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Numbers 1:16

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The Census of the Tribes

1:16These were the ones chosen31 from the community, leaders32 of their ancestral tribes.33 They were the heads of the thousands34 of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 31 The form has a Kethib-Qere problem, but the sentence calls for the Qere, the passive participle in the construct—“the called of.…” These men were God’s choice, and not Moses’, or their own choice. He announced who they would be, and then named them. So they were truly “called” (קָרָא, qara’). The other reading is probably due to a copyist’s error.
  2. 32 The word is נָשִׂיא (nasi’, “exalted one, prince, leader”). Cf. , , “princes.” These were men apparently revered or respected in their tribes, and so the clear choice to assist Moses with the leadership. See further, E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical nāsÃþʾ,” 25 (1963): 111–17.
  3. 33 Heb “exalted ones of the tribes of their fathers.” The earlier group of elders was chosen by Moses at the advice of his father-in-law. This group represents the few leaders of the tribes that were chosen by God, a more literate group apparently, who were the forerunners of the שֹׁטְּרִים (shottérim).
  4. 34 The Hebrew text has אַלְפֵי (’alfey, “thousands of”). There is some question over this reading in the , however. The community groups that have these leaders were larger tribes, but there is little certainty about the size of the divisions.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

These were the ones chosen from the congregation, the chiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the clans of Israel.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

These are the men called from the community; they are leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of Israel’s clans.”

NLTNew Living Translation

These are the chosen leaders of the community, the leaders of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

These are the ones summoned from the community, the leaders of their ancestors’ tribes; they are the heads of Israel’s clans.

KJV 1900King James Version

These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.