Numbers 1:20

20 And of Reuben, the first begotten of Israel, were numbered, in the desert of Sinai, by their generations, and families, and houses, and by the names of all the heads, all thing that is of male kind, from twenty years and above, of men going forth to battle, (And so the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel, were listed by their generations, and families, and houses of their kindreds, with the names of all who were twenty years of age and older, and all the men who could go forth to battle numbered)

Numbers 1:20 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 1:20

And the children of Reuben, Israel's eldest son
Were numbered first, and next to them those of Simeon and Gad, for they were numbered according to the order in which they were to be encamped; for under Reuben's standard were Simeon and Gad, and under Judah's Issachar and Zebulun, and under Ephraim's Manasseh and Benjamin, and under Dan's Asher and Naphtali; and according to their order were the tribes numbered:

by their generations:
or "their generations", the birth, descent, and pedigree of them:

after their families, by the house of their fathers:
according to the families and houses to which they belonged;

according to the number of the names by their polls, every male from
twenty years old and upward;
their names were taken down, the number of them counted by their heads, even all the males that were above twenty years of age:

all that were able to go forth to war;
which phrase, as it suggests that before this age they were not reckoned able bodied men for war, in common, though some might; so it seems to except all infirm persons, by reason of age and otherwise: now in all the other account of the numbering of the rest of the tribes, the same forms of expression are used as here, only the tribe of Simeon, which is the next, these words are left out, "by their polls, every male", which being twice observed, need not be repeated, since by these instances it might be sufficiently known that the number was taken by a poll, and only of males; so that in ( Numbers 1:23-43 ) , there is nothing material to observe, or anything different from what is in this verse, but the particular sums of each tribe numbered, which stand thus: of the tribe of Reuben 46,500; of the tribe of Simeon, 59,300; of the tribe of Gad, 45,650; of the tribe of Judah, 74,600; of the tribe of Issachar, 54,400; of the tribe of Zebulun, 57,400; of the tribe of Ephraim, 40,500; of the tribe of Manasseh, 32,200; of the tribe of Benjamin 35,400; of the tribe of Dan, 62,700; of the tribe of Asher 41,500; of the tribe of Naphtali, 53,400; in which may be observed the various increase of the tribes, agreeably to divine predictions, and according to the sovereign will and infinite wisdom of God: Reuben, the firstborn, did not excel in number, six of the tribes having more in number than he: Judah had by far the greatest increase of them all, from whom the chief ruler was to come, and even the King Messiah; and in process of time was to become a kingdom of itself; Ephraim, the younger son of Joseph, was much more fruitful than Manasseh, his elder, more than eight thousand being numbered of the former than of the latter, all which agree with Jacob's prophecies, ( Genesis 49:4 Genesis 49:8-10 Genesis 49:22 ) ( Genesis 48:19 Genesis 48:20 ) ; nor had they always the greatest number who had the most sons at their going down into Egypt; for though Simeon, who had then more sons than Reuben, had at this time a larger posterity; yet Gad, who had more than Simeon, had now fewer descendants; and Dan, who had but one son at that time, had now almost double the number of Benjamin, who then had ten sons: and it may be observed of other tribes, that their increase was not in proportion to the number of the sons of the patriarchs then; see ( Genesis 46:8 Genesis 46:24 ) .

Numbers 1:20 In-Context

18 And they gathered (them together) in the first day of the second month, and they told them, (or they totalled them,) by kindreds, and houses, and families, and heads, and names of each by themselves, from the twentieth year and above, (And they gathered them together on the first day of the second month, and they listed, or they registered, them by their kindreds, and houses, and families, and heads, and their names, from twenty years of age and older,)

19 as the Lord commanded to Moses, (and so he numbered them there in the Sinai Desert).

20 And of Reuben, the first begotten of Israel, were numbered, in the desert of Sinai, by their generations, and families, and houses, and by the names of all the heads, all thing that is of male kind, from twenty years and above, of men going forth to battle, (And so the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel, were listed by their generations, and families, and houses of their kindreds, with the names of all who were twenty years of age and older, and all the men who could go forth to battle numbered)

21 six and forty thousand and five hundred.

22 Of the sons of Simeon, by their generations, and families, and houses of their kindreds, were numbered, by the names and heads of all, all that is of male kind, from twenty years and above, of men going forth to battle, (The sons of Simeon were listed by their generations, and families, and houses of their kindreds, with the names of all who were twenty years of age and older, and all the men who could go forth to battle numbered)