Numbers 33:54

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance: wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall you inherit.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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תַּמְעִ֣יט

mâʻaṭ

H4591

“to diminish”

Verb, Hiphil, Imperfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 22× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 12:4

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1228

to be or become small, be few, be diminished - (Qal) - to diminish - to be too small - (Piel) to become few - (Hiphil) - to make small, make few, diminish - to give less

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 →

24: words
17: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is תַּמְעִ֣יט to diminish H4591 — appearing just 22 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

תַּמְעִ֣יט to diminish H4591 occurs in 21 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

6 verbs
8 nouns
2 adjectives
3 prepositions
1 adverb
4 particles

Verb forms

וְהִתְנַחַלְתֶּם֩ Hithpael · Sequential Perfect
תַּרְבּ֤וּ Hiphil · Imperfect
תַּמְעִ֣יט Hiphil · Imperfect
יֵ֨צֵא Qal · Imperfect
יִהְיֶ֑ה Qal · Imperfect
תִּתְנֶחָֽלוּ Hithpael · Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

וְהִתְנַחַלְתֶּם֩ to inherit H5157 ×2
בְּגוֹרָ֜ל lot H1486 ×2
נַחֲלָתוֹ֙ inheritance H5159 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 51 words from the Hebrew and 56 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 24 Hebrew tokens and 38 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 33:54 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Numbers 26:53–56 To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.
Joshua 15:1–12 The lot for the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families was to the border of Edom, even to the wilderness of Zin southward, at the uttermost part of the south.
Joshua 16:1–4 The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill-country to Bethel;
Joshua 17:1–13 [This] was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.
Joshua 18:11–19:48 The lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.

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 33:54 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְהִתְנַחַלְתֶּם֩ אֶת הָאָ֨רֶץ בְּגוֹרָ֜ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹֽתֵיכֶ֗ם לָרַ֞ב תַּרְבּ֤וּ אֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ֙ וְלַמְעַט֙ תַּמְעִ֣יט אֶת נַחֲלָת֔וֹ אֶל֩ אֲשֶׁר יֵ֨צֵא ל֥וֹ שָׁ֛מָּה הַגּוֹרָ֖ל ל֣וֹ יִהְיֶ֑ה לְמַטּ֥וֹת אֲבֹתֵיכֶ֖ם תִּתְנֶחָֽלוּ

You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance: wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall you inherit.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 33:54 Septuagint · lemma form

καί κατακληρονομέω ὁ γῆ αὐτός ἐν κλῆρος κατά φυλή σύ ὁ πολύς πληθύνω ὁ κατάσχεσις αὐτός καί ὁ ἐλαχύς ἐλαττόω ὁ κατάσχεσις αὐτός εἰς ὅς ἐάν ἐκἔρχομαι ὁ ὄνομα αὐτός ἐκεῖ αὐτός εἰμί κατά φυλή πατριά σύ κληρονομέω

And you⌃ shall inherit their land according to your tribes; to the greater number you⌃ shall give the larger possession, and to the smaller you⌃ shall give the less possession; to whatever part a man's name shall go forth by lot, there shall be his property: you⌃ shall inherit according to the tribes of your families.

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)

וְתַחְסְנוּן יָת אַרְעָא בְעַדְבָא לְזַרְעֲיַתְכוֹן לְסַגִיאֵי תַּסְגוּן יָת אַחֲסַנְתְּהוֹן וְלִזְעִירֵי תַּזְעִירוּן יָת אַחֲסַנְתְּהוֹן לִדְיִפּוֹק לֵהּ תַּמָן עַדְבָא דִי לֵהּ יְהֵי לְשִׁבְטֵי אֲבָהַתְכוֹן תַּחְסְנוּן

(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)

וְתַחְסְנוּן יַת אַרְעָא בְּעַדְבִין לִגְנִיסַתְכוֹן לְשֵׁיבַט דְעַמֵיהּ סַגִין תַּסְגֵי וּלְשֵׁיבַט דְעַמֵיהּ זְעִירִין תַּזְעֵיר לִדְיִפּוֹק לֵיהּ תַּמָן עַדְבָא דִילֵיהּ יְהֵי לְשִׁבְטָא אֲבָהַתְכוֹן תִּתְחַסְנוּן

And you shall inherit the land by lots, according to your families; to the tribe whose people are many you shall enlarge, and to the tribe whose people are few, you shall diminish. According to the place where one's lot falleth, there shall his place be; you shall inherit by the tribes of your fathers.

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 33:54 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 →

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Num 33:54. Ye shall divide the land by lot — As they gradually conquered the country, they were to divide it among the tribes, according to the rules and proportions before prescribed them, Num 26:54-55.

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

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

33:54 distribute the land . . . by sacred lot: See 26:53-56. Chapter 34 describes the boundaries of the land of Canaan, which they would soon conquer and divide.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

ye shall divide the land by lot--The particular locality of each tribe was to be determined in this manner while a line was to be used in measuring the proportion (Jos 18:10; Psa 16:5-6).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(54) And ye shall divide the land by lot . . . —See Num_26:53-56, and Note.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

54. falleth to any man] The lots would not be cast for individuals, but, as the last sentence of the verse shews, for whole tribes, or at most for clans. The Heb. is obscurely expressed, but it may be rendered wheresoever the lot goeth forth for each, to that one shall it belong.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

54. Divide the land by lot — The mode of determining the location of each tribe. Num_26:53-56, notes.

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

Ye shall divide the land by lot. These directions are repeated in substance from Num_26:53-56. Every man"s inheritance. Not only the tribe, but the family and the household, was to receive its special inheritance by lot; no doubt in such a way that the final settlement of the country would correspond with the blood relationships of the settlers.

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

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

אל אשר יצא לו שמה — This is an elliptical verse, the meaning being, the place where the lot falleth to anyone, that shall be his.

למטות אבותיכם ACCORDING TO THE TRIBES OF YOUR FATHERS [YE SHALL DIVIDE INHERITANCE] — i.e., according to the number of those who came out of Egypt (Bava Batra 117a; cf. Rashi on Numbers 26:55). Another explanation: ye shall divide it into twelve districts, as is the number of the tribes.

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 24 words (17 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mâʻaṭ (“to diminish”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word mâʻaṭ carries the sense “to diminish.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Exodus 12:4, which shares the word «to diminish», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “to inherit” (2× in this one verse) do in this verse?
The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
«וְהִתְנַחַלְתֶּם֩» is a Hithpael Sequential Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 24 Hebrew ↔ 38 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 29 words in this verse.
“to inherit” occurs 2× in this single verse.
17 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 24 words in this verse.