Numbers 1:3
From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: thou and Aaron shall number them by their armies.
Cross-reference
Numbers 1:47 notes that Levites were excluded from the census, providing the crucial exception to the command to list all men twenty and older.
Numbers 14:29 uses the same age group (20+), declaring that those numbered here will die in the wilderness.
Numbers 26:2 repeats the same command for a later census of warriors, showing continuity in Israel's military organization.
Numbers 32:11 repeats the same age cutoff, reaffirming the judgment that these men will not enter Canaan.
Exodus 30:14 sets the same age threshold (20+) for the census tax, showing this age defined adulthood for both military and temple service.
Deuteronomy 24:5 exempts newly married men from army duty, providing a contrasting exception to the general call to war in Numbers 1:3.
2 Samuel 24:9 records a later census of fighting men (800k + 500k), illustrating the same practice of counting warriors, though with negative consequences.
2 Chronicles 17:13-18 details Jehoshaphat's military muster of mighty men by families, echoing the census method from Numbers 1:3.
2 Chronicles 26:11-13 reports Uzziah's army organized by muster, revealing a similar military census in a later kingdom period.
In 1 Chronicles 5:18, the same military census criteria (age 20+, able for war) is applied to the Transjordan tribes, showing consistent practice.
In 2 Chronicles 25:5, Amaziah numbers Judah from 20 years and upward for war, directly echoing Numbers 1:3's census command.
In 1 Chronicles 23:24, the same age threshold (20 years) is used but for Levitical temple service, not war — a parallel with different purpose.