Numbers 26 · Verse 2

Numbers 26:2

Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.

Numbers 26:2, King James Version

Numbers 26:2 in other translations

BSB	“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.”
WEB	“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all who are able to go out to war in Israel.”
ASV	Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ houses, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel.
YLT	‘Take up the sum of all the company of the sons of Israel, from a son of twenty years and upward, by the house of their fathers, every one going out to the host in Israel.'
DARBY	Take the sum of the whole assembly of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, according to their fathers' houses, all that go forth to military service in Israel.
BBE	Let all the children of Israel be numbered, by the names of their fathers' families, all those of twenty years old and over who are able to go to war in Israel.
Webster	Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers' house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.

What does Numbers 26:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

2. Take the sum of all the congregation--The design of this new census, after a lapse of thirty-eight years, was primarily to establish the vast multiplication of the posterity of Abraham in spite of the severe judgments inflicted upon them; secondarily, it was to preserve the distinction of families and to make arrangements, preparatory to an entrance into the promised land, for the distribution of the country according to the relative population of the tribes.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 Take the sum of all the congregation - After thirty-eight years God commands a second census of the Israelites to be made, to preserve the distinction in families, and to regulate the tribes previously to their entry into the promised land, and to ascertain the proportion of land which should be allowed to each tribe. For though the whole was divided by lot, yet the portions were so disposed that a numerous tribe did not draw where the lots assigned small inheritances. See Num 26:53-56, and also see the note on Num 1:1.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 26:1-51

Moses did not number the people but when God commanded him. We have here the families registered, as well as the tribes. The total was nearly the same as when numbered at mount Sinai. Notice is here taken of the children of Korah; they died not, as the children of Dathan and Abiram; they seem not to have joined even their own father in rebellion. If we partake not of the sins of sinners, we shall not partake of…

Read the full comment on Numbers 26:1-51 →

Numbers 26:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

שְׂא֞וּse.'Ulift upH5375

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

רֹ֣אשׁ\׀rosh[the] head ofH7218

כָּל\־kol-allH3605

עֲדַ֣ת'a.Dat[the] congregation ofH5712

בְּנֵי\־be.nei-[the] people ofH1121

יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

מִבֶּ֨ןmi.Benfrom a son ofH1121

עֶשְׂרִ֥ים'es.RimtwentyH6242

שָׁנָ֛הsha.Nahyear[s]H8141

וָמַ֖עְלָהva.Ma'.lahand up -wardsH4605

לְבֵ֣יתle.Veitto [the] house ofH1004

אֲבֹתָ֑ם'a.vo.Tamancestors theirH1

כָּל\־kol-everyH3605

יֹצֵ֥אyo.Tze'[one who] goes forthH3318

צָבָ֖אtza.Va'warfareH6635

בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל\׃be.Yis.ra.'Elin IsraelH3478

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 26:2

Exodus 38:25-26
And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary: A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.
Numbers 1:2-3
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.
Exodus 30:11-16
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the Lord. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the Lord. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The plague having swept away the last of that devoted generation, which provoked the Lord to "swear in his wrath that they should not enter" Canaan; he now, after an interval of 38 years, commands another census of the Israelites to be made, to preserve the distinction of families, and to regulate the tribes previous to their entry into the promised land, as well as to ascertain the proportion of land which should be allotted to each tribe. For, though the whole was divided by lot, yet the portions were so disposed, that a numerous tribe did not draw where the lots assigned small inheritances, or the contrary.
1:2,3; Ex 30:12; 38:25,26

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Numbers 26:1
And it came to pass after the plague, that the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying,
Numbers 26:2
Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, throughout their fathers’ house, all that are able to go to war in Israel.
Numbers 26:3
And Moses and Eleazar the priest spake with them in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

Read all of Numbers 26

Numbers 26:2 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Tomad la suma de toda la congregación de los hijos de Israel, de veinte años arriba, por las casas de sus padres, todos los que puedan salir á la guerra en Israel.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Relevez la somme de toute l’assemblée des fils d’Israël, depuis l’âge de 20 ans et au-dessus, selon leurs maisons de pères, tous ceux qui sont propres au service militaire en Israël.
German Elberfelder 1871	Nehmet auf die Summe der ganzen Gemeinde der Kinder Israel, von zwanzig Jahren und darüber, nach ihren Vaterhäusern, einen jeden, der zum Heere auszieht in Israel.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Numerate omnem summam filiorum Israël a viginti annis et supra, per domos et cognationes suas, cunctos qui possunt ad bella procedere.