Numbers 2:29

Summary

The verse identifies the tribe of Naphtali (H5321G) and names its leader: Achira ("Ahira", H0299), son of Enan (H5881). It follows the fixed formula used throughout Numbers 2 to list each tribe and its designated leader within the camp arrangement.

Key words

• matteh ("[the] tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular construct noun, introducing the tribal unit and linking it to the following proper name Naphtali.
• nasi' ("[the] leader", H5387A) — masculine singular absolute noun, designating the office of leader before it is connected to the group he heads.
• livnei ("of [the] descendants of", H1121G) — construct plural of ben with the preposition li ("of", H9005) prefixed, meaning "belonging to the sons of," linking the leader to the tribal group he represents.
• Achira' ("[was] Ahira", H0299) — proper name functioning as the predicate identifying who the nasi' is.
• ben ("[the] son of", H1121A) — masculine singular construct, joining Achira' to his father's name, Enan (H5881).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built from two linked noun phrases rather than a full verbal clause. The first phrase, u-matteh Naftali ("and the tribe of Naphtali"), simply names the tribal unit using the conjunction u ("and", H9002) plus the construct noun matteh. The second phrase, ve-nasi li-vnei Naftali Achira' ben-Einan ("and the leader of the sons of Naphtali is Ahira son of Enan"), identifies the leader through a chain of construct relationships: nasi is defined by li-vnei Naftali ("of the sons of Naphtali"), and the leader's identity is then given by the proper name Achira', further specified by his patronymic ben Einan.

Because Biblical Hebrew often omits the verb "to be" in such identifying clauses, the sentence reads as a juxtaposition: "the leader of the sons of Naphtali — Ahira son of Enan." Translations must supply a linking verb ("was," "is," "will be") that is not present in the Hebrew text itself. The construct chain nasi li-vnei Naftali also shows a slightly different syntactic route than a simple genitive: the preposition li ("of", H9005) attached to vnei ("sons of", H1121G) marks possession/belonging rather than a direct construct bond between nasi and bnei, a construction distinct from bound construct pairs like matteh Naftali.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the first clause descriptively as "καὶ οἱ παρεμβάλλοντες ἐχόμενοι φυλῆς Νεφθαλεί" ("and those encamping next to the tribe of Naphtali"), adding the notion of camp position not explicit in the Hebrew, which simply states "and the tribe of Naphtali." The Vulgate condenses the two Hebrew phrases into a single Latin clause, "De tribu filiorum Nephthali princeps fuit Ahira filius Enan," supplying the verb "fuit" ("was") to make explicit the identification that the Hebrew leaves as a verbless juxtaposition.