Numbers 31:38

Summary

The verse records the cattle taken as war spoil: the total number of cattle is thirty-six thousand (shi.Shah + she.lo.Shim + 'A.lef), and the portion set aside as tribute for Yehovah from this group is seventy-two (she.Na.yim + shiv.'Im).

Key words

• ba.Kar ("cattle", H1241) — singular collective noun with definite article Ha. ("the"), referring to the whole category of cattle among the spoil.
• mikh.Sa ("tax", H4371) — construct noun, "tax of...", here bound to the suffix -m ("their"), forming "their tax," i.e., the portion drawn from this cattle group.
• m ("their", H9028) — third-person plural possessive suffix attached to mikh.Sa, specifying whose tax is meant (the cattle just enumerated).
• Yah.weh ("Yehovah", H3068G) — the divine name, marked with the preposition la. ("for"), identifying the recipient of the tax.
• she.Na.yim ("two", H8147) and shiv.'Im ("seventy", H7657) — dual and plural cardinal numbers joined by ve. ("and"), together yielding seventy-two.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built as two numerical statements joined by ve. ("and"). The first clause states the total: ha-baqar ("the cattle") followed by the number shishah u-sheloshim 'elef ("six and thirty, a thousand"), which in Hebrew numeral order gives thirty-six thousand. The second clause shifts to the tax portion: u-mikhsam la-YHWH ("and their tax for Yehovah"), followed by shenayim ve-shiv'im ("two and seventy"), giving seventy-two. The construct form mikhsam links grammatically back to the cattle just mentioned, so the tax is understood as drawn from that specific total rather than being an independent figure. The preposition la- before the divine name marks Yehovah as the recipient of this designated portion, distinguishing the general war spoil from the smaller amount consecrated as tribute.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders mikhsam la-YHWH as τὸ τέλος κυρίῳ ("the tax/tribute to the lord"), preserving the tribute concept but using the generic title kyriō rather than transliterating the divine name. The Vulgate ("et de bobus triginta sex millibus, boves septuaginta et duo") gives both numbers but does not include an explicit phrase corresponding to "tax for Yehovah" (mikhsam la-YHWH); it simply juxtaposes the two figures without naming the recipient of the seventy-two.