Numbers 15:12

Summary

Numbers 15:12 states that the offering procedure must be repeated proportionally: whatever quantity of sacrificial animals is prepared, the same procedure applies "for each one" individually, matching the count involved.

Key words

• mispar ("number", H4557) — appears twice, first as an absolute noun governed by ka ("according to the"), then in construct form (mispar-am, "their number") with a pronominal suffix, showing the correlation between the initial count and the count later referenced.
• ta'asu ("you will offer/do", H6213I / H6213A) — the same verbal root appears twice in imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural, first governed by the relative asher ("which you will offer") and then repeated after kakhah ("thus you will do"), creating a grammatical echo that ties the general rule to its restatement.
• asher ("which/that", H0834A) — relative particle introducing the clause that specifies the unit of measure (the number of animals) referred to by mispar.
• kakhah ("thus", H3602) — adverb marking the pivot of the sentence, signaling that the action described in the first clause is to be replicated identically in what follows.
• 'echad ("one", H0259) — cardinal number preceded by la ("for the"), marking the distributive target: the procedure applies "for the one," i.e., for each individual unit.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as two parallel clauses joined by the adverb kakhah ("thus"). The first clause, ka-mispar asher ta'asu ("according to the number which you will offer"), sets a variable quantity using mispar ("number") governed by the preposition ka ("according to"). The second clause, kakhah ta'asu la-'echad ke-mispar-am ("thus you will do for the one according to their number"), restates the same verb ta'asu to apply the rule distributively — la-'echad directs the action to each individual unit, while ke-mispar-am ("according to their number") closes the sentence by returning to the noun mispar, now in construct form with a suffix referring back to the animals or units already introduced. The repetition of mispar and ta'asu creates a chiastic symmetry: number → action → thus → action → number, which is not preserved as strikingly in translations that vary the verbs (e.g., "prepare," "do," "haréis").

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (per singulos boves et arietis et agnos et hædos — "for each of the bulls and rams and lambs and goats") introduces explicit animal names not present in the Hebrew verse itself, which uses only the abstract terms mispar and 'echad. The LXX (κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὧν ἐὰν ποιήσητε... κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν αὐτῶν) follows the Hebrew structure closely, preserving the double reference to "number" (ἀριθμόν) and the distributive singular (τῷ ἑνί, "for the one").