Numbers 7:77

Summary

The verse concludes the list of offerings brought by Pagiel son of Ocran, leader of the tribe of Asher, specifying the animals designated for the zevach hashelamim ("sacrifice of peace offerings"): two oxen, five rams, five goats, and five year-old lambs. The closing formula identifies this entire offering as belonging to Pagiel.

Key words

• Ze.vach ("[the] sacrifice of", H2077) — masculine singular construct noun, linking directly to ha.she.la.Mim to form the technical term for a peace/well-being offering.
• she.la.Mim ("peace offerings", H8002) — masculine plural noun with definite article, naming the specific sacrificial category (often rendered "peace offering" or "offering of well-being").
• be.nei- ("sons of", H1121H) — masculine plural construct noun; combined with sha.Nah ("a year", H8141), the phrase be.nei-sha.Nah means "year-old" or "in their first year," describing the age of the lambs.
• ka.re.Ban ("[was] [the] offering of", H7133A) — masculine singular construct noun introduced by the demonstrative zeh ("this", H2088), forming the closing declarative clause that attributes the whole list to Pagiel.
• cha.mi.Shah ("five", H2568) — cardinal number appearing three times, each time modifying a different animal category (rams, goats, lambs), showing the repeated numerical structure of the list.

What the text says

The verse opens with a conjunction plus preposition, u.le. ("and to"), attached to Ze.vach ha.she.la.Mim, marking this clause as continuing an enumeration begun earlier in the chapter (the offerings of Pagiel). The construct chain Ze.vach ha.she.la.Mim ("the sacrifice of the peace offerings") sets up the category, after which the text lists four types of animals with their quantities: ba.Kar she.na.Yim ("oxen, two"), 'ei.Lim cha.mi.Shah ("rams, five"), 'a.tu.Dim cha.mi.Shah ("goats, five"), and ke.va.Sim be.nei-sha.Nah cha.mi.Shah ("lambs, sons of a year, five"). In each case, the noun precedes the number, a pattern consistent throughout the chapter's inventory style.

The final clause, zeh ka.re.Ban Pag.'i.'El ben-'a.khe.Ran ("this [was] the offering of Pagiel son of Ocran"), uses the demonstrative zeh to close the list and attribute it formally, mirroring the closing formulas used for the other tribal leaders in the surrounding verses.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders she.la.Mim as σωτηρίου ("of salvation/deliverance"), a semantic choice distinct from the Hebrew term for peace/well-being offerings. The Vulgate uses pacificorum ("of peace offerings"), closer to the Hebrew semantic range. The LXX also renders ba.Kar ("oxen") as δαμάλεις ("heifers," specifically female), while the Hebrew term is common-gender without specifying sex, and the Vulgate's boves ("oxen/cattle") likewise does not specify gender as the LXX does.