Numbers 3:29

Summary

The verse specifies the camping location for the clans descended from Kohath: they are positioned at the side of the tabernacle, on its southward direction.

Key words

• mish.pe.Chot ("clans of", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun, opening a construct chain that identifies which clans are meant.
• be.nei- ("descendants of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct, links "clans" to the ancestor name Kohath, forming a double construct chain (clans-of-descendants-of-Kohath).
• ya.cha.Nu ("they will encamp", H2583) — qal imperfect, third person masculine plural; the imperfect aspect conveys an action presented as ongoing or prescribed rather than a single completed event.
• Ye.rekh ("side of", H3409) — feminine singular construct, governs "the tabernacle" and specifies a lateral position rather than a front or rear location.
• tei.Ma.na + h ("south" + directional he, H8486 + H9011) — the directional suffix -ah reinforces orientation "toward the south," a construction that adds directional force beyond a simple noun.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built on a double construct chain: mish.pe.Chot be.nei-Ke.Hat ("the clans of the descendants of Kohath"), which functions as the subject of the verb ya.cha.Nu ("they will encamp"). This verb, in the qal imperfect, describes an action with ongoing or prospective aspect — appropriate for a standing instruction about camp arrangement rather than a one-time historical event.

The locative phrase 'al Ye.rekh ha-mish.Kan ("at the side of the tabernacle") uses Ye.rekh in construct form, a term whose basic sense is a bodily "side" or "flank," here applied spatially to indicate a lateral position relative to the tabernacle structure. The final word, tei.Ma.na with the directional -ah suffix (H9011), does not simply name "south" as a static noun but adds directional force, meaning something like "southward" or "toward the south" — a nuance that plain English "south" does not fully replicate, since the Hebrew grammatically marks motion or orientation toward that direction rather than a fixed point.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (VULCLEM) renders only the locational clause — et castrametabuntur ad meridianam plagam ("and they will camp toward the southern region") — omitting explicit mention of "the clans of the descendants of Kohath" in this verse segment, likely because that subject was carried over from the preceding verse in the Vulgate's sentence division. The LXX (Swete) renders Ye.rekh ("side of") with ἐκ πλαγίων ("from the flanks/sides"), a plural construction where the Hebrew uses a singular construct noun, and translates tei.Ma.na as κατὰ λίβα ("toward the southwest wind"), reflecting a Greek directional term tied to a specific wind rather than a direct equivalent of the Hebrew directional suffix.