53.On the other hand, in the latter section, the anger of YHWH occurs frequently, attacks disobeyers and rebels.The high relative frequency of the anger of YHWH in the latter section indicates the collapse of the relationship between YHWH and disobedient Israel.In terms of plot, the shared participants in the former major division describe the ideal relationship between YHWH and the other participants.On the other hand, in the latter major division, the shared participants describe the collapse of the relationship between YHWH and the other participants.The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is smaller than that in the preceding section.The shared participants, whose percentage decreases in the following section, are the Levites, the priests, the Gershonites, the Merarites, the Kohathites, and the dwelling-place.

The Levites and the priests
The Levites and the priests in the former section receive an assigned role and are put in a hierarchical relationship.On the other hand, in the latter section, the priests rebel against Moses, and the Levites rebel against Aaron.Their low relative frequency indicates that their status and activity fall, and weakened after the rebellion.

The Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Kohathites
The Gershonites, the Merarites, and the Kohathites in the former section get assigned to the roles of serving at the tent of meeting.On the other hand, in the latter section, they obey their roles.

Dwelling-place
The 'Dwelling-place' in the former section is located in the middle of the camp of the army, it is the place where the Levites serve the work of the tent of meeting.On the other hand, the dwelling-place occurs in the description of the movement of the cloud of YHWH, when 70 elders of Israel are appointed, and when Korah's gathering stands before the punishment of YHWH.
In terms of theme, the shared participants in the former major division describe a theoretical establishment of the hierarchical relationship of the army of Israel and the assignment of roles to each of them.On the other hand, in the latter major division, the shared participants describe the movements, communication, and struggle of the participants instead of repeating the established theory and religious regulations.Thus, these participants occur less.Disobeyers occur less frequently than before their disobedience.Korah, Dathan, and Abiram occur in the latter section instead of the collective Levite.It is a cause of low frequency.

Num 1:
1-8:26-unique participants relative to Num 9:1-36:13 The table below indicates a few unique participants in the former major division relative to the latter major division.It only shows a few unique participants whose relative frequency is big.Their relative frequency indicates the percentage among all the participants in the section.This indicates the separability of the two major divisions.The unique participants above point out the importance of loyalty in the relationship of marriage between husband and wife, keeping a position of the Levites relative to the supervision of the priests, and the voluntary consecration of the Nazirites.The firstborns, the Kohathites, the Merarites, and the Gershonites emphasize the role of the Levites.As a whole, the unique participants emphasize the holiness, loyalty, and the system of the army of YHWH from the lower to the upper level.

Figure 4. The unique participants who occur only in the preceding division
4.3 Num 9:1-36:13 relative to Num 1:1-8:26 -unique participants The table below shows the unique participants that occur most among all unique participants in the following major division relative to the preceding division.Their relative frequency indicates their percentage among all the participants in the major division.They indicate the separability between the two major divisions.

Figure 5. The unique participants who occur only in the latter division
The unique participants, Balaam, Balak, Sihon, Moab, and Canaan, show high relative frequency.
The text where they occur emphasizes that the enemy of Israel is not YHWH but those pagan participants.YHWH clarifies who are the enemies whom Israel must fight against.Rather, YHWH only wants to bless Israel and expresses a sincere loyalty to Israel.The unique participant 'the land of Canaan' occurs frequently and indicates the goal of Israel.The unique participants Joshua, the daughters of Zelophehad, Phinehas, and Caleb, are the faithful examples whom Israel must follow.The unique participants, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, are rebels against a higher authority.The unique participant '12,000 men' of Israel performs the Midian war.
In terms of theme, the unique participants in the latter major division clarify the goal, the enemy of Israel, the opposite responses among participants in Israel, the small number of faithful participants who keep loyalty to YHWH, and the power over the pagan king and priest and the faithfulness of YHWH.
So far, I compared the two major divisions demarcated by the EDSF [divine speech formula + Locative + Time phrases] in terms of the relative frequency of participants (types and tokens).Each of the two major divisions shows weak connectivity and strong separability in terms of the relative frequency of participants (types, tokens).However, sometimes the former section or the latter section can indicate a larger number of shared participants than that of unique participants.Then, the connectivity between the two sections seems stronger than their separability.In this case, I will interpret the change of the percentage of participants by rhetorical analysis, see whether the interpretation still supports the strong separability between the sections, and the validity of the demarcation.

Figure 6. The shared participants and unique participants in both sections
As seen in the upper level of the table above, the preceding section and the following section show weak connectivity and strong separability in terms of the relative frequency of the types of participants.By contrast, in the lower level, the preceding section shows strong connectivity and weak separability in terms of the relative frequency of the tokens of participants.On the other hand, the following section shows weak connectivity and strong separability in terms of the relative frequency of participants.Therefore, the upper table seems to support the validity of the demarcation and the lower table does not seem to support it.
The relative frequency of the shared participants in the two sections measures the connectivity between the two sections, according to whether the relative frequency of the shared participants compared to all participants increases or decreases from the preceding section to the following section.This change will indicate the degree of separability between the two sections.The separability of the change is explained well by rhetorical analysis.The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is bigger than that in the preceding section.

The messenger of YHWH
In the preceding section, the messenger of YHWH occurs in the words of Moses to the king of Edom.When Israel cried out in Egypt, YHWH sent a messenger of YHWH.On the other hand, the messenger of YHWH in the latter section blocks the way of Balaam to Balak.

The Amorites
The Amorites in the first section are dwelling in the land of Canaan where the twelve spies explore.
On the other hand, Israel disinherits the Amorites and occupies their land in the latter section.

Mount Hor
Mount Hor in the first section is the point from which Israel departs in their marching in the desert.
On the other hand, Mount Hor is the place where Aaron dies and is buried in the latter section.Mount Hor composes the inclusion of Num 9:1-20:22, the outer frame of it, and delineates the section from its adjacent sections.Mount Hor occurs again in Num 20:23 and in the travelogue, in Num 33, composes an inclusio of Num 20:23-33:49 again, the outer frame of it, and delineates the section separating it from its adjacent section.Mount Hor also supports the cohesiveness between Num 9:1-20:22 and Num 20:23-33:49.

The river Jordan
The river Jordan in the first section occurs as a part of the land of Canaan where the twelve spies explore.On the other hand, in the latter section, the Jordan is the place where the army of Israel encamps, as well as that of the second census, the war against Midian, and the persuasion of the Reubenites and the Gadites occur.The Jordan also occurs in the travelogue in Num 33.Likewise, it occurs frequently in the latter section and composes its cohesiveness.

Eleazar
Eleazar in the former section collects the twelve sticks of the twelve tribes during the punishment of Korah's congregation.He receives the commandment of YHWH in Num 19.After Aaron and Miriam rebel against the leadership of Moses, implicitly the role of Aaron would have been taken over by Eleazar.On the other hand, in the latter section, Eleazar succeeds officially in the role of Aaron at Mount Hor.He works with Moses in the second census, dealing with the request of the daughters of Zelophehad, the laws about feasts, the war against Midian, and the war between the Reubenites and the Gadites.
Likewise, the percentage change of the shared participants from the former to the latter section can be interpreted by the rhetorical criterion of a theme.The first section describes the marching of Israel before the war to conquer the land of Canaan.On the other hand, the latter section describes the beginning of the war against the Canaanites and the end of the marching of Israel.
Likewise, the percentage change of the shared participants in the two sections indicates separability in terms of plot and theme.

Figure 8. The shared participants whose percentage decreases in the latter section
The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is smaller than that in the preceding section.The shared participants, whose percentage in the preceding section decreases in the following section, are YHWH, Moses, the sons of Israel, Aaron, the Levites, and the land of Canaan.

YHWH
YHWH in the former section occurs frequently, He leads the marching of Israel, punishes disobeyers, and instructs the rest of Israel.On the other hand, in the latter section, YHWH commands the death of Aaron, transfers the role of Aaron to Eleazar, punishes Israel who grumbles at Meribah, restores some people who obey YHWH, nullifies the plan of Balak, makes Balaam bless Israel, destroys the Israelites who committed idolatry and adultery at Shittim, gathers the second army of Israel, admits the request of the daughters of Zelophehad, commands the war against Midian, persuades the Reubenites and the Gadites to participate in the war against the Canaanites, admits their request, and reminds Israel that YHWH brought them out of Egypt.Even if YHWH still works hard, other participants occur more frequently.Therefore, the relative frequency of YHWH decreases.
In terms of theme, YHWH in the former section punishes disobeyers at each level and lets the rest of Israel march in the desert for forty years.On the other hand, in the latter section, YHWH kills the disobeyers and gathers a completely new army of YHWH.They had been educated seeing the faults of the first generation, and responded with faith before YHWH.

Moses
Moses in the first section requests a second chance to keep the Passover for disobeyers, invites arbitrarily Hobab as a guide of the camp of Israel, asks for the death of himself after the complaint concerning manna, executes the punishment of YHWH to Miriam and Aaron, to the ten spies who did a bad report about the land, to Korah's congregation, and to the complaint at Meribah.On the other hand, in the latter section, Moses takes over the garments, transfers the role of Aaron to Eleazar, watches the death of Aaron, gives a chance of restoration to Israel by a bronze snake, executes the punishment to Israel at Shittim, delivers the request of the daughters of Zelophehad, gets the laws of the feasts, performs the Midian war, persuades the Reubenites and the Gadites and records the travelogue of Israel.In the former section, Moses disobeys YHWH, in the latter section his role continues but weakens.His decreasing percentage indicates, like with Aaron, that the influence of Moses weakens, and he hands over his role to Joshua in Num 27.
In terms of theme, Moses in the former section disobeys and executes the punishment of YHWH to disobeyers.In the latter section, Moses serves YHWH to destroy the rebels, performs the second census of the army of Israel, and persuades them not to repeat the same fault as the first generation of Israel did.

Sons of Israel
The sons of Israel in the former section disobey the first Passover, grumble, despair by the evil report of the ten spies instead of believing YHWH more, and march through Kadesh up to Mount Hor.On the other hand, in the latter section, the sons of Israel watch the death of Aaron and mourn it.However, they do not get alert from it, because again they grumble at Meribah, get the punishment by snakes, and get the blessing of YHWH through Balaam, but commit idolatry and adultery at Shittim, and collapse.The second generation of Israel remembers them as the generation of failure.The travelogue in Num 33 describes the marching of the first generation of Israel.The high relative frequency of the sons of Israel in the former shows their extremely frequent and serious disobedience, and their low percentage in the latter section shows their foolishness in repeating similar faults although they get a strong alert, lessons from the punishment, the blessing of YHWH, and their total collapse.

Aaron
Aaron in the former section hears the request of the disobeyers of the first Passover, blows the clarion to declare the beginning of the marching of Israel, rebels against higher Moses, faces the rebellion of lower Korah's gathering, gets the admonition of YHWH, and ascends on Mount Hor.On the other hand, in the latter section, Aaron takes over his role to Eleazar and dies at Mount Hor.The decreasing relative frequency of Aaron in the latter section also indicates his influence on other participants falls after his rebellion against higher Moses.

The Levites
The Levites in the former section participate in the rebellion of Korah's gathering, and get the admonition of YHWH.On the other hand, in the latter section, the Levites of the second generation get the plunder after the Midian war.The decreasing relative frequency of the Levites in the latter section also indicates their influence on other participants falls after their rebellion against higher Aaron.The Levites occur in Num 35 in which the assignment of houses and pasture to the Levites precedes the description of the house of the high priest.This reflects that YHWH responds to their complaint in Num 16-17 by rewards.
In the former section, the land of Canaan is the object that the first generation of Israel explores to conquer, but doubts it.On the other hand, in the latter section, it is the goal of the second generation of Israel.The decreasing relative frequency of the land of Canaan in the latter section indicates that specified regions of the land instead of the whole land of Canaan occur as the Israelites fight to conquer the specified regions.
Likewise, the percentage change of the shared participants from the former to the latter is interpreted by the rhetorical criteria of plot and theme.The former section describes the disobedience of the participants.On the other hand, the latter section describes the fall, the collapse of the disobeyers, and their replacement by new participants.
Likewise, the percentage change of the shared participants in the two sections indicates separability in terms of plot and theme.

Num 9:1-20:22-unique participants relative to Num 20:23-33:49
The table below indicates a few unique participants in the former section relative to the latter section.

Figure 9. The unique participants who occur only in the preceding section
The disobeyers among the unique participants are the ten spies, the man gathering wood on the Sabbath day, defiant disobeyers, Aaron and Miriam, and Korah's gathering.The unique participants, the cloud of YHWH, the Heifer, and the glory of YHWH, indicate the anger, punishment, and grace of YHWH.YHWH punishes the sins of Israel, but offers a chance to restore the relationship with YHWH.Hobab is an unessential guide of Israel.The ark of YHWH verifies that Hobab was not necessary to the camp of Israel.The seventy elders are appointed based on the complaint of Moses, but they also rebel against Moses and make it harder for him.The unique participants Joshua and Caleb are rarely faithful participants.In terms of theme, the unique participants above are relevant to the disobedience of the participants at each level and the punishment of YHWH.The ideal relationship between YHWH and the other participants in Num 3:14-8:26 is broken in Num 9:1-20:22.

Num 20:23-33:49 relative to Num 9:1-20:22 unique participants
The table below shows the unique participants who occur frequently among all the unique participants in the following section relative to the preceding section.

Figure 10. The unique participants who occur only in the latter section
The unique participants in the latter section include Balaam, Balak, Moab, Sihon, Og, Midian, the leaders of Moab, the Midian women, and Heshbon, which are the enemies of Israel.The unique participants further include the second generation of Israel, 12,000 soldiers, the Reubenites, the Gadites, Phinehas, the daughters of Zelophehad, and the tribes of Gilead, who are faithful to YHWH and acquire the land of Canaan.The fathers of the Reubenites and the Gadites are an alert to the second generation of Israel.Other unique participants, the husband of a woman and the father of a woman, are an authority in a house, which is the minimum unit of the army of Israel.The laws in Num 30 recall the laws of a wife and a husband in Num 5.The former reiterates the same theme as the latter, specifies the relationship between a woman and a man in a house, clarifies the hierarchical relationship in various cases in a house, and prevents monotonous reiteration of the latter.
In terms of theme, the unique participants in the latter section clarify who are the enemies whom Israel must fight against, and that YHWH is the extremely trustworthy and reliable King of Israel who blesses them and overcomes the pagan king and pagan prophet.The first generation of Israel collapsed because they reckoned their Lord YHWH as an enemy, and the worthless Baal as their lord.
The unique participants in the latter section modify their misconception, emphasize who are the enemies to fight against, who is the Lord whom they must trust, worship, and be loyal to, as well as the importance to respect the hierarchical system that YHWH has set up.As can be seen in the upper level of the table above, the preceding section and the following section show weak connectivity and strong separability in terms of the relative frequency of the types of participants.The two sections of the lower level in the table also show strong separability and weak connectivity in terms of the relative frequency of all participants.Therefore, the upper and lower levels of the table support the validity of the demarcation.On the other hand, I will observe whether the percentage change of the relative frequency of all the shared participants from the preceding section to the following section also indicates separability.

Figure 12. The shared participants whose percentage increases in the latter section
The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is bigger than that in the preceding section.The shared participants, whose percentage in the preceding section increases in the following section, are the sons of Israel (the second generation), and the land of Canaan.

Sons of Israel (the second generation)
The sons of Israel (the second generation) in the former section prove their faith and obedience before YHWH.On the other hand, in the latter section, the second generation of Israel gets an inheritance of the land of Canaan.

The land of Canaan
The land of Canaan in the former section is the goal that the second generation of Israel is to achieve.On the other hand, in the latter section, each portion of the land of Canaan is assigned to each tribe.

Figure 13. The shared participants whose percentage decreases in the latter section
The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is smaller than that in the preceding section.The shared participants, whose percentage in the preceding section decreases in the following section, are YHWH, Moses, and the sons of Israel.

YHWH
YHWH in the former section occurs frequently.He punishes disobeyers, instructs the rest of Israel, and persuades the second generation of Israel to participate in the war to conquer the land of Canaan.
On the other hand, in the latter section, YHWH prohibits idolatry, commands to destroy the altar of idolatry, and distributes each portion of the land of Canaan.The high relative frequency of YHWH in the former section indicates the struggle between YHWH and the participants.On the other hand, in the latter section, the low relative frequency of YHWH indicates a harmonious relationship between YHWH and the other participants.Simply YHWH assigns an inheritance to each obedient tribe of Israel.

Moses
Moses in the former section occurs frequently.He takes over the role of Aaron to Eleazar, makes a bronze snake for punished Israel, executes the punishment to disobeyers at Shittim, does the second census, delivers the request of the daughters of Zelophehad to YHWH, persuades the Reubenites and the Gadites, and records the travelogue of Israel.On the other hand, in the latter section, Moses prohibits idolatry in Israel, commands destroying the altar of idolatry, and assigns each inheritance of the land of Canaan to each tribe of Israel.After Joshua succeeds in the role of Moses, the relative frequency of Moses in the latter section decreases more.

Sons of Israel (the first generation)
The sons of Israel of the first generation in the former section watch the death of Aaron, grumble at Meribah, get attacked by snakes, commit idolatry and adultery, collapse, occur as bad history in the second census, and occur in the travelogue in Num 33.On the other hand, in the latter section, the sons of Israel of the first generation do not occur, except in a narrator's call to the tribes of Israel in Num 34:18.Their extremely low frequency in the latter section indicates their total collapse.
In terms of theme, the shared participants in the former section struggle, disharmonize, and some of them collapse.On the other hand, in the latter section, they get each an inheritance assigned.

Num 20:23-33:49 relative to Num 33:50-34:29 -unique participants
The table below indicates a few unique participants in the former section relative to the latter section.

Figure 14. The unique participants who occur only in the preceding section
Some of the unique participants, Balaam, Balak, Sihon, Og, Midian, the elders of Moab, the Midian women, and Heshbon, are the enemies of Israel.Other unique participants, the Reubenites, and the Gadites, Phinehas, the daughters of Zelophehad, and the tribes of Gilead, are the participants of the faithful second generation of Israel.Some other unique participants, a woman's husband, and a woman's father, are the authority in the house.In terms of theme, the unique participants in the former section clarify the enemies of Israel, describe how obedient participants passed faith tests, and are to get an inheritance in the land of Canaan.

Num 33:50-34:29-unique participants relative to Num 20:23-33:49
The table below shows the unique participants who occur frequently among all the unique participants in the following section relative to the preceding section.

Figure 15. The unique participants who occur only in the latter section
The unique participants in the latter section describe the borders of the land of Canaan, the portions of each tribe, and the directions of each inheritance of a tribe.In terms of theme, they describe the rewards that the faithful second generation of Israel is to receive.As can be seen in the upper level of the table above, the preceding section and the following section show weak connectivity and strong separability in terms of the relative frequency of the types of participants.The two sections of the lower level in the table also show strong separability and weak connectivity in terms of the relative frequency of all participants.Therefore, the upper and lower levels of the table support the validity of the demarcation.On the other hand, I will observe whether the percentage change of all the shared participants from the preceding section to the following section also indicates separability.The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is bigger than that in the preceding section.The shared participants, whose percentage increases in the following section, are the sons of Israel, the sons of Ephraim, and Joseph.Among the second generation of Israel, the elders of Gilead of the sons of Joseph request a rule to protect their tribal inheritance.The focus moves from the twelve tribes of Israel in the former section to one tribe among twelve tribes.The relative frequency of the participants above increases a bit.In terms of theme, the former section describes the distribution of inheritance to the twelve tribes.On the other hand, the latter section describes making a rule to protect an inheritance of a tribe in a marriage.The table above shows a few shared participants in the two sections whose relative frequency in the following section is smaller than that in the preceding section.The shared participants, whose percentage in the preceding section decreases in the following section, are YHWH, the sons of Manasseh, the second generation of Israel, the earth of Canaan, and Canaan.

YHWH
YHWH in the former section distributes the land of Canaan to each of the twelve tribes of the second generation.On the other hand, in the latter section, YHWH accepts the request of the elders of Gilead to protect an inheritance of a tribe from a marriage of a woman of the tribe.

The second generation of Israel
The second generation of Israel in the former section gets the commandment of YHWH to prohibit idolatry, and to destroy the altar of idols, and each tribe of them gets each inheritance.By contrast, in the latter section, the second generation of Israel gets the commandment to give accommodation and pasture to the Levites, to put the cities of refugees, and to protect each inheritance.
The relative frequency of the shared participants decreases a bit in the latter section due to the fact that the latter section focuses on the request of one tribe in Israel.
In terms of theme, the former describes the distribution of the land of Canaan, the latter describes the protection of an inheritance of a tribe.It indicates separability between the two sections.The table below indicates a few unique participants in the former section relative to the latter section.

Figure 19. The unique participants who occur only in the preceding section
The unique participants in the former section describe the borders of the land of Canaan, the inheritance of each tribe, and the directions of each inheritance.The table below shows the unique participants who occur frequently among all the unique participants in the following section relative to the preceding section.

Figure 20. The unique participants who occur only in the latter section
The unique participants in the latter section are weak and vulnerable participants in the society of Israel and their accommodations.
In terms of theme, the former section describes the distribution of the land of Canaan to each tribe.On the other hand, the latter section describes guaranteeing the accommodation for the weak and vulnerable, but obedient people, and the protection of an inheritance of a tribe.This indicates separability.

Conclusion
As has been seen so far, I compared four sections in terms of the change in the percentage of shared participants and I observed unique participants in two sections.Each section indicates weak connectivity and strong separability relative to its adjacent sections.Even the change of the percentage in shared participants from the preceding section to the following section indicates separability between the two sections.This validates the demarcations by the EDSF, and supports the demarcation of Num 9-36 as the second major division of the book of Numbers, as well as the demarcation of the four sections within Num 9-36.

Discussion on the demarcations by other scholars
There are scholars who argue Num 1:1-10:10 is the first major division of Numbers, and 10:11-36:13 is the second major division of Numbers based on diachronic demarcation.On the other hand, I argue Num 1:1-8:26 is the first major division, 9:1-36:13 is the second major division, and 9:1 starts the second major division. 11n my perspective, the punishment of YHWH goes through in Num 25:1-18, not in 20:29, even Moses still survives until then, dies really in Deut 34:1-12.While Num 20:1-22 describes the death of Miriam, the refusal of the king of Edom for Israel to pass through his land, and the failure of disobeyers, 20:23-29 describes the death of Aaron, the role of the priest taken over to Eleazar, foreshadows the main theme, the transition from the first generation to the second generation of Israel, that will occur in 20:23-33:49.
From my perspective, however, Num 33:50-36:13 is separate from 20:23-33:49 based on the syntactic pattern (20:23), as well as it is divided into 33:50-34:29 and 35:1-36:13 based on the syntactic pattern (33:50).Num 20:23-33:49 describes the transition from the collapse of the disobedient first generation of Israel to the obedient second generation of Israel, 33:50-34:29 describes the condition before distribution of the inheritances to twelve tribes and the execution of the distribution, and 35:1-36:13 describes the favor of YHWH to obedient participants.Specifically, YHWH protects the obedient Levites and priests, even unintentional murderers, and guarantees to assign inheritances to the obedient daughters of Zelophehad.The latter section describes the obedient daughters of Zelophehad became the beneficiary to receive the inheritance, encourages readers to resemble them, not to be discouraged because of their social status.

Num 35:1-34
Bud defines Num 35:1-8 as "The Levitical Cities," 35:9-34 as "The Cities of Refuge," and 36:1-13 as "The Case of the Daughters of Zelophehad Resumed." 26 I agree with his description.On the other hand, I argue 35:1-36:13 as one textual unit in which YHWH protects obedient participants at all social levels and guarantees to give inheritance to them.
As discussed so far, while most scholars argue that Num 10:11 starts the second major division of Numbers, I argue that 9:1 indicates a new start.The definitions of the sections that scholars made do not cover enough of all the contents in a section.Rather, defining the divisions as 9:1-20:22, 20:23-33:49, 33:50-34:29, and 35:1-36:13 in my view cover enough sufficiently all the contexts in each section that is demarcated by syntactic patterns and EDSFs.

Conclusion
Here I conclude the work in this paper and explain its intended contribution.
In 2 and 3, I explained why I use analysis of participants, and how I do it.
In 4, I elaborated on the validity of the demarcations by analysis of participants and reached a conclusion.I compared two sections and extracted shared participants that occur commonly in both sections, and unique participants that occur only in one of the sections.A small number of shared participants indicates weak connectivity between them, while unique participants indicate strong separability of each section.The outcome supports the validity of the demarcations, and encourages keeping the research order from syntactic analysis to participants' analysis.
The analysis of participants helped also to explain the discourse function of each section, while the definitions of the sections that scholars made in my opinion do not fit enough all the contents in a section.This advantage of the analysis of participants corroborates the necessity of the methodology to analyze the Hebrew text.
and collapse, and obedient participants that execute exactly what YHWH commanded and get assigned the inheritances in the promised land.
Num 9:1-20:22 describes participants' disobedience at all the hierarchical levels, 20:23-33:49 describes the collapse of the disobedient first generation and the rise of the obedient second generation, 33:50-34:29 describes alerting Israel to destroy idols in the land of Canaan, and the distribution of the inheritances to twelve tribes, and 35:1-36:13 describes that YHWH protects obedient participants and guarantees to assign inheritances to them.
In 5, I discussed my demarcations with the opinions of scholars and argued to execute research from syntactic analysis to participants' analysis of the Hebrew text.
Conclusively, I argue that the second major division starts at Num 9:1.The syntactic-hierarchical structure of Numbers shows reliable textual demarcations.The analysis of participants supports the validity of the demarcations, and elaborates well on the discourse function of each section, showing how it develops from a preceding section to its following section.

13 Figure 1 .
Figure 1.The shared participants and unique participants in both divisions

Figure 3 .
Figure 3.The shared participants whose percentage decreases in the latter section

4. 3
.2.1.Num 20:23-33:49 relative to Num 33:50-34:29-shared participantsIn terms of the relative frequency of all participants, Num 20:23-33:49 and 33:50-34:29 show strong separability.On the other hand, there are shared participants whose percentage in each section increases from the preceding section to the following section.The rhetorical interpretation of the change in the percentage indicates separability between the two sections.

13 Figure 16 .
Figure 16.The shared participants and unique participants in both sections

Figure 18 .
Figure 18.The shared participants whose percentage decreases in the latter section