Numbers 34:19

Summary

Numbers 34:19 opens the list of tribal representatives appointed to oversee the division of the land, beginning with the identification of the man from the tribe of Judah: Caleb, son of Jephunneh.

Key words

• 'El·leh ("these", H0428) — demonstrative particle introducing the list; signals that a series of names follows.
• she·Mot ("names of", H8034) — feminine plural noun in construct state, linking directly to ha·'a·na·Shim ("the men"); construct form means it cannot stand alone but requires the following noun to complete its meaning.
• ma·Teh ("tribe of", H4294H) — masculine singular noun in construct state, meaning it grammatically binds to Yehudah ("Judah") to form "tribe of Judah" rather than standing as an independent word.
• ben ("son of", H1121A) — construct form of "son," used here in the common patronymic pattern to identify Caleb by his father's name.
• Ka·lev (H3612G) and Ye·fu·Neh (H3312G) — proper names functioning as the subject and its qualifier, with no additional grammatical marking beyond their construct linkage via ben.

What the text says

The verse begins with the conjunction ve ("and", H9002) attached to the demonstrative 'El·leh ("these", H0428), a common Hebrew construction for opening enumerations: "and these [are]..." The verb "to be" is not present in the Hebrew text but is understood, as is typical in Hebrew nominal sentences of this type.

The phrase she·Mot ha·'a·na·Shim ("names of the men") uses a construct chain: she·Mot (H8034), in construct state, depends on the following definite noun ha·'a·na·Shim ("the men", H0582) to form the complete idea "the names of the men." This construct relationship is a standard Hebrew mechanism for expressing possession or association without a separate preposition.

The next phrase, le·ma·Teh Yehudah ("of/for the tribe of Judah"), combines the preposition le (H9005) with the construct noun ma·Teh (H4294H), which itself links to the proper name Yehudah ("Judah", H3063G). This construct chain identifies which tribe the named individual represents. Finally, the personal name Ka·lev (H3612G) is introduced, followed by the patronymic construction ben Ye·fu·Neh ("son of Jephunneh"), using the construct noun ben (H1121A) to link Caleb to his father's name, Ye·fu·Neh (H3312G). This son-of-father pattern is the standard Hebrew method for personal identification through lineage.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the phrase as "quorum ista sunt vocabula" ("of whom these are the names"), using a relative pronoun quorum not explicitly present in the Hebrew construct chain, which simply reads 'El·leh she·Mot ha·'a·na·Shim ("these [are] names of the men") without a relative clause structure. The LXX (Swete) similarly uses a demonstrative ταῦτα ("these") with τὰ ὀνόματα ("the names"), following the Hebrew word order closely without adding a relative construction.