And with you there shall be a man of every tribe; every one head of the house of his fathers.
Parallel translations
- WEB With you there shall be a man of every tribe; everyone head of his fathers’ house.
- BSB And one man from each tribe, the head of each family, must be there with you.
- NKJV And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house.
- NASB With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, each one head of his father’s household.
- NLT and you will be assisted by one family leader from each tribe.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
One representative leader from each tribe is appointed to assist Moses and Aaron. God works through ordered, delegated leadership among His people.
Overview
Each tribal head, a recognized leader of his father's house, shares the responsibility of the census. This pattern of delegated leadership echoes Jethro's counsel in Exodus 18 and models the orderly governance God establishes among His people. Shared, accountable leadership remains a biblical principle reflected in the elders of the New Testament church.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Num 1:16These were the renowned of the congregation, princes of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.
- Exod 18:25And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- Num 25:4And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.
- Num 34:18–28And ye shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land by inheritance.
- Num 13:2–15Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them.
- Num 10:14–27In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab.
- Josh 22:14And with him ten princes, of each chief house a prince throughout all the tribes of Israel; and each one was an head of the house of their fathers among the thousands of Israel.
- Num 25:14Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.
- Deut 1:15So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.
- Num 2:3–31And on the east side toward the rising of the sun shall they of the standard of the camp of Judah pitch throughout their armies: and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain of the children of Judah.
- 1 Chr 27:1–22Now the children of Israel after their number, to wit, the chief fathers and captains of thousands and hundreds, and their officers that served the king in any matter of the courses, which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year, of every course were twenty and four thousand.
- Exod 18:21Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
- Num 7:10–83And the princes offered for dedicating of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes offered their offering before the altar.
- Num 17:3And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 1:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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