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The word is related to the verbal root
but the verbal form is absent from the
Old Testament. Another noun form
(“maidservant”), as in Gen. 16:2: “And Sarai
said unto Abram … I pray thee, go in unto my maid.…”
The noun
is used predominantly in the Pentateuch (as many as 154 times
in Numbers) and in the historical books, but rarely in the poetical literature (5 times) and
the prophetical writings.
All members of a group who were related by blood and who still felt a sense of
consanguinity belonged to the “clan” or “the extended family.” Saul argued that since he
belonged to the least of the “clans,” he had no right to the kingship (1 Sam. 9:21). This
meaning determined the extent of Rahab’s family that was spared from Jericho: “… And
they brought out all her
, and left them without the camp of Israel” (Josh. 6:23).
So the “clan” was an important division within the “tribe.” The Book of Numbers gives a
census of the leaders and the numbers of the tribes according to the “families” (Num. 1-4;
26). In capital cases, where revenge was desired, the entire clan might be taken: “And,
behold, the whole family is risen against thine handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that
smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we
will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not
leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth” (2 Sam. 14:7).
A further extension of the meaning “division” or “clan” is the idiomatic usage of
“class” or “group,” such as “the families” of the animals that left the ark (Gen. 8:19) or
the “families” of the nations (Ps. 22:28; 96:7; cf. Gen. 10:5). Even God’s promise to
Abraham had reference to all the nations: “And I will bless them that bless thee, and
curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Gen.
12:3).
The narrow meaning of
is similar to our usage of “family” and similar to
the meaning of the word in modern Hebrew. Abraham sent his servant to his relatives in
Padanaram to seek a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24:38). The law of redemption applied to the
“close relatives in a family”: “After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his
brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any
that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may
redeem himself” (Lev. 25:48-49).
In the Septuagint, several words are given as a translation:
(“people; populace;
crowd”),
$
(“tribe; nation; people”), and
(“family; clan”). The
KJV
translates
with “family; kindred; kind.” Most versions keep the translation “family”;
but instead of “kindred” and “kind,” some read “relative” (
NASB
) or “clan.”
FAMINE
A. Noun.
(
, 7458), “famine; hunger.” This word appears about 101 times and in all
periods of biblical Hebrew.
means “hunger” as opposed to “thirst”: “Therefore
shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in
thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things …” (Deut. 28:48).