Numbers 26:34

Summary

The verse closes the census list for the tribe of Manasseh, stating that these are its clans (mishpechot, H4940) and giving the total number of men enrolled: fifty-two thousand seven hundred. It functions as a summary formula, typical of the closing of each tribal section in the Numbers 26 census.

Key words

• 'Elleh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle opening the verse, pointing back to the list of clan names just enumerated for Manasseh.
• mishpechot ("clans of", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun; the construct form links it directly to Menasheh, producing "the clans of Manasseh" rather than "clans" in isolation.
• pequdeihem ("their enrolled [men]", H6485A + H9028) — qal passive participle in construct plural with a third-person masculine plural suffix; the passive form indicates men who "were counted/mustered," and the suffix ties the count specifically to the clans just named.
• shenayim ("two", H8147) and chamishim ("fifty", H2572) — cardinal numbers joined by the conjunction va ("and", H9002), combining to form "fifty-two" before the noun 'elef ("thousand", H0505G).
• sheva' ("seven", H7651) — cardinal number in construct form governing me'ot ("hundreds", H3967), producing "seven hundred" as the final component of the total.

What the text says

The verse is built as two linked nominal statements. The first, 'Elleh mishpechot Menasheh, is a simple identification: "These [are] the clans of Manasseh," using the demonstrative 'Elleh to close the preceding genealogical list. The second clause, introduced by the conjunction u- ("and"), shifts to the numerical summary: u-pequdeihem ("and their enrolled men"), using a passive participle that describes the men as having been the object of a counting action, rather than naming an agent who counted them.

The number itself is constructed additively in Hebrew: "two and fifty, a thousand, and seven, hundreds" — literally stacking units, tens, and multipliers ('elef, "thousand"; me'ot, "hundreds") rather than using a single compound numeral as in English. This additive numeral construction is standard in Biblical Hebrew census formulas and yields the total 52,700.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew and the Vulgate agree closely: both state the clans of Manasseh and the total of 52,700 (quinquaginta duo millia septingenti). The Greek text supplied here (LXXSWETE), however, does not correspond in content to this summary statement — it instead lists "the sons of Gilead" and clan names such as Achiezer and Cheleg, reflecting a different portion of the Manasseh genealogy rather than the closing numerical total found in the Hebrew and Vulgate.