Numbers 4:26

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

Septuagint runs shorter here — compare

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מֵֽיתְרֵיהֶ֔ם

mêythâr

H4340

“cords · their”

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

Appears 9× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 35:18

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from H3498

TWOT: 936h

cord, string

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
17: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is מֵֽיתְרֵיהֶ֔ם cord H4340 — appearing just 9 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

מֵֽיתְרֵיהֶ֔ם cord H4340 occurs in 9 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
14 nouns
3 prepositions
7 particles

Verb forms

יֵעָשֶׂ֛ה Niphal · Imperfect
וְעָבָֽדוּ Qal · Sequential Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

הֶֽחָצֵ֜ר court H2691 ×2
עַל upon H5921 ×2
כָּל all H3605 ×2
אֲשֶׁ֨ר which H834 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 48 words from the Hebrew and 31 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the Septuagint runs noticeably shorter here. See the side-by-side →

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 25 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 4:26 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Exodus 27:9 "You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side:
Exodus 35:18 the pins of the tent, the pins of the court, and their cords;

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.

Here the Septuagint runs noticeably shorter than the Hebrew — LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) 31 words vs World English Bible 48. A rough length comparison of the two English translations, not a word-level alignment — read both below.

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

Hebrew Numbers 4:26 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאֵת֩ קַלְעֵ֨י הֶֽחָצֵ֜ר וְאֶת מָסַ֣ךְ פֶּ֣תַח שַׁ֣עַר הֶחָצֵ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּ֤ן וְעַל הַמִּזְבֵּ֨חַ֙ סָבִ֔יב וְאֵת֙ מֵֽיתְרֵיהֶ֔ם וְאֶֽת כָּל כְּלֵ֖י עֲבֹדָתָ֑ם וְאֵ֨ת כָּל אֲשֶׁ֧ר יֵעָשֶׂ֛ה לָהֶ֖ם וְעָבָֽדוּ

and the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and around the altar, and their cords, and all the instruments of their service, and whatever shall be done with them. Therein shall they serve.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 4:26 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ὁ ἱστίον ὁ αὐλή ὅσος ἐπί ὁ σκηνή ὁ μαρτύριον καί ὁ περισσός καί πᾶς ὁ σκεῦος ὁ λειτουργικός ὅσος λειτουργέω ἐν αὐτός ποιέω

And all the curtains of the court which were upon the tabernacle of witness, and the appendages, and all the vessels of service that they minister with they shall attend to.

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)

וְיָת סְרָדֵי דְדַרְתָּא וְיָת פְּרָסָא דְמַעֲלָנָא דִתְרַע דַרְתָּא דִי עַל מַשְׁכְּנָא וְעַל מַדְבְּחָא סְחוֹר סְחוֹר וְיָת אַטוּנֵיהוֹן וְיָת כָּל מָנֵי פּוּלְּחַנְהוֹן וְיַת כָּל דִי יִתְמְסַר לְהוֹן וְיִפְלְחוּן

(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)

וְיַת וִוילַוָת דַרְתָּא וְיַת פְּרָסָא דְמַעֲלָנָא דִתְרַע דַרְתָּא דְעַל מַשְׁכְּנָא חֲזוֹר חֲזוֹר וְיַת אֲטוּנֵיהוֹן וְיַת כָּל מָאנֵי פּוּלְחַנְהוֹן וְיַת כָּל מַה דְיִתְמְסַר לְהוֹן וְיִפְלְחוּן

and the curtains of the court, and the hanging for the gate of the court which is by the tabernacle round about, and their cords and all the vessels of their service, and all that is delivered to them to serve with.

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 4:26 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 4:26-28. Which is round about — Which court compassed both the tabernacle and the altar. Under the hand — Under his conduct and direction.

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

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Which court compassed both the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the altar of burnt offering.

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

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) Which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about.—Or, which are . . . The curtains or hangings enclosed the whole of the court.

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

26. whatsoever shall be done with them] all that may have to be done with regard to them; e.g. the undoing of the hooks and loops, the rolling up of the strips of curtain and so on.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

As for the sons of Merari,.... The third and youngest son of Levi:

thou shalt number them after their families, by the house of their fathers; which is the form of expression used of them all; See Gill on Num 4:2.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

All things. Hebrew, "veils round the altar" of holocausts in the court. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

The gate of the court, i.e. which court compassed both the tabernacle and the altar, Exo 27:16.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

And their cords, and all the instruments of their service. Taking this verse in connection with verse 37, we must understand the word "their" as applying to the things mentioned in the previous verse. The Merarites carried the cords, &c. of the hangings of the court. ;

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

Which is round about - Which court compassed both the tabernacle and the altar.

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

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

אשר על המשכן [AND THE HANGINGS OF THE ENCLOSURE, AND THE SCREEN FOR THE ENTRANCE OF THE GATE OF THE ENCLOSURE] WHICH ARE על המשכן — that is to say, the hangings and the screen of the court which together screen and shelter the Tabernacle and the copper altar on all sides.

ואת כל אשר יעשה להם — Understand this as the Targum does; “and everything that is handed over to them” — i.e. to the sons of Gershon.

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.

Ramban (Nachmanides)

Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides)

V’EITH KOL ASHER ‘YEI’ASEH’ LAHEM. [literally: “and all which will be made to them”]. The question Ramban discusses is what the pronoun lahem (“to them” or “for them”) refers to and what the meaning of yei’aseh is. “[This is to be understood] as the Targum [of Onkelos rendered it]: ‘and with whatever is handed over to them,’ that is, to the sons of Gershon [so shall they serve].” This is Rashi’s language. But if so [if the pronoun lahem refers to the Gershonites, and not to all the vessels of the Tabernacle and altar mentioned in the first part of the verse], then the word yei’aseh [does not have its usual meaning of “doing,” but is to be understood as “possessions” or “articles in a person’s control,” the sense of the verse being: “and all ‘the objects handed over’ to them — they, the Gershonites shall serve with”], as in the verse: And there was a man in Maon ‘uma’aseihu’ were in Carmel, which means “his possessions with which he ‘does’ [his occupation].” A more correct interpretation [of our verse] is that it means: “and with whatever [accessories] are made ‘for them’ — the Tabernacle and the altar — for they had many vessels [so shall they — the sons of Gershon — serve].”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (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 (17 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is mêythâr (“cord”). The Greek Septuagint runs shorter here. A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

How does “cord” (mêythâr) shape what this verse is saying?
Exodus 35:18 shares the word «cord» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
“court” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
Compared with the Hebrew, the Septuagint runs shorter here. What questions does that raise?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «יֵעָשֶׂ֛ה» is Niphal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 26 Hebrew ↔ 25 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 21 words in this verse.
“court” occurs 2× in this single verse.
17 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 26 words in this verse.