Numbers 26:21

Summary

The verse lists the descendants of Peretz ("Perez", H6557) through his two sons, Chetzron ("Hezron", H2696) and Chamul ("Hamul", H2538), naming the clans that trace their identity to each of them. It follows the standard formula of the Numbers 26 census, where individuals give rise to named mishpachot ("clans").

Key words

• bene ("[the] descendants of", H1121) — masculine plural construct, opening the genealogical list by linking to Peretz.
• Peretz ("Perez", H6557) — proper name, the ancestor whose line is being subdivided.
• mishpachat ("[the] clan of", H4940) — feminine singular construct, repeated twice, each time introducing a named clan.
• ha-Chetzroni ("the Hezronite[s]", H2697) — gentilic noun with definite article ha (H9009), marking the clan named after Chetzron.
• he-Chamuli ("the Hamulite[s]", H2539) — gentilic noun with definite article, parallel in form to ha-Chetzroni, naming the clan of Chamul.

What the text says

The verse opens with the narrative verb va-yihyu ("and they were", H1961), a qal form marking continuation of the census list begun earlier in the chapter. The core structure is a double construct chain: bene-Peretz ("descendants of Perez") sets the scope, and then two parallel units follow, each built as le- [personal name] + mishpachat ha- [gentilic]. The preposition le (H9005) attached to Chetzron and again to Chamul does not mean simple possession but rather marks the person as the point of origin — "belonging to Hezron [is] the clan of the Hezronite." This construction lets the text move from an individual name (Chetzron) to the corresponding clan name (ha-Chetzroni), a shift visible only through the added article and the gentilic ending -i, which turns a personal name into a group designation.

The repetition of mishpachat + definite gentilic for both sons produces a symmetrical, almost formulaic rhythm typical of the census genre in this chapter, where each ancestor is matched to exactly one derived clan name.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew and the Vulgate correspond closely: the Vulgate renders the le relationship explicitly with "a quo" ("from whom"), stating "Hesron, a quo familia Hesronitarum," making explicit in Latin what the Hebrew preposition le implies more compactly. The Septuagint text supplied here does not match this verse's content — it reads "these were their clans, three hundred sixty-four," a numeric summary rather than a list of names, indicating that the LXX passage provided corresponds to a different point in the census (likely a total count) rather than to the Hebrew of Numbers 26:21 as given.