Numbers 26:4

4 "Count the men twenty years old or older, as the Lord commanded Moses."

Numbers 26:4 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 26:4

[Take the sum of the people], from twenty years old and upward,
&c.] At the same age at which the sum was taken before, ( Numbers 1:3 ) so that there could not be one that was more than sixty years of age, of all those that went into the land of Canaan, except Joshua and Caleb, and besides some few in the tribe of Levi, which did not come into either of these musters:

and the Lord commanded Moses, and the children of Israel, which went
forth out of the land of Egypt;
as Moses had a command to number the people before, so he had now. The sin of David was, that he numbered the people when he had no command for it; Moses, when he brought the people out of Egypt, had them committed to him by number; and now being about to die, he delivers them up as it were by number again, as Jarchi observes.

Numbers 26:4 In-Context

2 "Count all the people of Israel by families. Count all the men who are twenty years old or older who will serve in the army of Israel."

3 Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke to the people on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. They said,

4 "Count the men twenty years old or older, as the Lord commanded Moses."

5 The tribe of Reuben, the first son born to Israel, was counted. From Hanoch came the Hanochite family group; from Pallu came the Palluite family group;

6 from Hezron came the Hezronite family group; from Carmi came the Carmite family group.