Numbers 13:7

Summary

The verse identifies one of the men sent to scout the land: Igal, son of Joseph, representing the tribe of Issachar. The Hebrew sentence is a simple list entry, stating tribal affiliation followed by the individual's name and patronymic.

Key words

• ma.Teh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular construct noun, opening the phrase and linking grammatically to the tribal name that follows.
• Yissaskhar ("Issachar", H3485G) — proper name marking the tribe from which this spy is drawn.
• Yig'al ("Igal", H3008G) — proper name of the individual sent as representative.
• ben- ("[the] son of", H1121A) — construct noun indicating direct paternal descent, linking Igal to his father.
• Yosef ("Joseph", H3130H) — proper name of Igal's father, completing the patronymic.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause follows a fixed formulaic pattern used throughout this list of spies in Numbers 13: preposition + tribe name, followed by personal name + patronymic. The construct chain le-matteh Yissaskhar ("for the tribe of Issachar") establishes the tribal affiliation before the individual is named. The second construct phrase, Yig'al ben-Yosef ("Igal, son of Joseph"), identifies the specific person through his father's name, a standard biblical convention for individual identification within genealogical or administrative lists. The grammar itself carries no verb — the verse consists entirely of nominal phrases, consistent with a census-like or roster format.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text (TAHOT), the Reina-Valera 1909, the BSB, and the SBLIBRE all agree on identifying this verse's tribe as Issachar and the spy as Yig'al ("Igal", H3008G), son of Joseph. The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) and the Vulgate (VULCLEM), however, render this position in the list differently: they name the tribe of Judah (Ἰούδα / Juda) and the spy as Caleb, son of Jephunneh (χαλὲβ υἱὸς Ἰεφοννή / Caleb filium Jephone). This reflects a difference in the ordering or numbering of entries within the list of spies between the Hebrew textual tradition represented here and the Greek/Latin textual tradition, rather than a translation variant of the same underlying name.