Numbers 1:40

From the sons of Asher, 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 records the military census for the Lord, addressing the tribal heads and the Israelite community during the wilderness encampment. The passage specifies the demographic criteria for military service.

The words — The text highlights תּוֹלְדֹתָ֥ם (tol.do.Ta/m), meaning "their genealogies," and בְּ/מִסְפַּ֣ר (be./mis.Par), meaning "by [the] number of." These terms anchor the registration in documented lineage rather than ad hoc estimates.

The thread — This clan-based registration continues the family records established in Genesis 46:27 and the ancestral blessings of Genesis 49:20. The tribal structure first noted in Genesis 30:12 dictates the administrative and military organization here.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that corporate identity and communal responsibility are tracked through documented lineage. It requires the reader to see how historical records directly enable practical national organization.

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

לִבְנֵ֣יli/v.Neiof/ [the] descendants of אָשֵׁ֔ר'a.SherAsher תּוֹלְדֹתָ֥םtol.do.Ta/mgenealogies/ their לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖םle./mish.pe.cho.Ta/mto/ clans/ their לְבֵ֣יתle./Veitto/ [the] house of אֲבֹתָ֑ם'a.vo.Ta/mancestors/ their בְּמִסְפַּ֣רbe./mis.Parby/ [the] number of שֵׁמֹ֗תshe.Motnames מִבֶּ֨ןmi./Benfrom/ a son of עֶשְׂרִ֤ים'es.Rimtwenty שָׁנָה֙sha.Nahyear[s]וָמַ֔עְלָהva./Ma'.la/hand/ up/ -wards כֹּ֖לkolevery יֹצֵ֥אyo.Tze'[one who] goes forth צָבָֽא׃tza.Va'warfare

King James Version

Of the children of Asher, 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

Genesis 30:12 When Leah’s servant Zilpah bore Jacob a second son,
Genesis 46:27 And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.
Genesis 49:20 Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
Numbers 26:44 These were the descendants of Asher by their clans: The Imnite clan from Imnah, the Ishvite clan from Ishvi, and the Beriite clan from Beriah.