Numbers 3:50
מֵאֵת בְּכוֹר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָקַח אֶת־הַכָּסֶף חֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁשִּׁים וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וָאֶלֶף בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
מֵאֵ֗ת בְּכ֛וֹר בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לָקַ֣ח אֶת־הַכָּ֑סֶף חֲמִשָּׁ֨ה וְשִׁשִּׁ֜ים וּשְׁלֹ֥שׁ מֵא֛וֹת וָאֶ֖לֶף בְּשֶׁ֥קֶל הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃
παρὰ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ ἔλαβεν τὸ ἀργύριον, χιλίους τριακοσίους ἑξήκοντα πέντε σίκλους, κατὰ τὸν σίκλον τὸν ἅγιον.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
pro primogenitis filiorum Israël, mille trecentorum sexaginta quinque siclorum juxta pondus sanctuarii:
cobró el dinero de los primogénitos de los hijos de Israel: mil trescientos sesenta y cinco siclos, según el peso del santuario;
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y recibió de los primogénitos de los hijos de Israel en dinero, mil trescientos sesenta y cinco siclos, conforme al siclo del santuario.
He collected the money from the firstborn of the Israelites: 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse states that someone (grammatically unspecified, third person masculine singular) collected the redemption money from the firstborn of the Israelites, totaling 1,365 shekels measured by the sanctuary shekel standard.
Key words
- me'et (מֵאֵת, H9006+H0854): a compound preposition combining "from" and "with," marking the source from which the money was taken — the firstborn themselves.
- bekhor ("firstborn of", H1060): masculine singular noun in construct state, linking to benei Yisra'el to form the phrase "firstborn of the sons of Israel," treated as a collective category rather than one individual.
- laqach ("he took", H3947G): qal perfect verb, third person masculine singular, indicating a completed action; the subject is not named in this verse but is grammatically implied as understood from context.
- shekel haqodesh ("shekel of the holy place", H8255+H6944G): a construct chain specifying the standard unit — the shekel is qualified by ha-qodesh ("the holy place"), fixing the value system used.
- elef ("one thousand", H0505G): the largest numeral in the sequence, joined by the conjunction va- ("and", H9002) to close the numerical chain.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence opens with the prepositional phrase me'et bekhor benei Yisra'el ("from [with] the firstborn of the sons of Israel"), which is fronted before the verb laqach ("he took"). This word order places emphasis on the source of the money before naming the action taken upon it. The direct object, et-hakasef ("the money"), is marked by the untranslated object marker 'et (H0853) and the definite article ha- (H9009).
The numeral phrase that follows builds the total ascending from smallest to largest unit: chamishah ("five") + ve-shishim ("and sixty") + u-shelosh me'ot ("and three hundred") + va-elef ("and one thousand"), each joined by the conjunction ve-/u-/va- ("and", H9002). This additive chain yields 1,365, but the Hebrew constructs it in the reverse order from how the sum is typically read in English or Spanish translations.
The closing phrase be-sheqel haqodesh ("by the shekel of the holy place") uses the construct noun sheqel (H8255) governed by the preposition be- ("by", H9003), specifying the standard of measurement rather than a location.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew numeral sequence is built ascending (five, sixty, three hundred, one thousand), while the LXX (χιλίους τριακοσίους ἑξήκοντα πέντε — "a thousand, three hundred, sixty, five") and the Vulgate (mille trecentorum sexaginta quinque — "a thousand, three hundred sixty-five") present the same total in descending order. This reflects a difference in how each language customarily sequences compound numerals, not a difference in the sum itself.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.