🔢WEB · Numbers 26:12
What does Numbers 26:12 mean?
"The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites;"
— Numbers 26:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
The sons of Eliab: Nemuel, and Dathan, and Abiram. These are that Dathan and Abiram, who were called by the congregation, who rebelled against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they rebelled against Yahweh,
and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah, when that company died; at the time the fire devoured two hundred fifty men, and they became a sign.
Notwithstanding, the sons of Korah didn’t die.
The sons of Simeon after their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites;
of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.
These are the families of the Simeonites, twenty-two thousand two hundred.
The sons of Gad after their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites;
Explanation
Numbers 26:12 is part of the second census that God commanded Moses to take of the Israelites, this time on the plains of Moab just before they entered the Promised Land. The verse simply lists the clans descended from Simeon, one of the twelve sons of Jacob: the families of Nemuel, Jamin, and Jachin are named as sub-groups within the tribe of Simeon. This is genealogical bookkeeping — a record of who belonged to which family line within the larger tribe, so that the nation could be organized, counted, and eventually given its allotted portion of land in Canaan.
The context matters. This census in Numbers 26 comes after the generation that left Egypt had died out in the wilderness due to their unbelief and rebellion (recorded throughout Numbers, especially chapters 13–14). God had declared that none of that gener
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