Numbers 26:53

Summary

Numbers 26:53 states that the land will be divided among "these" — referring back to the tribal groups enumerated in the preceding census — as an inheritance, with the allocation based on the number of registered names. The verse functions as a transition, establishing the principle for land distribution following the census just completed.

Key words

• la'Elleh ("to these", H0428) — demonstrative with prefixed preposition, pointing back to the groups/tribes just listed in the census that precedes this verse.
• techalek ("it will be divided", H2505A) — niphal (passive) imperfect: the land is the grammatical subject undergoing division; no explicit human agent is named as the one dividing it.
• ha'aretz ("the land", H0776G) — definite noun, the object being distributed.
• nachalah ("inheritance", H5159) — feminine singular noun, describing the mode/purpose of the division (division as or into an inheritance).
• mispar shemot ("number of names", H4557 + H8034) — construct chain: mispar ("number of," construct form) governs shemot ("names"), indicating the criterion for the division is the count of registered names.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with la'Elleh ("to these"), placing the beneficiaries of the division at the very front of the clause for emphasis, before the verb itself. The verb techalek is niphal, a passive/reflexive stem: the land "will be divided" without the text specifying who performs the division — the grammatical construction keeps the agent unstated, foregrounding process and outcome rather than actor. The land (ha'aretz) is the subject undergoing this passive action. The phrase be-nachalah ("in/as an inheritance") describes the manner of division — that is, the land is divided into an inheritance-form allotment, not merely handed over. Finally, be-mispar shemot — a construct pair, "number of names" — specifies the standard used: the allocation is proportional to the count of names recorded in the census, without further comment in this verse on tribal size or family units.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders nachalah with the infinitive κληρονομεῖν ("to inherit") rather than as a noun phrase describing manner, shifting the syntax toward purpose. The Vulgate adds "suas" ("their own") in "in possessiones suas", an addition of possession not present in the Hebrew noun nachalah. The BSB inserts "among the tribes," and the SBLIBRE explicitly adds "estas tribus" ("these tribes") and interprets shemot ("names") as "personas registradas" ("registered persons") — both making explicit an interpretive referent for la'Elleh that the Hebrew text leaves as a bare demonstrative pointing to prior context.