Numbers 26:27

Study note

Setting — The text records a census count for the tribe of Zebulun immediately after enumerating its three specific clans and before shifting to Joseph’s descendants. It functions as a closing tally for the tribe within a second military registration of Israel.

The words — The phrase מִשְׁפְּחֹת זְבוּלֹנִי (mishpeḥot Zəḇūlōnî) literally means "clans of Zebulun," while פְּקֻדֵיהֶם (pəqūḏêhem) denotes their "enrolled" or registered men. The numeral sequence שִׁשִּׁים אֶלֶף וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת (šiššîm ’elef waḥāš mē’ôt) precisely totals sixty-five hundred.

The thread — This registration parallels the first census of Zebulun recorded in Numbers 1:30 and corresponds to the tribe’s designated camp position under leader Eliab in Numbers 2:7.

Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of the tribe’s preserved numerical strength following the preceding generation’s judgment. It requires the reader to acknowledge the precise, documented continuity of Israel’s tribal structure before the conquest.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.