God & Savior

Numbers 6:24

‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;
Numbers 6:24
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Study notes

The priestly blessing begins: may the Lord bless you and keep you.

Explanation

Numbers 6:22-27 gives the words God told Aaron and his sons, the priests, to use when blessing Israel. To "keep" is to guard and protect.

Original language
  • יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ (ye.va.rekh.Kha): to bless
    Hebrew · Verb, piel, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular + Suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular · Strong's H1288 · text: Leningrad Codex (as recorded in TAHOT)

    May He bless you.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAHOT: Translators Amalgamated Hebrew Old Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Numbers 6:24, word 1

  • יְהוָ֖ה (Yah.weh): LORD
    Hebrew · Noun, proper name, title · Strong's H3068G · text: Leningrad Codex (as recorded in TAHOT)

    Yahweh, God's personal name. The BSB shows it as "the LORD" in small capitals.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAHOT: Translators Amalgamated Hebrew Old Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Numbers 6:24, word 2

  • וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ ס (ve.yish.me.Re.kha): guard
    Hebrew · Conjunction + Verb, qal, 3rd person, masculine, singular + Suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular · Strong's H8104H · text: Leningrad Codex (as recorded in TAHOT)

    May He keep or guard you.

    Source: STEP Bible (Tyndale House, Cambridge), TAHOT: Translators Amalgamated Hebrew Old Testament, STEPBible-Data commit ed476a8, Numbers 6:24, word 3

Cross-references
  • Numbers 6:27 · Surrounding passage

    So they shall put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

  • Psalm 121:7 · Same theme

    The LORD will guard you from all evil.

Sources

Original language and places

Reference data from open datasets, shown as published by their sources. Word-by-word English is a literal guide, not a translation.

Original language (Hebrew)

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ ס

  1. יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ye.va.rekh.Kha“may he bless you”
    Verb, piel, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular + Suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular · from בָּרַךְ · “to bless” · Strong's H1288
  2. יְהוָ֖הYah.weh“Yahweh”
    Noun, proper name, title · from יהוה · “LORD” · Strong's H3068G
  3. וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ סve.yish.me.Re.kha“and may he keep you”
    Conjunction + Verb, qal, 3rd person, masculine, singular + Suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular · from שָׁמַר · “guard” · Strong's H8104H
  • Prepared by the God & Savior team. Not yet reviewed by an editor.
  • Hebrew and Aramaic words: STEP Bible (STEPBible.org), based on work at Tyndale House, Cambridge. CC BY 4.0. Source (version ed476a8)