Numbers 1:41

Summary

Numbers 1:41 gives the total count of registered men from the tribe of Asher: 41,500. The verse follows the standard census formula used throughout this chapter, naming the tribe and stating its numerical total built from compound cardinal numbers.

Key words

• peQudei ("enrolled [men]", H6485A) — a qal passive participle, masculine plural, in construct form. It designates "the ones who were counted/enrolled of," setting up a possessive chain with the following suffix and tribe name.
• Hem ("their", H9028) — pronominal suffix attached to pequdei, specifying whose enrolled men are meant, i.e., the men belonging to Asher.
• maTteh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular construct noun, linking directly to the proper name Asher to form "the tribe of Asher."
• 'eChad ("one", H0259) — tagged as feminine singular in this instance, combined with 'arba'im ("forty", H0705) to form the compound number "one-and-forty" (41), modifying 'elef ("thousand", H0505G).
• chamesh ("five", H2568) — cardinal number in construct form, governing me'ot ("hundreds", H3967) to produce "five of hundreds" = 500.

What the text says

The sentence opens with a construct chain: pequdei-hem le-matteh Asher — "the enrolled-ones of-them, of-the-tribe-of Asher" — literally "their counted [men], belonging to the tribe of Asher." This construction is identical in form to the other tribal entries in Numbers 1, using the passive participle pequdei to name the category of "those who were counted" before stating the numeral.

The number itself is built additively: 'echad ve-'arba'im 'elef ("one and forty, thousand") produces 41,000, and va-chamesh me'ot ("and five of hundreds") adds 500, giving a total of 41,500. The construct relationship in chamesh me'ot ("five of hundreds") shows that Hebrew expresses "hundred" as a plural noun governed by the numeral, rather than as a separate multiplied unit — a feature not visible once translated into digits.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) mirrors the Hebrew's additive structure: μία καὶ τεσσεράκοντα χιλιάδες καὶ πεντακόσιοι ("one and forty thousand and five hundred"), preserving the same grouping as the Hebrew (41,000 + 500).

The Vulgate (Clementine) renders the total differently in grouping, though arriving at the same sum: quadraginta millia et mille quingenti ("forty thousand and one thousand five hundred," i.e., 40,000 + 1,500 = 41,500). This shows a different internal division of the same total figure compared to the Hebrew's 41,000 + 500 structure.