to count
ma.nah denotes counting or reckoning, and in other contexts appointing, assigning, or allotting.
The dominant use concerns counting, numbering, or reckoning people, days, animals, money, and vast quantities that cannot be counted. Other passages use the verb for appointing, assigning, or allotting persons, provisions, and events; a rarer passive use places someone within a named group.
Senses in use
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Count, number, or reckon · dominant
Qal forms concern an act of counting or a quantity beyond counting: in Genesis 13:16 the APB renders the clause about counting the dust and Abraham's offspring, while in Psalm 90:12 it renders the request to number days. In 1 Chronicles 27:24, the infinitive construct is tied to Joab's unfinished count and the number not entered in the king's record; Jeremiah 33:13 depicts flocks passing under the hand of one who counts them.
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Appoint, assign, or allot · common
Piel forms mark an assigning action in Daniel 1:5, where the APB renders the king's assignment of a daily food portion, and in Jonah 4:6, Jonah 4:7, and Jonah 4:8, where God appoints a plant, a worm, and an east wind. The passive participle in 1 Chronicles 9:29 concerns persons appointed over articles, and Job 7:3 describes months and nights allotted or assigned to the speaker.
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Be numbered with a group · rare
In Isaiah 53:12, the Niphal perfect places the subject with the transgressors; the APB renders the clause “was numbered with the transgressors.” The form expresses inclusion within the stated group rather than an act of tallying items.
In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB variously renders the relevant clauses with “count,” “number,” “counted,” “appointed,” “assigned,” and “allotted.” Because its English is a whole-verse translation, these renderings confirm the clauses' contexts but do not by themselves fix each form's exact English equivalent.