Numbers 13:12

Summary

This verse identifies one of the twelve men sent to scout the land of Canaan, naming him by his tribe, his own name, and his father's name. It states that Ammiel, son of Gemalli, represented the tribe of Dan.

Key words

• mateh ("tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular construct noun, linking "tribe" to the following proper name "Dan"; the construct form means it must be read together with what follows, "tribe of Dan."
• Dan ("Dan", H1835G) — proper name marking the tribal affiliation of the scout listed in this verse.
• 'Ammi'El ("Ammiel", H5988G) — proper name of the individual sent from the tribe of Dan.
• ben ("son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct noun, joining the scout's name to his father's name in a patronymic formula.
• Gemalli ("Gemalli", H1582) — proper name of Ammiel's father, completing the identification formula "PN1 son of PN2."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows the same brief formula used for each of the twelve entries in this list of spies: a prepositional phrase with le ("for", H9005) attached to mateh ("tribe of", H4294H) in construct with the tribe's name, followed by the scout's personal name and a construct chain with ben ("son of", H1121A) plus the father's name. There is no verb in this verse; it is a nominal, list-style sentence, typical of genealogical or administrative registers in the text. The construct chains (mateh Dan, "tribe of Dan"; ben Gemalli, "son of Gemalli") compress information tightly, so that tribal identity and paternal lineage are both expressed without any additional grammatical markers beyond the construct state.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text (TAHOT) assigns this entry to mateh Dan ("tribe of Dan", H4294H/H1835G), naming the scout as 'Ammi'El ("Ammiel", H5988G) son of Gemalli ("Gemalli", H1582). The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) and the Vulgate (VULCLEM), however, render this position in the list as belonging to the tribe of Joseph/Manasseh (τῆς φυλῆς Ἰωσὴφ τῶν υἱῶν Μανασσή / "sceptri Manasse"), naming the scout as Gaddi son of Susi (Γαδδεὶ υἱὸς Σουσεί / "Gaddi filium Susi"). This is a divergence in both the tribal name and the personal names at this specific position in the list, differing from the Hebrew's "Dan / Ammiel / Gemalli." The modern translations (RV1909, BSB, SBLIBRE) follow the Hebrew reading of "tribe of Dan, Ammiel son of Gemalli."