🔢WEB · Numbers 26:40
What does Numbers 26:40 mean?
"The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites."
— Numbers 26:40 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were counted of them, thirty-two thousand five hundred. These are the sons of Joseph after their families.
The sons of Benjamin after their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites;
of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.
The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.
These are the sons of Benjamin after their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand six hundred.
These are the sons of Dan after their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan after their families.
All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were counted of them, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.
Explanation
Numbers 26:40 is a small genealogical note tucked into a much larger census list. It tells us that Bela — a descendant of Benjamin — had two sons, Ard and Naaman, and that from these two sons came two distinct family lines within the tribe of Benjamin: the Ardites and the Naamites. On the surface, this is simply administrative record-keeping, naming which clans belonged to which tribe so that Israel’s tribal structure could be tracked accurately.
The context is essential to understanding why such a verse exists at all. Numbers 26 records the second census of Israel, taken near the end of the forty years of wilderness wandering, just before the nation entered the Promised Land. Moses and Eleazar the priest (Aaron’s son, since Aaron had died) conducted this census at God’s command. The first census, in Numbers 1, had counted the generation that left Egypt — a generation God had judged for their unbelief and
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