Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Numbers 26:42/רמב"ן על במדבר כ״ו:מ״ב
אוְטַעַם אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת דָּן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם, כִּי הָיוּ לְשׁוּחָם בָּנִים עָשׂוּ מִשְׁפָּחוֹת נִקְרָאוֹת בְּשֵׁם אֲבִי הַמִּשְׁפָּחָה, אֲבָל הָיוּ כֻּלָּם מִתְיַחֲסוֹת אֶל שׁוּחָם הָרֹאשׁ, וְהָיוּ נִקְרָאוֹת אֵלָיו בִּשְׁמוֹ, כְּאָמְרְךָ: לְדָנִיֵּאל מִשְׁפַּחַת דָּנִיֵּאל הַשּׁוּחָמִי, לִיחֶזְקֵאל מִשְׁפַּחַת יְחֶזְקֵאל הַשּׁוּחָמִי. וְהִנֵּה הֵם מִשְׁפָּחוֹת רַבּוֹת וּמִשְׁפָּחָה אַחַת אֵצֶל הַשּׁוּחָמִי, וְלָכֵן יִחֵס אֶת כֻּלָּן אֵלָיו. וְעַל דַּעַת הָאוֹמְרִים כִּי לְיוֹרְדֵי מִצְרַיִם יִתְיַחֲסוּ, הָיוּ מִשְׁפָּחוֹת רַבּוֹת נִקְרָאוֹת בְּשֵׁם אֲבוֹתָם שֶׁנּוֹלְדוּ בְמִצְרַיִם, וּבְכָאן לֹא הָיָה מְיַחֵס אוֹתָם אֶלָּא לַשּׁוּחָמִי כִּי הוּא יָרַד לְמִצְרַיִם לְבַדּוֹ:
1THESE ARE THE SONS OF DAN AFTER THEIR FAMILIES: [OF SHUHAM, THE FAMILY OF THE SHUHAMITES. THESE ARE THE FAMILIES OF DAN AFTER THEIR FAMILIES]. The meaning of this80. is that Shuham had children who formed families which were called by the name of the [respective] fathers of the family, but they all traced back their lineage to Shuham the head [of them all], and [therefore] they were called by his name, so that one would say [for example]: “Of Daniel, the family of Daniel the Shuhamite; of Ezekiel, the family of Ezekiel the Shuhamite.” Thus [the sons of Shuham] consisted of many families, but [all identified themselves] as the one Shuhamite family, and therefore they are all ascribed to him. And according to those who say81 that the people traced their lineage [only] to those who went down to Egypt [with Jacob, we must say that] there were many families [descended from Dan] who were called by the name of their ancestor, and who were born in Egypt, and here Scripture described them [i.e., all the families of Dan’s descendants] as Shuhamites, because he [Shuham] alone [as the only son of Dan] went down to Egypt.82