42
So Mosesוַ מֹשֶׁהcounted,יִּפְקֹדasכַּאֲשֶׁרYHWHיְהוָהhad commandedצִוָּהhim,אֹתוֹeveryאֶת כָּלfirstbornבְּכֹרamong the sonsבִּבְנֵיof Israel.יִשְׂרָאֵל
Numbers 3:42
Study it in the app“So Moses counted, as YHWH had commanded him, every firstborn among the sons of Israel.”
With the Hebrew beneath
Numbers 3:42, word by word
- So Mosesמֹשֶׁהmoshe
Moses
Moses, the man God called to bring Israel out of Egypt and through whom he gave the Law. His name sounds like "draw out" (Exodus 2:10).
Where else “moshe” appears- countedיִּפְקֹדyifkod
count
To list a people, how many there are.
Where else “yifkod” appears- YHWHיְהוָהyehva
YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
Where else “yehva” appears- had commandedצִוָּהtsiva
command
To give an order: "as YHWH had commanded".
Where else “tsiva” appears- firstbornבְּכֹרbechor
firstborn
The son who came into the world before his brothers, with a special place in the family.
Where else “bechor” appears- among the sonsבְנֵיvene
descendant
A descendant or member of a people: "sons of Israel".
Where else “vene” appears- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael
Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
Where else “yisrael” appears
The context
41And you shall take the Levites for me —I am YHWH— in place of every firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of every firstborn among the livestock of the sons of Israel.”
42 · This verse (above)
43And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those of them counted, were twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three.