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ויתילדו על משפחותם THEY DECLARED THEIR PEDIGREES AFTER THEIR FAMILIES — They brought the records of their pedigree and witnesses to confirm the prevalent presumption regarding their parentage, so that each might establish his pedigree with regard to the particular tribe (cf. Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 684).

AND THEY ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION TOGETHER ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE SECOND MONTH. Scripture mentions [the date although it is already stated in Verse 1 above, to indicate] the zeal of our teacher Moses in [fulfilling] the command of G-d for on the very day of the communication [that he was to take a census of the people] he took the princes of the tribes and assembled all the congregation and began to count them. The count, however, was not completed in one day, and therefore He states again, so did he number them in the wilderness of Sinai,⁵⁷Verse 19. in order to inform [us] that the counting was all done in that place, but was not all [finished] on that day.

ויתילדו על משפחותם, seeing the purpose of the count was to know who would have to join the ranks of those going to war, it was important to have genealogically pure men, not any who were the product of forbidden unions. Knowledge that they were the children of unblemished parentage would protect them when exposed to the dangers present in any war and battle. We find a similar thought expressed in Kidushin 76 that “the credentials of people recorded in the king’s register need not be investigated any further.” On folio 70 of the Talmud there we also find the statement that the Shechinah does not rest protectively except over genetically “pure” families.

ואת כל העדה…באחד לחדש, and the entire community, on the first of the second month. The Torah announced that the Israelites assembled on the very day the instructions were issued. This is proof that everyone was equipped with a "book" showing who he was and who his father was. The people did not have to go and look for corroboration of their family status by looking for witnesses, etc. This is what the Torah meant by the word ויתילדו being written next to the words "on the first of the second month."

ואת כל העדה הקהילו באחד לחודש השנית, “They called together the whole assembly on the first of the second month, etc.” Nachmanides points out with what alacrity Moses went about his task, in taking the princes on the very day he had received the instructions from Hashem; he assembled the whole community and began the task of taking the census. Clearly, the taking of the census was a task that could not be completed on that day, but took considerably longer.

ואת כל העדה הקהילו באחד לחדש השני, “They gathered together the entire assembly on the first of the second month;” On the very day G’d spoke to Moses, Moses and Aaron assembled the entire people and began to organise and count them; however, the count was not completed in a single day. This is why the Torah had to write: “he numbered them in the desert of Sinai“ (verse 19). He completed the count in the same spot though not on the same date. This is the view of Nachmanides.

Genealogical documents and witnesses. Rashi was obliged to explain so because the word ויתילדו is from the reflexive התפעל construct. Thus, according to its simple meaning as a term of giving birth, it would imply that they caused themselves to give birth. Therefore Rashi explains that they themselves brought their genealogical documents.

V. 18. ויתילדו על משפחתם וגו׳. Sie gaben sich nach ihrer auf Geburt beruhenden Familien- und Stammesangehörigkeit mit Nennung ihres Namens an. זאת כל העדה וגו׳ ויתילדו וגו׳ מבן עשרים וגו׳. Die עדה bestand eben aus allen Männern über zwanzig Jahren (siehe zu V. 2).

ויתילדו, “they declared their pedigrees;” (according to Rashi). Another interpretation of this word: they asked their parents for details of when they had been born in order to determine if they had been twenty years old at the time of the Exodus. (Ibn Ezra)

VA’YITHYALDU’ (AND THEY DECLARED THEIR PEDIGREES) AFTER THEIR FAMILIES. “They brought the documents of their genealogy and witnesses confirming the birth of each of them, so as to prove their descent from their [respective] tribes.” This is Rashi’s language. But it does not appear [correct to say] that they should have to bring genealogical documents and witnesses with regard to belonging to a [particular] tribe. Rather, va’yithyaldu means that they were counted by their generations, by their families, by their fathers’ houses,⁵⁸Verses 20, 22, etc. the sense thereof being to state that the whole congregation assembled, as Moses had commanded them by the order of the Holy One, blessed be He, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, except for the mixed multitude⁵⁹Exodus 12:38. who were not of the children of Israel,⁶⁰II Samuel 21:2. for they were recognizable amongst them from the day that they had gone out of Egypt. Thus each man in the congregation brought his [half-] shekel and said to Moses and the princes: “I so-and-so was born to such-and-such a person of such-and-such a family, which is of the tribe of Reuben,” or some other tribe, and Moses put the shekels of each particular tribe in a special place [to be counted later], so that he would know the sum of [each] individual [tribe] and of all the tribes together. And the proof for this⁶¹I.e., a proof that they did not have to bring their genealogical documents, as Rashi explained, but that va’yithyaldu means merely that they declared to which family and tribe they belonged, is that etc. is that at the second census [taken when they were about to enter the Land of Israel] where the families [of each tribe] are mentioned,⁶²I.e., mentioned by name, in contrast to this census [taken at the arrangement of the people into four main groups headed by the four standards] where the names of the families of each tribe are not listed. it does not say va’yithyaldu, nor does it mention according to the number of names, by their polls, [as it says here in Verse 19]. This is because ever since the tribes had pitched by their standards, they were separated from each other and it was clearly known to which tribe each family belonged; thus they only had to know how many families there were in each tribe, and each family counted its men by their polls, but not according to the number of names.⁶³But if va’yithyaldu means, as Rashi explained that they were to produce their genealogical documents, the question arises why was that not required at the second census? According to Ramban, however, who explains that va’yithyaldu means that they each declared to which family and which tribe they belonged, we can understand why va’yithyaldu is not mentioned at the second census. For once they pitched by their standards, each person’s place would indicate to which tribe he belonged, and the families themselves counted their own numbers, whilst Moses counted the numbers of all the families. Hence it was no longer necessary to declare to which family and which tribe one belonged. Therefore the princes of the tribes did not have to be present [with Moses] at that [second] census [as was stipulated at the first census — in Verse 4 — since the princes of the tribes were only needed in order to identify which families belonged to which tribe, and this was already known at the time of the second census]. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explains that va’yithyaldu means that they were asked when they were born, in order to ascertain whether they were [over] twenty years of age.

ויתילדו על משפחותם לבית אבותם, “they established their genealogy according to their families, according to their father’s household.” Rashi claims that each of the people concerned submitted a booklet containing the respective family tree. They also supplied witnesses that testified to their true ages, i.e. when each one of them had been born, (as explained by Onkelos) Nachmanides writes that it appears quite unreasonable to suggest that each person had to document his claim to which family he belonged and when he had been born. He claims that the meaning of the words ויתילדו וגו', simply mean that they identified themselves as belonging to certain families in certain tribes, the family being defined in terms of the respective fathers. The entire procedure had been commanded to Moses, more or less to the last detail, i.e. these people all came to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present themselves for the count; the census takers did not make house calls. The only ones who did not present themselves at that time were the members of the ערב רב, the mixed multitude who accompanied the Israelites when they left Egypt, all people who were not natural born Jews. Each person made a verbal declaration in front of Moses and the respective leader of his tribe that he was so-and-so and was of age. Moses deposited the coins according to the respective tribe of the person who tendered it, so that he knew at the end how many men of military age each tribe had contributed to the grand total. Proof that this was the procedure may be seen when at the second count no mention is made in the Torah of the line ויתילדו על משפחותם, neither is the expression במספר שמות לגולגלותם, “according to their headcount” repeated there. (Compare Numbers chapter 26). The reason why there was no need for this at the time of the second census was simply that the division into tribal units had already been made on the occasion of the first census and those records were readily available. When these people were counted as members of individual families, it appears that there was no objection to the “headcount.” They did not then have to present a coin or shard. There also was no need at that time for the respective princes of each tribe to be present during the count. Ibn Ezra says that the word ויתילדו means that each one had to inform Moses and his tribal prince of the date and year of his birth. Some commentators say that the reason why we find here the words במספר שמות, “according to the number of names,” added, was to teach us that none of them had changed the name by which they had been known in Egypt.

ויתילדו על משפחותם, “they proved their genealogy according to their families.” They had to ask their parents when exactly they had been born in order to know if they had reached the age of twenty. Alternatively, the Torah means that each one recorded their genealogy in writing proving which tribe he belonged to. This is the view of Ibn Ezra.

Verified the status of their birth. The word חזקת (status) is a term of honor. Rashi explains so in Parshas Behar (Vayikro 25:41) where “he returns to his fathers’ possession” alludes to his fathers’ status, a term of honor.

ויתילדו, "they declared their pedigrees, etc." Rashi comments: "they each brought a book showing their pedigrees and witnesses to their birth in order to prove which tribe they belonged to." Nachmanides does not agree that there was a need for documentation of their status but claims that when each Israelite brought his half shekel he announced who he was and to which tribe he belonged. Moses placed the shekalim of each tribe in a separate box so that he knew how many members each tribe numbered. Perhaps the reason that at this point it had become necessary to produce documentation plus witnesses was to foil the attempt of any bastard who was aware of who his father was and who would produce a book listing his father's prior pedigree claiming to be a member of that tribe based on information provided by his mother.