All who are able to go forth to war in Israel, from twenty years old and upward — the age threshold marks the transition from youth to adult responsibility within the covenant. The military language is not metaphorical: Israel must wage holy war against the Canaanites, and the census counts those prepared to fight. Twenty years old establishes manhood in ancient Israel, the age of accountability and capacity for bearing arms. This generation, born in Egypt or in infancy during the wilderness, will be the generation that crosses the Jordan.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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