Numbers 13:14

Summary

This verse names one of the scouts sent by Moses, identifying him as Nachbi ("Nahbi", H5147), ben ("son of", H1121A) Vofsi ("Vopshi", H2058), representing maTeh ("tribe of", H4294H) Naftali ("Naphtali", H5321G). The clause functions as an entry in a list, giving tribal affiliation followed by personal and patronymic names.

Key words

• le ("for", H9005) — the preposition attached to maTeh, marking this phrase as belonging to a series ("for the tribe of X, [name]...").
• maTeh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — construct singular noun, requiring a following genitive; here it governs Naftali.
• Naftali ("Naphtali", H5321G) — proper name in the genitive position, completing the construct phrase "tribe of Naphtali."
• ben ("[the] son of", H1121A) — construct noun linking the scout's personal name to his father's name, the standard Hebrew patronymic formula.
• Vofsi ("Vopshi", H2058) — proper name, the father, completing the ben-construct chain.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause follows the consistent pattern used throughout this chapter's list of the twelve scouts: a prepositional phrase with le + maTeh + tribal name, followed by the scout's personal name and his patronymic introduced by ben. The construct chain maTeh Naftali ("tribe of Naphtali") functions as a single syntactic unit meaning "belonging to the tribe of Naphtali," while the second construct chain Nachbi ben Vofsi identifies the individual by personal name and father's name, a standard biconsonantal genealogical notation. No verb appears in this verse; it is a nominal list entry, structurally identical to the surrounding verses that catalog the other tribal representatives.

The grammatical construct forms (maTeh, ben) carry no independent meaning outside their linkage to the following noun — they exist purely to bind two nouns into a possessive relationship. This is typical of Hebrew genealogical and administrative lists, where such chains allow rapid, formulaic identification of individuals by tribe and lineage.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text assigns this entry to maTeh Naftali ("tribe of Naphtali", H4294H/H5321G) and names the scout Nachbi ben Vofsi ("Nahbi son of Vopshi"). The LXX (Swete) and Vulgate (Clementine) versions provided here instead read "tribe of Asher" (τῆς φυλῆς Ἀσήρ / de tribu Aser) with the scout named Σαθοὺρ υἱὸς Μειχαήλ / Sthur filium Michaël ("Sathur/Sthur son of Michael"). This represents a divergence in both the tribal name and the personal names between the Hebrew tradition and these Greek/Latin witnesses at this verse position, likely reflecting a different sequencing of the tribal list among the textual traditions. The Spanish (RV1909, SBLIBRE) and English (BSB) translations align with the Hebrew reading of Naphtali, Nahbi, and Vopshi.