Bible Strands
Numbers 1:34
And from the sons of Manasseh, according to the records of their clans and families, counting the names of all those twenty years of age or older who could serve in the army,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses and Aaron conduct a military census of the Israelites at Sinai, recording each tribe’s fighting men. This verse marks the enumeration step specifically for the tribe of Manasseh.
The words — תּוֹלְדֹתָ֥/ם לְ/מִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖/ם (tol.do.Ta/m le./mish.pe.cho.Ta/m) literally means "to their genealogies to their clans." The text uses this phrase to show that the registration was organized by ancestral lineage rather than geographic proximity.
The thread — The same lineage-based registration reappears in Numbers 26:28, where Manasseh and Ephraim are again listed as the descendants of Joseph. The census framework established here dictates the tribal camp arrangements in Numbers 2.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that tribal identity and military service were tied to documented ancestry. It asks the reader to follow the precise administrative order that precedes the community's movement.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Of the children of Manasseh, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;
Cross-references
- Numbers 26:28 The descendants of Joseph included the clans of Manasseh and Ephraim.