Numbers 31:29

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh's heave-offering.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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מִמַּֽחֲצִיתָ֖ם

machătsîyth

H4276

“from · middle · their”

Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural

Appears 16× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 30:13

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H2673

TWOT: 719e

half, middle - half - middle, midday, noon

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 →

7: words
7: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is מִמַּֽחֲצִיתָ֖ם middle H4276 — appearing just 16 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

מִמַּֽחֲצִיתָ֖ם middle H4276 occurs in 14 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
5 nouns

Verb forms

תִּקָּ֑חוּ Qal · Imperfect
וְנָתַתָּ֛ה Qal · Sequential Perfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 15 words from the Hebrew and 16 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.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 31:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 29:27 You shall sanctify the breast of the wave-offering, and the thigh of the heave-offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons:
Numbers 18:26 Moreover you shall speak to the Levites, and tell them, When you take of the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave-offering of it for Yahweh, a tithe of the tithe.
Deuteronomy 12:12 You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
Deuteronomy 12:19 Take heed to yourself that you don't forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

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 31:29 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

מִמַּֽחֲצִיתָ֖ם תִּקָּ֑חוּ וְנָתַתָּ֛ה לְאֶלְעָזָ֥ר הַכֹּהֵ֖ן תְּרוּמַ֥ת יְהוָֽה

take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh's heave-offering.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 31:29 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἀπό ὁ ἥμισυς αὐτός λαμβάνω καί δίδωμι ελεαζαρ ὁ ἱερεύς ὁ ἀπαρχή κύριος

And you shall give them to Eleazar the priest as the first fruits of the Lord.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

On this verse, The Pulpit Commentary discusses the Septuagint’s reading. Read the note in Commentary ↓

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)

מִפַּלְגוּתְהוֹן תִּסְבוּן וְתִתֵּן לְאֶלְעָזָר כַּהֲנָא אַפְרָשׁוּתָא קֳדָם יְיָ

(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)

מִן פְּלוּגְתְּהוֹן דְהוּא חוֹלַק גַבְרֵי מַגִיחֵי קְרָבָא תִּסְבוּן וְתִתְּנוּן לְאֶלְעָזָר כַּהֲנָא אַפְרָשׁוּתָא לִשְׁמָא דַיְיָ

From their half, the portion of the men of war, shalt thou take them, and give to Elazar the priest, as a separation unto the Name of the Lord;

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 31:29 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 →

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Num 31:29-30. A heave-offering — In thankfulness to God for their preservation and good success. One of fifty — Whereas the former part was one of five hundred; the reason of the difference Isaiah , 1 st, Because this was taken out of the people’s portion, whose hazards being less than the others, their gains also, in all reason, were to be less. 2d, Because this was to be distributed into more hands, the Levites being now more numerous, whereas the priests were but few.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

And the officers which were over thousands of the host,.... Over the twelve thousand, of which the host or army consisted: namely, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses; of their own accord, without being sent, or required to do what they did.

And the officers which were over thousands of the host,.... Over the twelve thousand, of which the host or army consisted: namely, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses; of their own accord, without being sent, or required to do what they did.

Numbers 31:49

num 31:49

num 31:49

num 31:49And they said unto Moses,.... Gave the following relation to him, which is a very surprising one:

thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge; since the war with Midian was over, they had mustered the several companies under their command, such as had thousands, and those that had hundreds:

and there lacketh not one man of us; which is a most amazing and unheard of thing, that in waging war with a whole nation, slaying all their males, sacking and burning so many cities, plundering the inhabitants of their substance, taking and carrying off such a vast number of captives, yet not one should fall by the sword of the enemy, or by any disease or accident whatever, but all to a man should return to the camp of Israel again; this is not to be paralleled in any history.

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

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An heave-offering - Render simply an offering, and compare Num 18:24. The verb from which the word here rendered “heave-offering” is derived, is rightly translated “levy” in Num 31:28.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

29. A heave offering — Num_15:19, note. This was for the support of the priests, as were the tithes. Num_5:9, note. They might put the cattle into their own flocks as did the Levites, (Num_35:3,) and slay them as they required them. The maidens were employed as servants. The asses they sold.

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

A heave offering unto the Lord. Septuagint, taou . The Hebrew word (to lift) from which terumah is derived, had practically lost its literal significance, just as the English word has in the phrase "to lift cattle;" hence terumah often means simply that which is set aside as an offering. No doubt the offering levied on the portion of the warriors was in the nature of tithe for the benefit of Eleazar and the priests.

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

An heave-offering - In thankfulness to God for their preservation and good success.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

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 7 words (7 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is machătsîyth (“middle”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “middle” (machătsîyth) contribute to the verse as a whole?
How does Exodus 30:13, which shares the word «middle», read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«תִּקָּ֑חוּ» is a Qal Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and John Gill's Exposition read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 9 words in this verse.
7 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 7 words in this verse.