John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 2. Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel , etc.] Excepting the Levites; nor were any account taken of the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with the children of Israel, only of them; and this account was taken, partly to observe the fulfilment of the divine promise to Abraham concerning the multiplication of his seed, and partly that it might be observed, that at the end of thirty eight years from hence, when they were numbered again, there were but three left of this large number, their carcasses falling in the wilderness because of their sins; and chiefly, as Aben Ezra observes, this sum was now taken to fix their standards, and for their better and more orderly journeying and encampment; for on the twentieth of this month they set forward on their journey from hence, ( Numbers 10:11,12); the word for the order is in the plural number, take ye, being given both to Moses and Aaron, who were to take the number, and did, ( Numbers 1:3); after their families ; into which their tribes were divided: by the house of their fathers ; for if the mother was of one tribe, and the father of another, the family was according to the tribe of the father, as Jarchi notes, a mother’s family being never called a family, as Aben Ezra observes: with the number of [their] names ; of every particular person, whose name was inserted in a list or register: every male by their poll ; or head f2 ; for none but males were numbered: the Lord’s spiritual Israel are a numbered people, written in the book of life, placed into the hand of Christ, and exactly known by him, even by name; yea, all that belong to him are numbered, and the very airs of their heads, Ver. 3 . From twenty years old and upwards , etc.] All that had entered into their twentieth year, or, as it should rather seem, who were full twenty years of age, and all that were above it without any limitation; though some limit it to fifty, and others to sixty years, when men may be reasonably excused going to war; for to know who were fit for it seems to be a principal design of this order, as follows: all that are able to go forth to war in Israel ; who being about to journey, might expect to meet with enemies, with whom they would be obliged to engage in battle; and therefore it was proper to know their strength, and whom to call out upon occasion: Aben Ezra observes, that the phrase “in Israel” excepts the mixed multitude; those were not of Israel, and so not numbered, and perhaps not to be trusted or depended upon in war; nor were they mustered and marshalled by the standards of the several tribes; in a mystical sense, those numbered may signify the valiant of Israel, the same as the young men in ( 1 John 2:14); (see Song of Solomon 3:7,8); thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies ; each tribe making a considerable army, (see Gill on “ Exodus 7:4”); these people were now typical of the church of God in its militant state in the wilderness, for which they are provided, and prepared, and accoutred.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-43 - The people were numbered to show God's faithfulness in thus increasin the seed of Jacob, that they might be the better trained for the war and conquest of Canaan, and to ascertain their families in order to the division of the land. It is said of each tribe, that those wer numbered who were able to go forth to war; they had wars before them though now they met with no opposition. Let the believer be prepared to withstand the enemies of his soul, though all may appear to be peace.
Original Hebrew שׂאו5375 את853 ראשׁ7218 כל3605 עדת5712 בני1121 ישׂראל3478 למשׁפחתם4940 לבית1004 אבתם1 במספר4557 שׁמות8034 כל3605 זכר2145 לגלגלתם׃1538
