🔢WEB · Numbers 1:26
What does Numbers 1:26 mean?
"Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war;"
— Numbers 1:26 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Simeon, were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.
Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war;
those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Gad, were forty-five thousand six hundred fifty.
Of the children of Judah, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war;
those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Judah, were seventy-four thousand six hundred.
Of the children of Issachar, their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war;
those who were counted of them, of the tribe of Issachar, were fifty-four thousand four hundred.
Explanation
Numbers 1:26 is part of a repeating formula that Moses uses throughout this chapter as he counts each tribe of Israel one by one. In plain language, the verse says that when it came to the tribe of Judah, the counting was done carefully and systematically—tracing family lines, organizing men by their clans and their fathers' households, recording specific names, and including every male twenty years old and up who was fit for military service. This verse itself is the description of the method; the actual number for Judah (74,600) follows immediately in verse 27. The verse is essentially setting up the "how" before giving the "how many."
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.