11 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai , in the tent of meeting , on the first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt , saying , 2 " Take a [1]census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel , by their families , by their fathers' households , according to the number of names , every male , head by head 3 from twenty years old and upward , whoever is able to go out to war in Israel , you and Aaron shall [2]number them by their armies . 4 "With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe , each one head of his father's household . 5 "These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: of Reuben , Elizur the son of Shedeur ; 6 of Simeon , Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai ; 7 of Judah , Nahshon the son of Amminadab ; 8 of Issachar , Nethanel the son of Zuar ; 9 of Zebulun , Eliab the son of Helon ; 10 of the sons of Joseph : of Ephraim , Elishama the son of Ammihud ; of Manasseh , Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur ; 11 of Benjamin , Abidan the son of Gideoni ; 12 of Dan , Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai ; 13 of Asher , Pagiel the son of Ochran ; 14 of Gad , Eliasaph the son of Deuel ; 15 of Naphtali , Ahira the son of Enan . 16 "These are they who were called of the congregation , the leaders of their fathers' tribes ; they were the heads of [3]divisions of Israel ."
17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name , 18 and they assembled all the congregation together on the first of the second month . Then they registered by ancestry in their families , by their fathers' households , according to the number of names , from twenty years old and upward , head by head , 19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses . So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 1:1-19
Commentary on Numbers 1:1-43
(Read Numbers 1:1-43)
The people were numbered to show God's faithfulness in thus increasing the seed of Jacob, that they might be the better trained for the wars 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 were 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.