Numbers 34:22

Summary

The verse names the leader appointed from the tribe of Dan to take part in the division of the land: Buqqi ("Bukki", H1231), son of Yagli ("Jogli", H3020). It follows the pattern used throughout this list of tribal representatives, giving tribe, title, and personal genealogy.

Key words

• ma.Teh ("tribe of", H4294) — masculine singular noun in construct state, linking directly to "sons of Dan"; construct forms mean the word cannot stand alone and must be read together with what follows.
• ve.nei- ("descendants of", H1121) — construct plural of ben ("son"), here forming the standard phrase "sons of Dan" to designate the tribal group rather than individuals.
• na.Si' ("a leader", H5387) — absolute singular noun, not in construct, functioning as an appositional title identifying Bukki's role rather than linking grammatically to a following noun.
• bu.Ki ("Bukki", H1231) — proper personal name, given in apposition to nasi', identifying who holds the office just named.
• ben- ("son of", H1121) — construct singular of the same root as ve.nei- above, here introducing patronymic identification ("son of Jogli") rather than a tribal designation.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is built on a chain of construct relationships followed by an appositional title and a patronymic. The sequence u-le-matteh benei-Dan ("and for the tribe of the sons of Dan") uses a double construct chain: matteh ("tribe of") governs benei ("sons of"), which in turn governs Dan. This produces the meaning "the tribe of the sons of Dan" as a single grammatical unit, with the preposition le- ("for/of") attached to the whole phrase marking it as the tribe under discussion.

After this tribal designation, the noun nasi' ("a leader") stands in the absolute state, not bound to anything by construct, and functions appositionally: it identifies the office held by the person named immediately after. The name Buqqi follows directly, then ben-Yagli ("son of Jogli") gives his patronymic through another construct pair, ben- + Yagli. This structure — tribe, then title, then name, then patronymic — is identical to the pattern used for other tribal leaders in the surrounding verses of this list.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the personal name as Bakcheir (Βακχεὶρ) where the Hebrew has Buqqi (H1231), and gives the patronymic as Egleí (Ἐγλεί) where the Hebrew has Yagli (H3020). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew forms more closely, transliterating them as Bocci and Jogli. These are differences in transliteration of proper names across the versions, not differences in the structure or content of the verse.