Genesis 46:21
וּבְנֵי בִנְיָמִן בֶּלַע וָבֶכֶר וְאַשְׁבֵּל גֵּרָא וְנַעֲמָן אֵחִי וָרֹאשׁ מֻפִּים וְחֻפִּים וָאָֽרְדְּ׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וּבְנֵ֣י בִנְיָמִ֗ן בֶּ֤לַע וָבֶ֙כֶר֙ וְאַשְׁבֵּ֔ל גֵּרָ֥א וְנַעֲמָ֖ן אֵחִ֣י וָרֹ֑אשׁ מֻפִּ֥ים וְחֻפִּ֖ים וָאָֽרְדְּ׃
υἱοὶ δὲ Βενιαμείν· Βάλα καὶ Χόβωρ καὶ Ἀσβήλ. ἐγένοντο δὲ υἱοὶ Βαλὰ καὶ Νοεμὰν καὶ Ἀγχεὶς καὶ Ῥὼς καὶ Μαμφεὶν καὶ ‘oφιμίν· Γηρᾶ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Ἄραδ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Filii Benjamin: Bela et Bechor et Asbel et Gera et Naaman et Echi et Ros et Mophim et Ophim et Ared.
Los hijos de Benjamín fueron Bela, Bequer, Asbel, Gera, Naamán, Ehí, Ros, Mupim, Hupim y Ard.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Y los hijos de Benjamín fueron Bela, y Bechêr y Asbel, y Gera, y Naamán, y Ehi, y Ros y Muppim, y Huppim, y Ard.
The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse lists the ten sons of Benjamin as they went down to Egypt: Bela (H1106A), Beker (H1071G), Ashbel (H0788), Gera (H1617G), Naaman (H5283G), Ehi (H0278), Rosh (H7220), Muppim (H4649), Huppim (H2650H), and Ard (H0714G). It is a genealogical enumeration with no verbal action, simply a construct chain introducing the names.
Key words
- ve.Nei ("[the] sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct of "son," grammatically binding the list to the following name Binyamin, forming the phrase "the sons of Benjamin."
- Binyamin ("Benjamin", H1144G) — proper name in the genitive/construct relationship, identifying the father to whom the following ten names belong.
- 'e.Chi ("Ehi", H0278) — one of the listed sons; the Hebrew text places this name directly after Na'aman, distinct from how some other versions group the names.
- Rosh ("Rosh", H7220) — a proper name meaning "head," listed as a distinct son in the Hebrew sequence.
- 'A.red ("Ard", H0714G) — the final name in the Hebrew list, closing the enumeration of Benjamin's sons.
What the text says
The verse is built as a single construct chain: u-venei Binyamin ("and the sons of Benjamin") governs a list of ten proper nouns joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002) repeated between several names (va-Bekher, ve-'Ashbel, ve-Na'aman, va-Rosh, ve-Chuppim, va-'Ared). This repeated conjunction creates a paratactic rhythm typical of Hebrew genealogical lists, where each name stands as a grammatically equal member of the series rather than being subordinated to a verb. There is no predicate — the sentence is nominal, consisting entirely of the construct phrase "sons of Benjamin" followed by ten appositional names.
The Hebrew list presents the ten names as siblings, all sons of Benjamin, without indicating any further genealogical relationship between them (such as sons or grandsons within the list itself).
Differences between versions
The Septuagint (LXX) restructures the list grammatically: it names only three sons directly (Bala, Chobōr, Asbēl) as "sons of Benjamin," then introduces a second group ("the sons of Bala were...") including Noeman, Anchis, Rhōs, Mampheim, Ophimin, and finally states that Gēra "begat" Arad — thus presenting a two-generation structure absent from the Hebrew's flat, single-generation list. The Vulgate (VULCLEM), like the Hebrew, lists all ten names as sons of Benjamin in one series without the LXX's generational split, matching the Hebrew's structure more closely, though it renders Chuppim as "Ophim" and Beker as "Bechor."
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.