Numbers 3:25

Summary

The verse specifies the objects assigned to the care of the descendants of Gershon within the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle structure itself, the tent, its covering, and the screen at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

Key words

• mishMeret ("duty of", H4931) — feminine singular construct noun, opening the verse as the governing term: everything that follows is what falls under this "charge" or "guarded task."
• benei ("descendants of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct, links the "duty" to the specific group responsible, the sons of Gershon.
• mishKan ("tabernacle", H4908) — masculine singular noun with definite article (ha, H9009), naming the first object under Gershonite care.
• mikhSehu ("its covering", H4372 + H9023) — construct noun with 3rd person masculine singular suffix "its," grammatically tying the covering back to the tent ('Ohel, H0168G) mentioned just before it.
• maSakh ("screen of", H4539) — masculine singular construct, beginning a new construct chain that specifies exactly which screen: the one at the "entrance of" (Petach, H6607) the Tent of Meeting.

What the text says

The verse opens with a construct chain: mishMeret benei-Gershon ("the duty of the sons of Gershon"), followed by the locative phrase be'Ohel mo'Ed ("in the Tent of Meeting"), establishing both who is responsible and where their responsibility is exercised. The list of objects then follows without a repeated verb — the Hebrew simply strings nouns together, relying on the initial "duty of" to govern all of them: hammishKan ("the tabernacle"), veha'Ohel ("and the tent"), mikhSehu ("its covering"), and umaSakh Petach 'Ohel mo'Ed ("and the screen of the entrance of the Tent of Meeting").

The suffix on mikhSehu ("its covering") is grammatically significant: the 3rd person masculine singular suffix -hu (H9023) attaches the covering specifically to the immediately preceding noun ha'Ohel ("the tent"), rather than to hammishKan ("the tabernacle") mentioned earlier in the list. This distinguishes two structurally separate items — the tabernacle proper and the tent that covers it — each treated as a discrete object under the Gershonite charge, with the covering belonging to the tent specifically.

The final construct chain, maSakh Petach 'Ohel mo'Ed ("the screen of the entrance of the Tent of Meeting"), stacks three nouns in sequence, each modifying the next, producing a single tightly specified object: not just any screen, but the one belonging to the entrance, and that entrance belonging to the Tent of Meeting.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) as given is truncated, stating only "Et habebunt excubias in tabernaculo fœderis" ("And they will keep watch in the tabernacle of the covenant"), without listing the specific objects (tabernacle, tent, covering, screen) that the Hebrew, LXX, and other versions enumerate. The LXX renders Gershon (H1648) as Gedsōn, a transliteration variant of the same proper name.