Exodus 6:14
אֵלֶּה רָאשֵׁי בֵית־אֲבֹתָם בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן בְּכֹר יִשְׂרָאֵל חֲנוֹךְ וּפַלּוּא חֶצְרוֹן וְכַרְמִי אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת רְאוּבֵֽן׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
אֵ֖לֶּה רָאשֵׁ֣י בֵית־אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּנֵ֨י רְאוּבֵ֜ן בְּכֹ֣ר יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל חֲנ֤וֹךְ וּפַלּוּא֙ חֶצְר֣וֹן וְכַרְמִ֔י אֵ֖לֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת רְאוּבֵֽן׃
καὶ οὗτοι ἀρχηγοὶ οἴκων πατριῶν αὐτῶν. υἱοὶ Ῥουβὴν πρώτω Ἰσραήλ· Ἑνὼχ καὶ Φαλλούς, Ἁσρὼν καὶ Χαρμεί· αὕτη ία Ῥουβήν.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Isti sunt principes domorum per familias suas. Filii Ruben primogeniti Israëlis: Henoch et Phallu, Hesron et Charmi:
Estos son los jefes de las familias patriarcales. Los hijos de Rubén, el primogénito de Israel, fueron: Hanoc, Falú, Hezrón y Carmí. Estas son las familias de Rubén.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Estas son las cabezas de las familias de sus padres. Los hijos de Rubén, el primogénito de Israel: Hanoch y Phallú, Hezrón y Carmi: estas son las familias de Rubén.
These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse opens a genealogical list by identifying the heads of ancestral households, beginning with the sons of Reuben, Jacob's firstborn. Four names are given as Reuben's sons, and the verse closes by labeling this group as the clans of Reuben.
Key words
- ra'shei ("heads of", H7218H) — masculine plural construct noun, opening the list by marking these individuals as heads of a larger structure ("heads of X").
- beit-'avoTam ("household of their ancestors", H1004M + H0001G + H9028) — construct chain (household + ancestors + pronominal suffix "their"), forming the phrase "the household of their ancestors," a common genealogical unit.
- bekhor ("firstborn of", H1060) — masculine singular construct, attaches to Yisra'El to specify Reuben's status relative to Israel/Jacob.
- mishpechot ("clans of", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun, closing the verse by naming the collective social/kinship unit formed by the listed sons.
- 'Eleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle used twice (opening and closing the verse), framing the list as a defined, bounded set.
What the text says
The verse is built as a frame: it opens with the demonstrative 'Eleh ("these") followed by ra'shei beit-'avoTam ("heads of the household of their ancestors"), and closes with the same demonstrative 'Eleh followed by mishpechot Re'uVen ("clans of Reuben"). This repetition of 'Eleh creates an inclusio, marking the enclosed material — the list of Reuben's sons — as a discrete genealogical unit.
Within this frame, bene Re'uVen ("sons of Reuben") is placed in construct with bekhor Yisra'El ("firstborn of Israel"), so that Reuben's identity is defined relationally: he is introduced not only by his own name but by his rank among Jacob's sons. The four names — Chanokh, Pallu, Chetzron, Karmi — are joined only by the conjunction ve- ("and"), appearing twice in the string (before Pallu and before Karmi), giving the list a paratactic, list-like rhythm rather than syntactic subordination. The construct chains (ra'shei beit-'avoTam, bekhor Yisra'El, mishpechot Re'uVen) are typical of Hebrew genealogical formulae, where a noun in construct state depends grammatically on the noun that follows it, producing tight semantic units ("heads-of," "firstborn-of," "clans-of") rather than independent nouns.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders bekhor Yisra'El ("firstborn of Israel") with a form transliterated here as πρώτω Ἰσραήλ, preserving the sense of primacy attached to Reuben relative to Israel, consistent with the Hebrew construct. The Vulgate similarly renders it primogeniti Israëlis. No substantive divergence in names or structure appears among the Hebrew, LXX, and Vulgate for this verse in the data provided.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.