Numbers 26:25

Summary

This verse closes the census record for the tribe of Issachar, naming its clans and giving the total count of registered men: sixty-four thousand three hundred.

Key words

• mishpechot ("clans of", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun, linking the demonstrative "these" to the tribal name Issachar; it introduces the list of family groupings being summarized.
• Yissaskhar ("Issachar", H3485G) — proper name identifying the tribe whose clans have just been enumerated in the preceding verses.
• fequdei ("enrolled [men] of", H6485A) — qal passive participle, masculine plural construct, referring to those who have been counted/mustered; the construct form ties it to the following pronominal suffix.
• hem ("their", H9028) — third-person masculine plural suffix attached to fequdei, specifying "their enrolled men," i.e., those counted from Issachar.
• 'arba'ah... ve-shishim... 'elef... u-shelosh... me'ot ("four... and sixty... thousand... and three... hundreds") — a compound cardinal number construction stating the total: 64,300.

What the text says

The verse begins with the demonstrative 'Eleh ("these", H0428), a formulaic marker used throughout Numbers 26 to close each tribal census unit. It is followed by mishpechot Yissaskhar, "the clans of Issachar," a construct chain identifying the subject of the summary. The phrase li-fequdeihem combines the preposition li ("to/for", H9005) with the participle fequdei and the suffix hem, forming "for their enrolled/counted [men]" — a standard formula in this chapter marking the transition from listing clan names to giving the numerical total.

The number itself is built cumulatively: 'arba'ah ("four") joined by ve ("and") to shishim ("sixty") modifies 'elef ("thousand"), yielding "sixty-four thousand." This is then joined by another ve to shelosh me'ot ("three hundred"), a construct phrase where shelosh ("three") stands in construct relation to the plural me'ot ("hundreds"). The additive syntax (unit + ten + thousand + hundred) is typical of Biblical Hebrew numerical notation, differing from the syntax of the target languages, which simply render the sum as a single figure.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate (sexaginta quatuor millia trecenti) and modern translations (BSB, SBLIBRE, RV1909) all render the Hebrew total as 64,300, consistent with the Masoretic numerical construction. The LXX text supplied here does not correspond to this verse's content — it lists clan names (Azenei, Addei) rather than Issachar's total, indicating the provided Septuagint excerpt reflects a different portion of the census list (associated with Gad in the surrounding context) rather than a translation of Numbers 26:25 itself.