1 Chronicles 23:3

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

The Levites, thirty years old and older, were counted by their heads, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּסָּֽפְרוּ֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם מִבֶּ֛ן שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה וָמָ֑עְלָה וַיְהִ֨י מִסְפָּרָ֤ם לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם֙ לִגְבָרִ֔ים שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים וּשְׁמוֹנָ֖ה אָֽלֶף׃

Transliteration

And wayyissāp̄ərû the-Ləwiyyîm from-ben thirty šānāh and-māʿəlāh and wayəhî mispārām by-gulggəlōṯām for-gəḇārîm thirty and-eight ʾālep̄

Grammar Details

• *wayyissāp̄ərû*: verb, niphal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine plural - they were counted/numbered
• *Ləwiyyîm*: noun, masculine plural with definite article - the Levites
• *ben*: noun, masculine singular construct - son of, aged
• *šānāh*: noun, feminine singular - year
• *māʿəlāh*: adverb with waw conjunction - and upward
• *wayəhî*: verb, qal imperfect with waw consecutive, 3rd masculine singular - and it was
• *mispārām*: noun with possessive suffix, masculine singular - their number
• *gulggəlōṯām*: noun with possessive suffix, feminine plural - their heads/polls
• *gəḇārîm*: noun, masculine plural - men
• *ʾālep̄*: noun, masculine singular - thousand

Word Meanings

• *gulggəlōṯām*: by their heads, by head count, individually
• *gəḇārîm*: men, strong men, males

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their count by head, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  to nombre ye Leuites from thirtie yeare olde & aboue. And ye nombre of the (which were stroge men) fro heade to heade, was eight and thirtie thousande:

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  And the Leuites were numbred from ye age of thirtie yeere and aboue, and their nomber according to their summe was eight & thirtie thousand men.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And the Leuites were numbred from the age of thirtie yeres and aboue: and the number and summe of them was thirtie and eyght thousande men.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  and the Levites are numbered from a son of thirty years and upward, and their number, by their polls, is of mighty men thirty and eight thousand.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

• World English Bible (2000)

  The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men.

Referenced Verses

• 1 Chr 23:24 : 24 These were the sons of Levi by their families, the heads of the fathers' households, listed by name, individually numbered, who were doing the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and older.
• Num 4:2-9 : 2 Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families and by their ancestral houses. 3 Count all those from thirty years old to fifty years old who come to serve in the work of the tent of meeting. 4 This is the work of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: caring for the most holy things. 5 When the camp prepares to set out, Aaron and his sons shall come and take down the curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it. 6 They shall put over it a covering of fine leather, and spread a cloth of pure blue over that, and then insert its poles. 7 On the table of the presence they shall spread a blue cloth and place on it the plates, the dishes, the bowls, and the jars for the drink offering, and the continual bread shall remain on it. 8 They shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles. 9 They shall take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, along with its lamps, tongs, firepans, and all the oil vessels used in its service. 10 They shall place it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on a carrying frame. 11 Over the golden altar they shall spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering of fine leather, and insert its poles. 12 They shall take all the utensils used for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering of fine leather, and put them on a carrying frame. 13 They shall remove the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. 14 They shall put on it all the utensils used for serving at the altar—the firepans, the forks, the shovels, the basins—all the utensils of the altar. They shall spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert its poles. 15 When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all its furnishings as the camp sets out, the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the tasks of the sons of Kohath regarding the tent of meeting. 16 The oversight of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, includes the oil for the light, the fragrant incense, the regular grain offering, the anointing oil, the oversight of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and utensils. 17 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 18 Do not let the tribe of the Kohathite clans be cut off from the Levites. 19 Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they approach the most holy things. Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign each man his task and what he is to carry. 20 But the Kohathites must not go in to look at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die. 21 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 22 Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their ancestral houses and by their clans. 23 Count all men from thirty years old to fifty years old who are eligible to serve in the work of the tent of meeting. 24 This is the service of the Gershonite clans: working and carrying burdens. 25 They shall carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting with its covering, the covering of fine leather that is on top of it, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, 26 And the hangings of the courtyard, the screen for the entrance of the gate of the courtyard which surrounds the tabernacle and the altar, along with their cords, all their utensils for service, and everything assigned for their care—they shall serve. 27 Under the command of Aaron and his sons, shall be all the service of the Gershonites, all their burdens and all their work. You shall assign to them their responsibilities and duties. 28 This is the service of the Gershonite clans in the tent of meeting. Their responsibilities shall be under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. 29 Count the sons of Merari by their clans and by their ancestral houses. 30 Count all men from thirty years old to fifty years old who qualify to work in the service of the tent of meeting. 31 This is what they are responsible to carry as part of all their work in the tent of meeting: the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases. 32 Also the posts of the surrounding courtyard, their bases, tent pegs, cords, and all their utensils for service. Assign their responsibilities by name for everything they are to carry. 33 This is the work of the Merarite clans, as part of all their service in the tent of meeting. It is under the supervision of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest. 34 So Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their clans and by their ancestral houses, 35 from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible to work in the service of the tent of meeting. 36 Their number by their families was 2,750. 37 These are the counts of the Kohathite families, all those who served in the work of the tent of meeting. They were numbered by Moses and Aaron according to the LORD’s command through Moses. 38 The Gershonite men were counted by their families and by their ancestral houses. 39 From thirty years old to fifty years old, all those who were eligible to serve in the work of the tent of meeting were counted. 40 The total number of those counted by their families and their ancestral houses was 2,630. 41 These are the counts of the Gershonite families who served in the work of the tent of meeting. They were counted by Moses and Aaron according to the LORD's command. 42 The Merarite men were counted by their families and by their ancestral houses. 43 From thirty years old to fifty years old, all those who were eligible for service in the work of the tent of meeting were counted. 44 The total number of those counted by their families was 3,200. 45 These are the counts of the Merarite families who were numbered by Moses and Aaron according to the LORD’s command through Moses. 46 All those numbered by Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel were counted among the Levite clans by their families and by their ancestral houses. 47 From thirty years old to fifty years old, all those who were eligible for the work of serving and for carrying burdens in the tent of meeting were counted. 48 Their total number was 8,580. 49 Each man was assigned his work and his burden to carry, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they were numbered by Moses according to the LORD's command.