Numbers 6:26

Summary

Numbers 6:26 is the third and final line of the Priestly Blessing (Birkat Kohanim), asking that Yehovah lift his face toward the addressee and place peace upon him. It uses two verbs in the imperfect, both expressing wish or request rather than plain future fact.

Key words

• yiSa ("may he lift up", H5375) — qal imperfect, third person masculine singular; the imperfect form here carries jussive/optative force, expressing a wish ("may he lift up") rather than a simple prediction.
• panav ("his face", H6440) — masculine plural noun in construct with the pronominal suffix -o ("his"); Hebrew treats "face" as grammatically plural though referring to a single face, a common feature of this noun.
• eleikha ("to you", H0413 + suffix) — preposition el with second-person masculine singular suffix, marking the direction of the action, "toward you."
• veyaSem ("and may he appoint/place", H7760) — qal imperfect with prefixed vav, continuing the jussive sense of the first verb; the vav links this action as a further consequence or continuation of the first.
• shalom ("peace", H7965) — masculine singular noun, the direct object placed "for you" (lekha), the thing granted.

What the text says

The verse consists of two parallel clauses, each built on a verb + divine subject + prepositional phrase with a second-person suffix. The first clause, yiSa Yehovah panav eleikha ("may Yehovah lift up his face to you"), uses the idiom of "lifting the face," an expression tied to attention or favorable regard directed toward someone. The construct form panav ("face of him") shows the grammatical plural typical of this Hebrew noun even when a single face is meant.

The second clause, veyaSem lekha shalom ("and may he place for you peace"), is joined by the conjunctive vav attached to the verb yaSem, indicating that this action follows or complements the first. The preposition lekha ("for you") marks the recipient of shalom, which functions as the direct object of "placing." Both verbs are grammatically imperfect but function with jussive meaning in this liturgical formula, expressing a wish that the action occur, not a report that it has occurred or will inevitably occur.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders yiSa panav as convertat vultum suum ("may he turn his face"), differing from the LXX's eparai to prosopon autou ("may he lift up his face"), which follows the Hebrew idiom of "lifting" (yiSa) more literally. The Hebrew panav is grammatically plural ("faces of him"), while both LXX (prosopon, singular) and Vulgate (vultum, singular) render it as singular, as do the modern translations shown.