Numbers 1:12

Summary

The verse identifies the leader representing the tribe of Dan ("Dan", H1835G): a man named 'Achi'ezer ("Ahiezer", H0295G), described as ben ("son of", H1121A) 'Ammishaddai ("Ammishaddai", H5996). It is one entry in a list of tribal representatives.

Key words

• le ("for", H9005) — prefixed preposition attached to Dan, marking the tribe to which the following individual belongs; introduces the phrase as "belonging to Dan."
• Dan ("Dan", H1835G) — proper name of the tribe; here functions as the reference point for the leader named afterward.
• 'Achi'ezer ("Ahiezer", H0295G) — proper personal name, the subject of the entry, standing in apposition to the tribal designation.
• ben ("son of", H1121A) — construct-state noun linking 'Achi'ezer to his father's name; the construct form signals a genitive relationship "son of X" without a separate word for "of."
• 'Ammishaddai ("Ammishaddai", H5996) — proper personal name, the father, completing the patronymic formula.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is minimal, consisting of a prepositional phrase followed by a name and its patronymic. The preposition le prefixed to Dan establishes the tribal affiliation ("for/belonging to Dan"), a pattern repeated throughout this chapter for each tribe's representative. No verb appears in the verse; the sentence is nominal, relying on juxtaposition and the construct chain 'Achi'ezer ben 'Ammishaddai to convey identity and lineage. This construct structure, "ben" plus a following proper noun, is the standard Biblical Hebrew mechanism for expressing patronymics without an equivalent to the English "of" as a separate word — the relationship is built into the noun's grammatical state itself.

The verse's brevity reflects its function within a list: it supplies only the tribe, the individual's name, and his father's name, with no additional descriptive or narrative material. The construct form ben cannot stand alone semantically; it requires the following noun 'Ammishaddai to complete the genitive sense, illustrating how Hebrew construct chains compress relational information into a fixed word order.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders le-Dan as tōn Dan ("of the [sons of] Dan"), using a genitive article construction rather than a prepositional prefix, though the referential meaning matches the Hebrew. The Vulgate's de Dan mirrors the Hebrew preposition closely with Latin de ("from/of"). The LXX transliterates 'Ammishaddai as Ameisadi, showing a divergent vocalization or transmission of the name's ending compared to the Hebrew 'Ammishaddai and the Vulgate's Ammisaddai, though all three refer to the same figure.