Numbers 1:54

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Word by word

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צִוָּ֧ה

tsâvâh

H6680

“to command”

Verb, Piel, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 496× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 2:16

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1887

to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order - (Piel) - to lay charge upon - to give charge to, give command to - to give charge unto - to give charge over, appoint - to give charge, command - to charge, command - to charge, commission - to command, appoint, ordain (of divine act) - (Pual) to be commanded

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

11: words
10: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
5 nouns
3 particles

Verb forms

וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֖וּ Qal · Sequential Imperfect
צִוָּ֧ה Piel · Perfect
עָשֽׂוּ Qal · Perfect

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֖וּ to do H6213 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 16 words from the Hebrew and 19 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 11 Hebrew tokens and 16 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 1:54 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Deuteronomy 12:32 Whatever thing I command you, that shall you observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Exodus 23:21–22 Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don't provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him.
Exodus 39:32 Thus all the work of the tent of the tent of meeting was finished. The children of Israel did according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses; so they did.
Exodus 39:43 Moses saw all the work, and, behold, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses blessed them.
Exodus 40:16 Thus did Moses: according to all that Yahweh commanded him, so he did.
Exodus 40:32 When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near to the altar, they washed, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Numbers 2:34 Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they encamped by their standards, and so they set out, everyone by their families, according to their fathers' houses.
1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 1:54 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כְּ֠כֹל אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהוָ֛ה אֶת מֹשֶׁ֖ה כֵּ֥ן עָשֽׂוּ

Thus the children of Israel did. According to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they did.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 1:54 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ποιέω ὁ υἱός ἰσραήλ κατά πᾶς ὅς ἐντέλλομαι κύριος ὁ μωυσῆς καί ἀαρών οὕτως ποιέω

And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַעֲבָדוּ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּכֹל דִּי פַּקֵיד יְיָ יָת משֶׁה כֵּן עֲבָדוּ

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וַעֲבָדוּ בְּנֵי יִשְרָאֵל כְּכָל דְפַקֵיד יְיָ יַת משֶׁה הֵיכְדֵין עָבָדוּ

And the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did they.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 1:54 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

John Gill's Exposition

And the children of Israel did according to all the Lord commanded Moses,.... Pitched their tents by their own camps and standards; did not come near the tabernacle but kept at a proper distance from it, and did not meddle with things they had no concern, with, and which were peculiar to the Levites:

so they did; which is repeated to show how readily, punctually, and perfectly they observed the command of God with respect to this affair.

Next: Numbers Chapter 2

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

54. So did they — Up to this time unquestioning obedience characterized the nation. Well may the compassionate Jehovah say, “When Israel was a child, I loved him.” “I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.” Happy would Israel have been if such a record had continued! It is a principle of Divine government to bestow rewards only after proof of fidelity. The Hebrews will not be deprived of a period of trial in which to demonstrate their unshaken allegiance to the God who has led them out of the house of bondage.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

Remarkable obedience.

"And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did they." We have here a remarkable obedience very remarkable, as being found in a book marked with records of murmuring, disobedience, and rebellion. Whence the possibility of such a statement here?

I THE OBEDIENCE WAS IN AN OUTWARD THING. If inward disposition had been demanded as well as outward action, we should hardly have heard such complete obedience spoken of. It is easier to make a pilgrimage to Rome or Jerusalem than to live for one hour in complete surrender to God.

II THE OBEDIENCE WAS MADE AS EASY AS POSSIBLE. Jehovah told them not only the thing to be done, but the way in which to do it. Besides, something of the same kind had been done a little while before.

III THERE WERE CERTAIN ENDS TO BE ATTAINED WHICH MADE THE WORK ATTRACTIVE. A certain carnal satisfaction in counting up the full warlike strength of the nation; also a sense of rivalry between tribe and tribe to see which was most numerous. Some commands of God, so far as the letter is concerned, may jump with our own inclination. It is further to be noticed that this remarkable obedience did not prevent an early and extensive disobedience in other ways. A command to number the people was not a sufficient test of obedience. Recollect one who said to Christ with respect to the commandments, "All these have I kept from my youth." He little knew a searching test was close at hand. It is possible to render outward service, and that in many ways, and for a long time, with an unchanged heart. The spirit that underlies every ordinance of God may. be repugnant to our natural disposition. (Mat_7:21-23) The practical warning is, that we should labour to make the outward things the fruit and manifestation of the inward. "These things ought ye to have done, the numbering, etc., not left the other undone the loving of the Lord with all the heart and soul and might. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 11 words (10 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is tsâvâh (“to command”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word tsâvâh carries the sense “to command.” How does it shape the verse?
Deuteronomy 12:32 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
“to do” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֖וּ» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how John Gill's Exposition and Whedon's Commentary on the Bible read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 11 Hebrew ↔ 16 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 5 words in this verse.
“to do” occurs 2× in this single verse.
10 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 11 words in this verse.