In | Workbook: The Meaning of ‘Eleph

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

The following verses each contain varying translations of a single Hebrew noun. See if you can spot the terms in each (one per verse) that have their source in the Hebrew word ‘eleph. 

And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” Judges 17:2 (ESV)

These are they who were called of the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the heads of divisions of Israel. Numbers 1:16 (NASB)

But you have today rejected your God, who delivers you from all your calamities and your distresses; yet you have said, “No, but set a king over us!” Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans. 1 Samuel 10:19 (NASB)

Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel … Joshua 22:21 (ESV)

If you couldn’t find them you’re not alone. The English words in these verses that have a common source in Hebrew are:

Judges 17:2: 1,100

Numbers 1:16: divisions

1 Samuel 10:19: clans

Joshua 22:21: families

‘Eleph translates most simply as “thousand.”

3. In the space provided offer your own definition of this term that accounts for the variety of meanings in the passages above.