Numbers 3:51

Summary

Moses hands over the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, acting on the word of Yehovah, in accordance with what Yehovah had commanded him. The verse closes the census-and-redemption unit by confirming that the transaction was carried out exactly as ordered.

Key words

• va-yiTen ("and he gave", H5414) — qal narrative verb with vav, moving the story forward: this is the reported action that completes the preceding instructions.
• Kesef ha-pedu'im ("the money of the ransoms", H3701/H6302) — a construct chain: kesef ("money/silver") stands in construct to the definite plural noun pedu'im ("ransoms"), specifying exactly which money is meant — that collected as ransom.
• le-Aharon u-le-vanav ("to Aaron and to his sons", H0175/H1121A) — the preposition le ("to") marks the recipients; vanav is itself a construct form ("sons of...") carrying the pronominal suffix "his," referring back to Aaron.
• 'al-pi Yehovah ("on the mouth of Yehovah", H6310I/H3068G) — an idiomatic construct phrase using pi ("mouth of") to mean "according to the word/command of," expressing the authority behind Moses' action.
• tzivvah ("he had commanded", H6680) — piel perfect verb, denoting a completed, intensive act of command; paired with ka'asher ("just as," H0834D) it frames the whole verse as compliance with a prior directive.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as a simple narrative report: subject (Moshe) + verb (va-yiten) + object ('et-kesef ha-pedu'im) + indirect recipients (le-Aharon u-le-vanav), followed by two clauses of justification introduced by 'al-pi Yehovah and ka'asher tzivvah Yehovah 'et-Moshe. The double reference to Yehovah's command — first as "the mouth of Yehovah" and then as "Yehovah commanded Moses" — creates a frame that brackets the action of giving with divine authorization at both its execution and its origin.

The construct chain kesef ha-pedu'im ties the money specifically to the redemption process described earlier in the chapter, rather than referring to money in general. The use of pi ("mouth of") rather than a more abstract term for "word" preserves a physical, oral image of command — the instruction as something spoken. The repetition of Moshe at both the beginning and the end of the verse (as giver and as one who received the command) forms a structural inclusio, framing him as the intermediary between the divine order and its execution.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders le-Aharon u-le-vanav ("to Aaron and to his sons") with a text that reads λάρων instead of the expected name; this appears to be a textual variant of "Aaron" rather than a different word choice. The Vulgate condenses the phrase into eam Aaron et filiis ejus ("it to Aaron and his sons"), omitting a separate rendering of 'al-pi Yehovah ("according to the mouth of Yehovah") and merging both command-clauses of the Hebrew into a single juxta verbum quod praeceperat, where the Hebrew keeps two distinct clauses ('al-pi Yehovah and ka'asher tzivvah).