Numbers 1:50
וְאַתָּה הַפְקֵד אֶת־הַלְוִיִּם עַל־מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת וְעַל כָּל־כֵּלָיו וְעַל כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ הֵמָּה יִשְׂאוּ אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָיו וְהֵם יְשָׁרְתֻהוּ וְסָבִיב לַמִּשְׁכָּן יַחֲנֽוּ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְאַתָּ֡ה הַפְקֵ֣ד אֶת־הַלְוִיִּם֩ עַל־מִשְׁכַּ֨ן הָעֵדֻ֜ת וְעַ֣ל כָּל־כֵּלָיו֮ וְעַ֣ל כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֒ הֵ֜מָּה יִשְׂא֤וּ אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָ֔יו וְהֵ֖ם יְשָׁרְתֻ֑הוּ וְסָבִ֥יב לַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן יַחֲנֽוּ׃
καὶ σὺ ἐπίστησον τοὺς Δευείτας ἐπὶ τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπὶ πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτῇ· αὐτοὶ ἀροῦσιν τὴν σκηνὴν καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτῆς, καὶ αὐτοὶ λειτουργήσουσιν ἐν αὐτῇ, καὶ κύκλῳ τῆς σκηνῆς παρεμβαλοῦσιν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
sed constitue eos super tabernaculum testimonii et cuncta vasa ejus, et quidquid ad cæremonias pertinet. Ipsi portabunt tabernaculum et omnia utensilia ejus: et erunt in ministerio, ac per gyrum tabernaculi metabuntur.
sino que pondrás a los levitas a cargo del Tabernáculo del Testimonio, de todos sus utensilios y de todo lo que le pertenece. Ellos llevarán el tabernáculo y todo su mobiliario; lo cuidarán y acamparán alrededor de él.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Mas tú pondrás á los Levitas en el tabernáculo del testimonio, y sobre todos sus vasos, y sobre todas las cosas que le pertenecen: ellos llevarán el tabernáculo y todos sus vasos, y ellos servirán en él, y asentarán sus tiendas alrededor del tabernáculo.
Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.
✦ What the text says
Summary
This verse instructs Moses to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, its furnishings, and everything belonging to it. The Levites are given three specific responsibilities: carrying the tabernacle and its articles, serving/ministering to it, and camping around it.
Key words
- haf.Ked ("appoint", H6485J) — hiphil imperative, a causative command form directing Moses to actively place the Levites in this role.
- mish.Kan ("tabernacle of", H4908) — construct form, linking directly to ha.'e.Dut ("the testimony"), forming the phrase "tabernacle of the testimony."
- yis.'U ("they will carry", H5375H) — qal imperfect, denoting the ongoing or future action of physically carrying the structure.
- ye.shar.Tu ("they will serve", H8334) — piel imperfect, an intensive verbal stem indicating dedicated ministerial service, distinct from the physical carrying action.
- ya.cha.Nu ("they will encamp", H2583) — qal imperfect, describing the future/repeated act of camping in position around the tabernacle.
What the text says
The verse opens with ve.'a.Tah ("and you") followed by the hiphil imperative haf.Ked ("appoint"), placing emphasis on Moses as the one commanded to act. The object marked by 'et- is ha.l.vi.Yim ("the Levites"), and the scope of their appointment is defined through a chain of 'al ("over") phrases: over the mish.Kan ha.'e.Dut ("tabernacle of the testimony"), over kol-ke.La.v ("all its articles"), and over kol-'a.Sher-lo ("all that belongs to it"). This threefold repetition of 'al structurally emphasizes the comprehensive scope of Levitical oversight.
The second half of the verse shifts to describe three distinct actions using independent pronouns for emphasis: hemah yis.'U ("they will carry"), ve.hem ye.shar.Tu.hu ("and they will serve it"), and the concluding ya.cha.Nu ("they will encamp"). The use of the qal stem for yis.'U (carrying) contrasts with the piel stem of ye.shar.Tu (serving), suggesting the Hebrew grammar distinguishes physical transport from a more intensive form of ministerial activity. The final clause, ve.sa.Viv la.mish.Kan ya.cha.Nu ("and around the tabernacle they will encamp"), places the locative phrase sa.Viv ("around") before the verb, foregrounding the spatial arrangement of the encampment.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders mish.Kan ha.'e.Dut as "τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου" ("the tent of the testimony"), using σκηνή ("tent") rather than a term implying "dwelling," though this reflects standard Greek vocabulary choice rather than a substantive divergence. The Vulgate's "erunt in ministerio" ("they will be in ministry") renders ye.shar.Tu.hu more generally as being "in service," where the Hebrew piel verb specifically indicates the action of serving "it" (the tabernacle), marked by the pronominal suffix hu.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.