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Numbers 3:21–26 — The Gershonites. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites,.... The first son of Levi: these are the family of the Gershonites; that were now, numbered.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

They are mentioned under the names of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, sons of Levi, and chiefs or ancestral heads of three subdivisions into which this tribe was distributed.

JFB’s note is a single block spanning 3:14–31, repeated on each verse; this clause is the part that bears on the Gershonite subdivision.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Notice that narrative in Numbers 3:21 f., 27 f., 33 f., 39 alternates with commands in Numbers 3:23-26 ; Numbers 3:29-32 ; Numbers 3:35-38 . It is one of the many indications that the priestly portions of the book were the composite work of more than one writer.

Cambridge advances a documentary-source theory; presented as a scholarly observation about the narrative/command alternation, to be weighed, not endorsed.

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From Gershon came the Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan; these were the Gershonite clans.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lə·ḡê·rə·šō·wn hal·liḇ·nî miš·pa·ḥaṯ haš·šim·‘î ū·miš·pa·ḥaṯ ’êl·leh hêm hag·gê·rə·šun·nî miš·pə·ḥōṯ

Word by word9 · parsed

לְגֵ֣רְשׁ֔וֹןlə·ḡê·rə·šō·wnFrom Gershon cameH1648

√ Gêrᵉshôwn — Gereshon or Gereshom, an IsraelitePreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

Gershon (H1648), Levi’s eldest son. The whole sub-section is built on the lamed of belonging: the clans are assigned to their founder. As Gill notes, Gershon is “the first son of Levi.”

הַלִּבְנִ֔יhal·liḇ·nîthe LibniteH3846

√ Libnîy — a Libnite or descendants of Libni (collectively)ArticleNounpropermasculine singular

Libnîy (H3846), the Libnite clan — a rare gentilic (only 2 verses). From Libni, Gershon’s firstborn (v. 18), descends one of the two Gershonite families.

מִשְׁפַּ֙חַת֙miš·pa·ḥaṯclanH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iNounfeminine singular construct

הַשִּׁמְעִ֑יhaš·šim·‘îand the ShimeiteH8097

√ Shimʻîy — a Shimite (collectively) or descendants of ShimiArticleNounpropermasculine singular

Shimʻîy (H8097), the Shimeite clan — equally rare (only 2 verses), from Gershon’s second son Shimei. The two clans together make up the whole Gershonite division mustered here. Its one other occurrence (Zechariah 12:13) names a different “family of Shimei” in a mourning oracle — a rare-word match but a distinct lineage, flagged on its thread below.

וּמִשְׁפַּ֖חַתū·miš·pa·ḥaṯclanH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct

אֵ֣לֶּה’êl·lehtheseH428

√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural

’êl·leh (H428), “these” — opens the summarizing clause; with the article-marked gentilic that follows, it brackets the two named clans as the complete Gershonite roster.

הֵ֔םhêm. . .H1992

√ hêm — they (only used when emphatic)Pronounthird person masculine plural

hêm (H1992), the emphatic “they” — the lexicon flags it as used “only when emphatic.” Its presence is not redundant: it presses the closure, these are the Gershonite clans.

הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּֽי׃hag·gê·rə·šun·nîwere the GershoniteH1649

√ Gêrᵉshunnîy — a Gereshonite or descendant of GereshonArticleNounpropermasculine singular

hag·gê·rə·šun·nî (H1649, Gêrᵉshunnîy) — the gentilic “the Gershonite,” distinct from the personal name Gershon (H1648) at the verse-head. The grammar moves from the man to the order named for him, exactly as ch. 3 elsewhere moves from Lêwî to hal·Lêwî.

מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖תmiš·pə·ḥōṯclansH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iNounfeminine plural construct

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“To-Gershon [belonged] the-Libnite and the-Shimeite; these they-were the-Gershonite clans.”

Where the English smooths the original

לְגֵ֣רְשׁ֔וֹן lə·ḡê·rə·šō·wn opens with a bare prefixed preposition, “to/belonging-to Gershon,” with no verb at all — Hebrew states possession by the lamed alone. The BSB supplies “From Gershon came,” inventing a verb of descent the Hebrew leaves implicit; the original simply assigns the clans to the founder.
הַלִּבְנִ֔י hal·liḇ·nî (H3846, Libnîy) is a singular gentilic with the article — “the Libnite [clan],” a collective, not a plural “Libnites.” The Verifier finds this name in only 2 verses in the whole corpus; it is a rare, load-bearing word that ties this register to the second census (Numbers 26:58).
אֵ֣לֶּה הֵ֔ם ’êl·leh hêm is the demonstrative “these” reinforced by the emphatic pronoun hêm (“they,” H1992 — used, the lexicon notes, “only when emphatic”). Hebrew double-marks the summation, “these, they [and no others], were…”; the BSB’s plain “these were” drops the stress the doubled words carry.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

even those that were numbered of them, were seven thousand and five hundred; 7,500 men, which was neither the least nor the largest number of the sons of Levi.

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Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

while in the other tribes the number of males was calculated from twenty years and upward [Nu 1:3], in that of Levi they were counted "from a month old and upward." The reason for the distinction is obvious. In the other tribes the survey was made for purposes of war [Nu 1:3], from which the Levites were totally exempt.

From JFB’s block note on the section; the clause bearing on the month-old count of v. 22 is excerpted.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

Only numbering the male children.

Geneva’s marginal gloss (note h) on “all the males”; the rest of its entry is the verse text plus boilerplate.

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The number of all the males a month old or more was 7,500.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

pə·qu·ḏê·hem bə·mis·par kāl- zā·ḵār ḥō·ḏeš mib·ben- wā·mā·‘ə·lāh pə·qu·ḏê·hem šiḇ·‘aṯ ’ă·lā·p̄îm wa·ḥă·mêš mê·’ō·wṯ

Word by word12 · parsed

פְּקֻדֵיהֶם֙pə·qu·ḏê·hemThe numberH6485

√ pâqad — to visit (with friendly or hostile intent)VerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

pə·qu·ḏê·hem (pâqad, Qal passive participle) — “their mustered ones,” those visited and reckoned by God. The same root governs the entire book of Numbers (Hebrew Bəmidbar); to be pâqad-ed is to be entered into the LORD’s account.

בְּמִסְפַּ֣רbə·mis·par. . .H4557

√ miçpâr — a number, definite (arithmetical) or indefinite (large, innumerablePreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

כָּל־kāl-of allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

זָכָ֔רzā·ḵārthe malesH2145

√ zâkâr — properly, remembered, iNounmasculine singular

zā·ḵār (H2145), “male” — its root means “to remember”; the male child as the one through whom the name is carried. Only males are counted, because the question is the firstborn substitution, not military strength.

חֹ֖דֶשׁḥō·ḏeša monthH2320

√ chôdesh — the new moonNounmasculine singular

ḥō·ḏeš (H2320), “month / new moon.” JFB marks the contrast: the fighting tribes were counted “from twenty years and upward,” but Levi “from a month old and upward” — the one-month line being the firstborn’s redemption-age.

מִבֶּן־mib·ben-oldH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

וָמָ֑עְלָהwā·mā·‘ə·lāhor moreH4605

√ maʻal — properly, the upper part, used only adverbially with prefix upward, above, overhead, from the top, etcConjunctive wawAdverbthird person feminine singular

פְּקֻ֣דֵיהֶ֔םpə·qu·ḏê·hemwasH6485

√ pâqad — to visit (with friendly or hostile intent)VerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural constructthird person masculine plural

pə·qu·ḏê·hem again — the closing bracket of the verse’s inclusio, repeating the opening participle before delivering the total.

שִׁבְעַ֥תšiḇ·‘aṯ7,500H7651

√ shebaʻ — seven (as the sacred full one)Numbermasculine singular construct

šiḇ·‘aṯ (H7651, shebaʻ), “seven” — the lexicon notes seven “as the sacred full one.” Gill observes the Gershonite total of 7,500 “was neither the least nor the largest number of the sons of Levi.”

אֲלָפִ֖ים’ă·lā·p̄îm. . .H505

√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine plural

וַחֲמֵ֥שׁwa·ḥă·mêš. . .H2568

√ châmêsh — fiveConjunctive wawNumberfeminine singular construct

מֵאֽוֹת׃mê·’ō·wṯ. . .H3967

√ mêʼâh — a hundredNumberfeminine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Their-mustered-ones by-the-number of-every male from-a-son-of a-month and-upward, their-mustered-ones [were] seven-thousand and-five hundred.”

Where the English smooths the original

פְּקֻדֵיהֶם֙ pə·qu·ḏê·hem (H6485, pâqad) is not “the number” but a Qal passive participle, “their mustered/visited ones” — those upon whom the LORD has been attended. The word frames the verse, opening and closing it (it recurs at the end as pə·qu·ḏê·hem again); the BSB’s flat “the number… was” loses both the verb of visitation and the inclusio.
מִבֶּן־חֹ֖דֶשׁ mib·ben-ḥō·ḏeš is literally “from a son of a month” — Hebrew reckons age idiomatically as ben-ḥōḏeš, “a son of a month.” The BSB’s “a month old” is correct sense but hides the bēn (“son”), the chapter’s keyword, and the ḥōḏeš (H2320), whose root is “new moon”: one lunar cycle of life, the exact age set for the firstborn’s redemption (Numbers 18:16) whom the Levites replace.
שִׁבְעַ֥ת אֲלָפִ֖ים וַחֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵאֽוֹת The Hebrew counts in stacked construct numerals: šiḇ·‘aṯ ’ă·lā·p̄îm wa·ḥă·mêš mê·’ō·wṯ, “seven of thousands and five of hundreds.” The BSB’s clean “7,500” is a modern numeral; the Hebrew names each magnitude in full, the idiom of a people who counted by saying the words.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

On the east side of the tent Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons were to encamp, on the south the Kohathites, on the west the Gershonites, on the north the Merarites.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

With the characteristic tautology of the priestly style another word for ‘westward’ is added; cf. Numbers 3:38 , Exodus 27:9 . The latter denotes literally ‘towards the sea,’ shewing that the narrator was in Palestine when he wrote, the Mediterranean being the sea referred to.

Excerpted from Cambridge’s note on the second Hebrew word for ‘west’ (yāmmāh, ‘seaward’); the prior sentence on ‘behind’ is summarized in the verse notes, not stitched into this quotation.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

These directions as to the position and duties of the Levitical families retain the form in which they were originally given. The way in which they are mixed up with direct narrative affords a striking proof of the inartificial character of these sacred writings.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward; this was their situation when encamped; they were placed in the rear of the camp of the Levites, between the tabernacle and the camp of Ephraim

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The Gershonite clans were to camp on the west, behind the tabernacle,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hag·gê·rə·šun·nî miš·pə·ḥōṯ ya·ḥă·nū yām·māh ’a·ḥă·rê ham·miš·kān

Word by word6 · parsed

הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑יhag·gê·rə·šun·nîThe GershoniteH1649

√ Gêrᵉshunnîy — a Gereshonite or descendant of GereshonArticleNounpropermasculine singular

hag·gê·rə·šun·nî (H1649), the Gershonite clans — assigned the western station. JFB: the Gershonites, “being the oldest, had the next honorable post assigned them,” behind the most-honored Kohathites.

מִשְׁפְּחֹ֖תmiš·pə·ḥōṯclansH4940

√ mishpâchâh — a family, iNounfeminine plural construct

יַחֲנ֖וּya·ḥă·nūwere to campH2583

√ chânâh — properly, to inclineVerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

ya·ḥă·nū (chânâh, imperfect) — “shall encamp,” root “to incline / bend down.” The Pulpit Commentary notes these verses “retain the form in which they were originally given,” mixing command into narrative — “a striking proof of the inartificial character of these sacred writings.”

יָֽמָּה׃yām·māhon the westH3220

√ yâm — a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of waterNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular

yām·māh (yâm, “sea”) — “seaward,” the Hebrew idiom for west. The encampment is oriented from the tabernacle door, which “opened or looked eastward towards the sunrise” (Pulpit Commentary); Gershon’s place is at its back.

אַחֲרֵ֧י’a·ḥă·rêbehindH310

√ ʼachar — properly, the hind partPreposition

’a·ḥă·rê (H310), “behind” — the doubled west-word (with yām·māh), which Cambridge ascribes to “the characteristic tautology of the priestly style.”

הַמִּשְׁכָּ֛ןham·miš·kānthe tabernacleH4908

√ mishkân — a residence (including a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, figuratively, the graveArticleNounmasculine singular

ham·miš·kān (H4908, mishkân), “the dwelling/tabernacle” — the structure the Gershonites both guard (here) and carry (vv. 25–26). The same noun returns three times in this six-verse unit.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-Gershonite clans shall-encamp behind the-tabernacle seaward.”

Where the English smooths the original

יַחֲנ֖וּ ya·ḥă·nū (H2583, chânâh) is an imperfect, “they shall encamp” — and its root sense is “to incline, bend down,” i.e. to pitch by lowering oneself to the ground. The BSB’s “were to camp” is right, but the imperfect is a standing command for every halt, not a one-time arrangement; this is the form Cambridge and the Pulpit note marks the chapter’s shift from narrative to ordinance.
יָֽמָּה yām·māh (H3220, yâm) literally means “seaward” — yâm is “sea.” The BSB’s “on the west” is the sense, but the Hebrew word for west is “toward the sea.” Cambridge notes this “shews that the narrator was in Palestine when he wrote, the Mediterranean being the sea referred to”; the orientation is bodily and geographic, not a compass abstraction.
אַחֲרֵ֧י ’a·ḥă·rê (H310, ’achar) is “behind,” properly “the hind part.” Cambridge calls this “the usual expression for ‘westward,’ because the Hebrew faced eastward”; so the Hebrew piles two words for west — behind and seaward — “with the characteristic tautology of the priestly style.” English renders both as one direction.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael; but who he was, or of which family of the Gershonites, whether of the Libnites or Shimites, is not said here or elsewhere; nor do the Jewish writers, who affect to know every thing, pretend to tell us.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

They were to encamp under their chief Eliasaph, behind the tabernacle, i.e., on the western side ( Numbers 3:23 , Numbers 3:24 ), and were to take charge of the dwelling-place and the tent, the covering, the curtain at the entrance, the hangings round the court with the curtains at the door, and the cords of the tent

From K&D’s block note on 3:21–26; the clause naming Eliasaph as chief is excerpted.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.

Geneva here gives only the verse text (Bishops’/Geneva rendering) with no substantive marginal comment.

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and the leader of the families of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·nə·śî ḇêṯ- ’āḇ lag·gê·rə·šun·nî ’el·yā·sāp̄ ben- lā·’êl

Word by word7 · parsed

וּנְשִׂ֥יאū·nə·śîand the leaderH5387

√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

nâsîyʼ (H5387), “prince, exalted one” — the title of the divisional head. Each of Levi’s three families is governed by a nâśîʼ; Eliasaph leads Gershon.

בֵֽית־ḇêṯ-of the familiesH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct

ḇêṯ-’āḇ (H1004, bayith + H1, ’âb), “father’s house” — the patriarchal household, the unit by which the whole muster is ordered (cf. v. 15, “by the house of their fathers”).

אָ֖ב’āḇ. . .H1

√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular

לַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּ֑יlag·gê·rə·šun·nîof the GershonitesH1649

√ Gêrᵉshunnîy — a Gereshonite or descendant of GereshonPreposition-l, ArticleNounpropermasculine singular

אֶלְיָסָ֖ף’el·yā·sāp̄was EliasaphH460

√ ʼElyâçâph — Eljasaph, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

’el·yā·sāp̄ (H460), “God has added.” The lexicon itself flags the name as borne by “two Israelites.” Gill confesses the limit of the record: of which Gershonite family this Eliasaph came “is not said here or elsewhere; nor do the Jewish writers, who affect to know every thing, pretend to tell us.”

בֶּן־ben-sonH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular construct

לָאֵֽל׃lā·’êlof LaelH3815

√ Lâʼêl — Lael an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

lā·’êl (H3815, Lâʼêl), “belonging to God” — Eliasaph’s father, named only here in all of Scripture. The patronym distinguishes this Eliasaph from the Gadite of the same name, son of Deuel.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-the-leader of-the-father’s-house of-the-Gershonite [was] Eliasaph son-of Lael.”

Where the English smooths the original

וּנְשִׂ֥יא ū·nə·śî (H5387, nâsîyʼ) is “the exalted one, prince,” literally “one lifted up” — the same title borne by the twelve tribal chiefs of ch. 2. The BSB’s “leader” is serviceable but flattens a word of elevated rank; the head of each Levite division is a nâśîʼ, a prince over his house.
בֵֽית־אָ֖ב ḇêṯ-’āḇ is the fixed idiom “house of [the] father,” the bēṯ-’āḇ social unit. The BSB renders it “the families,” dissolving the two words into one English noun; the Hebrew names the patriarchal household precisely — Eliasaph is prince over the father’s house of the Gershonites.
אֶלְיָסָ֖ף ’el·yā·sāp̄ (H460), “God has added” — the name of two distinct Israelites (so the lexicon: “the name of two Israelites”). This one is son of Lael, the Gershonite chief; the other is the Gadite leader, son of Deuel (Numbers 1:14; 2:14; 7:42). Sharing only the name H460, they are easily and wrongly fused — a homonym trap noted on this verse’s thread.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It is important to distinguish between the ohel —i.e., the tent—and the mishkan — i.e., the tabernacle—which was the building of shittim wood with its curtains which was within the tent.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

The tabernacle; not the boards, which belonged to Merari, Numbers 3:36 , but the ten curtains mentioned Exodus 26:1 . The tent, to wit, the curtains of goats’ hair. The covering thereof, i.e. the coverings of rams’ skins and badgers’ skins.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

the vail, as Jarchi calls it; not what divided the holy and most holy places, for that fell to the charge of the Kohathites, Numbers 3:31 ; but the vail or hanging which was at the door of the tent, or which led into the holy place, Exodus 26:36 .

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Since the wooden framework is to be carried by the Merarites, these three expressions denote only the stuff hangings; cf. Numbers 4:25 . An explanation of the terms is found in Exodus 26:1-14 .

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The duties of the Gershonites at the Tent of Meeting were the tabernacle and tent, its covering, the curtain for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·miš·me·reṯ bə·nê- ḡê·rə·šō·wn bə·’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ ham·miš·kān wə·hā·’ō·hel miḵ·sê·hū ū·mā·saḵ pe·ṯaḥ ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ

Word by word12 · parsed

וּמִשְׁמֶ֤רֶתū·miš·me·reṯThe dutiesH4931

√ mishmereth — watch, iConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular construct

mishmereth (H4931), “charge, watch, guard” — root šāmar, “to keep.” The Gershonites are given custody, not ownership; the same word governs the duties of all three Levite divisions.

בְּנֵֽי־bə·nê-of the GershonitesH1121

גֵרְשׁוֹן֙ḡê·rə·šō·wn. . .H1648

√ Gêrᵉshôwn — Gereshon or Gereshom, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular

בְּאֹ֣הֶלbə·’ō·helat the TentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

מוֹעֵ֔דmō·w·‘êḏof MeetingH4150

√ môwʻêd — properly, an appointment, iNounmasculine singular

הַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ןham·miš·kān[were] the tabernacleH4908

√ mishkân — a residence (including a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, figuratively, the graveArticleNounmasculine singular

ham·miš·kān (H4908, mishkân), “the dwelling/tabernacle” — here, the ten linen curtains. Poole and Cambridge are emphatic: “not the boards, which belonged to Merari… but the ten curtains” (Poole), since “the wooden framework is to be carried by the Merarites” (Cambridge).

וְהָאֹ֑הֶלwə·hā·’ō·heland tentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Conjunctive waw, ArticleNounmasculine singular

wə·hā·’ō·hel (H168, ’ôhel), “and the tent” — the eleven goats’-hair curtains forming the roof over the dwelling (Exodus 26:7). Ellicott: “it is important to distinguish between the ohel… and the mishkan.”

מִכְסֵ֕הוּmiḵ·sê·hūits coveringH4372

√ mikçeh — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

miḵ·sê·hū (H4372, mikçeh), “its covering” — a rare word (12 verses), the outer covering of rams’ and sea-cow skins (Exodus 26:14). Benson and Poole gloss it “the coverings of rams’ skins and badgers’ skins.”

וּמָסַ֕ךְū·mā·saḵthe curtainH4539

√ mâçâk — a cover, iConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

ū·mā·saḵ (H4539, mâçâk), “the screen” — the door-hanging of the tent (Exodus 26:36), distinct from the inner veil. Gill names it “the vail or hanging which was at the door of the tent.”

פֶּ֖תַחpe·ṯaḥfor the entranceH6607

√ pethach — an opening (literally), iNounmasculine singular construct

pe·ṯaḥ (H6607, pethach), “entrance, opening.” Ellicott stresses the word “means an opening” (not deleth, “door”): the tent had a flap-opening, not yet doors (those came later at Shiloh, 1 Samuel 3:15).

אֹ֥הֶל’ō·helto the TentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine singular construct

מוֹעֵֽד׃mō·w·‘êḏof MeetingH4150

√ môwʻêd — properly, an appointment, iNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-the-charge of-the-sons-of Gershon at-the-tent-of meeting [was] the-tabernacle and-the-tent, its-covering, and-the-screen of the-entrance of the-tent-of meeting,”

Where the English smooths the original

וּמִשְׁמֶ֤רֶת ū·miš·me·reṯ (H4931, mishmereth) is not “duties” in the sense of tasks but a “watch, guard, charge” — from the root šāmar, “to keep.” The BSB’s “the duties” loses the guarding nuance: the Gershonites are entrusted with a watch over the sacred hangings, a custody, not merely a job-list.
אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד ’ō·hel mō·w·‘êḏ is “the tent of meeting/appointment” (môwʻêd, H4150, “an appointment, appointed time/place”). The BSB’s “Tent of Meeting” is exact, but note Ellicott’s warning that the Hebrew distinguishes ’ōhel (the tent, the goats’-hair covering) from mishkân (the tabernacle, the linen dwelling within) — a distinction the same verse exploits twice and English readers routinely miss.
וּמָסַ֕ךְ ū·mā·saḵ (H4539, mâçâk) is “the screen/cover” for the entrance — and the term is precise: māsāk (the door-screen) is not the pārōketh (the inner veil before the Most Holy Place, which fell to the Kohathites, v. 31). The BSB’s “curtain” blurs two different hangings; Gill notes this is “the vail or hanging which was at the door of the tent,” not the one dividing holy from most-holy.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

the cords ... the service thereof - i. e. of the tabernacle, not of the hangings of the court, for these, with their cords and other fittings, belonged to the charge of the Merarites Numbers 3:36-37 . The tabernacle was under the care of the Gershonites.

source ↗

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

The pronominal suffixes do not seem to refer to the court, the cords belonging to which appear to have been under the custody of the Merarites ( Numbers 3:37 ), but to the mishkan or Tabernacle itself.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Cords are also assigned to the Merarites for transport ( Numbers 3:37 ). If the repetition is not merely an oversight of the narrator, it is just possible to understand the cords in the present verse to be those by which the outer covering of the dwelling was fastened down, and those in Numbers 3:37 to be the cords by which the hangings of the court were kept taut.

source ↗

John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

this court surrounded the tabernacle, and the altar which was without the tabernacle, as Aben Ezra observes, and which was the altar of burnt offering that stood within this court

source ↗

the curtains of the courtyard, the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard that surrounds the tabernacle and altar, and the cords—all the service for these items.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·qal·‘ê he·ḥā·ṣêr wə·’eṯ- mā·saḵ pe·ṯaḥ he·ḥā·ṣêr ’ă·šer ‘al- ham·miš·kān wə·‘al- ham·miz·bê·aḥ sā·ḇîḇ wə·’êṯ mê·ṯā·rāw lə·ḵōl ‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōw

Word by word16 · parsed

וְקַלְעֵ֣יwə·qal·‘êthe curtainsH7050

√ qelaʻ — a slingConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

qelaʻ (H7050), “hangings” — root “a sling”; the woven screens of the courtyard fence (Exodus 27:9), a rare word (22 verses) that ties this charge to the tabernacle-construction account.

הֶֽחָצֵ֗רhe·ḥā·ṣêrof the courtyardH2691

√ châtsêr — a yard (as inclosed by a fence)ArticleNouncommon singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

מָסַךְ֙mā·saḵthe curtainH4539

√ mâçâk — a cover, iNounmasculine singular construct

mā·saḵ (H4539, mâçâk), “the screen” — here the gate-screen at the entrance of the court (Exodus 27:16), the second māsāk in two verses (cf. v. 25, the tent-door screen).

פֶּ֣תַחpe·ṯaḥfor the entranceH6607

√ pethach — an opening (literally), iNounmasculine singular construct

הֶֽחָצֵ֔רhe·ḥā·ṣêrto the courtyardH2691

√ châtsêr — a yard (as inclosed by a fence)ArticleNouncommon singular

אֲשֶׁ֧ר’ă·šerthatH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

עַל־‘al-surroundsH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

הַמִּשְׁכָּ֛ןham·miš·kānthe tabernacleH4908

√ mishkân — a residence (including a shepherd's hut, the lair of animals, figuratively, the graveArticleNounmasculine singular

ham·miš·kān (H4908) and ham·miz·bê·aḥ (H4196, mizbêach, “altar”) — the court encloses both the dwelling and the altar of burnt-offering “round about” (sābîb). Gill: the court “surrounded the tabernacle, and the altar which was without the tabernacle.”

וְעַל־wə·‘al-. . .H5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsConjunctive wawPreposition

הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַham·miz·bê·aḥand altarH4196

√ mizbêach — an altarArticleNounmasculine singular

סָבִ֑יבsā·ḇîḇ. . .H5439

√ çâbîyb — (as noun) a circle, neighbour, or environsAdverb

וְאֵת֙wə·’êṯH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

מֵֽיתָרָ֔יוmê·ṯā·rāwand the cordsH4340

√ mêythâr — a cord (of a tent)Nounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular

mê·ṯā·rāw (H4340, mêythâr), “its cords” — a rare word (9 verses). The antecedent is contested: Barnes, Ellicott, and K&D all read it of the tabernacle, since the court’s own cords are assigned to the Merarites (v. 37). Cambridge concedes the “repetition” may be either an oversight or a real division of labor.

לְכֹ֖לlə·ḵōlallH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-lNounmasculine singular construct

עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ׃‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōwthe service [for these items]H5656

√ ʻăbôdâh — work of any kindNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōw (H5656, ‘ăbôdâh), “its service” — “work of any kind.” Ellicott takes the suffix distributively, “for everything which had to be done in connection with the things mentioned,” the formula that closes the Gershonite charge.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-the-hangings of-the-court, and the-screen of the-entrance of-the-court that-is upon the-tabernacle and-upon the-altar round-about, and its-cords — for-all its-service.”

Where the English smooths the original

וְקַלְעֵ֣י wə·qal·‘ê (H7050, qelaʻ) is rendered “the curtains,” but the word’s root meaning is “a sling” (as in a sling-stone); it denotes the woven hangings of the courtyard fence (Exodus 27:9), not the inner linen curtains (which are qela‘’s cousin, the yerî‘ōt). The BSB’s “curtains” for both blurs the courtyard screen against the tabernacle’s own drapes.
מֵֽיתָרָ֔יו mê·ṯā·rāw (H4340, mêythâr), “its cords” — a rare word (9 verses), specifically “a cord of a tent.” The suffix is masculine singular (“its cords”), and to what it refers is genuinely disputed: K&D and Ellicott argue it points back not to the court (whose cords the Merarites carry, v. 37) but to “the dwelling and tent.” The BSB’s “the cords” quietly hides the contested antecedent.
לְכֹ֖ל עֲבֹדָתֽוֹ lə·ḵōl ‘ă·ḇō·ḏā·ṯōw is “for all its service” (‘ăbôdâh, H5656, “work of any kind”) — with a masculine singular suffix again. The BSB expands it to “all the service for these items,” supplying “these items” to resolve the very ambiguity the Hebrew preserves; Ellicott reads the suffix distributively, “for everything which had to be done in connection with the things mentioned.”

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The eldest son, the rear guard — 21–23

The Gershonite section opens with a grammar of belonging: lə·ḡêrəšōwn, “to Gershon” (v. 21), a bare lamed with no verb — the two clans, Libnite and Shimeite, are simply assigned to the founder. These are rare names: the Verifier finds Libnîy (H3846) and Shimʻîy (H8097) in only two verses each in the whole canon, which is why the link to the second census (Numbers 26:58) is a true verbal repetition, not a coincidence of vocabulary. John Gill reads the line plainly — “Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites,.... The first son of Levi.” The 7,500 mustered (v. 22) are counted, as Jamieson, Fausset & Brown note, on the principle that set Levi apart from the fighting tribes: not “from twenty years and upward… for purposes of war,” but “from a month old and upward,” because the Levites stood in place of the firstborn. And their station (v. 23) is the rear: yāmmāh, “seaward,” the Hebrew word for west — which Cambridge seizes as a fingerprint of authorship, “shewing that the narrator was in Palestine when he wrote, the Mediterranean being the sea referred to.” Gershon, the eldest, draws (per JFB) “the next honorable post,” directly behind the tabernacle whose door faced the sunrise.

ii. A prince named, and the limits of the record — 24

Over the Gershonites stands a nâśîʼ (H5387), an “exalted one, prince” — not a mere foreman but a chief of the same rank as the tribal heads of chapter 2. He is Eliasaph son of Lael, “God has added,” son of “[one who is] God’s.” Here the unit teaches its own honesty. John Gill refuses to embroider: of which Gershonite family this Eliasaph came “is not said here or elsewhere; nor do the Jewish writers, who affect to know every thing, pretend to tell us.” And there is a deeper trap the lexicon itself warns of — the name ’Elyâçâph (H460) belongs, it says, to “two Israelites.” The Verifier, scoring only on shared Strong’s numbers, links this verse to Numbers 1:14; 2:14; 7:42 — but that Eliasaph is the son of Deuel, leader of Gad, a different man entirely. The two share a name and nothing else. It is exactly the kind of homonym fusion a careful reader must catch, and it is flagged on its thread below. Keil & Delitzsch keep the Gershonite Eliasaph in his proper office: the clans “were to encamp under their chief Eliasaph, behind the tabernacle… on the western side.”

iii. The keepers of the coverings — 25–26

The Gershonite charge is a mišmeret (H4931) — not merely “duties” but a “watch, guard, custody,” from the root šāmar, “to keep.” What they keep is the soft fabric of the sanctuary: the mishkân (the ten linen curtains), the ’ōhel (the goats’-hair tent over it), the mikseh (the skin covering), the māsāk screens of tent-door and court-gate, the courtyard qela‘ hangings, and the cords. The commentators labor to keep these terms distinct, because the English blurs them. Charles Ellicott: “It is important to distinguish between the ohel… and the mishkan.” Matthew Poole: “The tabernacle; not the boards, which belonged to Merari… but the ten curtains.” John Gill guards the screen against the inner veil: this is “not what divided the holy and most holy places, for that fell to the charge of the Kohathites… but the vail or hanging which was at the door of the tent.” And in v. 26 a real grammatical ambiguity surfaces — to what do “its cords” and “its service” refer? Albert Barnes and Ellicott read the suffix of the tabernacle, not the court (whose cords the Merarites carry, v. 37), while Cambridge concedes the “repetition” may be “merely an oversight of the narrator.” The text does not resolve it, and neither, honestly, can we.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under Sola Scriptura — and this is the tool’s own fallible reading, to be tested against the text — these six verses are a roster of keepers of cloth. The Gershonites win no battles and own no land; they are counted, like all Levi, “from a son of a month,” as ransom-substitutes for Israel’s firstborn (vv. 11–13). Their assignment is humble to the point of invisibility: they carry and guard the curtains, the tent, the coverings, the screens, the cords. Yet Scripture spends real ink naming them — Libnite and Shimeite, prince Eliasaph son of Lael — and itemizing every hanging in their custody. The lesson the genealogy preaches by its very tedium is that the LORD numbers and names the keepers of the unglamorous. The man who carries the goats’-hair roof is enrolled with as much care as the man who bears the ark. And the things they guard are not random: every covering and screen is a boundary — the layered separations that let a holy God dwell in the midst of an unholy people without consuming them. The Gershonites are guardians of the difference between holy and common. Their drudgery is theology in canvas and cord: that access to God is real, but mediated, screened, and kept — until the day the screen itself is torn.

The tribe that wins no battle and owns no field is set to guard the curtains — the very cloth that keeps a holy God among an unholy people. (A reading to be tested, not a verse.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The Gershonite clans ↔ the second census (Numbers 26) verbal / quotation — confirmed

The same two Gershonite clans — Libnite and Shimeite — are re-mustered a generation later before entering the land, in Numbers 26:57–58. This is verbal repetition of a fixed register: the link rests on the rare gentilics Libnîy and Shimʻîy, each found in only two verses in the entire corpus, alongside the divisional name Gêrᵉshunnîy. The book of Numbers is framed by two censuses of the wilderness people, and the Levite roster is copied across both.

Numbers 26:57 · Numbers 26:58

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew. Verifier: Num 3:21↔26:58 share H3846 Libnîy (only 2 vv) — a rare proper name — plus H4940 mishpâchâh and H428 ʼêl-leh; Num 3:21↔26:57 share H1648 Gêrᵉshôwn (18 vv), H1649 Gêrᵉshunnîy (12 vv), H4940 mishpâchâh, H428 ʼêl-leh. The low-frequency gentilic Libnîy in matching context is the signature of a copied register, not topical overlap.

The Shimeite clan ↔ the family of Shimei in Zechariah (homonym caution) flagged — verify source

The Verifier returns a verbal match between this verse and Zechariah 12:13 on the rare gentilic Shimʻîy (H8097), which occurs in only two verses in the whole canon — here and in Zechariah’s mourning-oracle. But the score is misleading. Zechariah 12:13 names “the family of the house of Shimei” among the land’s households (the house of David, the house of Nathan, the house of Levi, the family of Shimei) that will mourn “the one they have pierced” (Zech 12:10). That Shimei is a clan-head in a wholly different setting, centuries removed; nothing ties him to Gershon’s second son. The lexeme is identical and rare, but the referent is almost certainly a distinct lineage — the same homonym trap as Eliasaph below. The link is therefore flagged: a true rare-word match, a doubtful identification.

Zechariah 12:13

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew, but a likely homonym. Verifier scores ‘verbal — confirmed’ on H8097 Shimʻîy (only 2 vv) + H4940 mishpâchâh shared between Num 3:21 and Zech 12:13. The low-frequency lexeme match is real, but Zech 12:13’s ‘family of Shimei’ stands in a mourning oracle beside the houses of David, Nathan, and Levi — a separate clan, not the wilderness Gershonite Shimeite. Same rare word, disputed (probably different) referent; flagged rather than affirmed as the Gershonite register.

The Gershonite charge ↔ its detailed marching orders (Numbers 4:24–28) verbal / quotation — confirmed

What is listed here as a static charge (vv. 25–26) is spelled out as transport-duty in Numbers 4:24–28, the passage Keil & Delitzsch cites for “the more precise injunctions.” The verbal tie is dense and rare: mikseh (“covering,” 12 vv), māsāk (“screen,” 25 vv), mêythâr (“cord,” 9 vv), and qela‘ (“hangings,” 22 vv) all recur, with the divisional name Gêrᵉshunnîy. The same inventory, twice — first as custody, then as load.

Numbers 4:24 · Numbers 4:25 · Numbers 4:26 · Numbers 4:27 · Numbers 4:28

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew. Verifier: Num 3:25↔4:25 share rare H4372 mikçeh (12 vv) + H4539 mâçâk (25 vv) + H4908 mishkân + H6607 pethach; Num 3:26↔4:26 share rare H4340 mêythâr (9 vv) + H7050 qelaʻ (22 vv) + H4539 mâçâk + H5656 ʻăbôdâh; Num 3:23↔4:24 and Num 3:21↔4:28 share H1649 Gêrᵉshunnîy (12 vv). The clustered low-frequency cultic nouns mark a deliberate parallel of the same Gershonite inventory.

The Gershonites among the Levitical cities (Joshua 21) structural / thematic — confirmed

The Gershonite division reappears in the land-allotment of Joshua 21:33, receiving its towns and pasturelands. The link rests on the divisional gentilic Gêrᵉshunnîy (12 vv) with mishpâchâh (“clan”). It is a real verbal tie on a moderately rare name, but the shared vocabulary is structural (clan + division) rather than a quoted formula, so it is recorded as a confirmed link weighted toward the structural side — the wilderness register of keepers becomes the settled list of city-dwellers.

Joshua 21:33

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew. Verifier returns ‘verbal’ on H1649 Gêrᵉshunnîy (12 vv) + H4940 mishpâchâh (224 vv). I down-tier to structural/thematic, under-claiming: the tie is the recurrence of the division-name within the standard clan formula, not a distinctive quoted phrase. The shared lexemes are accurate; the relationship is the same institution tracked across books, not a citation.

Eliasaph son of Lael — NOT Eliasaph the Gadite (homonym caution) flagged — verify source

The Verifier links Eliasaph here (v. 24) to Numbers 1:14, 2:14, and 7:42 on the shared name ’Elyâçâph (H460). But these are two different men: the Gershonite chief son of Lael (this verse only), and the leader of Gad, son of Deuel/Reuel (Numbers 1:14; 2:14; 7:42). The lexicon itself states H460 is “the name of two Israelites.” The shared Strong’s number is a genuine lexeme match but a false personal identification — a homonym trap. The link is therefore flagged, not affirmed: same word, different person.

Numbers 1:14 · Numbers 2:14 · Numbers 7:42

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew, but a homonym. Verifier scores ‘verbal’ on H460 ʼElyâçâph (6 vv) shared between Num 3:24 and Num 1:14/2:14/7:42. The lexeme match is real; the referent is not the same man — Num 3:24 = Gershonite son of Lael; Num 1:14/2:14/7:42 = Gadite son of Deuel. Provenance of identity is therefore disputed and the link is flagged. The valid same-person register for the Gershonite Eliasaph is essentially this verse alone.

Keepers of the coverings ↔ the making of the tabernacle (Exodus 26–27) structural / thematic — confirmed

Every item in the Gershonite charge was first made in Exodus 26–27, and the commentators read the one passage through the other: the mishkân curtains (Exodus 26:1), the goats’-hair ’ōhel (Exodus 26:7), the mikseh covering (Exodus 26:14), the door-māsāk (Exodus 26:36), and the courtyard qela‘ and gate-screen (Exodus 27:9, 16). The shared vocabulary is real but the words (mishkân, ’ōhel) are common cultic terms, so the link is structural — the same furnishings described first at their construction, then at their custody — not a rare-word quotation.

Exodus 26:1 · Exodus 26:7 · Exodus 26:14 · Exodus 27:9 · Exodus 39:40

basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew. Verifier: Num 3:25↔Ex 26:7 share H4908 mishkân + H168 ʼôhel; Num 3:26↔Ex 27:9 share H7050 qelaʻ (22 vv) + H4908 mishkân + H2691 châtsêr; Num 3:25↔Ex 39:40 share H4539 mâçâk + H4908 mishkân + H4150 môwʻêd + H168 ʼôhel. These are common tabernacle nouns describing the same objects at construction vs. custody — a shared cultic inventory (structural), not a distinctive quotation.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Guardians of the screen — and the veil that was torn widely-held

The Gershonites are entrusted above all with screens: the māsāk at the tent-door and the māsāk at the court-gate (vv. 25–26), the hangings that govern who may approach and how far. The whole tabernacle is a system of graded barriers keeping a holy God accessible yet veiled. The New Testament reads this fabric forward: at the cross “the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51), and Hebrews names Christ’s flesh “a new and living way… through the veil” (Hebrews 10:19–20). The keepers of the cloth guarded a separation that the true High Priest would one day open. The principle — the tabernacle’s screens as a figure of mediated then opened access — is ancient and widely held; the specific tie to the Gershonites’ particular screens is figural, since the door-screen and the inner veil are distinct hangings (the inner veil fell to the Kohathites, v. 31).

Numbers 3:25 · Numbers 3:26 · Matthew 27:51 · Hebrews 10:19

A tribe of substitutes, kept near the dwelling novel

The Gershonites are counted “from a month old” because, with all Levi, they are taken in the place of Israel’s firstborn (Numbers 3:12–13, 41) — a tribe given as a living ransom so the firstborn sons might go free. Scripture itself reads this substitution to its end in “the firstborn of all creation” and “the firstborn among many brothers” (Colossians 1:15; Romans 8:29), the one Substitute given not for one son but for the many. The 7,500 keepers of the curtains are a small, unglamorous part of a larger figure: a whole people held near the dwelling-place of God as the price of another’s redemption — which the Levite census could only foreshadow. The substitution-principle is ancient and widely held; applying it through this specific Gershonite roster is a figural reach offered to be tested.

Numbers 3:12 · Numbers 3:13 · Colossians 1:15 · Romans 8:29

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

This unit is the Gershonite portion of the Levite muster — census and custody, the deliberately repetitive heart of the priestly material. Several public-domain commentators (Matthew Henry, Albert Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Keil & Delitzsch) supply a single block note that spans the whole section (3:14–39 or 3:21–26) and is repeated verbatim on each verse in the source; where I quote them I have pointed the excerpt to the clause that bears on the verse at hand, and flagged it accordingly. The Geneva Study Bible entries here are mostly the verse text plus the boilerplate “EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)” header with no substantive comment, and Matthew Henry’s and Albert Barnes’ block notes (Barnes’ in fact comments on the firstborn-claim of 3:11–13, not these verses) are quoted only where genuinely apt. Two threads are flagged for homonyms. (1) The Verifier links Eliasaph (v. 24) to Numbers 1:14/2:14/7:42 on the shared name H460, but that is a different Eliasaph — the Gadite son of Deuel, not the Gershonite son of Lael; the lexeme match is real, the personal identity is not, so the link is flagged rather than affirmed. (2) The Verifier also returns a verbal match to Zechariah 12:13 on the rare gentilic H8097 Shimʻîy (only 2 vv in the canon), but Zechariah’s “family of Shimei” stands in a mourning oracle beside the houses of David, Nathan, and Levi — almost certainly a distinct clan, not the wilderness Gershonite Shimeite; same rare word, different referent, so it too is flagged. These two are precisely the cases where a high lexical score must not be read as an identification. The cross-references to Numbers 26, Numbers 4, Joshua 21, and Exodus 26–27 are Hebrew↔Hebrew and rest on the Verifier’s computed shared lexemes: where those lexemes are rare (Libnîy, mikseh, mêythâr) the tie is tiered verbal; where they are common cultic nouns (mishkân, ʼôhel, mishpâchâh) it is down-tiered to structural, under-claiming. The Christ-ward readings to the torn veil (Hebrews 10) and the Firstborn (Colossians 1; Romans 8) are cross-Testament and conceptual — no shared original-language lexeme is even possible across Greek and Hebrew — and so are marked typological/figural, never verbal; the veil-link is further qualified because the Gershonites’ door-screen is a distinct hanging from the inner veil (which the Kohathites carried, v. 31).

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)