What does מִשְׁפָּחָה (mišĕpāḥāh) mean in the Bible?
מִשְׁפָּחָה (mišĕpāḥāh): Kinship unit expanding from household to tribal identity; organizes people by blood relation and social belonging
Hebrew · H4940
מִשְׁפָּחָה
A family , i.e. circle of relatives ; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extension a tribe or people
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מִשְׁפָּחָה H4940
Pronunciation mišĕpāḥāh
What does מִשְׁפָּחָה (mišĕpāḥāh) mean in the Bible?
מִשְׁפָּחָה (mišĕpāḥāh): Kinship unit expanding from household to tribal identity; organizes people by blood relation and social belonging
Full entry for מִשְׁפָּחָה (H4940) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H4940?
The BSB source-word alignment has 303 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include clan (76), by their clans (29), clans (23), of the clans (15), of their clans (13).
Where does מִשְׁפָּחָה (mišĕpāḥāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 8:19. Its strongest book concentrations include Numbers (159), Joshua (47), 1 Chronicles (19), Genesis (12).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It clan 76× Leviticus 25:47, Numbers 3:21, Numbers 26:5, Numbers 26:6
by their clans 29× Exodus 6:17, Exodus 6:25, Numbers 1:2, Numbers 3:18
clans 23× Genesis 10:18, Numbers 1:18, Numbers 3:21, Numbers 3:23
of the clans 15× Joshua 13:23, Joshua 13:28, Joshua 15:20, Joshua 16:8
of their clans 13× Numbers 1:20, Numbers 1:22, Numbers 1:24, Numbers 1:26
the clans 13× Numbers 3:20, Numbers 3:27, Numbers 3:29, Numbers 3:33
the families 9× Genesis 12:3, Genesis 28:14, Numbers 26:58, 1 Chronicles 7:5
for the clans 8× Joshua 15:1, Joshua 18:11, Joshua 19:1, Joshua 19:10
were the clans 8× Exodus 6:14, Exodus 6:15, Exodus 6:19, Exodus 6:24
. . . 6× Numbers 3:33, Numbers 4:42, Numbers 26:50, Judges 18:11
- 5× Numbers 3:35, Numbers 26:42, Joshua 17:2, Zechariah 12:14
the clan 5× Judges 9:1, Zechariah 12:12, Zechariah 12:13
[were] the clans 4× Numbers 26:18, Numbers 26:22, Numbers 26:25, Numbers 26:34
according to their clans 4× Genesis 10:20, Genesis 10:31, 1 Chronicles 6:62, 1 Chronicles 6:63
family 4× Joshua 6:23, Esther 9:28, Jeremiah 8:3, Amos 3:1
from the clan 4× Judges 13:2, Ruth 2:1, Ruth 2:3, 1 Chronicles 6:71
to the clans 4× Joshua 13:15, Joshua 13:24, Joshua 13:29, Joshua 21:40
and clans 3× Numbers 3:15, Numbers 4:22, Nahum 3:4
and the clan 3× Joshua 7:14, Joshua 7:17, 1 Samuel 10:21
and the clans 3× 1 Chronicles 2:53, 1 Chronicles 2:55, 1 Chronicles 4:21
his clan 3× Leviticus 25:10, Leviticus 25:41, Numbers 27:4
vvv 3× Joshua 21:5, Joshua 21:6, Joshua 21:7
from his clan 2× Leviticus 25:49, Numbers 27:11
my kindred 2× Genesis 24:38, Genesis 24:41
O families 2× 1 Chronicles 16:28, Psalms 96:7
within a clan 2× Numbers 36:6, Numbers 36:8
[All this was] for the clans 1× Joshua 13:31
[included] the clans 1× Numbers 26:28
according to their families 1× Genesis 36:40
according to your clans 1× Numbers 33:54
among their families 1× 1 Chronicles 6:60
and clan 1× Judges 21:24
and family 1× Judges 18:19
and his family 1× Leviticus 20:5
and is not my clan 1× 1 Samuel 9:21
and of the clans 1× 1 Chronicles 4:8
And some of the clans 1× 1 Chronicles 6:66
are the clans 1× Genesis 10:32
belonged to the clans 1× Numbers 27:1
by clans 1× Genesis 10:5
by families 1× Nehemiah 4:13
by its clans 1× 1 Samuel 10:21
clan [from Ard] 1× Numbers 26:40
clan by clan 1× Joshua 7:14
clans [were] 1× Numbers 26:37
each 1× Zechariah 12:12
families 1× Jeremiah 33:24
for each family 1× Exodus 12:21
from a family 1× Jeremiah 3:14
from my kindred 1× Genesis 24:40
from the family 1× 2 Samuel 16:5
from their clans 1× Judges 18:2
He had the clan 1× Joshua 7:17
He had the clans 1× Joshua 7:17
his family 1× Judges 1:25
kind by kind 1× Genesis 8:19
kinds of destroyers 1× Jeremiah 15:3
like the peoples 1× Ezekiel 20:32
nation 1× Micah 2:3
of family 1× Numbers 11:10
of the clan 1× Numbers 36:1
of the families 1× Zechariah 14:17
of the family 1× Job 32:2
one of the clans 1× Numbers 36:1
or their clans 1× Leviticus 25:45
our clan 1× 1 Samuel 20:29
the people 1× Zechariah 14:18
their families 1× Psalms 107:41
with his clan 1× Numbers 2:34
within the clan 1× Judges 17:7
within the clans 1× Numbers 36:12
you families 1× Jeremiah 2:4
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 8:19 לְמִשְׁפְּחֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם to kind by kind Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural Genesis 10:5 לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם to by clans Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural Genesis 10:18 מִשְׁפְּח֖וֹת to clans Noun - feminine plural construct Genesis 10:20 לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם to according to their clans Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural Genesis 10:31 לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם to according to their clans Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural Genesis 10:32 מִשְׁפְּחֹ֧ת to are the clans Noun - feminine plural construct Genesis 12:3 מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת to the families Noun - feminine plural construct Genesis 24:38 מִשְׁפַּחְתִּ֑י to my kindred Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular Genesis 24:40 מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתִּ֖י to from my kindred Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular Genesis 24:41 מִשְׁפַּחְתִּ֑י to my kindred Noun - feminine singular construct | first person common singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 8:19
Aligned rows 303
Books represented 21
Genesis 12 Exodus 7 Leviticus 6 Numbers 159 Deuteronomy 1 Joshua 47 Judges 8 Ruth 2 1 Samuel 7 2 Samuel 2 1 Chronicles 19 Nehemiah 1 Esther 2 Job 2 Psalms 3 Jeremiah 9 Ezekiel 1 Amos 2 Micah 1 Nahum 1 Zechariah 11
Source forms
מִשְׁפַּ֖חַת 50x miš·pa·ḥaṯ Numbers 26:5, Numbers 26:6, Numbers 26:12, Numbers 26:13
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם 22x lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām Genesis 10:5, Genesis 10:20, Genesis 10:31, Numbers 1:2
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑ם 20x lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām Numbers 3:15, Numbers 3:18, Numbers 3:19, Numbers 3:39
מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת 18x miš·pə·ḥōṯ Genesis 12:3, Genesis 28:14, Exodus 6:14, Exodus 6:15
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָֽם׃ 13x lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām Exodus 6:17, Exodus 6:25, Numbers 4:22, Numbers 26:42
מִשְׁפַּ֙חַת֙ 11x miš·pa·ḥaṯ Numbers 3:21, Numbers 3:33, Numbers 26:12, Numbers 26:15
לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם֒ 9x lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām Numbers 26:12, Numbers 26:15, Numbers 26:20, Numbers 26:26
מִשְׁפַּ֤חַת 7x miš·pa·ḥaṯ Numbers 3:27, Numbers 26:58, Joshua 7:17, Zechariah 12:12
Parsing patterns
Preposition-l | Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine plural 85x Genesis 8:19, Genesis 10:5, Genesis 10:20, Genesis 10:31
Noun - feminine singular construct 81x Leviticus 25:47, Numbers 3:21, Numbers 3:27, Numbers 3:33
Noun - feminine plural construct 48x Genesis 10:18, Genesis 10:32, Genesis 12:3, Genesis 28:14
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct 10x Numbers 36:8, Judges 13:2, Judges 17:7, Judges 18:11
Noun - feminine plural 8x Job 31:34, Psalms 107:41, Jeremiah 10:25, Jeremiah 15:3
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine plural construct 7x Numbers 36:1, Numbers 36:12, Joshua 21:5, Joshua 21:6
Article | Noun - feminine singular 5x 1 Samuel 20:6, 2 Samuel 14:7, Jeremiah 8:3, Amos 3:1
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular construct 5x Numbers 3:21, Numbers 3:27, Numbers 3:33
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Kinship unit expanding from household to tribal identity; organizes people by blood relation and social belonging
Source Gloss
a family , i.e. circle of relatives ; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extension a tribe or people
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Kinship unit expanding from household to tribal identity; organizes people by blood relation and social belonging
a family, i.e. circle of relatives; figuratively, a class (of persons), a species (of animals) or sort (of things); by extension a tribe or people BDB: clan Usage: family, kind(-red).
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
genealogical divisions of humanity organized by descent and tribal affiliation
Showing 1 selected witness from 304 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
מִשְׁפָּחָה is built from these roots:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain