This paragraph is about the census of the tribe of Manasseh. It runs parallel to the previous paragraphs in this chapter dealing with the census of other tribes (see the comments on verses 5-7 and 12-14), but only in part. Verses 30-32 deal with the clans that descend from Gilead. One of these clans is the clan of Hepher. This line of ancestry leads the reader to verse 33, where it is mentioned that Hepher’s son, Zelophehad, had no sons, but daughters. The mere mention of women is remarkable in a text designed to calculate potential numbers of men for war (so Cole, page 457). The parentheses in New International Version and New Living Translation around verse 33 are likely to suggest to some readers that this information is unimportant. However, the reverse is true—Zelophehad’s daughters figure prominently in chapters 27 and 36, where inheritance through daughters is the issue. Some languages may have special particles or conjunctions available to mark the importance of the historical remark in verse 33; for example, the Hebrew waw conjunction rendered Now may be translated “But.”

The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites: Since Manasseh had only one son, Machir (compare 1 Chr 7.14), in some languages it will be more helpful to translate The sons of Manasseh as “The tribe of Manasseh” (Good News Translation) or “The descendants of Manasseh” (New Revised Standard Version). The beginning of verse 29 in Good News Translation may be modified slightly to read: “The tribe of Manasseh: Machir, the only son of Manasseh, was the father of….”

And Machir was the father of Gilead: See 1 Chr 7.14. The Hebrew verb rendered was the father of (holid) means “to bear, beget, give birth to.” This verb is used often in the genealogical lists of the Old Testament. As A Handbook on Genesis mentions at Gen 4.18, many languages do not say a man “begets” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) his child, but rather “is the father of” (so Revised Standard Version). Other languages (for example, Chewa) have a verb to indicate that a man “begets” a child.

The clans of Gilead descended from his sons Iezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Shemida, and Hepher. New Living Translation correctly refers to them as “subclans” of Manasseh.

Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but daughters …: See the comments above for verse 33. See also Josh 17.3.

These are the families of Manasseh; and their number was fifty-two thousand seven hundred: New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh provides a more accurate and more formulaic model here, saying “Those are the clans of Manasseh; persons enrolled: 52,700.” The Hebrew does not have a past tense verb here.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .