Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Numbers 26:5/רמב"ן על במדבר כ״ו:ה׳
אחֲנוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֲנֹכִי – אוּלַי כַּאֲשֶׁר נִתְחַלְּקָה הָאָרֶץ לַשְּׁבָטִים עַל דַּעַת רַבּוֹתֵינוּ (ב״ב קכב) וְנָטַל שֵׁבֶט שִׁמְעוֹן הַמּוּעָט כְּשֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה הַמְרוּבֶּה חֵלֶק כְּחֵלֶק, כָּךְ נִתְחַלְּקָה לְבָתֵּי אָבוֹת לְיוֹרְדֵי מִצְרַיִם, וְעָשׂוּ מִנַּחֲלַת רְאוּבֵן ד' חֲלָקִים, וְהָיָה חֵלֶק מִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֲנוֹכִי כְּחֵלֶק מִשְׁפַּחַת הַפַּלּוּאִי וְחֶצְרוֹן וְכַרְמִי, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינָן שָׁווֹת בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת לְגֻלְגְּלוֹתָם. וְזֶה טַעַם הַמִּנְיָן הַזֶּה שֶׁיִּמְנוּ הַמִּשְׁפָּחָה לְיוֹרְדֵי מִצְרַיִם וְלֹא יַזְכִּיר "לְגֻלְגְּלוֹתָם", וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיַּזְכִּיר מִסְפָּרָם בִּכְלָל. וּמַה שֶׁאָמַר ״לָרַב תַּרְבּוּ נַחֲלָתוֹ״ (במדבר כ״ו:נ״ד) בִּבְנֵי הַמִּשְׁפָּחָה שֶׁנָּטְלוּ אִישׁ לְפִי פְקוּדָיו לְגֻלְגְּלוֹתָם. וּמִפְּנֵי זֶה יַזְכִּיר בְּסֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בַּחֲלוּקַּת הָאָרֶץ "לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָם", ״וַיְהִי הַגּוֹרָל לְמַטֵּה בְנֵי יְהוּדָה לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָם״ (יהושע טו א), וְכֵן בְּכֻלָּם. אוֹ יִהְיֶה טַעַם "לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָם" לְכָל מִשְׁפְּחוֹת הַשֵּׁבֶט, אוֹ שֶׁחָלְקוּ הָאָרֶץ לְמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָם וְכָל מִשְׁפָּחָה וּמִשְׁפָּחָה הָיָה חֶלְקָם בְּמָקוֹם אֶחָד וְלֹא תִתְעָרֵב בְּמִשְׁפָּחָה אַחֶרֶת, וְהוּא הַנָּכוֹן בְּעֵינַי:
1[REUBEN, THE FIRSTBORN OF ISRAEL: THE SONS OF REUBEN]: HANOCH, THE FAMILY OF THE HANOCHITES. Perhaps [the reason why the individual families of each tribe are mentioned here is that] when the Land was divided among the tribes [in equal parts] according to the opinion of our Rabbis,32 so that Simeon, the smallest of the tribes,33 took [a share] equal to that of Judah, the most populous of the tribes,34 it was also divided up [amongst each tribe itself] according to the number of families that went down to Egypt. Thus they made out of Reuben’s inheritance four [equal] parts [because it consisted of four main families: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi], and the Hanochites received a share equal to that allotted to the Palluites, the Hezronites, and the Carmites, even though these [four families] were not all equal in the number of names … by their polls35 This is the reason here for counting [the people] in this manner, [namely] by counting the family according to those who went down to Egypt, and it does not mention [here] by their polls, even though it mentions the numbers [of each tribe] as a whole. And when Scripture states [here]: To the more thou shalt give the more inheritance, [and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance,36 which seems to indicate that the Land was divided according to population,37 it refers to the [division amongst the] members of each [small] family,38 families of Reuben, despite differences in their respective populations. Likewise each of the twelve tribes, whether large in population, like Judah, or small like Simeon, received an equal share of the whole Land [that is, equal in value, although not in area] (Baba Bathra 122a). for each [of these minor families] received a share according to their numbers by their polls.35 It is for this reason that in the Book of Joshua [when speaking of] the division of the Land, it says according to their families, as is stated in the verse, And the lot for the tribe of the children of Judah ‘according to their families,’39 and similarly in the case of all the other [tribes]. Or the meaning of [the phrase there] according to their families may be: “to ‘all’ the families of the tribe” [meaning that each minor family of each tribe was taken into account, according to the numbers of its individual members, as explained above]; or that they divided the Land according to their families, so that each family received its share in one place, so that it did not become mixed up with [that of] another family. This [latter interpretation] appears to me to be the correct one.