Numbers 4:32

וְעַמּוּדֵי הֶחָצֵר סָבִיב וְאַדְנֵיהֶם וִֽיתֵדֹתָם וּמֵיתְרֵיהֶם לְכָל־כְּלֵיהֶם וּלְכֹל עֲבֹדָתָם וּבְשֵׁמֹת תִּפְקְדוּ אֶת־כְּלֵי מִשְׁמֶרֶת מַשָּׂאָֽם׃

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The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וְעַמּוּדֵי֩ הֶחָצֵ֨ר סָבִ֜יב וְאַדְנֵיהֶ֗ם וִֽיתֵדֹתָם֙ וּמֵ֣יתְרֵיהֶ֔ם לְכָל־כְּלֵיהֶ֔ם וּלְכֹ֖ל עֲבֹדָתָ֑ם וּבְשֵׁמֹ֣ת תִּפְקְד֔וּ אֶת־כְּלֵ֖י מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶת מַשָּׂאָֽם׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ τοὺς στύλους τῆς αὐλῆς κύκλω, καὶ αἱ βάσεις αὐτῶν, καὶ τοὺς στύλους τοῦ καταπετάσματος τῆς πύλης τῆς αὐλῆς καὶ τὰς βάσεις αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς πασσάλους αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς κάλους αὐτῶν, καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη αὐτῶν καὶ πάντα τὰ λειτουργήματα αὐτῶν, ἐξ ὀνομάτων ἐπισκέψασθε αὐτοὺς καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη τῆς φυλακῆς τῶν αἰρομένων ὑπ’ αὐτῶν.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

columnas quoque atrii per circuitum cum basibus et paxillis et funibus suis. Omnia vasa et supellectilem ad numerum accipient, sicque portabunt.

Spanish

los postes que rodean el atrio, sus bases, sus estacas, sus cuerdas, con todos sus accesorios y con todo su servicio. Ustedes les asignarán por nombre los artículos de los que deben hacerse cargo.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y las columnas del atrio alrededor, y sus basas, y sus estacas, y sus cuerdas con todos sus instrumentos, y todo su servicio; y contaréis por sus nombres todos los vasos de la guarda de su cargo.

English

and the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, and ropes, including all their equipment and everything related to their use. You shall assign by name the items that they are responsible to carry.

What the text says

Summary

The verse continues a list of tabernacle courtyard equipment — pillars, bases, tent pegs, ropes, and related items — that certain Levites (the Merarites, per context) must carry. It instructs that these items be assigned to individuals "by name," meaning each object is tracked to a specific person responsible for it.

Key words

  • 'a.mu.Dei ("pillars of", H5982G) — masculine plural construct, linking "pillars" to "the courtyard" that follows; part of a chain of construct nouns listing equipment.
  • mish.Me.ret ("duty of", H4931) — feminine singular construct, denoting a charge or assigned responsibility, here tied to ma.sa.'A ("carrying", H4853A).
  • she.Mot ("names", H8034) — feminine plural noun with the preposition ve. ("by", H9003), forming the phrase "by names," indicating individualized accounting.
  • tif.ke.Du ("you will assign", H6485A) — Qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, expressing a future or ongoing obligatory action directed at the addressees (the officiating leaders).
  • 'a.vo.da.Ta ("service", H5656I) — feminine singular construct with the suffix -m ("their"), meaning "their service," referring to the functional use of the listed items.

What the text says

The verse is built almost entirely as a chain of construct nouns (status constructus), each item — pillars, bases, tent pegs, ropes — linked to the pronominal suffix -Hem ("their," H9028), tying every object back to the courtyard structure introduced earlier in the passage. This construct chain accumulates: 'a.mu.Dei ("pillars of") → cha.Tzer ("courtyard") → 'ad.nei.Hem ("their bases") → te.do.Tam ("their tent pegs") → Meit.rei.Hem ("their ropes"), continuing through "all their articles" (ke.lei.Hem) and "all their service" ('a.vo.da.Tam). This grammatical structure produces a dense inventory list without needing repeated verbs.

The clause shifts at u.ve.she.Mot tif.ke.Du ("and by names you will assign"), where the verb tif.ke.Du (Qal imperfect, second-person plural) introduces the instruction proper. The imperfect aspect signals an action to be carried out, addressed to those managing the assignment. The phrase be.she.Mot ("by names") specifies the method: items are not just counted but registered against specific names, reinforced by mish.Me.ret ma.sa.'Am ("the duty of their carrying"), a construct pairing that specifies the equipment is under the "duty" or "charge" (mish.Me.ret) related to "their carrying" (ma.sa.'Am).

Differences between versions

The LXX inserts additional items not listed in the Hebrew construct chain at this point — "the pillars of the veil of the gate of the court and their bases" (τοὺς στύλους τοῦ καταπετάσματος τῆς πύλης τῆς αὐλῆς) — expanding the inventory beyond what the Hebrew text of this verse specifies. The Vulgate renders tif.ke.Du ("you will assign") with accipient ("they will receive"), shifting the grammatical subject from the addressees who assign to the Levites who receive the items, a difference in verbal focus not present in the Hebrew's second-person form.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.