Numbers 26:50
אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת נַפְתָּלִי לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם וּפְקֻדֵיהֶם חֲמִשָּׁה וְאַרְבָּעִים אֶלֶף וְאַרְבַּע מֵאֽוֹת׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
אֵ֛לֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת נַפְתָּלִ֖י לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑ם וּפְקֻ֣דֵיהֶ֔ם חֲמִשָּׁ֧ה וְאַרְבָּעִ֛ים אֶ֖לֶף וְאַרְבַּ֥ע מֵאֽוֹת׃
οὗτοι δῆμοι Νεφθαεὶ ἐξ ἐπισκέψεως αὐτῶν, τριάκοντα χιλιάδες καὶ τριακόσιοι.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Hæ sunt cognationes filiorum Nephthali per familias suas: quorum numerus quadraginta quinque millia quadringenti.
Estos fueron los clanes de Neftalí; y los anotados en su censo fueron cuarenta y cinco mil cuatrocientos.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Estas son las familias de Nephtalí por sus familias; y sus contados, cuarenta y cinco mil y cuatrocientos.
These were the clans of Naphtali, and their registration numbered 45,400.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse closes the census record for the tribe of Naphtali, identifying its clans by name and giving the total number of registered men as 45,400.
Key words
- mishpechot ("clans of", H4940) — feminine plural construct noun, appearing twice (also with suffix as mishpechotam, "their clans"), marking the tribal subdivisions being enumerated.
- Naftali ("Naphtali", H5321G) — proper name identifying the tribe whose clans are listed.
- feqUdeihem ("their enrolled [men]", H6485A) — qal passive participle, masculine plural construct with 3rd person masculine plural suffix; describes the men who were counted, functioning as the subject of the numerical total.
- chamishah ("five", H2568) and arba'im ("forty", H0705) — cardinal numbers combined to express "forty-five," modifying elef ("thousand", H0505G).
- arba' ("four", H0702) — cardinal number in construct form governing me'ot ("hundreds", H3967), together forming "four hundred."
What the text says
The verse follows the standard closing formula used throughout Numbers 26 for each tribal census entry. It opens with the demonstrative 'Eleh ("these", H0428) pointing back to the clan names just listed, followed by mishpechot Naftali ("the clans of Naphtali") and then le-mishpechotam ("according to their clans"), a construct chain that reiterates the clan structure before giving the count.
The second half of the verse shifts to the numerical total. The subject is u-feqUdeihem ("and their enrolled [men]"), a passive participle indicating those who were counted or mustered, joined by waw to the preceding clause. The number itself is built additively: chamishah ve-arba'im elef ("five and forty thousand," i.e., forty-five thousand) ve-arba' me'ot ("and four hundred"), yielding a total of 45,400. The Hebrew constructs this figure through simple additive juxtaposition of tens, thousands, and hundreds rather than a single fixed numeral word, a common feature of Biblical Hebrew number syntax.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew text gives the total as chamishah ve-arba'im elef ve-arba' me'ot ("forty-five thousand four hundred"), matching the Vulgate's "quadraginta quinque millia quadringenti" and the modern translations (BSB, RV1909, SBLIBRE) at 45,400. The Septuagint (LXXSWETE), however, renders the total as "τριάκοντα χιλιάδες καὶ τριακόσιοι" — "thirty thousand and three hundred" (30,300) — a numerically different figure from the Hebrew and Latin traditions.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.