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Numbers 1 · a question people ask

Was Eliasaph's father Deuel or Reuel?

In the text

Numbers gives both. Here the leader of Gad is "Eliasaph the son of Deuel" (1:14), and so he is at the offerings (Numbers 7:42) and on the march (Numbers 10:20). In the next chapter he is "Eliasaph the son of Reuel" (Numbers 2:14). In Hebrew the two names differ only in their first letter: דְּעוּאֵל (Deuel) and רְעוּאֵל (Reuel). The text doesn't explain the difference.

The verses

“Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel.”
Numbers 1:14 · World English Bible
““The tribe of Gad: the prince of the children of Gad shall be Eliasaph the son of Reuel.”
Numbers 2:14 · World English Bible
“On the sixth day, Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad,”
Numbers 7:42 · World English Bible
“Eliasaph the son of Deuel was over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad.”
Numbers 10:20 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Numbers 1

Numbers 1: Counted by name

The 603,550 are the men from twenty years old and upward, without the Levites (1:46-47). The Levites weren't counted but appointed, and in Hebrew both are the same verb (1:49-50). And Nahshon, the man who stood for Judah (1:7), is in Matthew's list of Jesus' ancestors (Matthew 1:4).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions