^1:2“Take a census¹¹ of the entire¹² Israelite community¹³ by their clans and families,¹⁴ counting the name of every individual male.¹⁵^1:3You and Aaron are to number¹⁶ all in Israel who can serve in the army,¹⁷ those who are¹⁸ twenty years old or older,¹⁹ by their divisions.²⁰^1:4And to help you²¹ there is to be a man from each²² tribe, each man²³ the head²⁴ of his family.²⁵

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Footnotes

11 The construction is literally “lift up the head[s],” (שְׂאוּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ, sé’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.
12 lacks the Hebrew word “all” here.
13 Heb “the congregation of Israel.”
14 The tribe (מַטֶּה, matteh or שֵׁבֶט, shevet) is the main category. The family groups or clans (מִשְׁפְּחֹת, mishpékhot) and the households or families (בֵּית אֲבֹת, bet ’avot) were sub-divisions of the tribe.
15 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.
16 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 [], 16).
17 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,” 18 (1968): 100–107.
18 The text simply has “from twenty years old and higher.”
19 Heb “and up.”
20 The noun (צָבָא, tsava’) means “army” or “military group.” But the word can also be used for nonmilitary divisions of labor (Num 4:3).
21 Heb “and with you.”
22 The construction uses the noun in a distributive sense: “a man, a man for a tribe,” meaning a man for each tribe.
23 The clause expresses a distributive function, “a man” means “each man.”
24 See J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word ראשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” 19 (1969): 1–10.
25 Heb “the house of his fathers.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. From twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. And there shall be with you a man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army. One man from each tribe, each of them the head of his family, is to help you.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and their ancestral families, counting the names of every male one by one. You and Aaron are to register those who are twenty years old or more by their military divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army. A man from each tribe is to be with you, each one the head of his ancestral family.

NLTNew Living Translation

“From the whole community of Israel, record the names of all the warriors by their clans and families. List all the men twenty years old or older who are able to go to war. You and Aaron must register the troops, and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Take a census of the entire community of the Israelites according to their clans and their families, according to the number of names, every male individually from twenty years old and above, everyone in Israel who is able to go to war. You and Aaron must muster them for their wars. A man from each tribe will be with you, each man the head of his family.

KJV 1900King James Version

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; 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. And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.

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