differences between the ancient household of Israel and the modern nuclear family. But in this verse, Exodus 40:38, God views Israel as one large household, one large family. After the “whole house of Israel,” the “tribe” was the next largest unit. There were twelve tribes in Israel. Next came the clan, the kinship unit that was between the tribe and the smallest unit, “the ancestral household,” which is bayit, or bet ʾab, “house of the father.” The word for “clan” is most often mishpachah, but ten