Numbers 7:56

Summary

This verse lists cultic implements offered by one of the tribal leaders: a single gold dish weighing an amount specified by the numeral "ten," and that dish is described as filled with incense. The verse is part of a repeated formulaic list occurring throughout Numbers 7.

Key words

• kaf ("a pan", H3709) — feminine singular noun in construct state; introduces the item being enumerated and links grammatically to the descriptive elements that follow.
• 'achat ("one", H0259) — cardinal number, feminine singular, agreeing with kaf; specifies the count of the dish as singular.
• 'asarah ("ten", H6235) — feminine singular numeral; stands alone without an explicit unit noun in the Hebrew text.
• zahav ("gold", H2091) — masculine singular noun; identifies the material of the dish, though its noun gender does not match the feminine kaf, since it functions as a following descriptive term rather than a direct modifier.
• qetoret ("incense", H7004) — feminine singular noun; names the substance filling the dish, connected to me.le.'Ah ("full", H4392), which agrees with kaf in gender and number.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is built from short, juxtaposed nominal elements without a verb: kaf 'achat ("one pan"), followed by 'asarah zahav ("ten, gold"), followed by me.le.'ah qetoret ("full, incense"). The construct form of kaf signals that what follows describes or specifies the pan — its weight and its material — even though no explicit connecting word ("of," "weighing") appears in the Hebrew consonantal text itself. The numeral 'asarah ("ten") is not attached to any stated unit noun such as "shekel"; the unit is left unexpressed and must be inferred from the broader context of the priestly-offering lists in Numbars 7, where shekel weight is the standard measure for gold vessels.

The adjective me.le.'ah ("full") agrees in gender and number with kaf, confirming that the dish, not the gold or the number, is what is described as "full of incense." The syntax is elliptical and paratactic, typical of administrative or list-style Hebrew prose, and depends on repetition across the chapter to make the implied unit of weight clear.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text does not contain an explicit word for "shekel" after 'asarah ("ten", H6235); the unit of weight is implied only from context. The Vulgate makes this explicit by adding siclos ("shekels"), and the LXX renders the phrase as δέκα χρυσῶν ("ten of gold"), also implying a weight unit without a separate lexical item for "shekel." Modern translations such as BSB ("weighing ten shekels") and RV1909/SBLIBRE ("de diez siclos") follow the Vulgate's explicit addition of the shekel unit, making interpretive information explicit that the Hebrew leaves implicit.