You 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their divisions.
- 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.
- NKJV from twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
- NASB from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall count them by their armies.
- NLT twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops,
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
The men counted are those twenty and older who are able to serve in war. The census prepares Israel as an army for the conquest of the promised land.
Overview
This was a military muster, identifying the fighting strength of the nation as it readied to march toward Canaan. Moses and Aaron, leaders in both civil and priestly spheres, oversee the count, showing the joining of authority and worship in Israel. The conquest points forward to the greater rest secured by Christ (Heb. 4:8-9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 30:14Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD.
- Num 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.
- Num 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.”
- Exod 12:17So you are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your divisions out of the land of Egypt. You must keep this day as a permanent statute for the generations to come.
- Deut 3:18At that time I commanded you: “The LORD your God has given you this land to possess. All your men of valor are to cross over, armed for battle, ahead of your brothers, the Israelites.
- Num 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.
- Deut 24:5If a man is newly married, he must not be sent to war or be pressed into any duty. For one year he is free to stay at home and bring joy to the wife he has married.
- 2 Sam 24:9And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.
- Num 32:11‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—
- 2 Chr 26:11–13Uzziah had an army ready for battle that went out to war by assigned divisions, as recorded by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the officer under the direction of Hananiah, one of the royal officers.
- 2 Chr 17:13–18and kept vast supplies in the cities of Judah. He also had warriors in Jerusalem who were mighty men of valor.
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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 1:3 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
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