호세아 2:1의 Halakhah

3. In the same discussion, the Gemara, Yoma 22b, adduces yet another source for the prohibition against counting the populace. R. Eleazar derives a negative prohibition from Hosea 2:1 which he renders as "The number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which shall not be measured nor numbered (lo yimad ve-lo yisafer)," rather than as "which cannot be measured nor numbered." R. Nachman bar Yitzchak finds that this verse establishes, not one, but two prohibitions, viz., "shall not be measured" and "shall not be numbered."⁶Cf., Teshuvot Ḥavot Ya’ir, no. 9.

Addressing the same question, Rabbi Weinberg and Rabbi Waldenberg both suggest that citation of a verse from the prophetic writings is necessary in order to establish a prohibition against the taking of a census "even for purposes of a mizvah" since the pentateuchal verse does not necessarily encompass such contingencies.⁷R. Chaim Joseph David Azulai, Petaḥ Einayim, Yoma 22b; R. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter of Gur, Sefat Emet, Yoma 22b, and R. Yisrael Yehoshua of Kutna, Yeshu’ot Malko, Likkutei Torah, p. 74b, suggest that, in context, Exodus 30:12 refers only to a census of the entire populace. Accordingly, Yoma 22b adduces verses from prophetic sources in establishing a prohibition against counting even a portion of the populace. Cf., however, Ḥiddushei Ḥatam Sofer, Yoma 22b, cited below. See also Ẓiẓ Eli’ezer, VII, no. 3, sec. 11, who suggests that other more explicit verses are required because Exodus 30:12 might be interpreted as forbidding a census only when undertaken by a “king or leader of Israel.” Indeed Midrash Talpiyot, no. 20, cites an opinion to the effect that “a ransom is required only when the census is undertaken by a king.
It should however be noted that Rambam, Hilkhot Temidim u-Musafim 4:4, cites only the reference to I Samuel 15:4 discussed in Yoma 22b and omits any reference to Exodus 30:12 as a source for such a prohibition. Unlike Berakhot 62b, Yoma 22b may have regarded Exodus 30:12 as referring only to the census undertaken in the wilderness, but not as establishing a prohibition for posterity. If so, the prohibition against counting would be regarded by Rambam as binding solely by virtue of prophetic tradition (mei-divrei kabbalah) rather than as expressly biblical in nature. See Mispar Bnei Yisra’el, p. 19f; cf., however, Seridei Esh, II, no. 48, and Ẓiẓ Eli’ezer, VII, no. 3, sec. 1. It is, however difficult to sustain any explanation which posits a conflict between Berakhot 62b and Yoma 22. In Berakhot it is R. Eleazar who cites Exodus 30:12 as the source of the prohibition and it is also R. Eleazar who is quoted in Yoma as establishing the prohibition on the basis of Hosea 2:1. A similar explanation is advanced by lyun Ya'akov and Ez Yosef in their respective commentaries on Ein Ya'akov, Yoma 22b.⁸See also Tosafot Ri ha-Lavan, Yoma 22b; cf. Be’er Sheva, Tamid 28a.

It should be noted, however, that in addition to Hatam Sofer, another authority, Ramat Shmu'el, cited by Ez Yosef in his commentary on Ein Ya'akov, Yoma 22b, forbids even an approximate tabulation. In the view of Ramat Shmu'el, the prohibition against counting the populace applies even when the method employed is inaccurate and hence yields only an approximation. In support of this position Ramat Shmu'el cites Hosea 2:1 which he renders literally as "which shall not be estimated (lo yimad) and shall not be counted."³¹Cf., Mispar Bnei Yisra’el, p. 29, note 10b.