Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

I came across the phrase KOL HF(OB"R (AL-HAP.:QUDIYM in 
Exodus 30:13 and got curious about it.  The context seems to 
indicate a census of some kind; the NIV translates "crosses over 
to those already counted" and Keil & Delitzsch say it refers to 
mustering an army.  Verse 14 seems to hint at this, since it uses 
the same phrase with the formula "from 20 years and upward," but 
the only other place I was able to find this phrase is also in 
Exodus, in 38:26.  I'm wondering if there's any more to this phrase, 
and if anyone has a thought as to why it only appears in Exodus, 
and then only 3 times.  "Cross over" seems like an odd expression 
to use for a census or drafting an army, so it makes me wonder if 
there's a nuance to the expression that I'm not seeing.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"No study of probabilities inside a given frame can ever
tell us how probable it is that the frame itself can be
violated."  C. S. Lewis