The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Numbers3:27–32

The Kohathites

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Numbers 3:27–32 — The Kohathites. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

27“From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the …”+

27From Kohath came the clans of the Amramites, the Izharites, the Hebronites, and the Uzzielites; these were the clans of the Kohathites.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·liq·hāṯ miš·pa·ḥaṯ ha·‘am·rā·mî hay·yiṣ·hā·rî ū·miš·pa·ḥaṯ ha·ḥeḇ·rō·nî ū·miš·pa·ḥaṯ hā·‘āz·zî·’ê·lî ū·miš·pa·ḥaṯ ’êl·leh hêm miš·pə·ḥōṯ haq·qə·hā·ṯî

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And to Kohath: the clan of the Amramite, and the Izharite, and the Hebronite, and the Uzzielite; these — they [were] the clans of the Kohathite.

Where the English smooths the original

  • וְלִקְהָ֗ת BSB's smooth "From Kohath came the clans" supplies a verb. The Hebrew wə·liq·hāṯ is only the conjunction plus the preposition lə- on the name: "and-to/belonging-to-Kohath" — a bare possessive list-header with no finite verb at all.
  • הַֽעַמְרָמִי֙ English pluralizes to "the Amramites," but each Hebrew gentilic here — ha·‘am·rā·mî, the Izharite, the Hebronite, the Uzzielite — is grammatically singular with the article: "the Amramite" as a collective clan-name, not a head-count of individuals.
  • הֵ֖ם The redundant pronoun hêm ("they") that English drops is the emphatic copula of a verbless clause: "these — they — [are] the clans of the Kohathite," closing the roster with a deliberate summary tag.
  • מִשְׁפַּ֤חַת BSB renders miš·pa·ḥaṯ as plural "clans," but it is feminine singular construct — "the clan of the Amramite" — distinct from the plural miš·pə·ḥōṯ ("clans") that sums them up at verse's end.
Word by word13 · parsed+
וְלִקְהָ֗תwə·liq·hāṯFrom Kohath cameH6955
√ Qᵉhâth — Kehath, an IsraeliteConjunctive waw, Preposition-lNounpropermasculine singular
wə·liq·hāṯ — the conjunction plus lə- of belonging on Kohath (H6955), the second-born son of Levi. The bare "and-to-Kohath" opens his roster exactly as the parallel headers opened Gershon's and will open Merari's; the structure is liturgical bookkeeping.
מִשְׁפַּ֤חַתmiš·pa·ḥaṯthe clansH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iNounfeminine singular construct
miš·pa·ḥaṯ (H4940) — "clan/family" in the singular construct, distributed across the four following gentilics. The word governs the whole verse: four sub-clans, one parent clan.
הַֽעַמְרָמִי֙ha·‘am·rā·mîof the AmramitesH6020
√ ʻAmrâmîy — an Amramite or descendant of AmramArticleNounpropermasculine singular
ha·‘am·rā·mî (H6020) — the Amramite, descendants of Amram. ⚙ Listed first not by accident: Amram is father of Moses and Aaron (Exodus 6:20), so the priestly line itself is folded into this one branch — a fact the chapter never trumpets but everywhere assumes.
הַיִּצְהָרִ֔יhay·yiṣ·hā·rîthe IzharitesH3325
√ Yitshârîy — a Jitsharite or descendant of JitsharArticleNounpropermasculine singular
hay·yiṣ·hā·rî (H3325) — the Izharite, from Izhar, second son of Kohath. ⚙ From this branch will come Korah (Numbers 16:1); the genealogy is innocent here, but the seed of a later rebellion is quietly on the list.
וּמִשְׁפַּ֣חַתū·miš·pa·ḥaṯH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct
הַֽחֶבְרֹנִ֔יha·ḥeḇ·rō·nîthe HebronitesH2276
√ Chebrôwnîy — Chebronite (collectively), an inhabitant of ChebronArticleNounpropermasculine singular
ha·ḥeḇ·rō·nî (H2276) — the Hebronite. A rare gentilic occurring in only five verses, which makes its later reappearance in the Chronicler's roster a traceable verbal thread rather than a vague echo.
וּמִשְׁפַּ֙חַת֙ū·miš·pa·ḥaṯH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct
הָֽעָזִּיאֵלִ֑יhā·‘āz·zî·’ê·lîand the UzzielitesH5817
√ ʻOzzîyʼêlîy — an Uzzielite (collectively) or descendants of UzzielArticleNounpropermasculine singular
hā·‘āz·zî·’ê·lî (H5817) — the Uzzielite, the youngest branch. ⚙ Worth marking: from this youngest line comes Elizaphan, the appointed chief of v. 30 — the order of birth and the order of office do not match.
וּמִשְׁפַּ֖חַתū·miš·pa·ḥaṯH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct
אֵ֥לֶּה’êl·lehtheseH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural
’êl·leh (H428) — "these," the demonstrative that closes census formulae throughout the Torah.
הֵ֖םhêm. . .H1992
√ hêm — they (only used when emphatic)Pronounthird person masculine plural
hêm (H1992) — "they," the emphatic pronoun supplied only for stress; in a verbless Hebrew clause it does the work the English verb "were" does.
מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥תmiš·pə·ḥōṯwere the clansH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iNounfeminine plural construct
הַקְּהָתִֽי׃haq·qə·hā·ṯîof the KohathitesH6956
√ Qŏhâthîy — a Kohathite (collectively) or descendants of KehathArticleNounpropermasculine singular
haq·qə·hā·ṯî (H6956) — "the Kohathite," the collective gentilic of the whole tribe-section, sealing the four-clan list back to its single ancestor.
The Voices✦ public domain+
This family had many privileges above the others: of that were Moses and Aaron, and all the priests: they had the chief place about the tabernacle, and the care of the most holy things there
The posterity of Moses were not at all honoured or privileged, but stood upon the level with other Levites; thus it was plain, that Moses did not seek the advancement of his own family
So called from Amram, the first son of Kohath, and father of Aaron and Moses; so that Moses and Aaron, and their children, are included in this family
the Kohathites, the kinsmen of Moses and Aaron, and the most numerous, have the most important charge confided to them, namely, that of the ark, the altars, and the more especially sacred furniture generally
The Kohathites, who were divided into four families, and numbered 8600, were to encamp on the south side of the tabernacle, and more especially to keep the charge of the sanctuary
K&D reads vv. 27–32 as a single unit — clan, number, camp, chief, charge — which is why this one note recurs across the verses.
28“The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. They …”+

28The number of all the males a month old or more was 8,600. They were responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·mis·par kāl- zā·ḵār ḥō·ḏeš mib·ben- wā·mā·‘ə·lāh šə·mō·naṯ ’ă·lā·p̄îm wə·šêš mê·’ō·wṯ šō·mə·rê miš·me·reṯ haq·qō·ḏeš

Literal — word-for-word from the original

In the number of all the male, from a son of a month and upward, eight thousand and six hundred, keepers of the keeping of the holy.

Where the English smooths the original

  • מִבֶּן־ BSB's idiomatic "a month old" hides the Hebrew idiom mib·ben-ḥō·ḏeš — literally "from a son of a month," using bēn (son) as the standard Semitic way of stating age: a male is reckoned "a son of" so many months or years.
  • שֹׁמְרֵ֖י מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶת "They were responsible for the duties" flattens a Hebrew figura etymologica: šō·mə·rê miš·me·reṯ — "keepers of the keeping," the participle and its cognate noun stacked for intensity, the same root doubled to mean a guarded, kept watch.
  • זָכָ֔ר zā·ḵār is singular "the male" used collectively; English "the males" pluralizes what Hebrew leaves as a category — every male, counted as a class, from infancy up.
  • שְׁמֹנַ֤ת אֲלָפִים֙ The number is built up word by word — šə·mō·naṯ (eight) of ’ă·lā·p̄îm (thousands) wə·šêš mê·’ō·wṯ (and six hundreds); the English "8,600" is a single glyph for a four-word Hebrew tally.
Word by word13 · parsed+
בְּמִסְפַּר֙bə·mis·parThe numberH4557
√ miçpâr — a number, definite (arithmetical) or indefinite (large, innumerablePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
כָּל־kāl-of allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
זָכָ֔רzā·ḵārthe malesH2145
√ zâkâr — properly, remembered, iNounmasculine singular
zā·ḵār (H2145) — "male," rooted in the verb "to remember"; the male preserves the name. Here the whole male population is counted, not the war-eligible only.
חֹ֖דֶשׁḥō·ḏeša monthH2320
√ chôdesh — the new moonNounmasculine singular
מִבֶּן־mib·ben-oldH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
mib·ben- (H1121) — "from a son of," the age-idiom. ⚙ The Levites are counted from one month, not twenty (Numbers 1:3); they are not a fighting force but a consecrated class, dedicated from earliest infancy.
וָמָ֑עְלָהwā·mā·‘ə·lāhor moreH4605
√ maʻal — properly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etcConjunctive wawAdverbthird person feminine singular
שְׁמֹנַ֤תšə·mō·naṯwas 8,600H8083
√ shᵉmôneh — a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the 'perfect' seven)Numbermasculine singular construct
šə·mō·naṯ (H8083) — "eight." ⚙ The Masoretic 8,600 creates the well-known arithmetic tension: the three Levite clan-totals (7,500 + 8,600 + 6,200) sum to 22,300, yet the chapter's grand total is 22,000 (Numbers 3:39). The Cambridge editors propose a scribal shesh/shalosh slip — a fallible, contested emendation, not the received text.
אֲלָפִים֙’ă·lā·p̄îm. . .H505
√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine plural
וְשֵׁ֣שׁwə·šêš. . .H8337
√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular
מֵא֔וֹתmê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967
√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural
שֹׁמְרֵ֖יšō·mə·rêThey were responsible forH8104
√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct
šō·mə·rê (H8104) — Qal participle of šāmar, "to keep, guard, hedge about." The Levites are not merely workers but guardians; the same root names a sentry's duty.
מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶתmiš·me·reṯthe dutiesH4931
√ mishmereth — watch, iNounfeminine singular construct
miš·me·reṯ (H4931) — "the keeping/charge," the cognate noun. ⚙ The doubled root šōmərê mišmereṯ is the verse's theological center: a kept thing, guarded by appointed keepers — the holy is not self-protecting but entrusted.
הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃haq·qō·ḏešof the sanctuaryH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingArticleNounmasculine singular
haq·qō·ḏeš (H6944) — "the holy/sanctuary," the abstract noun for what is set apart. The charge is over holiness itself, spelled out concretely in v. 31.
The Voices✦ public domain+
while in the other tribes the number of males was calculated from twenty years and upward [Nu 1:3], in that of Levi they were counted "from a month old and upward."
not that the males of a month old were keeping them, but when they were grown up and were capable of it, they had the charge thereof, in which they were instructed and trained up from their youth
This should probably be read eight thousand and three hundred ( שלש for שש )
A conjectural emendation to resolve the 22,300-vs-22,000 totals; cited as one scholar's proposal, not as the text.
The known and undoubted habit of the sacred writers to omit names in their genealogies, even in those which seem most precise, lessens the difficulty of the first alternative
29“The clans of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of th…”+

29The clans of the Kohathites were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

miš·pə·ḥōṯ bə·nê- qə·hāṯ ya·ḥă·nū ‘al tê·mā·nāh ye·reḵ ham·miš·kān

Literal — word-for-word from the original

The clans of the sons of Kohath shall encamp upon the thigh of the tabernacle southward.

Where the English smooths the original

  • יֶ֥רֶךְ BSB's neutral "side" renders ye·reḵ, whose primary sense is the "thigh" of a body. The tabernacle is spoken of anatomically — its "thigh" toward the south — a bodily metaphor English smooths into geometry.
  • תֵּימָֽנָה "The south" loses the orientation buried in tê·mā·nāh: the south is named from the right hand (yāmîn) of a person facing the sunrise. The Hebrew direction is reckoned from a body turned to the east, not from a compass.
  • יַחֲנ֑וּ ya·ḥă·nū is an imperfect of ḥānāh, "to incline, bend down" — to pitch a tent by inclining. "Were to camp" is right in sense but English hears only "camp," not the picture of bending down to settle.
Word by word8 · parsed+
מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥תmiš·pə·ḥōṯThe clansH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iNounfeminine plural construct
miš·pə·ḥōṯ (H4940) — "clans," now the feminine plural construct, deliberately distinct from the singular miš·pa·ḥaṯ that distributed the four gentilics in v. 27. The four sub-clans are now gathered grammatically into one camp-bloc, the same word that headed the roster now organizing it for the march.
בְּנֵי־bə·nê-of the KohathitesH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
קְהָ֖תqə·hāṯ. . .H6955
√ Qᵉhâth — Kehath, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
יַחֲנ֑וּya·ḥă·nūwere to campH2583
√ chânâh — properly, to inclineVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural
ya·ḥă·nū (H2583) — Qal imperfect of ḥānāh, "to incline, bend down, encamp." The same root yields maḥăneh, the "camp" itself, so the command to pitch and the place pitched share one stem; Israel's whole ordered encampment around the tent (chapter 2) is folded into this one verb. The picture is of bending down to settle, not merely occupying ground.
עַ֛ל‘alonH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
תֵּימָֽנָה׃tê·mā·nāhthe southH8486
√ têymân — the south (as being on the right hand of a person facing the east)Nounfeminine singularthird person feminine singular
tê·mā·nāh (H8486) — "southward," with the directional -āh. ⚙ The Kohathites camp on the south — the same flank as the camp of Reuben (Numbers 2:10). Gill notes this proximity later explains how Korah the Kohathite and Dathan/Abiram the Reubenites became neighbors and co-conspirators.
יֶ֥רֶךְye·reḵsideH3409
√ yârêk — the thigh (from its fleshy softness)Nounfeminine singular construct
ye·reḵ (H3409) — "thigh," used here for the flank/side of the structure. ⚙ The tabernacle is described as a body with a thigh; the sanctuary is no abstract enclosure but is spoken of as a living frame to be guarded.
הַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ןham·miš·kānof the tabernacleH4908
√ mishkân — a residence (including a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, figuratively, the graveArticleNounmasculine singular
ham·miš·kān (H4908) — "the dwelling/tabernacle," from šākan, "to dwell." The thing they encircle is, by name, the place where God dwells among them.
The Voices✦ public domain+
The south has its name in Hebrew ( Teman ) from Yamin, the right hand, because when a man stands with his face towards the east the south is on his right hand.
Or to the right, which was the more honourable place, excepting the east or front, which was reserved for Moses and Aaron, and his sons
to form its guard while stationary—the Gershonites being stationed on the west, the Kohathites on the south, and the families of Merari on the north
JFB names all three Levite flanks at once; the Kohathite south is one quadrant of a guarded square around the tent.
30“and the leader of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan s…”+

30and the leader of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·nə·śî ḇêṯ- ’āḇ haq·qə·hā·ṯî lə·miš·pə·ḥōṯ ʾɛ·lī·ṣå̄·p̄å̄n ben- ‘uz·zî·’êl

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the prince of the house of the father of the clans of the Kohathite [was] Elizaphan son of Uzziel.

Where the English smooths the original

  • וּנְשִׂ֥יא BSB's "leader" softens nāśî’, literally "one lifted up, an exalted one" (from nāśā’, to lift). The word names a tribal prince by elevation, not merely a functional head — the title English flattens to "leader."
  • בֵֽית־אָ֖ב "The families" collapses the technical phrase bêṯ-’āḇ — "house of [the] father," the standard Hebrew kinship unit, the paternal household. English keeps the result (families) and discards the architecture (father's house).
  • אֶלִיצָפָ֖ן The name itself preaches: ’El·î·ṣā·p̄ān means "God has hidden/treasured" or "my God has protected" — a theophoric name fitting for the man set over the guardians of the hidden holy things, which English renders as a flat label "Elizaphan."
Word by word8 · parsed+
וּנְשִׂ֥יאū·nə·śîand the leaderH5387
√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
nāśî’ (H5387) — "prince, exalted one." The same title borne by the twelve tribal heads; here it dignifies the chief of a Levite clan.
בֵֽית־ḇêṯ-of the familiesH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
bêṯ- (H1004) — "house of," the construct of bayith, opening the kinship formula bêṯ-’āḇ, "father's house." In Israel's social architecture this is the smallest named genealogical unit above the individual: nation, tribe, clan (mišpāḥāh), then father's house (cf. Joshua 7:14). Numbers 3 nests the Kohathites at exactly this level — the prince rules not a tribe but a paternal household within a clan.
אָ֖ב’āḇ. . .H1
√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular
’āḇ (H1) — "father." The "father's house" (bêṯ-’āḇ) is the ancestral household reckoned through the paternal line, the basic building-block of the tribe; the same idiom orders the war-muster (Numbers 1:2) and the inheritance laws (Numbers 27). Leadership here is conferred over kin, on a structure already given, not invented for the occasion.
הַקְּהָתִ֑יhaq·qə·hā·ṯîof the KohathitesH6956
√ Qŏhâthîy — a Kohathite (collectively) or descendants of KehathArticleNounpropermasculine singular
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֣תlə·miš·pə·ḥōṯH4940
√ mishpâchâh — a family, iPreposition-lNounfeminine plural construct
אֶלִיצָפָ֖ןʾɛ·lī·ṣå̄·p̄å̄nwas ElizaphanH469
√ ʼĔlîytsâphân — Elitsaphan or Eltsaphan, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
’El·î·ṣā·p̄ān (H469) — Elizaphan, a rare name in only six verses. ⚙ He is of the youngest branch (Uzziel, v. 7), yet is made chief — and Korah, of the older Izharite line, is passed over. The Pulpit and Gill both read this snub as kindling for Korah's later revolt (Numbers 16). The text simply records the appointment; the rabbinic and Reformed reading of motive is inference, ⚙ plausible but not stated.
בֶּן־ben-sonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular construct
עֻזִּיאֵֽל׃‘uz·zî·’êlof UzzielH5816
√ ʻUzzîyʼêl — Uzziel, the name of six IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
‘uz·zî·’êl (H5816) — Uzziel, "my strength is God," the youngest son of Kohath (v. 19); his son here outranks the senior cousins.
The Voices✦ public domain+
he descended from the last and youngest of the families of the Kohathites; and some think this was one reason at least of Korah's dissatisfaction
Elizaphan the son of Uzziel - of the youngest branch. This may have aroused the jealousy of Korah, who represented an elder branch.
Note the hedge "may have" — the Korah-motive is offered as conjecture, not as the verse's claim.
31“Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars,…”+

31Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain—all the service for these items.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·miš·mar·tām hā·’ā·rōn wə·haš·šul·ḥān wə·ham·mə·nō·rāh wə·ham·miz·bə·ḥōṯ ū·ḵə·lê haq·qō·ḏeš ’ă·šer yə·šā·rə·ṯū bā·hem wə·ham·mā·sāḵ wə·ḵōl ‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōw

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And their keeping [was] the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the holy with which they minister, and the screen, and all its service.

Where the English smooths the original

  • וּמִשְׁמַרְתָּ֗ם BSB's "Their duties" renders ū·miš·mar·tām — "and their keeping/charge," the same root šāmar that named them "keepers" in v. 28. The list that follows is not a job description but the inventory of a sacred trust.
  • וְהַ֨מָּסָ֔ךְ "The curtain" obscures a translation crux: ham·mā·sāḵ normally means the outer screen (door-hanging), already assigned to the Gershonites (v. 25). The commentators argue it must here mean the inner pārōketh (veil) before the Most Holy — the very word is contested.
  • וּכְלֵ֣י הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ "The articles of the sanctuary" renders ḵə·lê haq·qō·ḏeš — "vessels of the holy." Kəlî is anything "prepared" or fashioned; the sweep is wider than "articles," covering every implement of service.
  • עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ "All the service for these items" flattens ‘ăḇōḏāṯōw — "all its service," a singular suffix; the same root ‘ăḇōḏāh means both menial labor and cultic worship, so the Kohathites' carrying is itself an act of service/worship.
Word by word13 · parsed+
וּמִשְׁמַרְתָּ֗םū·miš·mar·tāmTheir dutiesH4931
√ mishmereth — watch, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural
ū·miš·mar·tām (H4931) — "and their charge," with 3mp suffix, picking up the keyword of v. 28. ⚙ The chapter brackets the Kohathites between two statements of mišmereṯ — their identity is custody.
הָאָרֹ֤ןhā·’ā·rōn[were] the arkH727
√ ʼârôwn — a boxArticleNouncommon singular
hā·’ā·rōn (H727) — "the ark," the box of the covenant, named first as the holiest charge. ⚙ Numbers 4:5–15 specifies the Kohathites carried these only after the priests had veiled them, and on pain of death (4:15) — the honor is also a peril.
וְהַשֻּׁלְחָן֙wə·haš·šul·ḥānthe tableH7979
√ shulchân — a table (as spread out)Conjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine singular
וְהַמְּנֹרָ֣הwə·ham·mə·nō·rāhthe lampstandH4501
√ mᵉnôwrâh — a chandelierConjunctive waw, ArticleNounfeminine singular
וְהַֽמִּזְבְּחֹ֔תwə·ham·miz·bə·ḥōṯthe altarsH4196
√ mizbêach — an altarConjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine plural
ham·miz·bə·ḥōṯ (H4196) — "the altars," plural: both the golden incense-altar within and the bronze burnt-offering altar in the court.
וּכְלֵ֣יū·ḵə·lêthe articlesH3627
√ kᵉlîy — something prepared, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
ū·ḵə·lê (H3627) — "and the vessels of," construct of kəlî, "prepared thing/implement."
הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁhaq·qō·ḏešof the sanctuaryH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingArticleNounmasculine singular
אֲשֶׁ֥ר’ă·šerH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
יְשָׁרְת֖וּyə·šā·rə·ṯūusedH8334
√ shârath — to attend as a menial or worshipperVerbPielImperfectthird person masculine plural
yə·šā·rə·ṯū (H8334) — Piel of šārath, "to minister/serve," the verb of attendant worship, distinct from common labor.
בָּהֶ֑םbā·hemwith them
Prepositionthird person masculine plural
וְהַ֨מָּסָ֔ךְwə·ham·mā·sāḵand the curtainH4539
√ mâçâk — a cover, iConjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine singular
ham·mā·sāḵ (H4539) — "the screen." ⚙ The crux: Cambridge, following the Syriac, would read "the veil of the screen," since the plain door-screens went to Gershon; the simplest mā·sāḵ for the inner veil is otherwise unattested. A genuine textual uncertainty, flagged honestly.
וְכֹ֖לwə·ḵōlallH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ׃‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōwthe service [for these items]H5656
√ ʻăbôdâh — work of any kindNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōw (H5656) — "its service," 3ms suffix; ‘ăḇōḏāh, the root that joins drudgery and divine service into one word.
The Voices✦ public domain+
The hanging — Which covered the most holy place, for all other hangings belonged to the Gershonites.
This is therefore the veil which separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. But it is nowhere else called simply ‘the screen.’
States the textual problem plainly: the simplex 'screen' for the inner veil is otherwise unparalleled.
when the tabernacle was taken down, and carried from place to place, this, and the following things, were committed to their care and custody, the ark with the mercy seat
to carry the said holy things after they had been rolled up in covers by the priests
K&D supplies the procedural detail Numbers 4 spells out: the Kohathites bore the holy things only after the priests had veiled them.
32“The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron…”+

32The chief of the leaders of the Levites was Eleazar son of Aaron the priest; he oversaw those responsible for the duties of the sanctuary.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·nə·śî nə·śî·’ê hal·lê·wî ’el·‘ā·zār ben- ’a·hă·rōn hak·kō·hên pə·qud·daṯ šō·mə·rê miš·me·reṯ haq·qō·ḏeš

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And the prince of the princes of the Levite [was] Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, [the] oversight of the keepers of the keeping of the holy.

Where the English smooths the original

  • וּנְשִׂיא֙ נְשִׂיאֵ֣י BSB's "The chief of the leaders" renders a Hebrew superlative-by-construct: nəśî’ nəśî’ê — "prince of [the] princes," the same noun doubled to mean the chief over the chiefs, the supreme among the exalted ones.
  • פְּקֻדַּ֕ת "He oversaw" turns a noun into a verb. The Hebrew pə·qud·daṯ is a noun in construct — "[the] oversight/visitation of" — so the clause is verbless: Eleazar himself is the oversight of the keepers, the office personified.
  • שֹׁמְרֵ֖י מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶת "Those responsible for the duties" again masks the cognate doubling šō·mə·rê miš·me·reṯ — "keepers of the keeping" — the same locked phrase as v. 28, now naming those Eleazar superintends.
Word by word11 · parsed+
וּנְשִׂיא֙ū·nə·śîThe chiefH5387
√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
ū·nə·śî’ (H5387) — "and prince of," construct, opening the superlative phrase.
נְשִׂיאֵ֣יnə·śî·’êof the leadersH5387
√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iNounmasculine plural construct
nə·śî·’ê (H5387) — "princes of," the same word in plural construct. ⚙ "Prince of princes of the Levites" is Hebrew idiom for the single highest Levite officer, set over the three clan-princes (Gershon's, Kohath's, Merari's).
הַלֵּוִ֔יhal·lê·wîof the LevitesH3881
√ Lêvîyîy — a Levite or descendant of LeviArticleNounpropermasculine singular
אֶלְעָזָ֖ר’el·‘ā·zārwas EleazarH499
√ ʼElʻâzâr — Elazar, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
’el·‘ā·zār (H499) — Eleazar, "God has helped," eldest surviving son of Aaron. ⚙ Because the priests belong to the Amramite branch of the Kohathites (v. 27), Eleazar is himself a Kohathite, which is why a Kohathite can be set over all the Levites without breaking the clan logic (Cambridge, Ellicott).
בֶּן־ben-sonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular construct
אַהֲרֹ֣ן’a·hă·rōnof AaronH175
√ ʼAhărôwn — Aharon, the brother of MosesNounpropermasculine singular
הַכֹּהֵ֑ןhak·kō·hênthe priestH3548
√ kôhên — literally one officiating, a priestArticleNounmasculine singular
hak·kō·hên (H3548) — "the priest," attached to Aaron; ⚙ Poole notes Eleazar is later called "the second priest" (2 Kings 25:18), deputy to the high priest in his absence (1 Kings 4:4).
פְּקֻדַּ֕תpə·qud·daṯhe oversawH6486
√ pᵉquddâh — visitation (in many senses, chiefly official)Nounfeminine singular construct
pə·qud·daṯ (H6486) — "oversight/visitation," a noun of official charge. The verse makes Eleazar's very person the standing oversight of the sanctuary-keepers.
שֹׁמְרֵ֖יšō·mə·rêthose responsible forH8104
√ shâmar — properly, to hedge about (as with thorns), iVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct
šō·mə·rê (H8104) — "keepers of," the participle of v. 28 returning; the unit ends as it began, on the kept charge of the holy.
מִשְׁמֶ֥רֶתmiš·me·reṯthe dutiesH4931
√ mishmereth — watch, iNounfeminine singular construct
הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃haq·qō·ḏešof the sanctuaryH6944
√ qôdesh — a sacred place or thingArticleNounmasculine singular
haq·qō·ḏeš (H6944) — "the holy/sanctuary," the final word of the unit, sealing the whole Kohathite section under the theme of guarded holiness.
The Voices✦ public domain+
In virtue, as it should seem, of the descent of Moses and Aaron from Kohath, the Kohathites had the most honourable portion of the service of the Tabernacle assigned to them
Eleazar shall be chief, next under the high priest; whence he is called the second priest, 2 Kings 25:18 ; and in case of the high priest’s absence by sickness or other necessary occasions, he was to perform his work
Three persons are mentioned as chiefs of these respective divisions [Nu 3:24, 30, 35]. And Eleazar presided over them
JFB resolves the construct: Eleazar is not himself one of the three clan-chiefs but the single officer set over all three.
The priests were themselves Kohathites, and therefore their chief is here mentioned as having the oversight over the other overseers - ipsos custodes custodiens.
The Latin tag — 'guarding the guards themselves' — names the verse's structure exactly.
As the priests also formed part of the Kohathites, their chief is mentioned as well, viz., Eleazar the eldest son of Aaron the high priest, who was placed over the chiefs of the three Levitical families

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

Grand Commentary — the unit, read wholesynthesis · verify+

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The clan that carries the name — Kohath first — 3:27

The roster opens with a verbless header: wə·liq·hāṯ, "and-to-Kohath," then four singular gentilics — the Amramite, the Izharite, the Hebronite, the Uzzielite (H6020, H3325, H2276, H5817). ⚙ The text never says why Kohath, the second son of Levi, leads the most honored division; it only assumes it. The commentators supply the reason the verse withholds: Joseph Benson observes that "This family had many privileges above the others: of that were Moses and Aaron, and all the priests: they had the chief place about the tabernacle, and the care of the most holy things there." John Gill grounds it in the very first name on the list — Amram — "So called from Amram, the first son of Kohath, and father of Aaron and Moses; so that Moses and Aaron, and their children, are included in this family." ⚙ The honor of Kohath is, at root, the honor of harboring the priesthood. Yet Matthew Henry presses the counter-note the chapter is equally careful to make: "The posterity of Moses were not at all honoured or privileged, but stood upon the level with other Levites; thus it was plain, that Moses did not seek the advancement of his own family." The clan that holds the priests is exalted; the lawgiver's own children are not. The list both elevates and levels.

ii. Counted from a month, kept from infancy — 3:28

The number is 8,600 "males from a son of a month and upward" — and the age is the point. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown mark the deliberate departure from the other tribes: "while in the other tribes the number of males was calculated from twenty years and upward [Nu 1:3], in that of Levi they were counted 'from a month old and upward.'" ⚙ The Levites are not mustered for war but consecrated for service; John Gill closes the gap between the infant census and the actual duty: "not that the males of a month old were keeping them, but when they were grown up and were capable of it, they had the charge thereof, in which they were instructed and trained up from their youth." The verse's spine is a doubled root — šōmərê mišmereṯ, "keepers of the keeping" (H8104 / H4931) — a guarded trust. ⚙ Honesty compels the arithmetic flag: the Masoretic 8,600, added to the other Levite totals, yields 22,300 against the 22,000 of v. 39. The Cambridge editor proposes a scribal slip — "This should probably be read eight thousand and three hundred (שלש for שש)" — a conjecture, not the received text. The Pulpit Commentary, facing the genealogical strain behind these numbers, lands on the more reverent of two hard options: "The known and undoubted habit of the sacred writers to omit names in their genealogies, even in those which seem most precise, lessens the difficulty of the first alternative."

iii. The thigh of the tabernacle, southward — 3:29

The Kohathites encamp ‘al ye·reḵ ham·miš·kān tê·mā·nāh — "upon the thigh of the tabernacle, southward." ⚙ Two Hebraisms hide under the smooth English. Charles Ellicott unfolds the second: "The south has its name in Hebrew (Teman) from Yamin, the right hand, because when a man stands with his face towards the east the south is on his right hand." Direction is reckoned from a body turned to the sunrise; the south is the right-hand side. And the side itself is a thigh — the dwelling is described anatomically, as a frame with limbs. John Gill reads the placement as rank: "Or to the right, which was the more honourable place, excepting the east or front, which was reserved for Moses and Aaron, and his sons." ⚙ The same south flank is the camp of Reuben (Numbers 2:10), and Gill elsewhere draws the fateful line — the Kohathite Korah and the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram were neighbors here before they were conspirators in chapter 16. The seating chart of the camp is also, quietly, a map of a coming revolt.

iv. The prince of the youngest branch — 3:30

The clan-prince is Elizaphan son of Uzziel — and Uzziel was the youngest of Kohath's four sons (v. 19). ⚙ The text states the appointment flatly and gives no motive. The commentators see a fault line. John Gill: "he descended from the last and youngest of the families of the Kohathites; and some think this was one reason at least of Korah's dissatisfaction." The Pulpit Commentary keeps the proper hedge: "Elizaphan the son of Uzziel — of the youngest branch. This may have aroused the jealousy of Korah, who represented an elder branch." ⚙ "Some think" and "may have" are doing load-bearing work: the Korah-motive is an old and reasonable inference, but it is inference, not the verse's assertion. What Scripture records is only this — that office in Israel does not follow birth-order, and that a younger man was lifted over his elders by appointment, not by primogeniture. The title nāśî’ ("exalted one," H5387) makes the elevation explicit; God's lifting, not Levi's seniority, decides.

v. The inventory of the holy — and a textual crux — 3:31

The charge is named piece by piece: ark, table, lampstand, altars, the vessels of the holy, and ham·mā·sāḵ — "the screen." ⚙ Here the unit's one real textual difficulty surfaces. The plain door-screens were already given to the Gershonites (v. 25), so this mā·sāḵ must be something else. Joseph Benson reads it as the innermost veil: "The hanging — Which covered the most holy place, for all other hangings belonged to the Gershonites." The Cambridge editor agrees on the sense but flags the wording: "This is therefore the veil which separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. But it is nowhere else called simply 'the screen.'" ⚙ That is an honest crack in the text — the simplex mā·sāḵ for the inner veil is otherwise unattested, and the Syriac would read "the veil of the screen." John Gill lays out the trust concretely: "when the tabernacle was taken down, and carried from place to place, this, and the following things, were committed to their care and custody, the ark with the mercy seat." ⚙ And carriage of these things was lethal business: Numbers 4 has the priests veil every item first, lest the Kohathites "touch the holy things and die" (4:15). The most honored charge is also the most dangerous.

vi. The overseer of the overseers — 3:32

The unit closes on a superlative: nəśî’ nəśî’ê hal·lêwî, "prince of the princes of the Levite" — Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, set as the very "oversight (pə·quddāh) of the keepers of the keeping of the holy." The doubled noun and the doubled root frame the chapter: the keepers are themselves kept. The Pulpit Commentary names the structure in Latin — "their chief is here mentioned as having the oversight over the other overseers — ipsos custodes custodiens" — guarding the guards themselves. ⚙ The clan-logic holds because, as Charles Ellicott explains, "In virtue, as it should seem, of the descent of Moses and Aaron from Kohath, the Kohathites had the most honourable portion of the service of the Tabernacle assigned to them" — Eleazar is himself a Kohathite, so a Kohathite over all the Levites breaks no rule. Matthew Poole traces the office forward: "whence he is called the second priest, 2 Kings 25:18; and in case of the high priest's absence by sickness or other necessary occasions, he was to perform his work." Keil & Delitzsch read the whole as one design: the priests "also formed part of the Kohathites," so "their chief is mentioned as well… placed over the chiefs of the three Levitical families."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested against the Word. — Read straight, Numbers 3:27–32 is a logistics memo: who camps where, how many, who is in charge, what they carry. But the Hebrew keeps tripping the reader back to one root, šāmar, "to keep," doubled into the locked phrase šōmərê mišmereṯ, "keepers of the keeping" (vv. 28, 32). The passage is not really about a tribe; it is about custody — the conviction that the holy is not self-protecting. The ark, the lampstand, the veil do not guard themselves; they are entrusted to named keepers, who are themselves kept by a named overseer, who is himself under the high priest, who is himself under the LORD. ⚙ Two counterweights keep the honor from curdling into pride. First, leveling: Moses' own sons get nothing — office in Israel is conferred, not inherited as private property, and a younger branch (Uzziel's) can be lifted over its elders. Second, peril: the same Kohathites who bear the holiest things will die if they touch them unveiled (Numbers 4:15). ⚙ So the whole unit reads as a meditation on entrusted holiness — exalted enough to make men proud, dangerous enough to keep them humble, and ordered so that no one holds it on his own authority. The camp around the tabernacle is a picture of a people learning that nearness to God is a charge to be kept, not a privilege to be seized — a lesson Korah, named already on this very list, would refuse.

The holy does not guard itself; it is entrusted to keepers who are themselves kept — and that chain of custody runs all the way up to God. [⚙ a reading, not a verse]

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripturecross-refs · verify+

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The four Kohathite clans, named again in the Chronicler's roster verbal / quotation — confirmed

The exact gentilics of v. 27 — Amramite, Izharite, Hebronite, Uzzielite — recur in David's organization of the Levites. ⚙ The Verifier finds an unusually strong verbal anchor here: three of the four gentilics are rare lexemes (Uzzielite H5817 in 2 verses, Izharite H3325 in 4, Hebronite H2276 in 5), so this is a genuine verbal reuse of fixed clan-names, not a generic genealogical overlap.

Numbers 3:27 · 1 Chronicles 26:23

basis: shared rare lexemes (Verifier): H5817 ʻOzzîyʼêlîy (in 2 vv), H6020 ʻAmrâmîy (in 2 vv), H3325 Yitshârîy (in 4 vv), H2276 Chebrôwnîy (in 5 vv) — the low frequencies make the shared clan-names a recorded verbal link

Kohath's house re-listed in the second-generation census verbal / quotation — confirmed

The Kohathite clan-frame of v. 27 is restated in the second wilderness census (Numbers 26:57–58), where Kohath and his clans head the Levite tally again. ⚙ The shared lexemes are the gentilic Qŏhâthîy (H6956, 15 vv) and the proper name Qᵉhâth (H6955, 29 vv); these are specific enough to confirm a verbal link, though less rare than the Chronicler's four-name set, so weighted accordingly.

Numbers 3:27 · Numbers 26:57

basis: shared lexemes (Verifier): H6956 Qŏhâthîy (in 15 vv), H6955 Qᵉhâth (in 29 vv); shared but common H4940 mishpâchâh noted, not weighted

Elizaphan son of Uzziel — fixed across the Kohathite records verbal / quotation — confirmed

The chief named in v. 30 appears with the same patronym at Exodus 6:22 (his birth in Kohath's house) and at Leviticus 10:4, where Elizaphan and Mishael carry out the bodies of Nadab and Abihu. ⚙ The link rests on the rare name pair ’Ĕlîytsâphân (H469, only 6 vv) and ‘Uzzîyʼêl (H5816, 16 vv) — rare enough for the Verifier to record a verbal connection tying the man's appointment here to his earlier and later appearances.

Numbers 3:30 · Exodus 6:22 · Leviticus 10:4

basis: shared lexemes (Verifier): H469 ʼĔlîytsâphân (in 6 vv), H5816 ʻUzzîyʼêl (in 16 vv) — the rare name H469 carries the link

A second Elizaphan — the rare name shared by two different men flagged — verify source

An honesty note on the limits of the index. The rare name ’Ĕlîytsâphân (H469) also occurs at Numbers 34:25 — but there it names a wholly different man, Elizaphan son of Parnach, the nāśî’ (prince) of the tribe of Zebulun appointed to divide the land. ⚙ The Verifier records the shared lexeme (H469, with the common title H5387 nāśî’), so the bare lexical match scores as "verbal"; but the referents are not the same person. We deliberately do not treat this as a thread to the Kohathite chief: a shared rare name confirms shared vocabulary, never automatically shared identity. The match is logged here precisely to show the verbal tool's blind spot — it counts words, not who bears them.

Numbers 3:30 · Numbers 34:25

basis: Verifier reports H469 ʼĔlîytsâphân (in 6 vv) + H5387 nâsîyʼ shared, which would score "verbal" — but the two Elizaphans are distinct men (Uzziel's son vs. Parnach's son of Zebulun); lexeme identity ≠ referent identity, so flagged not confirmed

The Kohathite charge, spelled out and guarded in Numbers 4 structural / thematic — confirmed

The inventory of v. 31 (ark, screen, vessels) is the same trust whose handling Numbers 4:5–15 governs — the priests veil each item before the Kohathites may carry it, on pain of death. ⚙ This is a structural/thematic link: the Verifier finds shared concrete nouns, the screen mâçâk (H4539, 25 vv) and the ark ’ârôwn (H727, 174 vv), confirming the two passages are about the same objects, but it claims no quotation — the connection is the carried-charge motif, not a verbal citation.

Numbers 3:31 · Numbers 4:5

basis: shared lexemes (Verifier): H4539 mâçâk (in 25 vv), H727 ʼârôwn (in 174 vv) — shared objects, no quotation claimed

Eleazar's oversight of the sanctuary, restated in Numbers 4 structural / thematic — confirmed

Eleazar's superintendence of "the keepers of the keeping of the holy" (v. 32) is amplified at Numbers 4:16, where Eleazar is given specific charge of the oil, incense, and the whole tabernacle. ⚙ The Verifier records the office-noun pᵉquddâh (H6486, 31 vv) plus the names Eleazar (H499) and Aaron (H175) and qôdesh (H6944) as shared — a thematic confirmation of the same officer and the same duty, not a quotation.

Numbers 3:32 · Numbers 4:16

basis: shared lexemes (Verifier): H6486 pᵉquddâh (in 31 vv), H499 ʼElʻâzâr (in 70 vv), H175 ʼAhărôwn (in 328 vv), H6944 qôdesh (in 382 vv)

Counted from a month old — the Levite exemption from war structural / thematic — confirmed

The infant-census of v. 28 ("from a son of a month and upward") sets the Levites apart from the fighting muster of "twenty years and upward" (Numbers 1:3). ⚙ The Verifier finds only the directional adverb maʻal (H4605, 134 vv), "and upward," as a shared lexeme — too common to claim quotation; the real link is the structural contrast in counting-age, argued rather than asserted, so this is tiered thematic.

Numbers 3:28 · Numbers 1:3

basis: shared lexeme (Verifier): H4605 maʻal (in 134 vv) — common; link is the contrasting census-age structure, argued not quoted

Eleazar the "second priest" — the office traced to the exile structural / thematic — confirmed

Poole's note that Eleazar is the "second priest" points to 2 Kings 25:18, where Zephaniah holds that very rank at the fall of Jerusalem. ⚙ The Verifier finds only common cultic words shared — šāmar (H8104, 440 vv) and kôhên (H3548, 653 vv) — far too frequent to support a verbal claim. The connection is the institutional office of deputy-priest persisting across centuries; it is an argued structural link, and the specific identification of Eleazar's role with the later title is Poole's inference, ⚙ reasonable but extra-textual.

Numbers 3:32 · 2 Kings 25:18

basis: shared lexemes (Verifier): H8104 shâmar (in 440 vv), H3548 kôhên (in 653 vv) — both common; link is the deputy-priest office, argued, not a quotation

Korah of the Izharite house — the rebellion latent in the list flagged — verify source

The Izharite branch of v. 27 and the slighted elder line behind v. 30 both surface in Numbers 16:1, where Korah son of Izhar leads the revolt. ⚙ The Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme between 3:30 and 16:1 — the connection is entirely thematic/genealogical and must be argued, which is exactly what the commentators (Gill, Pulpit) do, and they do so by conjecture ("some think," "may have"). Honesty requires flagging this rather than asserting a verbal tie that the index does not support.

Numbers 3:30 · Numbers 16:1

basis: Verifier: no shared original-language lexeme found — the Korah connection is genealogical/thematic and conjectural in the commentary (Gill's "some think," Pulpit's "may have"), not a textual link

Christ in the Unittypology · verify+

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The veil the Kohathites carried — opened in the flesh of Christ ancient/widely-held

Chief among the Kohathite charge is ham·mā·sāḵ, the inner veil before the Most Holy (v. 31, as Benson and Cambridge read it). ⚙ Hebrews 10:19–20 reads that veil typologically as the body of Christ: believers enter "by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." ⚙ This is a cross-Testament link and therefore cannot rest on shared Strong's numbers (Greek↔Hebrew); the Verifier confirms no shared lexeme. The tier is typological, not verbal. The Kohathites guarded and bore the very barrier that, in the apostolic reading, was finally torn — the thing they carried with such care prefigured the access it once denied.

Numbers 3:31 · Hebrews 10:19-20 · Matthew 27:51

Keepers of the keeping — the people made a kingdom of priests widely-held

The whole unit turns on entrusted custody of the holy — šōmərê mišmereṯ, keepers of the keeping (vv. 28, 32). ⚙ The New Testament universalizes the Kohathite vocation: where once a single guarded clan bore the sanctuary's holy things, 1 Peter 2:5 and 2:9 declare the whole church "a holy priesthood" and "a royal priesthood," built up as living stones to offer spiritual sacrifices. ⚙ Cross-Testament and so non-verbal — the Verifier finds no shared lexeme — this is a typological/structural fulfillment: the narrow Levitical custody of holiness opens, in Christ, into a priesthood of all believers. Read as anticipation, the careful gradations of Numbers 3 (keepers, overseer of keepers, high priest above all) point toward the one High Priest under whom all the redeemed now keep the charge.

Numbers 3:28 · Numbers 3:32 · 1 Peter 2:5

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

⚙ Honesty notes specific to Numbers 3:27–32. (1) Numbers and totals. The Masoretic 8,600 of v. 28, summed with the Gershonite and Merarite totals, gives 22,300 against the 22,000 of v. 39. The Cambridge Bible's proposed emendation (8,300, שלש for שש) is a conjecture offered to resolve the discrepancy; we cite it as such, not as the received reading, and the BSB/Masoretic text stands in the verse. (2) The "screen" of v. 31. The simplex mā·sāḵ (H4539) normally names the outer door-hanging already assigned to Gershon (v. 25); its use here for the inner veil is, as Cambridge notes, "nowhere else called simply 'the screen,'" and the Syriac would read "the veil of the screen." A real textual uncertainty, flagged not smoothed. (3) The Korah inference. The reading that Elizaphan's appointment (v. 30) over an elder branch provoked Korah's revolt (Numbers 16) is an old and reasonable inference (Gill, Pulpit) but is not stated in the text, carries no shared-lexeme link in the Verifier, and is hedged even by its proponents ("some think," "may have"). (4) Cross-Testament Christ links. The Hebrews 10 (veil) and 1 Peter 2 (priesthood) connections are Greek↔Hebrew and therefore cannot use shared Strong's numbers; the Verifier confirms no shared lexeme; they are tiered typological/structural, never verbal, by rule. (5) The two Elizaphans. The rare name H469 is shared between Elizaphan son of Uzziel here and Elizaphan son of Parnach, prince of Zebulun (Numbers 34:25). The verbal index scores this as a match, but they are different men; we flag it rather than thread it, since a shared rare lexeme guarantees shared wording, not shared referent. (6) The recurring Keil & Delitzsch note across vv. 27–31 is a single comment covering the whole unit, reused per-verse as supplied in the source.

= human, public-domain source, quoted and named. = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)