Numbers 1:2

1:2 “Take a census ¹  of the entire ²  Israelite community ³  by their clans and families, ⁴  counting the name of every individual male. ⁵ 

Numbers 1:24

1:24 ⁶ From the descendants of Gad: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:26

1:26 From the descendants of Judah: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:28

1:28 From the descendants of Issachar: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:30

1:30 From the descendants of Zebulun: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:32

1:32 From the sons of Joseph:

From the descendants of Ephraim: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:34

1:34 From the descendants of Manasseh: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:36

1:36 From the descendants of Benjamin: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:38

1:38 From the descendants of Dan: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:40

1:40 From the descendants of Asher: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 1:42

1:42 From ⁷  the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name.

Numbers 3:28

3:28 Counting every male from a month old and upward, there were 8,600. They were responsible for the care ⁸  of the sanctuary.

Numbers 3:40

The Substitution for the Firstborn

3:40 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take ⁹  the number of their names.

Numbers 3:43

3:43 And all the firstborn males, by the number of the names from a month old and upward, totaled 22,273.

Numbers 9:20

9:20 When ¹⁰  the cloud remained over the tabernacle a number of days, ¹¹  they remained camped according to the Lord’s commandment, ¹²  and according to the Lord’s commandment they would journey.

Numbers 14:29

14:29 Your dead bodies ¹³  will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me.

Numbers 23:10

23:10 Who ¹⁴  can count ¹⁵  the dust ¹⁶  of Jacob,

Or number ¹⁷  the fourth part of Israel?

Let me ¹⁸  die the death of the upright, ¹⁹ 

and let the end of my life ²⁰  be like theirs.” ²¹ 

Numbers 31:36

31:36 The half-portion of those who went to war numbered 337,500 sheep;

[1:2]  ¹ tn The construction is literally “lift up the head[s],” (שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ, sÿ’u ’et-ro’sh). This idiom for taking a census occurs elsewhere (Exod 30:12; Lev 5:24; Num 1:24; etc.). The idea is simply that of counting heads to arrive at the base for the standing army. This is a different event than the one recorded in Exod 30:11-16, which was taken for a different purpose altogether. The verb is plural, indicating that Moses had help in taking the census.

[1:2]  ² tc Smr lacks the Hebrew word “all” here.

[1:2]  ³ tn Heb “the congregation of Israel.”

[1:2]  ⁴ tn The tribe (מַטֶּה, matteh or שֵׁבֶט, shevet) is the main category. The family groups or clans (מִשְׁפְּחֹת, mishpÿkhot) and the households or families (בֵּית אֲבֹת, bet ’avot) were sub-divisions of the tribe.

[1:2]  ⁵ tn This clause simply has “in/with the number of the names of every male with respect to their skulls [individually].” Counting heads, or every skull, simply meant that each person was to be numbered in the census. Except for the Levites, no male was exempt from the count.

[1:24]  ⁶ tc The LXX has vv. 24-35 after v. 37.

[1:42]  ¹¹ tc The verse does not have the preposition, only “the descendants of Naphtali.”

[3:28]  ¹⁶ tn The construction here is a little different. The Hebrew text uses the participle in construct plural: שֹׁמְרֵי (shomÿrey, literally “keepers of”). The form specifies the duties of the 8,600 Kohathites. The genitive that follows this participle is the cognate מִשְׁמֶרֶת (mishmeret) that has been used before. So the expression indicates that they were responsible for the care of this part of the cult center. There is no reason to delete one of the forms (as does J. A. Paterson, Numbers, 42), for the repetition stresses the central importance of their work.

[3:40]  ²¹ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “take”) has here the sense of collect, take a census, or register the names.

[9:20]  ²⁶ tn The sentence uses וְיֵשׁ (vÿyesh) followed by a noun clause introduced with אֲשֶׁר (’asher) to express an existing situation; it is best translated as an adverbial clause of time: “and it was when the cloud was….”

[9:20]  ²⁷ tn The word “number” is in apposition to the word “days” to indicate that their stay was prolonged for quite a few days.

[9:20]  ²⁸ tn Heb “mouth of the Lord.”

[14:29]  ³¹ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

[23:10]  ³⁶ tn The question is again rhetorical; it means no one can count them – they are innumerable.

[23:10]  ³⁷ tn The perfect tense can also be classified as a potential nuance. It does not occur very often, but does occur several times.

[23:10]  ³⁸ sn The reference in the oracle is back to Gen 13:16, which would not be clear to Balaam. But God had described their growth like the dust of the earth. Here it is part of the description of the vast numbers.

[23:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and as a number, the fourth part of Israel.” The noun in the MT is not in the construct state, and so it should be taken as an adverbial accusative, forming a parallel with the verb “count.” The second object of the verse then follows, “the fourth part of Israel.” Smr and the LXX have “and who has numbered” (וּמִסְפָּר, umispar), making this colon more parallel to the preceding one. The editor of BHS prefers this reading.

[23:10]  ⁴⁰ tn The use of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) for the subject of the verb stresses the personal nature – me.

[23:10]  ⁴¹ sn Here the seer’s words link with the promise of Gen 12:3, that whoever blesses Israel will be blessed. Since the blessing belongs to them, the upright (and not Balak), Balaam would like his lot to be with them.

[23:10]  ⁴² tn Heb “my latter end.”

[23:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “his.”