Numbers 26:37

Study note

Setting — The passage operates as a census report within a sequential tribal inventory, positioned directly after the listing of Shuthelah’s descendants and before the registration of Benjamin’s clans. It records the finalized family groups and population count for the tribe of Ephraim.

The words — The Hebrew מִשְׁפְּחֹת (mishpeḥōt) identifies the specific familial subdivisions within the tribe. The numeral construction שְׁנַיִם וְשָׁלֹשִׁים אֶלֶף (shnayim wəšālōšîm ’elef) literally states the enrolled count as thirty-two thousand.

The thread — This registration data cross-references the initial tribal census in Numbers 1:32 and the subsequent camp placement under Elishama in Numbers 2:18. The genealogical accounting continues the systematic tribal enumeration established earlier in the book.

Why it lands — The text explicitly states the clan divisions and numerical total before establishing their lineage to Joseph. It requires the reader to accept the documented administrative tracking of Israel’s families as the factual prerequisite for future territorial allocation.

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.