🔢WEB · Numbers 26:45
What does Numbers 26:45 mean?
"Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites."
— Numbers 26:45 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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.
The sons of Asher after their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Berites.
Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.
The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.
These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were counted of them, fifty-three thousand and four hundred.
The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites;
Explanation
Numbers 26:45 is a simple genealogical entry within a much larger census list. It states that Beriah, a son of Asher (one of the twelve sons of Jacob), had two sons—Heber and Malchiel—and that each of these sons became the head of his own clan: the Heberites and the Malchielites. In plain terms, the verse is recording family names and tribal subdivisions, much like a modern census would list surnames and family branches within a larger population group.
The context is the second national census of Israel, taken by Moses and Eleazar the priest on the plains of Moab, just before Israel entered the Promised Land (Numbers 26:1-4). This census was necessary because the generation that had left Egypt had died in the wilderness due to their unbelief (Numbers 26:64-65), and God was now numbering the new generation who would actually inherit the land. The list moves systematically through each of the twelve tribes, and this verse falls within the section devoted to the tribe of Asher, tracing its clans down through Beriah's
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