Numbers 26:57

Summary

This verse introduces the census listing of the tribe of Levi, organized by its three major clan divisions. It names the enrolled men of the Levites according to their clans, tracing each clan back to its eponymous ancestor: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

Key words

• fekudei ("[were] [the] enrolled [men] of", H6485A) — qal passive participle, masculine plural construct; indicates men who have been counted/mustered, grammatically bound to the following noun ha-Levi.
• mishpechotam ("clans", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun with 3rd person masculine plural suffix "their," marking the organizational unit by which the Levites are grouped.
• ha-Gereshunni ("the Gershonite", H1649) — gentilic adjective, masculine singular, derived from the personal name Gershon, denoting the clan-member designation rather than the ancestor himself.
• mishpachat ("[the] clan of", H4940) — feminine singular construct noun, repeated three times, each time placing a clan in construct relation with its gentilic designation (ha-Gereshunni, ha-Qehati, ha-Merari).
• li-Qehat / li-Merari ("of Kohath" / "of Merari", H6955 / H4847) — proper names preceded by the preposition le- ("to/of"), marking possession or origin, structurally parallel to le-Gershon.

What the text says

The verse opens with the demonstrative 'elleh ("these", H0428) combined with fekudei ("[were] [the] enrolled [men] of", H6485A), a passive participle in construct state. This construct chain — fekudei ha-Levi le-mishpechotam — literally reads "the enrolled-ones of the Levite according-to their clans," establishing that what follows is a list organized by clan rather than by individual.

The body of the verse then repeats a fixed pattern three times: preposition le- + ancestor's name, followed by mishpachat ("[the] clan of", H4940) in construct with the gentilic form of that same name (e.g., le-Gershon mishpachat ha-Gereshunni, "to/of Gershon, the clan of the Gershonite"). This construction ties each clan-name grammatically back to its ancestor through the construct chain, a common device in Hebrew genealogical lists. The repetition of mishpachat in construct state before each gentilic (ha-Gereshunni, H1649; ha-Qehati, H6956; ha-Merari, H4848) reinforces the formal, list-like structure without needing additional verbs — the entire verse functions as a nominal listing rather than a narrated action.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) renders the opening differently, using υἱοὶ Λευεί ("sons of Levi") κατὰ δήμους αὐτῶν ("according to their peoples") rather than a participial construction equivalent to fekudei ("enrolled ones", H6485A). This shifts the emphasis from "the counted/enrolled men" to "the sons," omitting explicit reference to the census-taking verb embedded in the Hebrew participle. The Vulgate's numerus filiorum Levi ("the number of the sons of Levi") more closely preserves the enumerative sense of the Hebrew fekudei, using numerus to capture the counting nuance that the LXX's υἱοὶ does not convey.