Numbers 13:8

Summary

The verse identifies one of the twelve men sent to scout the land of Canaan: he is designated as belonging to maTteh ("tribe of", H4294H) 'efRayim ("Ephraim", H0669G), and his name is hoShea' ("Hoshea", H1954K), son (bin, H1121A) of Nun ("Nun", H5126).

Key words

• le ("for", H9005) — prefixed preposition attached to maTteh, marking the phrase as introducing "belonging to" the tribe.
• maTteh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular construct noun; the construct form links it directly to the following proper name, producing "tribe of Ephraim."
• 'efRayim ("Ephraim", H0669G) — proper name functioning as the genitive complement of the construct chain, identifying which tribe.
• hoShea' ("Hoshea", H1954K) — proper name, the personal name of the scout, standing in apposition to the tribal designation.
• bin ("[the] son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct noun, forming a second construct chain with Nun to give the patronymic "son of Nun."

What the text says

The Hebrew verse is built from two linked construct chains rather than full clauses. The first chain, le-maTteh 'efRayim, uses the preposition le ("for") attached to the construct noun maTteh ("tribe of") followed by the proper name 'efRayim ("Ephraim"). This construction sets up the tribal affiliation before the personal name appears, a pattern consistent with the list format of Numbers 13, where each scout is introduced by his tribe first and his name second. The second chain, hoShea' bin-Nun, presents the personal name hoShea' directly followed by the construct noun bin ("son of") and the name Nun, forming the standard patronymic construction used throughout the Hebrew Bible to identify a person by father's name. There is no finite verb in the verse; it is a nominal, list-style sentence, typical of genealogical or census-style enumerations in the Hebrew Bible.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text (TAHOT) reads maTteh 'efRayim ("tribe of Ephraim") and the name hoShea' bin-Nun ("Hoshea son of Nun"). The LXX (Swete) instead reads "of the tribe of Issachar, Ilaal son of Joseph" (τῆς φυλῆς Ἰσσαχάρ, Ἰλαὰλ υἱὸς Ἰωσήφ), and the Vulgate (Clementine) similarly reads "De tribu Issachar, Igal filium Joseph" ("from the tribe of Issachar, Igal son of Joseph"). Thus the tribe name, the personal name, and the patronymic all differ between the Hebrew textual tradition on one side and the Greek and Latin traditions on the other, at this verse position. The modern translations shown (RV1909, BSB, SBLIBRE) follow the Hebrew reading, rendering "tribe of Ephraim" and "Hoshea son of Nun."