Numbers 13:4
in Numbers 13and these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua son of Zaccur;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And these were their names: Of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
KJV
And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
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This verse in Numbers 13
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Moses by the commandment of the Lord
on Numbers 13:3-4
They set out from the wilderness of Paran, and the twelve are heads of the children of Israel, men who already held rule among their people. Calvin says the names are written down in perpetual remembrance, since ten of the twelve are recorded here only to be condemned by what they say at verse 31. The list begins with Shammua of Reuben, which is birth order, though Numbers 2:3 had put Judah at the head of the camp and Numbers 7:12 had given Judah the first day.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And these were their names, of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur.
This was designed for the best, but it proved to have this ill effect that the quality of the persons occasioned the evil report they brought up to be the more credited and the people to be the more influenced by it. Some think that they are all named for the sake of two good ones that were among them, Caleb and Joshua.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵ֖לֶּה | veeleh | and these | H428 → | 746 times |
| שְׁמוֹתָ֑ם | shemotam | [are] names their | H8034 → | 864 times |
| לְמַטֵּ֣ה | lemateh | for [the] tribe of | H4294 → | 252 times |
| רְאוּבֵ֔ן | reuven | Reuben | H7205 → | 72 times |
| שַׁמּ֖וּעַ | shamua' | Shammua | H8051 → | |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| זַכּֽוּר׃ | zakur | Zaccur | H2139 → |
וְאֵ֖לֶּהand these
veelehH428 →746 times
שְׁמוֹתָ֑ם[are] names their
shemotamH8034 →864 times
לְמַטֵּ֣הfor [the] tribe of
lematehH4294 →252 times
רְאוּבֵ֔ןReuben
reuvenH7205 →72 times
שַׁמּ֖וּעַShammua
shamua'H8051 →
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
זַכּֽוּר׃Zaccur
zakurH2139 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers

This page draws on John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
