Numbers 18:5

Summary

Numbers 18:5 instructs the priests (addressed as "you all" in the verb form) to maintain the mishmeret ("service/charge") of the sanctuary and of the altar. The verse closes with a purpose/result clause stating that if this charge is kept, qetsef ("wrath") will not come again upon the bene Yisrael ("sons of Israel").

Key words

• shemartem ("you will keep", H8104H) — qal sequential perfect, 2nd person masculine plural; continues a chain of prior instructions, giving the sense of an ongoing obligation rather than a single act.
• mishmeret ("service/charge of", H4931) — feminine singular construct noun, appearing twice (once for ha-qodesh, once for ha-mizbeach), linking the priests' duty directly to "the holy place" and "the altar."
• qodesh ("holy place", H6944G) — masculine singular noun with the definite article ha (H9009), marking a specific, known sacred space.
• yihyeh ("it will be", H1961) — qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular; expresses a future/ongoing state, here negated to describe a condition that will not occur.
• qetsef ("wrath", H7110A) — masculine singular noun, the subject of the negated verb yihyeh, denoting the state that is prevented from recurring.

What the text says

The verse opens with a vav-sequential perfect (u-shemartem), which continues a sequence of commands begun earlier in the chapter rather than introducing an isolated instruction. The object of this verb is marked twice by the untranslated direct-object particle 'et (H0853), each time attached to a construct phrase: mishmeret ha-qodesh ("the mishmeret of the holy place") and mishmeret ha-mizbeach ("the mishmeret of the altar"). The repetition of mishmeret in construct form ties the abstract notion of "charge" or "guarded duty" concretely to two distinct sacred objects—the qodesh and the mizbeach—rather than treating the duty as a single undifferentiated task.

The second half of the verse is a negative clause built on the imperfect yihyeh ("it will be"), negated by lo' (H3808), with the adverb od ("again", H5750) modifying the verb to indicate non-recurrence. The subject of this clause is qetsef ("wrath"), and the prepositional phrase 'al benei Yisrael ("toward the sons of Israel") specifies the target of this wrath. Grammatically, the clause functions as a stated consequence tied to the fulfillment of the mishmeret duties described in the first half of the verse.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the two Hebrew singular construct phrases (mishmeret ha-qodesh, mishmeret ha-mizbeach) with the plural noun φυλακὰς ("watches/guards"), whereas the Hebrew uses the singular mishmeret in each construct pair. The LXX also omits an equivalent for od ("again"), stating simply that θυμὸς ("wrath") "will not be," without the temporal nuance of recurrence present in the Hebrew. The Vulgate uses an imperative, "Excubate" ("keep watch"), differing from the Hebrew's sequential perfect shemartem, and phrases the final clause as a subjunctive purpose clause ("ne oriatur indignatio," "lest wrath arise") rather than the Hebrew's direct negated imperfect construction.