Numbers 10:22
וְנָסַע דֶּגֶל מַחֲנֵה בְנֵֽי־אֶפְרַיִם לְצִבְאֹתָם וְעַל־צְבָאוֹ אֱלִישָׁמָע בֶּן־עַמִּיהֽוּד׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וְנָסַ֗ע דֶּ֛גֶל מַחֲנֵ֥ה בְנֵֽי־אֶפְרַ֖יִם לְצִבְאֹתָ֑ם וְעַל־צְבָא֔וֹ אֱלִישָׁמָ֖ע בֶּן־עַמִּיהֽוּד׃
καὶ ἐξαροῦσιν τάγμα παρεμβολῆς Ἐμιούδ· σὺν δυνάμει αὐτῶν· ἐπὶ τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτῶν Ἐλισαμὰ υἱὸς Ἐμιούδ·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Moverunt castra et filii Ephraim per turmas suas, in quorum exercitu princeps erat Elisama filius Ammiud.
La bandera del campamento de los hijos de Efraín avanzó según sus divisiones. Elisama, hijo de Amiud, estaba al frente de su división.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Después comenzó á marchar la bandera del campo de los hijos de Ephraim por sus escuadrones: y Elisama, hijo de Ammiud, era sobre su ejército.
Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse describes the third military division to depart in the wilderness march: the degel ("standard") of the camp of the Ephraimites, organized by military units, with Elishama son of Ammihud placed over that division.
Key words
- na.Sa' ("it set out", H5265) — qal sequential perfect (a wayyiqtol-type form in this construction), continuing the narrative chain of successive camp departures already established earlier in the chapter.
- De.gel ("[the] standard of", H1714) — masculine singular construct, the head noun of a construct chain ("standard of the camp of the sons of Ephraim") that identifies the marching unit by its military ensign.
- tziv.'o.Ta(m) ("military groups", H6635A + suffix H9028) — feminine plural construct with 3rd person plural suffix, "according to their military groups," specifying the internal division of the Ephraimite camp into组 units.
- 'al- ("[was] over", H5921A) — preposition marking Elishama's position of authority "over" the tzava ("military group", H6635A), the specific division he commands.
- ben- ("[the] son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct linking Elishama to his father Ammihud, standard patronymic identification.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence opens with the verb na.Sa' ("it set out") before its subject, a verb-subject order typical of Hebrew narrative sequence, here marking this as the next event in a chain of camp departures (Judah, then Reuben's division, now Ephraim's). The subject itself is a long construct chain: degel ("standard") of machaneh ("camp") of benei ("sons/descendants") of Ephraim — four nouns stacked in construct relation, each modifying the next, which in Hebrew syntax expresses a nested genitive without any linking words. The phrase le-tziv'otam ("according to their military groups") describes how this standard moved — organized by its internal troop divisions.
The second half of the verse shifts to naming the commander: ve-'al-tzeva'o ("and over its military group") places Elishama in a position of authority using the preposition 'al ("over"), followed by his name and patronymic ben-Ammihud ("son of Ammihud"). The construction mirrors the pattern used for the other tribal commanders in this chapter, giving personal identification through father's name.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the tribal identification differently: where the Hebrew construct chain names "the camp of the sons of Ephraim" (בְנֵי אֶפְרַיִם), the Greek text as given reads "παρεμβολῆς Ἐμιούδ" ("camp of Emioud"), substituting the patronymic name Ammihud for Ephraim at this point in the verse. The LXX also uses a plural future verb (ἐξαροῦσιν, "they will set out") where the Hebrew has a singular perfect verb (na.Sa', "it set out"), differing in both number and verbal aspect from the Hebrew text.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.