They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one.
Parallel Translations
-
They assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they declared their ancestry by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, one by one.
-
And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.
-
And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Numbers 1:18 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ezra 2:59 These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses, and their offspring, whether they were of Israel:
- Nehemiah 7:61 These were those who went up from Tel Melah, Tel Harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses, nor their offspring, whether they were of Israel:
- Hebrews 7:3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
- Numbers 1:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,
- Hebrews 7:6 but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (7 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain In showing every man his tribe, and his ancestors.
In showing every man his tribe, and his ancestors.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Num 1:18 And they assembled all the congregation together…
Num 1:18 And they assembled all the congregation together on the first [day] of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.
Ver. 18. And they declared their pedigrees.] Which those that could not do, {Ezr 2:62} were cut out of the roll, capite diminuti, cashiered.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they assembled all the congregation together on the…
And they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month,.... The month Ijar, as the Targum of Jonathan, answering to part of April and May: this was done on the selfsame day the Lord spake unto Moses about this affair, Num 1:1; so expeditious were he and Aaron in doing the will of God:
and they declared their pedigrees; either Moses and Aaron, according to Aben Ezra, who inquired when they were born, because of the computation of twenty years; and then their birth was wrote down, as he says; or rather the people declared their pedigrees, of what tribe, family, and house they were, who their parents, when born, and so, of course, how old they were; Jarchi interprets it, they brought the books of their genealogies, and witnesses to confirm the birth of everyone of them, to show their genealogy according to their tribe; nor is it at all unlikely that every family and house, or master thereof, kept a register of those born to him in it, whereby their age could be ascertained as well as pedigree:
Read full note →
after their famines, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of their names, from twenty years old and upwards, by their poll: that is, every tribe gave an account of the families in it, every family what houses were in it, and every house what number of males were in it, and of what age; and such were numbered who were twenty years old and upward.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain by their polls--individually, one by one.
by their polls--individually, one by one.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 18. Assembled all the congregation — Here literalists like…
18. Assembled all the congregation — Here literalists like Colenso find a difficulty so insuperable as to impeach the veracity of Moses. The whole congregation, adults and children, male and female, could not have been less than two million four hundred thousand. These could not be assembled in one place for the transaction of business. Nor was there any need of such an assembly. A representative of each group of families already enrolled for the atonement money could carry his register to the census board and make his report. Or there might have been a polling place in each tribe, like city ward balloting places. The journeying of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, the city of David, for enrolment, might have been in accordance with the practice begun in the wilderness, of each person gathering to his own tribal centre for registration. The system of appointing a head man in each tribe, charged with the preservation of the pedigrees of the families, corresponds with the practice of the Arabs at the present day.
Assembled on the first — Thus on the very day the order was given the people begin to obey it.
Read full note →
True obedience is always prompt and unquestioning. Pedigrees, families, and house of their fathers indicate more than four generations in Egypt.
According to the number of their names — This oft-recurring phrase in this census implies a previous enumeration. See note on Num_1:2.
By their polls — Hebrew, By their skulls. Septuagint, Head by head. That is, the census is to be individual as well as family and tribal. It was not to be after the manner in which Xerxes counted his army on the plain of Doriscus, where an enclosure was made containing ten thousand men when closely packed, and filled one hundred and seventy times, showing that his army was not three times as large as that with which Moses marched through the wilderness.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (18) Declared their pedigrees.—More literally, announced themselves as having…
(18) Declared their pedigrees.—More literally, announced themselves as having been born—i.e., caused themselves to be enrolled. The people appear to have been enrolled by their polls, i.e., individually, under three heads—(1) according to the tribe to which they belonged; (2) according to the mishpahah, or family, which, as it appears from Num_3:22, included in some cases two or three thousand persons; and (3) according to their father’s house. The importance of this enrolment, as affording the means of tracing the genealogy of Christ, must not be overlooked.
According to the number of the names.—The words are the same as in Num_1:2, and should be rendered in the same manner.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On the first day of the second month. The…
On the first day of the second month. The natural meaning is that the census was completed in one day. If so, the "census papers," the pedigrees and family lists, must have been ready beforehand. Notice had in fact been given more than a month before, and the lists made up, when the poll-tax was paid.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.