Census רֹאשׁ

We are in chapter thirty of Exodus with our word for today. רֹאשׁ head, person, individual, height, peak, upper end, beginning. It is used 599 times in the Old Testament. Our word is used as the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals that contain the face and brains. Genesis 48:14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the רֹ֤אשׁ head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the רֹ֣אשׁ head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). Exodus 29:6 And you shall set the turban on רֹאשׁ֑וֹhis head and put the holy crown on the turban. We also find our word used in the figurative sense as the leader, a person in charge as a head is to the body. Exodus 6:14 These are the רָאשֵׁ֣י heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. Deuteronomy 1:13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them בְּרָאשֵׁיכֶֽם as your heads. 1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the רֹ֛אשׁ head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. Our word is also used in the sense as the top of something conceived as its head. Genesis 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ its top in the heavens.” Exodus 19:20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the רֹ֣אשׁ top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the רֹ֥אשׁ top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 1 Kings 7:19 Now the capitals that were on the רֹ֣אשׁ tops of the pillars in the vestibule were of lily-work, four cubits. Our word is also used in the sense of a human person understood according to the common trait of having heads. We find this in the sense of counting heads. Numbers 31:26 Take the רֹ֤אשׁ count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast. Numbers 1:49 Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a רֹאשָׁ֖ם census of them among the people of Israel. This is how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 30:11-14 The Lord said to Moses, “When you take the רֹ֥אשׁ census of the people of Israel, then each shall give a ransom for his life to the Lord when you number them, that there be no plague among them when you number them. Each one who is הַפְּקֻדִ֔ים [different word to count] numbered in the census shall give this: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord. Everyone who is הַפְּקֻדִ֔ים numbered in the census, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the Lord's offering. Why does God call for this census or counting of heads? We see in verse 16, “that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the LORD, so as to make atonement for your lives.” God knows that we need to be reminded that he is our savior. The one who forgives our sins and brings us to himself. I’ll close with another use of our word from this encouraging passage. Psalm 3:3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of רֹאשִֽׁי my head.