Numbers 31:47

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) Numbers 31:47 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Numbers 31:47 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/numbers/31/47.

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English Translation
even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tent of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tent of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And Moses took from the half of the sons of Israel the taken, one from the 50, from human and from animal, and he gave them to the Levites, the keepers of the keeping of the Dwelling of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

Versions to compare (up to 4)

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tent of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Moses, I say, tooke of the halfe that perteined vnto the children of Israel, one taken out of fiftie, both of the persons, and of the cattell, and gaue them vnto the Leuites, which haue the charge of the Tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    Moses taketh from the sons of Israel's half the one possession from the fifty, of man and of beast, and giveth them to the Levites keeping the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    Moses takes from the sons of Israel’s half one possession from the fifty, of man and of beast, and gives them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH, as YHWH has commanded Moses.
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    From the people of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of people and animals. He gave them to the Levites who kept care of Yahweh's tabernacle, as Yahweh had commanded him to do.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    And Moses took from the half of the sons of Israel the taken, one from the 50, from human and from animal, and he gave them to the Levites, the keepers of the keeping of the Dwelling of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    ... of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, of man and of cattle, and gave them to the Levites who kept the charge of the tabernacle of Jehovah; as Jehovah had commanded Moses.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    even of the children of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the LORD’s tabernacle, as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    Moses took from the Israelites' half one out of every fifty people and animals and gave them to the Levites who take care of the Lord's Tabernacle, as the Lord had ordered him.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    Even from the children of Israel's half, Moses took one out of every fifty, men and beasts, and gave them to the Levites who had the care of the House of the Lord; as the Lord gave orders to Moses.
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, that kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

Word by word

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מִמַּחֲצִ֣ת
machătsîyth
H4276
“from · middle of”
Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
Part of Speech
Preposition + Noun
Type
Common
Gender
Feminine
Number
Singular
State
Construct
Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H2673

TWOT: 719e

half, middle - half - middle, midday, noon
  1. וַיִּקַּ֨ח lâqach H3947 “and · to take” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  2. מֹשֶׁ֜ה Môsheh H4872 “Moses” Noun, Proper
  3. בְּנֵֽי bên H1121 “sons of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  4. יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yisrâʼêl H3478 “Israel” Noun, Proper
  5. אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
  6. הָֽאָחֻז֙ ʼâchaz H270 “the · grasped” Particle, Definite Article + Verb, Qal, Participle Passive, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  7. אֶחָ֣ד ʼechâd H259 “one” Adjective, Cardinal number, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  8. מִן min H4480 “from” Preposition
  9. הַחֲמִשִּׁ֔ים chămishshîym H2572 “the · fifty” Particle, Definite Article + Adjective, Cardinal number, Both, Plural, Absolute
  10. מִן min H4480 “from” Preposition
  11. הָאָדָ֖ם ʼâdâm H120 “the · man” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute
  12. וּמִן min H4480 “and · from” Conjunction + Preposition
  13. הַבְּהֵמָ֑ה bᵉhêmâh H929 “the · beast” Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Absolute
  14. וַיִּתֵּ֨ן nâthan H5414 “and · to give” Conjunction + Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  15. אֹתָ֜ם ʼêth H853 “- · them” Particle, Direct Object + Suffix, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural
  16. לַלְוִיִּ֗ם Lêvîyîy H3881 “to/for the · Levites” Preposition, Determined + Noun, Gentilic, Masculine, Plural, Absolute
  17. שֹֽׁמְרֵי֙ shâmar H8104 “keeping” Verb, Qal, Participle Active, Masculine, Plural, Construct
  18. מִשְׁמֶ֨רֶת֙ mishmereth H4931 “guard of” Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct
  19. מִשְׁכַּ֣ן mishkân H4908 “dwelling place of” Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Construct
  20. יְהוָ֔ה Yᵉhôvâh H3068 “LORD” Noun, Proper
  21. כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר ʼăsher H834 “like/as · which” Preposition + Particle, Relative
  22. צִוָּ֥ה tsâvâh H6680 “to command” Verb, Piel, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular
  23. יְהוָ֖ה Yᵉhôvâh H3068 “LORD” Noun, Proper
  24. אֶת ʼêth H853 “-” Particle, Direct Object
  25. מֹשֶֽׁה Môsheh H4872 “Moses” Noun, Proper

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 →

26
words
20
distinct lemmas
Pentateuch
section

Notable vocabulary

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

Shared distinctive vocabulary

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

Grammatical profile

  • 5 verbs
  • 12 nouns
  • 2 adjectives
  • 3 prepositions
  • 4 particles

Verb forms

  • וַיִּקַּ֨ח Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • הָֽאָחֻז֙ Qal · Participle Passive
  • וַיִּתֵּ֨ן Qal · Sequential Imperfect
  • שֹֽׁמְרֵי֙ Qal · Participle Active
  • צִוָּ֥ה Piel · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • מֹשֶׁ֜ה Moses H4872 ×2
  • יְהוָ֔ה LORD H3068 ×2
  • מִן from H4480 ×3

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 40 words from the Hebrew and 42 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 26 Hebrew tokens and 39 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

7

Topical passages linked to Numbers 31:47 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • Numbers 31:30 Of the children of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, [even] of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites, who keep the charge of the tent of Yahweh.
  • Numbers 18:21–24 To the children of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the tent of meeting.
  • Deuteronomy 12:17–19 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill-offerings, nor the heave-offering of your hand;
  • Psalms 134:1 Look! Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh, Who stand by night in Yahweh's house!
  • Isaiah 56:10–11 His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can't bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
  • Luke 10:1–8 Now after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy others, and sent them two by two ahead of him into every city and place, where he was about to come.
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 But we beg you, brothers, to know those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you,

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 31:47 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיִּקַּ֨ח מֹשֶׁ֜ה מִמַּחֲצִ֣ת בְּנֵֽי יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֶת הָֽאָחֻז֙ אֶחָ֣ד מִן הַחֲמִשִּׁ֔ים מִן הָאָדָ֖ם וּמִן הַבְּהֵמָ֑ה וַיִּתֵּ֨ן אֹתָ֜ם לַלְוִיִּ֗ם שֹֽׁמְרֵי֙ מִשְׁמֶ֨רֶת֙ מִשְׁכַּ֣ן יְהוָ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת מֹשֶֽׁה

even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the charge of the tent of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 31:47 Septuagint · lemma form

καί λαμβάνω μωυσῆς ἀπό ὁ ἡμίσευμα ὁ υἱός ἰσραήλ ὁ εἷς ἀπό ὁ πεντήκοντα ἀπό ὁ ἄνθρωπος καί ἀπό ὁ κτῆνος καί δίδωμι αὐτός ὁ λευίτης ὁ φυλάσσω ὁ φυλακή ὁ σκηνή κύριος ὅς τρόπος συντάσσω κύριος ὁ μωυσῆς

And Moses took of the half belonging to the children of Israel the fifties part, of men and of cattle, and he gave them to the Levites who keep the charges of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

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)

2

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.

  1. Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    וּנְסֵב משֶׁה מִפַּלְגוּת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יָת דְאִתַּחָד חָד מִן חַמְשִׁין מִן אֱנָשָׁא וּמִן בְּעִירָא וִיהַב יָתְהוֹן לְלֵוָאֵי נַטְּרֵי מַטְרַת מַשְׁכְּנָא דַיְיָ כְּמָא דִי פַקֵיד יְיָ יָת משֶׁה

    (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.

  2. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)
    וּנְסֵיב משֶׁה מִפַּלְגוּת בְּנֵי יִשְרָאֵל יַת דְמִיתָחַד חַד מִן חַמְשִׁין מִן בְּנַת נְשָׁא וּמִן בְּעִירָא וִיהַב יַתְהוֹן לְלֵיוָאֵי נַטְרֵי מַטְרַת מַשְׁכְּנָא דַיְיָ הֵיכְמָא דְפַקֵיד יְיָ יַת משֶׁה

    And Mosheh took from the half part for the children of Israel of that which had been captured, one out of fifty, whether of man or beast, and gave it to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Mosheh.

    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 31:47 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 →

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Which had not been at war.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

General Information:

Moses is listing the plunder that goes to the people and the tax that goes to Yahweh. (See: Numbers)

General Information:

The tax on the people's portion was higher than the tax on the soldiers' portion.

translationWords

Levi

tabernacle

command

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

ויקח משה וגו׳ AND MOSES TOOK [FROM THIS HALF OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL ONE PART OUT OF EACH FIFTY] etc.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

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 26 words (20 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

  1. What does “middle” (machătsîyth) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. How does Exodus 30:13, which shares the word «middle», read alongside this verse?
  3. What does the repetition of “Moses” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
  4. These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
  5. «וַיִּקַּ֨ח» is a Qal Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
  6. Compare how Geneva Bible (1599) and unfoldingWord translationNotes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

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Old Testament edition

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English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

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