Exodus 6:19

Summary

The verse lists the sons of Merari — Mahli (Machli, H4249G) and Mushi (Mushi, H4187) — and closes the genealogical unit begun earlier in the chapter by declaring that these lines constitute the clans of the Levite (ha-Levi, H3878) according to their descendants (toledotam, H8435 + suffix).

Key words

• u-vnei (H9002 + H1121A) — "and sons of": conjunction plus a masculine plural noun in construct state, opening the clause with a genealogical link to Merari.
• Machli (H4249G) and Mushi (H4187) — proper names given without any grammatical marker, simply juxtaposed as the two sons.
• elleh (H0428) — the demonstrative "these", functioning here as the subject that resumes and closes the list, pointing back to the names just given.
• mishpechot (H4940) — feminine plural construct noun "clans of", governing "ha-Levi" and structurally parallel to vnei at the start of the verse.
• le-toledotam (H9005 + H8435 + H9028) — preposition le ("to/according to") attached to a feminine plural construct noun with third-person masculine plural suffix, "their generations/descendants", marking the criterion by which the clans are organized.

What the text says

The verse divides into two syntactic halves. The first half (words 1–6) is a simple construct chain: u-vnei Merari ("and sons of Merari") followed by the two names Machli and Mushi joined by the conjunction u- (H9002). There is no verb "to be" in the Hebrew; the names are simply placed in apposition to "sons of Merari," a common feature of Hebrew genealogical lists where predication is implied rather than stated.

The second half (words 7–13) begins with the demonstrative elleh (H0428), "these," which resumes the preceding names as its referent and introduces a new predicate: mishpechot ha-Levi ("clans of the Levite"). Here ha-Levi (H3878) uses the definite article with a gentilic singular form, functioning collectively for "the Levites" as a group rather than naming an individual. The final phrase le-toledotam uses the preposition le- in a distributive or classificatory sense ("according to," "by") attached to toledot (H8435), a term denoting generations or lines of descent, with the third-person plural suffix "their" referring back to the clans just named. This closing formula marks the verse as a structural summary statement, tying the specific names (Mahli, Mushi) to the larger category of Levite clans organized by descent.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mishpechot ("clans of") as οἶκοι ("houses of") and le-toledotam ("according to their descendants") as κατὰ συγγενίαν αὐτῶν ("according to their kinship"), shifting the image from generational lineage to household/kinship grouping. The Vulgate similarly renders toledotam as "per familias suas" ("through their families"), using "families" rather than a term tied explicitly to generations, as the Hebrew toledot does.