Numbers 26:48
בְּנֵי נַפְתָּלִי לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְיַחְצְאֵל מִשְׁפַּחַת הַיַּחְצְאֵלִי לְגוּנִי מִשְׁפַּחַת הַגּוּנִֽי׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
בְּנֵ֤י נַפְתָּלִי֙ לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֔ם לְיַ֨חְצְאֵ֔ל מִשְׁפַּ֖חַת הַיַּחְצְאֵלִ֑י לְגוּנִ֕י מִשְׁפַּ֖חַת הַגּוּנִֽי׃
Υἱοὶ Νεφθαλὲ κατὰ δήμους αὐτῶν· τῷ Σαήλ, δῆμος ὁ Σαηλεί. τῷ Γαυνεί, δῆμος ὁ Γαυνεί·
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Filii Nephthali per cognationes suas: Jesiel, a quo familia Jesielitarum: Guni, a quo familia Gunitarum:
Los descendientes de Neftalí, por clanes, fueron: de Jahzeel, el clan de los jahzeelitas; de Guni, el clan de los gunitas;
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Los hijos de Nephtalí por sus familias: de Jahzeel, la familia de los Jahzeelitas; de Guni, la familia de los Gunitas;
These were the descendants of Naphtali by their clans: The Jahzeelite clan from Jahzeel, the Gunite clan from Guni,
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse lists the descendants of Naphtali organized by clans, naming two of his sons—Jahzeel and Guni—and identifying the clan (mishpachat, H4940) named after each of them.
Key words
benei ("descendants of", H1121G) — masculine plural construct form, opening the genealogical list with "sons/descendants of Naphtali."
mishpechotam ("their clans", H4940 + suffix) — feminine plural construct with 3rd person masculine plural suffix "their," indicating the clans belong collectively to the sons of Naphtali as a group.
mishpachat ("clan of", H4940) — feminine singular construct, repeated twice (positions 8 and 13) to introduce each individual clan name in construct relationship with the following gentilic.
ha-Yachtze'eli ("the Jahzeelite", H3184) — gentilic noun with definite article, derived from the personal name Yachtze'El (Jahzeel, H3183); denotes the clan-group descended from that individual.
ha-Guni ("the Gunite", H1477) — gentilic noun with definite article, derived from Guni (H1476G); parallel structure to the Jahzeelite gentilic.
What the text says
The verse follows a fixed genealogical formula repeated throughout Numbers 26: a construct chain naming the ancestor, followed by the preposition le ("to/of," H9005) plus the clan noun mishpachat ("clan of," H4940) plus a gentilic form of the same name with the definite article. This pattern occurs twice in this verse, first for Jahzeel and then for Guni, both introduced as sons of Naphtali in the opening phrase.
The grammar makes clear that the "clan" designation is not merely descriptive but formally derived: mishpachat ha-Yachtze'eli means literally "the clan of the Jahzeelite [group]," where the gentilic noun (a noun formed specifically to indicate "belonging to a people or lineage") marks the collective clan-identity taken from the individual ancestor's name. The construct chain benei Naftali le-mishpechotam ("descendants of Naphtali, according to their clans") functions as a heading, after which each son's name generates its own clan through the le-...mishpachat ha-... pattern. This repetition of grammatical structure across the two entries suggests a formulaic administrative or census-list style rather than a narrative sentence.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders Yachtze'El (H3183, "Jahzeel") as Saēl, differing significantly from the Hebrew consonants, while the Vulgate transliterates it as Jesiel. The Hebrew, LXX, and Vulgate all render Guni (H1476G) similarly (Gauneí/Guni). The gentilic forms follow their respective base names in each version accordingly.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.