Numbers 1:20

And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war;

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	בְנֵֽי ve.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Reuben	רְאוּבֵן֙ re.'u.Ven	H7205	Reuben · proper noun, a man's name
Israel’s	יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
son	בְּכֹ֣ר be.Khor	H1060	firstborn · noun, common masculine singular construct
generations	תּוֹלְדֹתָ֥ם tol.do.Tam	H8435	(plural only) descent · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
families	לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם le.mish.pe.cho.Tam	H4940	a family · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
house	לְבֵ֣ית le.Veit	H1004	a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
fathers	אֲבֹתָ֑ם 'a.vo.Tam	H1	father · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
number	בְּמִסְפַּ֤ר be.mis.Par	H4557	a number · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
names	שֵׁמוֹת֙ she.mOt	H8034	an appellation · noun, common feminine plural absolute
polls	לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָ֔ם le.gul.ge.lo.Tam	H1538	a skull (as round) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
male	זָכָ֗ר za.Khar	H2145	properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
twenty	עֶשְׂרִ֤ים 'es.Rim	H6242	twenty · cardinal number, masculine plural absolute
years	שָׁנָה֙ sha.Nah	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
old	מִבֶּ֨ן mi.Ben	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
upward	וָמַ֔עְלָה va.Ma'.lah	H4605	properly · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute + directional suffix
forth	יֹצֵ֥א yo.Tze'	H3318	to go (causatively · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
war	צָבָֽא tza.Va'	H6635	a mass of persons (or figuratively · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 26:5-7 Reuben, the eldest son of Israel: the children of Reuben; Hanoch, of whom cometh the family of the Hanochites: of Pallu, the family of the P…
Numbers 2:10-11 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben according to their armies: and the captain of the children of Reuben shall be…
Genesis 29:32 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now theref…
Genesis 46:9 And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.
Genesis 49:3-4 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
1 Chronicles 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 1:17-43

We have here the speedy execution of the orders given for the numbering of the people. It was begun the same day that the orders were given, The first day of the second month; compare Num 1:18 with Num 1:1. Note, When any work is to be done for God it is good to set about it quickly, while the sense of duty is strong and pressing. And, for aught that appears, it was but one day's work, for many other things were done between this and the twentieth day of this month, when they removed their camp, Num 10:11. Joab was almost ten months numbering the people in David's time (Sa2 24:8); but then they were dispersed, now they lived closely together; then Satan proposed the doing of it, now God comm…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 1:20

These are those that were numbered--In this registration the tribe of Judah appears the most numerous; and accordingly, as the pre-eminence had been assigned to it by Jacob [Gen 49:8-12], it got the precedence in all the encampments of Israel. Of the two half-tribes of Joseph, who is seen to be "a fruitful bough" [Gen 49:22], that of Ephraim was the larger, as had been predicted. The relative increase of all, as in the two just mentioned, was owing to the special blessing of God, conformably to the prophetic declaration of the dying patriarch. But the divine blessing is usually conveyed through the influence of secondary causes; and there is reason to believe that the relative populousness o…

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John Gill on 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…

Dictionary and topics

Levites — (descendants of Levi). Sometimes the name extends to the whole tribe, the priests included, (Exodus 6:25; Leviticus 25:32; Numbers 35:2; Joshua 21:3,41) etc; sometimes only to those members of the…
Palestine — Originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Ex. 15:14; Isa. 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered…
Reuben — Behold a son!, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah (Gen. 29:32). His sinful conduct, referred to in Gen. 35:22, brought down upon him his dying father’s malediction (48:4). He showed kindness to Joseph,…
Reuben, Tribe of — At the Exodus numbered 46,500 male adults, from twenty years old and upwards (Num. 1:20, 21), and at the close of the wilderness wanderings they numbered only 43,730 (26:7). This tribe united with…
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Second numbering of the people — Second numbering of the people
Reuben, The Tribe Of · Strength of, on leaving Egypt — Strength of, on leaving Egypt
Reubenites · Military enrollment of, at Mount Sinai — Military enrollment of, at Mount Sinai

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Numbers 1:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 1:17-43

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 1:20

John Gill on Numbers 1:20

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 1:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 1:17-43

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 1:20

John Gill on Numbers 1:20

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Numbers 1:20-46

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 1:17-47

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 1:20-43

Rashi on Numbers 1:18