Bible Geek Word Nerd - Samson - MISHPACHAH

 

The Man from the Clan of Dan

 

“A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the CLAN of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth.”
Judges 13:2

 

Funny word, clan.  It’s from late Middle English (according to Dictionary.com) and denotes a group of families or households.  Other translations will render this word “tribe” or “family”.  We’ll tell you about the Hebrew term underlying it, and then you can choose which you prefer.

The word is MISHPACHAH (מִשְׁפָחָה), a word that is used over 300 times in the Hebrew Bible.  The first time is Genesis 8:19 (from the RSV):

 

“And every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves upon the earth, went forth by FAMILIES out of the ark.”

 

The word is used five times in Genesis 10 to describe the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth after the Flood.  Keeping it consistent, the RSV uses “family” whilst the NIV and others use “clan”, demonstrating translator preferences.  Interestingly, the definitions of each word in the dictionary use the other word as part of their definition.

 

Hebrew has several words that describe people who share a common ancestor.  MISHPACHAH is, of course, a common one.  Others include MATEH (מַטֶּה), a word occurring more than 250 times in the Text.  Most of the time, it means simply staff or rod or branch.  For instance, in the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law TAMAR, Judah’s MATEH was left as a security deposit with TAMAR:

 

He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and YOUR STAFF that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him.

Genesis 38:18

 

It is the word used for what Moshe held in his hand in Exodus 4.  A MATEH is carried by a leader – the leader of a tribe or clan or family.  So etymologically, it is a metonymy: the leader carries the MATEH.  The leader is the MATEH.  The group that gathers around it is the MATEH.

 

Another word used for clan or tribe is SHEBET (שֵׁבֶט).  English often translates it as scepter, club, rod, or staff.  But it’s also a metonymy, like MATEH, and for the same reasons.   It’s found 190 times in the Hebrew Bible.  SHEBET is what comforts the author of Psalm 23 in the valley of the shadow of death.

 

A final word used for this concept is BAYITH (בּיִת), written most often in English as BETH because of how the word is pronounced.  BAYITH is used over 2000 times in the text, and most plainly means “house” or “household”.  However, like MATEH and SHEBET, it is a metonymy for the group that lives in the house.

 

This begs the question: Why select MISHPACHAH to describe Manoah’s family with several options available?  Nobody knows for sure.  But I have a hunch.  I could be wrong.  I have been wrong before.  MISHPACHAH is a more intimate, personal word than the others are.  The others work formally to describe the group of related people.  But they are remote and distant.  MISHPACHAH is in your kitchen, sitting around the table, having a conversation with one another.  Perhaps think of it like this: SHEBET, MATEH, and BAYITH are like “thou” and “thee”.  MISHPACHAH is like “y’all”.  Cozy and close.  Like a clan.  Like a family.