Numbers 1:4-16

1:4 And to help you ¹  there is to be a man from each ²  tribe, each man ³  the head ⁴  of his family. ⁵  1:5 Now these are the names of the men who are to help ⁶  you:

from ⁷  Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;

1:6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai; ⁸ 

1:7 from Judah, Nahshon ⁹  son of Amminadab;

1:8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;

1:9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;

1:10 from the sons of Joseph:

from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;

from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;

1:11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;

1:12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;

1:13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;

1:14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel; ¹⁰ 

1:15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”

The Census of the Tribes

1:16 These were the ones chosen ¹¹  from the community, leaders ¹²  of their ancestral tribes. ¹³  They were the heads of the thousands ¹⁴  of Israel.

Numbers 7:2

7:2 Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their clans, ¹⁵  made an offering. They were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who had been supervising ¹⁶  the numbering.

Numbers 34:17-28

34:17 “These are the names of the men who are to allocate the land to you as an inheritance: ¹⁷  Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. 34:18 You must take one leader from every ¹⁸  tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance. ¹⁹  34:19 These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; 34:20 from the tribe of the Simeonites, Shemuel son of Ammihud; 34:21 from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Kislon; 34:22 and from the tribe of the Danites, a leader, Bukki son of Jogli. 34:23 From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh; 34:24 from the tribe of the Ephraimites, a leader, Kemuel son of Shiphtan; 34:25 from the tribe of the Zebulunites, a leader, Elizaphan son of Parnach; 34:26 from the tribe of the Issacharites, a leader, Paltiel son of Azzan; 34:27 from the tribe of the Asherites, a leader, Ahihud son of Shelomi; 34:28 and from the tribe of the Naphtalites, a leader, Pedahel son of Ammihud.”

Exodus 18:25

18:25 Moses chose capable men from all Israel, and he made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Deuteronomy 1:13-17

1:13 Select wise and practical ²⁰  men, those known among your tribes, whom I may appoint as your leaders.” 1:14 You replied to me that what I had said to you was good. 1:15 So I chose ²¹  as your tribal leaders wise and well-known men, placing them over you as administrators of groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and also as other tribal officials. 1:16 I furthermore admonished your judges at that time that they ²²  should pay attention to issues among your fellow citizens ²³  and judge fairly, ²⁴  whether between one citizen and another ²⁵  or a citizen and a resident foreigner. ²⁶  1:17 They ²⁷  must not discriminate in judgment, but hear the lowly ²⁸  and the great alike. Nor should they be intimidated by human beings, for judgment belongs to God. If the matter being adjudicated is too difficult for them, they should bring it before me for a hearing.

¹ tn Heb “and with you.”

² tn The construction uses the noun in a distributive sense: “a man, a man for a tribe,” meaning a man for each tribe.

³ tn The clause expresses a distributive function, “a man” means “each man.”

⁴ sn See J. R. Bartlett, “The Use of the Word ראשׁ as a Title in the Old Testament,” VT 19 (1969): 1-10.

⁵ tn Heb “the house of his fathers.”

⁶ tn The verb is עָמַד (’amad, “to stand”). It literally then is, “who will stand with you.” They will help in the count, but they will also serve as leaders as the camp moves from place to place.

⁷ tn The preposition lamed (ל) prefixed to the name could be taken in the sense of “from,” but could also be “with regard to” (specification).

⁸ sn This name and the name Ammishaddai below have the theophoric element (שַׁדַּי, shadday, “the Almighty”). It would mean “the Almighty is my rock”; the later name means “the Almighty is my kinsman.” Other theophoric elements in the passage are “father,” “brother,” and “God.”

⁹ sn Nahshon was an ancestor of Boaz and David, and therefore of Christ (Luke 3:32-33).

¹⁰ tc There is a textual difficulty with this verb. The Greek form uses r and not d, giving the name Ra‘oul. There is even some variation in the Hebrew traditions, but BHS (following the Leningrad codex of a.d. 1008) has preferred the name Deuel.

¹¹ tc The form has a Kethib-Qere problem, but the sentence calls for the Qere, the passive participle in the construct – “the called of….” These men were God’s choice, and not Moses’, or their own choice. He announced who they would be, and then named them. So they were truly “called” (קָרָא, qara’). The other reading is probably due to a copyist’s error.

¹² tn The word is נָשִׂיא (nasi’, “exalted one, prince, leader”). Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “princes.” These were men apparently revered or respected in their tribes, and so the clear choice to assist Moses with the leadership. See further, E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical na„sÃþá,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.

¹³ tn Heb “exalted ones of the tribes of their fathers.” The earlier group of elders was chosen by Moses at the advice of his father-in-law. This group represents the few leaders of the tribes that were chosen by God, a more literate group apparently, who were the forerunners of the שֹׁטְּרִים (shottÿrim).

¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text has אַלְפֵי (’alfey, “thousands of”). There is some question over this reading in the MT, however. The community groups that have these leaders were larger tribes, but there is little certainty about the size of the divisions.

¹⁵ tn Heb “the house of their fathers.”

¹⁶ tn The form is the Qal active participle from the verb “to stand” (עָמַד, ’amad). The form describes these leaders as “the ones standing over [the ones numbered].” The expression, along with the clear indication of the first census in chapter 1, shows that this was a supervisory capacity.

¹⁷ tn The verb can be translated simply as “divide,” but it has more the idea of allocate as an inheritance, the related noun being “inheritance.”

¹⁸ tn This sense is created by repetition: “one leader, one leader from the tribe.”

¹⁹ tn The sentence simply uses לִנְחֹל (linkhol, “to divide, apportion”). It has been taken already to mean “allocate as an inheritance.” Here “assist” may be added since Joshua and Eleazar had the primary work.

²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb נְבֹנִים (nÿvonim, from בִּין [bin]) is a Niphal referring to skill or intelligence (see T. Fretheim, NIDOTTE 1:652-53).

²¹ tn Or “selected”; Heb “took.”

²² tn Or “you.” A number of English versions treat the remainder of this verse and v. 17 as direct discourse rather than indirect discourse (cf. KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

²³ tn Heb “brothers.” The term “brothers” could, in English, be understood to refer to siblings, so “fellow citizens” has been used in the translation.

²⁴ tn The Hebrew word צֶדֶק (tsedeq, “fairly”) carries the basic idea of conformity to a norm of expected behavior or character, one established by God himself. Fair judgment adheres strictly to that norm or standard (see D. Reimer, NIDOTTE 3:750).

²⁵ tn Heb “between a man and his brother.”

²⁶ tn Heb “his stranger” or “his sojourner”; NAB, NIV “an alien”; NRSV “resident alien.” The Hebrew word גֵּר (ger) commonly means “foreigner.”

²⁷ tn Heb “you,” and throughout the verse (cf. NASB, NRSV).

²⁸ tn Heb “the small,” but referring to social status, not physical stature.