Numbers 36:1

וַֽיִּקְרְבוּ רָאשֵׁי הָֽאָבוֹת לְמִשְׁפַּחַת בְּנֵֽי־גִלְעָד בֶּן־מָכִיר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁה מִֽמִּשְׁפְּחֹת בְּנֵי יוֹסֵף וַֽיְדַבְּרוּ לִפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה וְלִפְנֵי הַנְּשִׂאִים רָאשֵׁי אָבוֹת לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וַֽיִּקְרְב֞וּ רָאשֵׁ֣י הָֽאָב֗וֹת לְמִשְׁפַּ֤חַת בְּנֵֽי־גִלְעָד֙ בֶּן־מָכִ֣יר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה מִֽמִּשְׁפְּחֹ֖ת בְּנֵ֣י יוֹסֵ֑ף וַֽיְדַבְּר֞וּ לִפְנֵ֤י מֹשֶׁה֙ וְלִפְנֵ֣י הַנְּשִׂאִ֔ים רָאשֵׁ֥י אָב֖וֹת לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Greek (Septuagint)

Καὶ προσῆλθον οἱ ἄρχοντες φυλῆς υἱῶν Γαλαὰλ υἱοῦ υἱοῦ Μανασσὴ ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς υἱῶν Ἰωσήφ, καὶ ἐλάλησαν ἔναντι καὶ ἔναντι Ἐλεαζὰρ τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ ἔναντι τῶν ἀρχόντων οἴκων πατριῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραήλ·

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Accesserunt autem et principes familiarum Galaad filii Machir filii Manasse, de stirpe filiorum Joseph: locutique sunt Moysi coram principibus Israël, atque dixerunt:

Spanish

Se acercaron los jefes de las familias del clan de Galaad. Galaad era hijo de Maquir, que a su vez era hijo de Manasés, del linaje de José. Estos líderes se presentaron ante Moisés y ante los demás jefes de familia de Israel,

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y LLEGARON los príncipes de los padres de la familia de Galaad, hijo de Machîr, hijo de Manasés, de las familias de los hijos de José; y hablaron delante de Moisés, y de los príncipes, cabezas de padres de los hijos de Israel,

English

Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them,

✦ What the text says

Summary

The verse opens the narrative in which the heads of a specific ancestral group—descendants of Gilead, through Makhir and Manasseh, within the tribe of Joseph—approach Moses and the assembled leaders of Israel to raise a matter for adjudication. It establishes both the identity of the petitioners and the formal setting (before Moses and the tribal chiefs) in which they will speak.

Key words

va-yyikrevu ("and they drew near", H7126) — qal narrative verb, marking the next event in the story sequence; the group's approach initiates the scene.
mishpachat ("clan of", H4940) — feminine singular construct, linking the "heads of fathers" to a specific sub-group (the clan of Gilead) rather than to the tribe as a whole.
ben ("son of", H1121A) — construct noun repeated twice, building the genealogical chain Gilead–Makhir–Manasseh that identifies the petitioners' precise lineage.
lifnei ("before", H6440) — construct noun used twice (before Moses, before the leaders), establishing the formal, public setting of the coming speech.
ra'shei avot ("heads of fathers", H7218/H1) — construct phrase used for both the speakers (v.1) and, later in the verse, for the addressees, showing that both groups hold the same institutional title.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built around two narrative verbs joined by the vav-consecutive: va-yyikrevu ("and they drew near") and va-yedabberu ("and they spoke", H1696, piel). Between these two verbs sits a long chain of construct nouns identifying exactly who "drew near": ra'shei ha-avot ("heads of the fathers") le-mishpachat ("of the clan of") benei-Gil'ad ("descendants of Gilead") ben-Makhir ("son of Makhir") ben-Menasheh ("son of Manasseh"), followed by mi-mishpechot benei Yosef ("from the clans of the descendants of Joseph"). This nested genealogy moves from the narrowest unit (Gilead's clan) outward to the broader lineage (Joseph's clans), situating the petitioners precisely within the tribal structure before any speech occurs.

The second half of the verse repeats the same title, ra'shei avot, now applied to the audience — "before Moses and before the leaders (ha-nesi'im, H5387A), heads of fathers of the descendants of Israel." The repetition of ra'shei avot for both the approaching group and the assembled leadership is a grammatical parallel that the English glosses show clearly but that flowing translations often obscure by varying the wording (e.g., "family heads" vs. "leaders").

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) inserts Eleazar the priest ("ἔναντι Ἐλεαζὰρ τοῦ ἱερέως") among those addressed, a figure not present in the Hebrew construct chain at this point. The LXX also renders the genealogical chain as "υἱῶν Γαλαὰλ υἱοῦ υἱοῦ Μανασσὴ," omitting the name Makhir that appears in the Hebrew (ben-Makhir) and in the Vulgate ("filii Machir filii Manasse"), producing a shorter lineage ("son of Gilead, son of son of Manasseh") than the Hebrew's four-generation chain (Gilead–Makhir–Manasseh–Joseph).

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.