“Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one;
- KJV Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;
- NKJV “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually,
- NASB “Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head
- NLT “From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God commands a census of all Israel, counted by tribes and families. This numbering treats the people as God's ordered covenant nation, not a random crowd.
Overview
The census is to be taken by clans and households, underscoring that Israel is a covenant family descended from the patriarchs. Counting 'by name' reflects God's personal knowledge of His people, a theme that runs to the gospel, where the redeemed are known by name and written in the Lamb's book of life (Luke 10:20; Rev. 21:27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Exod 30:12“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered.
- Exod 38:26a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men.
- Num 1:18and on the first day of the second month they assembled the whole congregation and recorded their ancestry by clans and families, counting one by one the names of those twenty years of age or older,
- Num 26:2–4“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.”
- Num 1:22From the sons of Simeon, according to the records of their clans and families, counting one by one the names of every male twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,
- 1 Chr 27:23–24David did not count the men aged twenty or under, because the LORD had said that He would make Israel as numerous as the stars of the sky.
- Gen 49:1–3Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
- Exod 6:14–19These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
- 2 Sam 24:1–3Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- Num 1:26–54From the sons of Judah, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,
- Exod 1:1–5These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
- 1 Chr 21:1–2Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
- Num 26:63–64These were the ones numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they counted the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 1:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.