🔢WEB · Numbers 26:48
What does Numbers 26:48 mean?
"The sons of Naphtali after their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites;"
— Numbers 26:48 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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;
of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.
These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were counted of them were forty-five thousand four hundred.
These are those who were counted of the children of Israel, six hundred one thousand seven hundred thirty.
Explanation
Numbers 26:48 is a simple genealogical notice. It states that Naphtali's descendants were counted by clan, and it names two of those clans: the Jahzeelites, descended from Jahzeel, and the Gunites, descended from Guni. On the surface it is nothing more than a line from a family record — a census entry noting who belonged to which sub-family within the tribe of Naphtali.
The context is essential to understanding why such a verse exists at all. This is part of the second census of Israel, taken by Moses and Eleazar the priest at the plains of Moab, just before Israel entered the Promised Land (Numbers 26:1-4). The first census, taken in Numbers 1, had counted the generation that left Egypt — a generation God had determined would die in the wilderness because of their unbelief and rebellion (Numbers 14:26-35). Now, nearly forty years later, a new generation stood ready to cross into Canaan
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