Numbers 7:36

Summary

This verse identifies the leader who presented offerings on the fifth day of the tribal dedication ceremony: Shelumiel, son of Zurishaddai, leader of the descendants of Simeon. It follows the fixed formulaic pattern used throughout Numbers 7 to record each tribal leader's day of offering.

Key words

• ba.i.yOm ("on the day", H9003+H3117G) — preposition be ("in/on") attached to "day," opening the temporal formula that structures the whole chapter.
• cha.mi.Shi ("fifth", H2549) — masculine singular ordinal number modifying "day," marking sequence in the twelve-day offering cycle.
• na.Si' ("the leader", H5387A) — masculine singular noun in construct relationship with "the descendants of Simeon," designating the tribal office.
• v.Nei ("descendants of", H1121A) — masculine plural construct form of "son," here meaning "sons/descendants of," linking the leader to his tribe.
• ben- ("son of", H1121G) — masculine singular construct form of the same root, here used in the patronymic "Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai."

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence opens with a temporal phrase, ba.i.yOm ha.cha.mi.Shi ("on the fifth day"), using the preposition ba plus the article-marked ordinal cha.mi.Shi ("fifth", H2549) attached to i.yOm ("day", H3117G). This construction is identical in form to the formulas used for the other eleven days in Numbers 7, creating a repetitive structural pattern across the chapter.

The main clause identifies the officiant through a construct chain: na.Si' li.v.Nei shim.'on — literally "leader belonging-to the-descendants-of Simeon." The noun na.Si' ("leader", H5387A) stands in construct-like relation via the preposition li ("of/belonging to", H9005) to v.Nei shim.'on ("descendants of Simeon"), a plural construct form of "son" (H1121A) governing the proper name shim.'on ("Simeon", H8095G).

The leader's personal identity follows in a patronymic construct: she.lu.mi.'El ben- tzu.Ri.sha.Dai — "Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai," using the singular construct ben- ("son of", H1121G) to link the two proper names. The verse contains no verb; it functions as a nominal sentence identifying person, lineage, and day, consistent with the record-keeping style of the surrounding list.

Differences between versions

The LXX (Swete) and Vulgate render the personal names with slightly different vocalizations: Greek Σαλαμιήλ / Latin Salamiel for Hebrew she.lu.mi.'El (Shelumiel), and Greek Σουρισαδαί / Latin Surisaddai for Hebrew tzu.Ri.sha.Dai (Zurishaddai). These are transliteration variants rather than differences in meaning. The Hebrew places na.Si' ("leader") before the tribal identification, while the RV1909 Spanish translation moves "príncipe" ("leader") to the end of the sentence, reordering the syntax without altering the content.