Numbers 1:3

1:3 You and Aaron are to number ¹  all in Israel who can serve in the army, ²  those who are ³  twenty years old or older, ⁴  by their divisions. 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 1:34

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 1:45

1:45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered ⁸  according to their families.

Numbers 4:23

4:23 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 4:30

4:30 You must number them from thirty years old and upward to fifty years old, all who enter the company to do the work of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 8:15

8:15 “After this, the Levites will go in ⁹  to do the work ¹⁰  of the tent of meeting. So you must cleanse them ¹¹  and offer them like a wave offering. ¹² 

Numbers 26:2

26:2 “Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their clans, ¹³  everyone who can serve in the army of Israel.” ¹⁴ 

Numbers 26:10

26:10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and Korah at the time that company died, when the fire consumed 250 men. So they became a warning.

[1:3]  ¹ tn The verb (פָּקַד, paqad) means “to visit, appoint, muster, number.” The word is a common one in scripture. It has as its basic meaning the idea of “determining the destiny” of someone, by appointing, mustering, or visiting. When God “visits,” it is a divine intervention for either blessing or cursing. Here it is the taking of a census for war (see G. André, Determining the Destiny [ConBOT], 16).

[1:3]  ² tn The construction uses the participle “going out” followed by the noun “army.” It describes everyone “going out in a military group,” meaning serving in the army. It was the duty of every able-bodied Israelite to serve in this “peoples” army. There were probably exemptions for the infirm or the crippled, but every male over twenty was chosen. For a discussion of warfare, see P. C. Craigie, The Problem of War in the Old Testament, and P. D. Miller, “The Divine Council and the Prophetic Call to War,” VT 18 (1968): 100-107.

[1:3]  ³ tn The text simply has “from twenty years old and higher.”

[1:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and up.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn The noun (צָבָא, tsava’) means “army” or “military group.” But the word can also be used for nonmilitary divisions of labor (Num 4:3).

[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.”

[1:45]  ¹⁶ tn Literally the text has, “and all the numbered of the Israelites were according to their families.” The verb in the sentence is actually without a complement (see v. 46).

[8:15]  ²¹ tn The imperfect tense could also be given the nuance of the imperfect of permission: “the Levites may go in.”

[8:15]  ²² tn Heb “to serve.”

[8:15]  ²³ tn The two verbs in the rest of this verse are perfect tenses with vav (ו) consecutive constructions, making them equal to the imperfect. Some commentators try to get around the difficulty of repetition by making these future perfects, “and you will have cleansed,” as opposed to a summary statement, “for thus you will cleanse….”

[8:15]  ²⁴ tc The Greek text adds “before the Lord.”

[26:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “house of their fathers.”

[26:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “everyone who goes out in the army in Israel.”