Bible Strands
Numbers 4:42
And the Merarites were numbered by their clans and families,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses records a census of the Levitical clans at the Lord’s command, following the enumeration of the Gershonites in Numbers 4:41, to organize personnel for the Tent of Meeting.
The words — פְקוּדֵי (pequdei) denotes the enrolled or numbered men, while מִשְׁפְּחֹת (mishpechot) specifies the distinct family clans.
The thread — The structural pattern of clan-by-clan enumeration repeats in Numbers 1:2 for the broader tribes and Numbers 3:14-39 for the earlier Levitical census, establishing a consistent administrative framework.
Why it lands — The text demands precise identification of service personnel through lineage, requiring readers to recognize that organized accountability precedes functional duty.
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
King James Version
And those that were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, throughout their families, by the house of their fathers,