Bible Strands

Numbers 26:57

Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Moses records a second census of Israel in the plains of Moab, transitioning from tribal land distribution to a precise genealogical inventory of the Levite population.

The words — The text employs פְקוּדֵי (pequdei), literally “enrolled men,” and מִשְׁפְּחֹתָם (mishpechotam), literally “their clans,” to establish the administrative categories for the Levites.

The thread — This threefold lineage structure is repeated in Genesis 46:11, Exodus 6:16, and 1 Chronicles 6:1, which consistently identify Gershon, Kohath, and Merari as the foundational sons of Levi.

Why it lands — The verse demands that readers acknowledge inheritance and tribal service were legally bound to documented ancestry rather than personal achievement.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְאֵ֨לֶּהve./'E.lehand/ theseפְקוּדֵ֣יfe.ku.Dei[were] [the] enrolled [men] ofהַלֵּוִי֮ha./le.Vithe/ Levite[s]לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם֒le./mish.pe.cho.Ta/mto/ clans/ theirלְגֵרְשׁ֗וֹןle./ge.re.Shonof/ Gershonמִשְׁפַּ֙חַת֙mish.Pa.chat[the] clan ofהַגֵּ֣רְשֻׁנִּ֔יha./Ge.re.shu.Nithe/ Gershonite[s]לִקְהָ֕תli/k.Hatof/ Kohathמִשְׁפַּ֖חַתmish.Pa.chat[the] clan ofהַקְּהָתִ֑יha./ke.ha.Tithe/ Kohathite[s]לִמְרָרִ֕יli/m.ra.Riof/ Merariמִשְׁפַּ֖חַתmish.Pa.chat[the] clan ofהַמְּרָרִֽי׃ha./me.ra.Rithe/ Merarite[s]

King James Version

And these are they that were numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

Cross-references