Numbers 13:9

Summary

This verse names one of the twelve men sent to scout the land of Canaan, identifying him by tribal affiliation and patronymic. The Hebrew states that Palti, son of Raphu, is designated for the tribe of Benjamin.

Key words

• maTteh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — construct noun introducing the tribal name that follows; the construct form links it directly to Binyamin.
• Binyamin ("Benjamin", H1144G) — proper name marking the tribal identity of the scout listed in this verse.
• Palti ("Palti", H6406G) — proper name, the individual's personal name, syntactically the head of the phrase once the tribal designation is stated.
• ben ("[the] son of", H1121A) — construct noun forming the patronymic chain, linking Palti to his father.
• Rafu' ("Raphu", H7505) — proper name, the father of Palti.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows the same formulaic pattern used throughout this chapter's list of scouts: a prepositional phrase headed by le ("for", H9005) plus the construct maTteh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) names the tribe, followed by the personal name and patronymic construction ben ("[the] son of", H1121A) plus the father's name. There is no finite verb in this verse — it is a nominal clause, a bare list entry, consistent with the enumerative style of the surrounding verses that catalog the twelve tribal representatives.

The construct chain Palti ben Rafu' ("Palti son of Raphu") identifies the individual precisely through patrilineal descent, a standard method of personal identification in this genealogical-style listing. No additional grammatical nuance beyond the construct relationships is present; the verse's function is purely referential, assigning one name to one tribe within the larger structure of Numbers 13.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew text (TAHOT) assigns this entry to the tribe of Binyamin ("Benjamin", H1144G), naming Palti ("Palti", H6406G) son of Rafu' ("Raphu", H7505). The LXX (Swete) and Vulgate texts provided instead read "the tribe of Ephraim, Ausē/Osee son of Naue/Nun" — a different tribe and different names entirely. This divergence suggests the Greek and Latin texts cited here correspond to a different verse position in the list of scouts than the Hebrew verse numbered 13:9, rather than reflecting a translation variant of the same underlying content. The Spanish (RV1909, SBLIBRE) and English (BSB) versions align with the Hebrew, rendering "tribe of Benjamin" and "Palti son of Raphu."