In Exodus 30:11-16 there is a census taken, and the number of men over the age of 20 were counted at 603,550 (as specified ibid 38:26). Now, in Numbers 1:46 we see that another census was taken several months later, and that the count was exactly identical to the previous one (603,550). How could it be that there was no change whatsoever over that time? Not a single person had their 20th birthday in between the two censuses!

Rashi asks this very interesting question in his commentary on Exodus 30:16. He says that a person’s age changed not on the date of birth, but rather on Rosh Hashana – the Jewish new year. Therefore, prior to the first census, men became 19 on Rosh Hashana, and they remained that way until the next Rosh Hashana. However, the second census took place before the next Rosh Hashana! Therefore, all 19 year olds remained as such for both the first and second census.

But Nachmanides (ibid verse 12) does not accept this. Firstly, he says that one’s age changes on the date of birth, not Rosh Hashana. Additionally, a number of people must have died in between the first and second census! Rather, there is an exact correlation between both censuses due to the fact that, in between the two countings, exactly the right number of people grew up to age 20 to replace those that died.

Alternatively, Nachmanides posits that the eligibility criterion for the two censuses were different. Although the Levites were included in the first census, they were excluded from the second. The number of Israelite men who turned 20 between the censuses exactly matched that of the Levites, as well as those who died during the same period. Therefore, the question does not even begin.

These are very unlikely coincidences! I think we see from Nachmanides that the censuses were not random; they were carefully engineered (by G-d) to produce exactly the correct numbers. Indeed, after forty years in the desert, the final count in Numbers 26:51 also produces (close to) the same number, though the population count of many tribes changed very significantly over that time. The entire nation of Israel was basically held in stasis during those 40 years.

Azriel Schreiber