Numbers 1:16

The Census of the Tribes

1:16 These were the ones chosen ¹  from the community, leaders ²  of their ancestral tribes. ³  They were the heads of the thousands ⁴  of Israel.

Numbers 2:5

2:5 Those who will be camping next to them ⁵  are the tribe of Issachar. The leader of the people of Issachar is Nethanel son of Zuar.

Numbers 2:7

2:7 Next will be ⁶  the tribe of Zebulun. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon.

Numbers 2:12

2:12 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Simeon. The leader of the people of Simeon is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.

Numbers 2:14

2:14 Next will be ⁷  the tribe of Gad. The leader of the people of Gad is Eliasaph son of Deuel. ⁸ 

Numbers 2:20

2:20 Next to them will be the tribe of Manasseh. The leader of the people of Manasseh is Gamaliel son of Pedahzur.

Numbers 2:22

2:22 Next will be ⁹  the tribe of Benjamin. The leader of the people of Benjamin is Abidan son of Gideoni.

Numbers 2:27

2:27 Those who will be camping next to them are the tribe of Asher. The leader of the people of Asher is Pagiel son of Ocran.

Numbers 2:29

2:29 Next will be ¹⁰  the tribe of Naphtali. The leader of the people of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan.

Numbers 18:2

18:2 “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join ¹¹  with you and minister to you while ¹²  you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.

Numbers 34:13

34:13 Then Moses commanded the Israelites: “This is the land which you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given ¹³  to the nine and a half tribes,

Numbers 34:23

34:23 From the Josephites, Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh;

[1:16]  ¹ 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.

[1:16]  ² 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.

[1:16]  ³ 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).

[1:16]  ⁴ 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.

[2:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “by him” [i.e., Judah].

[2:7]  ⁹ tn This part has been supplied; the text simply has “the tribe of Zebulun.”

[2:14]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Gad.”

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tc The Leningrad codex, upon which BHS is based, has “Reuel” here. In reading “Deuel” the translation presented above follows many medieval Hebrew manuscripts, Smr, and the Latin Vulgate. Cf. Num 1:14.

[2:22]  ¹⁷ tn Here too the Hebrew text simply has “and the tribe of Benjamin.”

[2:29]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text has “and the tribe of Naphtali.”

[18:2]  ²⁵ sn The verb forms a wordplay on the name Levi, and makes an allusion to the naming of the tribe Levi by Leah in the book of Genesis. There Leah hoped that with the birth of Levi her husband would be attached to her. Here, with the selection of the tribe to serve in the sanctuary, there is the wordplay again showing that the Levites will be attached to Aaron and the priests. The verb is יִלָּווּ (yillavu), which forms a nice wordplay with Levi (לֵוִי). The tribe will now be attached to the sanctuary. The verb is the imperfect with a vav (ו) that shows volitive sequence after the imperative, here indicating a purpose clause.

[18:2]  ²⁶ tn The clause is a circumstantial clause because the disjunctive vav (ו) is on a nonverb to start the clause.

[34:13]  ²⁹ tn The infinitive forms the direct object of what the Lord commanded. It actually means “to give,” but without an expressed subject may be made passive.