Numbers 7:66

Summary

The verse identifies the tenth day of the tribal offerings recorded in Numbers 7, naming the leader who presented his offering on that day: Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai, leader of the descendants of Dan.

Key words

• ba-yOm ("on the day", H3117G) — noun with prefixed preposition and article, marking the temporal setting of this leader's offering within the sequence of twelve days.
• ha-'asiRi ("the tenth", H6224) — ordinal number with definite article, agreeing with yOm to specify the exact day in the series.
• naSi' ("leader", H5387A) — masculine singular noun, the title given to the tribal representative, here in construct relation with the following phrase.
• liv-nei ("of the descendants of", H1121A) — construct plural noun with prefixed preposition li ("of"/"to"), linking the leader to the group he represents.
• ben- ("son of", H1121G) — construct singular noun, forming the patronymic that identifies Ahiezer by his father's name, Ammishaddai.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence follows the fixed template used throughout Numbers 7 for each of the twelve tribal offerings: a temporal phrase (ba-yOm ha-'asiRi, "on the tenth day"), followed by the title naSi' ("leader") in construct with liv-nei Dan ("of the descendants of Dan"), and finally the personal name with patronymic, 'achi'Ezer ben-'ammiShaddai ("Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai"). The construct chains (naSi' liv-nei Dan and 'achi'Ezer ben-'ammiShaddai) create tight grammatical links: the leader belongs to the tribe of Dan, and the individual is identified through his father.

Notably, the Hebrew word order places the temporal marker first, then the title and tribal affiliation, and only at the end the personal name — a pattern that structures the whole chapter as a day-by-day record. The English BSB translation reorders this, placing the personal name before the title, which reflects a stylistic choice in translation rather than a difference in the underlying Hebrew sequence.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew places naSi' liv-nei Dan ("leader of the descendants of Dan") before the personal name 'achi'Ezer ben-'ammiShaddai. The LXX (Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ δεκάτῃ ἄρχων τῶν υἱῶν Δάν, Ἀχιέζερ υἱὸς Ἀμεισαδαί) and the Vulgate (Die decimo princeps filiorum Dan, Ahiezer filius Ammisaddai) preserve this same order, matching the Hebrew sequence: day, title, tribe, then name. The BSB, however, reverses this by opening with "Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai" and placing "the leader of the Danites" afterward — a rendering choice not reflected in the Hebrew, LXX, or Vulgate word order.