אֶ֫לֶף

From the study of Micah 5:2

Range of meaning

(1) The number "thousand." (2) A kin-based subdivision of a tribe, the clan or district that supplied a militia contingent (Numbers 1:16; Joshua 22:14, 21; Judges 6:15, "my 'elef is the weakest in Manasseh"; 1 Samuel 10:19). With different vowels the same consonants give 'alluf, "chief" or "clan-leader" (Genesis 36:15ff.).

Against the English

KJV's "thousands of Judah" is literal, but to modern ears it sounds like a population count. "Clans" (BSB, WEB, NIV, ESV) is the better sense. YLT's "chiefs" follows the 'alluf reading, as Matthew does.

How it drifted

Older translations rendered the word by its numerical sense. The social-unit sense is clear from its context in Judges and Numbers.

Used elsewhere in the period

Judges 6:15 is a close parallel: Gideon's 'elef is "the weakest" (dal) and he is "the least" (tsa'ir), the same pairing of humble clan and humble person found here. Matthew 2:6 reads hēgemosin, "rulers," which assumes the 'allufei vocalization.

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:30

Range of meaning

'Elef means 'thousand'. In some census and military texts it may also mean a clan or army unit, which is a long-standing debate about the large numbers in Numbers. Revavah means 'ten thousand, myriad', or a countless number. In poetry the two form a fixed pair, with the second line raising the number of the first.

Against the English

English versions all have 'a thousand… ten thousand', which is accurate. The danger is not the translation. It is treating the numbers as arithmetic (two people are ten times stronger than one) when they are a poetic pattern.

How it drifted

Popular teaching has taken the climb from 1 to 2 and from 1,000 to 10,000 as a rule about the multiplied power of agreement. The Hebrew pair is a stock poetic device that existed long before any such idea.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Samuel 18:7: 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.' Psalm 91:7: 'A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand.' Micah 6:7. Leviticus 26:8 uses a related pattern ('five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand'), and so does Joshua 23:10 ('one of you routs a thousand').

From the study of Judges 15:15

Range of meaning

(1) The number 1,000. (2) A large round number for a crushing amount ("thousands and ten thousands", 1 Sam 18:7). (3) Possibly a clan subdivision or the military contingent a clan supplied (Num 1:16; Judg 6:15, "my elef is the weakest in Manasseh"; Mic 5:1). The related word alluf means "chief".

Against the English

English "a thousand men" reads as an exact head-count. Hebrew heroic narrative often uses the number as the conventional sign of an overwhelming victory, and possibly as a unit term.

Used elsewhere in the period

Similar heroic tallies appear in Shamgar killing 600 with an ox-goad (Judg 3:31), and in David's warriors killing 800 and 300 "at one time" (2 Sam 23:8, 18). The victory song of 1 Sam 18:7 pairs "thousands" with "ten thousands". Mendenhall (1958) and others argued for the "unit" sense in census and battle lists.