Numbers 26:8

Summary

This verse states that Eliab was descended from Pallu, continuing the genealogical list of Reuben's descendants in the census of Numbers 26. It names a single individual, Eliab, as belonging to the line of Pallu.

Key words

• u ("and", H9002) — the conjunction opening the verse, linking this entry to the preceding genealogical unit (the sons of Reuben) rather than starting a new independent sentence.
• vene ("[the] sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural noun in construct state, meaning "sons of X." Its plural form governs the following name in a construct chain, but only one name (Eliab) is supplied.
• Pallu (H6396) — proper name, the ancestor to whom Eliab is attached; already introduced earlier in the same chapter as a son of Reuben.
• Eliav ("Eliab", H0446H) — proper name, the individual identified as belonging to Pallu's line; grammatically the noun in absolute state completing the construct phrase.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is a minimal construct chain: u-vene Pallu ("and sons-of Pallu") followed immediately by the name Eliav ("Eliab"). The construct noun vene is grammatically plural, which is the standard form used throughout Numbers 26 to introduce genealogical lists, even in cases like this one where only a single name follows. The verse does not contain a verb; it functions as an appositional or listing structure, common in Hebrew genealogical registers, where the construct noun simply attaches the following name(s) as descendants of the preceding ancestor.

Because Hebrew construct plurals can be used formulaically to introduce descendant lists regardless of how many names are actually enumerated, the plural vene here does not necessarily imply that Pallu had multiple sons — only Eliab is named in this verse.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew vene ("sons of", H1121A) is grammatically plural, and the LXXSWETE follows this with huioi ("sons"), plural. The Vulgate (VULCLEM), however, renders it as Filius ("son"), singular, matching the fact that only one descendant (Eliab) is listed. The modern translations BSB and SBLIBRE likewise use the singular "son," aligning the English/Spanish wording with the single name that follows rather than preserving the plural construct form found in the Hebrew and Greek texts.