What is the meaning of Numbers 26:50? These were the clans of Naphtali - The statement looks back to the list just given in Numbers 26:48-49, where Naphtali’s four sons—Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem—are named as the heads of distinct family lines. - By calling them “clans,” Moses underlines God’s faithfulness in turning one man’s household (Genesis 30:7-8) into a sizable community, exactly as promised to Jacob (Genesis 35:11). - The wording also affirms that every household within Naphtali still traces its identity to the covenant family, echoing previous census language (Numbers 1:42-43) and anticipating the tribal inheritances soon to be assigned (Numbers 34:13). - Cross-reference: Jacob’s prophetic blessing, “Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns” (Genesis 49:21), finds concrete expression in these flourishing clans; many lives have sprung from the original patriarch. and their registration numbered 45,400 - “Registration” recalls the divine directive, “Take a census of the whole congregation of Israel” (Numbers 26:2). The count is not merely administrative but covenantal: God personally accounts for every life He redeems (Exodus 30:12-16). - Comparing the first wilderness census (53,400 in Numbers 1:43) with this figure shows a decrease of 8,000. Even so, the tribe remains substantial, testifying both to God’s ongoing provision during the forty years (Deuteronomy 8:4) and to the sobering reality of wilderness discipline (Numbers 14:29-30). - The precise total underscores that the Promised Land will be apportioned fairly: “To a larger tribe give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller tribe a smaller one” (Numbers 26:54). - Cross-reference: when Deborah later calls Naphtali to battle (Judges 4:6-10), the tribe’s strength can be traced back to this God-recorded muster roll. summary Numbers 26:50 records more than a statistic; it captures the faithfulness of God to multiply the family of Naphtali, preserve it through wilderness years, and prepare it for its allotted place in Canaan. Every clan is named, every person counted, and every promise kept. |
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