Numbers 4:24

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

World English Bible · Public Domain

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הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י

Gêrᵉshunnîy

H1649

“the · Gershonite”

Particle, Definite Article + Noun, Gentilic, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 13× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Numbers 3:21

Full BDB Definition

Origin: patronymically from H1648

TWOT: None

Gershonite = see Geshur - a descendant of Gershon, firstborn son of Levi

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 →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י Gershonite H1649 — appearing just 13 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י Gershonite H1649 occurs in 12 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
4 nouns
1 pronoun

Verb forms

לַעֲבֹ֖ד Qal · Infinitive Construct

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 16 words from the Hebrew and 15 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 6 Hebrew tokens and 10 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 4:24 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Numbers 4:15 "When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary, and all the furniture of the sanctuary, as the camp moves forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry it: but they shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting.
Numbers 4:19 but thus do to them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach to the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them everyone to his service and to his burden;
Numbers 4:27 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden, and in all their service; and you shall appoint to them in charge all their burden.
Numbers 4:31–32 This is the charge of their burden, according to all their service in the Tent of Meeting: the tabernacle's boards, its bars, its pillars, its sockets,
Numbers 4:47 from thirty years old and upward even to fifty years old, everyone who entered in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,
Numbers 4:49 According to the commandment of Yahweh they were numbered by Moses, everyone according to his service, and according to his burden. Thus were they numbered by him, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

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 4:24 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

זֹ֣את עֲבֹדַ֔ת מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑י לַעֲבֹ֖ד וּלְמַשָּֽׂא

This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing burdens:

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 4:24 Septuagint · lemma form

οὗτος ὁ λειτουργία ὁ δῆμος ὁ γεδσων λειτουργέω καί αἴρω

This is the public service of the family of Gedson, to minister and to bear.

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)

דֵין פּוּלְחַן זַרְעֲיַת גֵרְשׁוֹן לְמִפְלַח וּלְמַטוּל

(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)

דָא הִיא פּוּלְחָנַת גְנִיסַת גֵרְשׁוֹן לְמִפְלַח וּלְמַטוֹל

And this is the service of the family of Gershon, to serve and to carry.

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 4:24 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 →

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

This is the service of the families of the Gershonites, &c.--They were appointed to carry "the curtains of the tabernacle"--that is, the goats' hair covering of the tent--the ten curious curtains and embroidered hangings at the entrance, with their red morocco covering, &c.

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

John Gill's Exposition

At the appointment of Aaron and his sons,.... As they shall order and direct:

shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites; everyone of them was to take their share, as Aaron and his sons should appoint them:

in all their burdens, and in all their service; what each of them should carry, and in what they should perform duty:

and ye shall appoint to them in charge all their burdens; charge them carefully to keep all that were committed to them to bear, that none be lost, not a pin nor a cord.

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

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

This is the work of the clans ... when they serve and what they carry

This sentence is a description that tells us what the following verses are about.

Gershonites

This refers to the descendants of Gershon. See how you translated this in Numbers 3:21.

the covering of sea cow skin that is on it

This is an outer covering that is placed on top of the tent of meeting's covering. AT: "the covering of sea cow skin that is placed on top of that" or "the outer covering made of sea cow skin" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

Whatever should be done with these things

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Whatever work that these things require" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

curtain

tabernacle

tent of meeting

sea cow

court

gate

altar

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

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 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is Gêrᵉshunnîy (“Gershonite”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “Gershonite” (Gêrᵉshunnîy) shape what this verse is saying?
Numbers 3:21 shares the word «Gershonite» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «לַעֲבֹ֖ד» is Qal Infinitive Construct. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Jamieson, Fausset & Brown and John Gill's Exposition read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 6 Hebrew ↔ 10 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.