Numbers 1:3
in Numbers 1You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
from twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel, thou and Aaron shall number them by their hosts.
KJV
From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
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This verse in Numbers 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseFrom twenty years old and upward - In this census no women were reckoned, nor children, nor strangers, nor the Levites, nor old men, which, collectively, must have formed an immense multitude; the Levites alone amounted to 22,300. True-born Israelites only are reckoned; such as were able to carry arms, and were expert for war.
This site's exposition
the LORD spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting
on Numbers 1:1-4
Verse 3 counts those “twenty years of age or older” who can serve in the army, so this is a muster roll of fighting men. Exodus 30:12 had tied a ransom to any census so that “no plague will come upon them”.
This site's exposition
twenty years of age or older
Adam Clarke lists who stands outside this count: women, children, strangers, the Levites and old men. Matthew Henry adds that illness, blindness and lameness also excused a man. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read divisions as companies of the army.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), and one man of every tribe, that was renowned in his tribe, and was presumed to know it well, was to assist in it-- the princes of the tribes,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
From twenty years old and upwards,....
(2.) Nor were any to be numbered who through age, or bodily infirmity, blindness, lameness, or chronical diseases, were unfit for war. The church being militant, those only are reputed the true members of it that have enlisted themselves soldiers of Jesus Christ; for our life, our Christian life, is a warfare.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Aaron shall number them by their armies--or companies. In their departure from Egypt they were divided into five grand companies (Ex 13:18), but from the sojourn in the wilderness to the passage of the Jordan, they were formed into four great divisions. The latter is here referred to.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
למשפחתם — [TAKE YE THE SUM OF THE CONGREGATION …] AFTER THEIR FAMILIES — in order to ascertain the number of individuals in each tribe.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִבֶּ֨ן | miben | from a son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֤ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| שָׁנָה֙ | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וָמַ֔עְלָה | vama'lah | and up -wards | H4605 → | 140 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יֹצֵ֥א | yotze' | [one who] goes forth | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| צָבָ֖א | tzava' | warfare | H6635 → | 485 times |
| בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | beyisrael | in Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| תִּפְקְד֥וּ | tifkedu | you will enroll | H6485 → | 303 times |
| אֹתָ֛ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְצִבְאֹתָ֖ם | letzivotam | to military groups their | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אַתָּ֥ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃ | veaharon | and Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
מִבֶּ֨ןfrom a son of
mibenH1121 →4930 times
עֶשְׂרִ֤יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
שָׁנָה֙year[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
וָמַ֔עְלָהand up -wards
vama'lahH4605 →140 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יֹצֵ֥א[one who] goes forth
yotze'H3318 →1067 times
צָבָ֖אwarfare
tzava'H6635 →485 times
בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לin Israel
beyisraelH3478 →2507 times
תִּפְקְד֥וּyou will enroll
tifkeduH6485 →303 times
אֹתָ֛ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לְצִבְאֹתָ֖םto military groups their
letzivotamH6635 →485 times
אַתָּ֥הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
וְאַהֲרֹֽן׃and Aaron
veaharonH175 →347 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 14:29Your bodies will fall in this wilderness—all who were numbered in the census, everyone twenty years of age or older—because you have grumbled against Me.
it leads to
- Numbers 1:45
So all the Israelites twenty years of age or older who could serve in Israel’s army were counted according to their families.
- Numbers 26:64
Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
- 1 Corinthians 10:5
Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
- Hebrews 3:17
And with whom was God angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
- Numbers 1:45
Through
Numbers 33:1These are the journeys of the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
it leads to
- Psalms 77:20
You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
- Micah 6:4
For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.
- Psalms 77:20
Through
Numbers 26:2“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by the houses of their fathers—all those twenty years of age or older who can serve in the army of Israel.”
it leads to
- Exodus 38:25–26
The silver from those numbered among the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel—
- Numbers 1:2–3
“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.
- Exodus 38:25–26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies4
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.