Numbers 7:5

Summary

Moses is instructed to take the offerings from the tribal leaders and designate them for the service of the Tent of Meeting. He is then to distribute them among the Levites, giving to each man according to the specific task assigned to him.

Key words

• kach ("take", H3947) — qal imperative, a direct command opening the verse.
• 'avodat ("service of", H5656) — feminine singular construct, linked here to 'ohel mo'ed ("tent of meeting", H0168/H4150) to specify the object of the labor.
• natattah ("you will give", H5414) — qal sequential perfect, continuing the chain of instructions begun by the imperative kach.
• 'ish ("each one", H0376) — used distributively, introducing the phrase that assigns portions individually rather than collectively.
• ke-fi ("according to the mouth of", H6310) — construct noun pi ("mouth") governed by the preposition ke ("according to"), an idiom meaning "according to" or "in proportion to."

What the text says

The verse opens with the bare imperative kach ("take"), followed by two sequential perfect verbs — hayu ("they will be") and natattah ("you will give") — which carry the narrative forward as continuations of the initial command, a common Hebrew construction where perfect verb forms following an imperative express sequence rather than past time.

The phrase la'avod et-'avodat 'ohel mo'ed uses the infinitive 'avod ("to serve") together with the noun 'avodat ("service of") from the same root (H5647/H5656), producing a doubled construction — literally "to serve the service of." This root repetition intensifies or specifies the purpose clause: the items are to function specifically for this labor at the tent of meeting.

The closing phrase 'ish ke-fi 'avodato ("each one according to the mouth of his service") employs the idiom ke-fi, built from the construct noun pi ("mouth"). In Biblical Hebrew this idiom regularly denotes proportion or correspondence — "according to" — so the distribution to the Levites is measured against the specific 'avodah ("service", H5656) assigned to each individual.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew's doubled root construction la'avod et-'avodat ("to serve the service of") is rendered in the LXX as πρὸς τὰ ἔργα τὰ λειτουργικὰ ("for the liturgical works"), which uses two separate Greek terms (ἔργα, λειτουργικά) rather than reproducing the single-root repetition. The Vulgate's ut serviant in ministerio similarly uses one verb (serviant) and one noun (ministerio), losing the doubled-root emphasis of the Hebrew.

The idiom ke-fi 'avodato ("according to the mouth of his service") is simplified in the LXX to κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ λειτουργίαν ("according to his service"), omitting the "mouth" component of the idiom. The Vulgate renders it as juxta ordinem ministerii sui ("according to the order of his ministry"), introducing the word ordinem ("order"), which has no direct counterpart in the Hebrew phrase.