OET interlinear NUM 1:2

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙

take! DOM head

Lift up the heads is an idiom that means to take a census by counting people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Take a census of”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

כָּל

all/each/any/every

Here, all refers to all men, as indicated by the phrase every male that occurs later in the verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “all men of”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל

community_of sons_of Yisrael

Here Moses is using the possessive form to describe a the congregation that is the sons of Israel. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: “the congregation, that is, the sons of Israel”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל

sons_of Yisrael

This is the first of many times in this book that sons of Israel refers to the Israelite nation or people group who descended from Israel. See the discussion of how to translate this phrase in the [book introduction](../front/intro.md).

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

לְ⁠בֵ֣ית

by,houses_of

Here, house refers to family members who live together in the same house. In ancient Israel three or four generations of a family lived in the same house and a clan consisted of several of these families. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “according to the families of”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

אֲבֹתָ֑⁠ם

fathers'_of,their

Here, fathers means “ancestors.” If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “their ancestors”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

בְּ⁠מִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת

in/on/at/with,number_of names

Here, names refers to the names of the men whom Moses would count. The phrase means that Yahweh wants Moses to record the names of each male that he counts. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “recording the names of those counted”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

לְ⁠גֻלְגְּלֹתָֽ⁠ם

by,heads_of,them

Here, skulls refers to the whole person. This phrase means that Yahweh wants Moses to count every individual male without leaving any out of the census. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “individually” or “head by head”