Numbers 16:38
אֵת מַחְתּוֹת הַֽחַטָּאִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּנַפְשֹׁתָם וְעָשׂוּ אֹתָם רִקֻּעֵי פַחִים צִפּוּי לַמִּזְבֵּחַ כִּֽי־הִקְרִיבֻם לִפְנֵֽי־יְהוָה וַיִּקְדָּשׁוּ וְיִֽהְיוּ לְאוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
אֵ֡ת מַחְתּוֹת֩ הַֽחַטָּאִ֨ים הָאֵ֜לֶּה בְּנַפְשֹׁתָ֗ם וְעָשׂ֨וּ אֹתָ֜ם רִקֻּעֵ֤י פַחִים֙ צִפּ֣וּי לַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ כִּֽי־הִקְרִיבֻ֥ם לִפְנֵֽי־יְהוָ֖ה וַיִּקְדָּ֑שׁוּ וְיִֽהְי֥וּ לְא֖וֹת לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
καὶ ποίησον αὐτὰ λεπίδας ἐλατάς, περίθεμα τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ, ὅτι προσηνέχθησαν ἔναντι κυρίου καὶ ἡγιάσθησαν, καὶ ἐγένοντο εἰς σημεῖον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
in mortibus peccatorum: producatque ea in laminas, et affigat altari, eo quod oblatum sit in eis incensum Domino, et sanctificata sint, ut cernant ea pro signo et monimento filii Israël.
Tomen los incensarios de estos hombres que pecaron y les costó la vida, y aplástenlos para hacer láminas con las que se recubrirá el altar. Como los presentaron delante de Yehová, son sagrados. Servirán como una señal de advertencia para los hijos de Israel”.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Los incensarios de estos pecadores contra sus almas: y harán de ellos planchas extendidas para cubrir el altar: por cuanto ofrecieron con ellos delante de Jehová, son santificados; y serán por señal á los hijos de Israel.
As for the censers of those who sinned at the cost of their own lives, hammer them into sheets to overlay the altar, for these were presented before the LORD, and so have become holy. They will serve as a sign to the Israelites.”
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse instructs that the bronze censers of the men who died for their rebellion (Korah's group) be hammered into plates to overlay the altar. The rationale given is that these censers became holy because they had been "brought near" before Yehovah, and they are to function as a lasting sign for the Israelites.
Key words
- mach.tOt ("censers of", H4289) — feminine plural construct noun, opening the sentence as the object under discussion (marked by the untranslated 'et, H0853).
- cha.ta.'Im ("sinners", H2400) — masculine plural adjective functioning as a substantive, modified by the demonstrative 'E.leh ("these", H0428), specifying exactly whose censers are meant.
- naf.sho.Ta-m ("their lives/souls", H5315 + H9028) — construct plural noun with pronominal suffix, following the preposition be ("by/with", H9003); this phrase ties the censers to the cost paid by these men.
- hik.ri.Vu-m ("they brought them near", H7126) — hiphil (causative) perfect verb with 3rd person plural object suffix, describing the completed act of presenting the censers before Yehovah.
- i.yik.Da.shu ("and they became holy", H6942) — qal narrative verb (vav-consecutive), marking the resulting state after the presentation.
What the text says
The sentence opens with the object marker 'et attached to mach.tOt ha-cha.ta.'Im ha-'E.leh — "the censers of these sinners" — establishing the topic before any verb appears. The phrase be-naf.sho.tam ("by/with their lives") is attached to this opening clause, linking the censers directly to the fate of the men who used them, though the grammar itself does not specify a causal mechanism beyond juxtaposition with the preposition be.
The main instruction follows with ve-'a.su ("and they shall make," H6213), an imperative directing that the censers be hammered (ri.ku.'Ei fa.Chim, "beaten-out plates") into an overlay (tzi.Pui, H6826) for the altar. The subordinating particle ki ("for/because," H3588) introduces the justification: the perfect verb hik.ri.Vum ("they brought them near") states as completed action that these censers were presented lif.nei-Yehovah ("before Yehovah"). Two narrative-chain verbs follow — va-yik.Da.shu ("and they became holy") and ve-yih.Yu ("and they shall be") — moving from the past result (holiness) to a future/ongoing purpose (serving as 'ot, "a sign," H0226) for v'nei Yisra'El, "the sons of Israel."
Differences between versions
The Vulgate opens with "in mortibus peccatorum" ("in the deaths of sinners"), rendering be-naf.sho.tam ("by their lives/souls") with a noun referring to death rather than life. The LXX and BSB do not carry over the cha.ta.'Im ("sinners") language into a separate clause at this point but integrate it earlier in the passage; the Hebrew as segmented here places "these sinners" directly before the phrase about their naf.sho.Ta ("lives"), a juxtaposition the Vulgate interprets through the lens of their death.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.