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The Tribe of Judah
Numbers 26:19–22 — The Tribe of Judah. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
19The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bə·nê yə·hū·ḏāh ‘êr wə·’ō·w·nān ‘êr wə·’ō·w·nān way·yā·māṯ bə·’e·reṣ kə·nā·‘an
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The sons of Judah: Er and Onan; and Er died and Onan — and he died in the land of Canaan.
Where the English smooths the original
Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.— See Genesis 38:6-10 , and Note.
The sons and families of Judah agree with Genesis 46:12 (cf. Genesis 38:6 .); also with 1 Chronicles 2:3-5 .Keil & Delitzsch fix the three converging witnesses to Judah's line.
for Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan; where they were born; and that because of their sins, as the Targum of Jonathan adds, see Genesis 38:7-10Excerpt trimmed from Gill's longer note; he cites the Targum that the deaths were judicial.
20These were the descendants of Judah by their clans: The Shelanite clan from Shelah, the Perezite clan from Perez, and the Zerahite clan from Zerah.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yih·yū ḇə·nê- yə·hū·ḏāh lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām haš·šê·lā·nî miš·pa·ḥaṯ lə·šê·lāh hap·par·ṣî miš·pa·ḥaṯ lə·p̄e·reṣ haz·zar·ḥî miš·pa·ḥaṯ lə·ze·raḥ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Judah were, by their clans: of Shelah, the Shelanite clan; of Perez, the Perezite clan; of Zerah, the Zerahite clan.
Where the English smooths the original
The Beni-Judah, or "men of Judah," according to their sub-tribal divisions, are clearly distinguished from the "sons of Judah" as individuals, two of whom are mentioned in the previous verse. Of the families of Judah, three were named after sons, two after grandsons.Excerpt trimmed; the Pulpit Commentary marks the shift from individual sons to sub-tribal clans.
of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites: of Pharez, the family of the Pharzites: of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites.
so that there were but three families sprang from Judah, the Shelanites, Pharzites, and ZarhitesExcerpt from Gill's continuous note on the Judah genealogy.
21And these were the descendants of Perez: the Hezronite clan from Hezron and the Hamulite clan from Hamul.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yih·yū ḇə·nê- p̄e·reṣ ha·ḥeṣ·rō·nî miš·pa·ḥaṯ lə·ḥeṣ·rōn he·ḥā·mū·lî miš·pa·ḥaṯ lə·ḥā·mūl
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Perez were: the Hezronite clan, of Hezron; the Hamulite clan, of Hamul.
Where the English smooths the original
Judah had five sons, but inasmuch as Er and Onan died childless, Hezron and Hamul were substituted in their place. (Comp. Genesis 46:12 .)Excerpt trimmed from Ellicott's note on Hezron.
The sons of Pharez, though Judah’s grandchildren, are here mentioned among his sons, because they are put in the stead of Er and Onan, which died before.
The sons and families of Judah agree with Genesis 46:12 (cf. Genesis 38:6 .); also with 1 Chronicles 2:3-5 .
22These were the clans of Judah, and their registration numbered 76,500.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’êl·leh miš·pə·ḥōṯ yə·hū·ḏāh lip̄·qu·ḏê·hem šiš·šāh wə·šiḇ·‘îm ’e·lep̄ wa·ḥă·mêš mê·’ō·wṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
These were the clans of Judah, by their numbered ones: six and seventy thousand and five hundred.
Where the English smooths the original
The families of Judah — About two thousand more than they were, Numbers 1:27 ; whereas the foregoing tribes were all diminished.
whereas the foregoing tribes were all diminished, this tribe was now increased, and the blessing promised to that tribe above the rest, Genesis 49:8 , doth herein begin to show itself.Excerpt trimmed; Poole reads Judah's increase as the dawning of Genesis 49:8.
These are the families of Judah according to those that were numbered of them, threescore and sixteen thousand and five hundred.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
Judah's tally opens not with strength but with subtraction. The Hebrew is blunt and doubled: it lists ‘êr and wə·’ō·w·nān (Er and Onan), then names them again as the subject of dying — way·yā·māṯ, "and he died," singular, "in the land of kə·nā·‘an." Ellicott sends the reader straight back: "Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.— See Genesis 38:6-10." John Gill, drawing on the Targum of Jonathan, adds the moral cause the census itself withholds: they died "because of their sins... see Genesis 38:7-10." The muster of the living begins by recording the dead — two named heads who father no clan. The text refuses to airbrush its own line.
Where Er and Onan fall, the line does not. The verb way·yih·yū — "and they were" — resumes twice (vv.20, 21), insisting the house continued. Three sons head clans (Shelah, Perez, Zerah), and then, uniquely, Perez (pe·reṣ, "a breach," Genesis 38:29) is broken out into a second generation: the Hezronites and Hamulites. Matthew Poole sees the design: "The sons of Pharez, though Judah's grandchildren, are here mentioned among his sons, because they are put in the stead of Er and Onan, which died before." Ellicott states the arithmetic plainly: "Judah had five sons, but inasmuch as Er and Onan died childless, Hezron and Hamul were substituted in their place." The grandson who carries the count forward, Hezron (H2696, a rare name), is the very link by which Ruth 4:18–22 will reach David. The broken twin becomes the royal trunk.
The seal-formula ’êl·leh ("these") closes Judah with a number built by accumulation — six and seventy thousand and five hundred, 76,500, reckoned lip̄·qu·ḏê·hem, "by their mustered ones," from pāqaḏ, the verb of divine visitation. Joseph Benson notes it is "about two thousand more than they were, Numbers 1:27; whereas the foregoing tribes were all diminished." Matthew Poole reads the theology in the figure: "whereas the foregoing tribes were all diminished, this tribe was now increased, and the blessing promised to that tribe above the rest, Genesis 49:8, doth herein begin to show itself." Judah is the largest tribe in the census. The promise to the lion-cub is no longer only a word; it is a head-count.
Read under Sola Scriptura, this dry register preaches grace through bookkeeping. A genealogy that begins by burying two sons for their sin (v.19) and ends as the largest tribe in Israel (v.22) is the gospel pattern in miniature: God's purposes are not derailed by human failure but routed around it. The line that should have died with Er and Onan is carried by Perez — a son born of Judah's own scandal with Tamar (Genesis 38), reckoned here "in the stead" of the dead. From that breach the census quietly threads Hezron toward David, and beyond David toward the Messiah whom Matthew names as "son of David, son of Abraham" (Matthew 1:1–3). The tribe increases while the rest shrink not because Judah deserved it but because a promise was spoken over it (Genesis 49:8). This is my fallible reading, to be tested against the text: that even Israel's accountancy testifies that election runs through grace, not merit, and that no sin in the line can stop the King who is coming through it.
The census buries two sons for their sin and ends as the largest tribe in Israel — grace doing its arithmetic. (This is a fallible synthesis line, not Scripture.)
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
Numbers 26:19 reproduces the family-record of Genesis 46:12, where the same sons of Judah and the same notice of Er and Onan dying in Canaan appear. The Verifier finds rare shared lexemes binding the two: ‘êr (H6147, 7 verses) and ’ō·w·nān (H209, 6 verses), plus kə·nā·‘an and the verb mûwṯ, "to die." This is not a quotation but a genealogical parallel: two registers drawing on the same patriarchal name-stock. Because Er and Onan are otherwise scarce in the canon, the verbal overlap is not generic but a genuine textual dependence — Numbers presupposes the Genesis record.
Genesis 46:12
basis: shared rare lexemes H209 ʼÔwnân (6 vv), H6147 ʻÊr (7 vv), with H3667 Kᵉnaʻan and H4191 mûwth (to die); Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link (genealogical parallel, not citation) per Verifier
The terse "they died in the land of Canaan" (v.19) is the census-shorthand for the story of Genesis 38, where Er is slain and Onan struck down (Genesis 38:7–10). Gill and Ellicott both send the reader there. The tie is the single rare name ’ō·w·nān (H209, 6 verses) — one shared lexeme, not a verbal cluster — so the connection is narrative rather than quotational: Genesis 38 supplies the cause the muster omits, and through Tamar produces Perez and Zerah, the very clans counted in v.20.
Genesis 38:8 · Genesis 38:9
basis: single shared rare lexeme H209 ʼÔwnân (6 vv); too thin for a verbal tier — the link is narrative (Genesis 38 supplies the cause of the deaths the census records), per Verifier
The Hezronite/Hamulite clans of v.21 reappear at the head of Ruth's closing genealogy (Ruth 4:18: "Perez was the father of Hezron"), which runs on to David. The Verifier records the rare shared lexemes pe·reṣ (H6557, 13 verses) and ḥeṣ·rōn (H2696, 17 verses). The same pair (with ḥā·mūl, H2538, rarest of all at 3 verses) also binds Numbers 26:21 to the Chronicler's roll (1 Chronicles 2:5). These are parallel genealogical lists sharing scarce names, not one citing another; the Numbers census thus quietly carries the Davidic seed forward into the books that name David outright.
Ruth 4:18 · 1 Chronicles 2:5
basis: shared rare lexemes H6557 Perets (13 vv), H2696 Chetsrôwn (17 vv), H2538 Châmûwl (3 vv); Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link (parallel genealogies, not citation) per Verifier
1 Chronicles 2:3 lists the same sons of Judah — Er, Onan, Shelah — and the death of Er in Canaan, matching Numbers 26:19–20. Keil & Delitzsch note the three witnesses agree: "The sons and families of Judah agree with Genesis 46:12... also with 1 Chronicles 2:3-5." The Verifier finds the rare shared name šê·lāh (H7956, 8 verses) with Yᵉhûwdâh. Again a genealogical parallel rather than a quotation — the Chronicler independently preserves the same Judahite roster.
1 Chronicles 2:3
basis: shared rare lexeme H7956 Shêlâh (8 vv) with H3063 Yᵉhûwdâh; Hebrew↔Hebrew verbal link (parallel genealogy, not citation) per Verifier
Zerah's clan (v.20, haz·zar·ḥî, H2227) surfaces again at Joshua 7:17, where Achan "of the Zarhites" is taken by lot for the sin at Jericho. The link is Judah's clan-roll being reused to locate a man within it: the same census category that orders this chapter becomes, in Joshua, the instrument of judgment that narrows from tribe to clan to household to one man. The Verifier notes the rare gentilic Zarchîy (H2227, only 5 verses) shared between the two, alongside mišpāḥâ and Yᵉhûwdâh — a genuine verbal tie, but the connection is one of clan-structure, not quotation, so it is tiered structural.
Joshua 7:17
basis: shared rare gentilic H2227 Zarchîy (5 vv) with H4940 mishpâchâh and H3063 Yᵉhûwdâh; the link is the clan-structure (census unit reused to locate Achan), not a quotation, per Verifier
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
The census reckons Perez and his sons "in the stead of Er and Onan" (Poole on v.21). That substituted son is the link Matthew names in the genealogy of Christ: "Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar... and Perez the father of Hezron" (Matthew 1:3). The very clans counted here — Perezite, Hezronite — are the rungs by which the Gospel climbs from Judah to David to Jesus. The line that began by burying two sons for sin is the line through which the Sinless One comes. This is widely held across the Christian tradition, grounded in the explicit New Testament genealogy.
Numbers 26:21 · Genesis 38:29 · Ruth 4:18 · Matthew 1:3
Judah alone increases while the other tribes shrink (v.22; Benson, Poole), which Poole reads as Genesis 49:8 beginning "to show itself." That blessing — "Judah, your brothers shall praise you... the scepter will not depart from Judah" (Genesis 49:8–10) — is read across the tradition as pointing to Christ, the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" who alone can open the scroll (Revelation 5:5). The census's swelling numbers are the early, quiet evidence that the scepter-tribe is being preserved for its King. Ancient and widely held.
Numbers 26:22 · Genesis 49:8 · Genesis 49:10 · Revelation 5:5
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
Several commentary panels for this passage on BibleHub carry text keyed to other verses of Numbers 26 (Matthew Henry's and Barnes' notes treat the children of Korah, vv.9–11; the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown entry treats Simeon, v.12). These are not comments on the Judah verses 19–22 and have been excluded from the per-verse voices to avoid misattribution. Poole offers "No text on this verse" for vv.19–20, so those panels are likewise omitted. All cross-Testament Christological links (Matthew 1:3; Revelation 5:5) are tiered by theme and attestation, never by shared Strong's numbers, since Greek↔Hebrew links cannot share a Hebrew lexeme. The Hebrew↔Hebrew threads here are all genealogical parallels, not quotations: where rare proper names (Er, Onan, Shelah, Hezron, Perez, Hamul) anchor the link, the badge reads "verbal" because the lexemes are scarce, but the relation is parallel registers drawing on shared patriarchal name-stock — one register does not cite another. Two threads have been deliberately downgraded to structural in this editorial pass: the Genesis 38 narrative tie rests on a single shared name (H209) and is narrative, not verbal; the Joshua 7:17 Achan link is a reuse of clan-structure, not a quotation. The Verifier's computed bases are recorded in each badge. No Joshua 1:5 unit is present here, so no Hebrews 13:5 flag applies.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)