Translation
12,000 sealed from the tribe of JUDAH,
Go to footnote number12,000 from the tribe of
REUBEN,
Go to footnote number12,000 from the tribe of GAD
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
God will protect All those that
PRAISE YAWEH,
All those whose MISERY HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH JOY AND RESPECT,
All those who know from experience that it is FORTUNATE to be in the right army (God’s army) because there is STRENGTH IN NUMBERS,
Footnotes
1
Judah means “Praise YHVH.” (See Gen 29:31-30:24 for the circumstances that surrounded the naming of each of the sons of Jacob).
2
Reuben means “Behold a Son.” This was important because of the other things it brought—Joy and Respect. It also sounds like the Hebrew word for “misery.” In Leah’s case, at the birth of her first born, Reuben, joy and respect replaced the misery she had previously experienced.
3
The name Gad means “fortunate” and that fits the words that Leah pronounced at Gad’s birth (Gen 30:11) – “And Leah said ‘How fortunate!’ so she called his name Gad – fortunate.” In fact the name given is only slightly different than the word “fortunate” used earlier in her statement. The word “fortunate” comes from a root word meaning “troop,” and several Bibles and other resources list the name’s meaning as simply “troop.” However, to say the name means troop does not help the reader understand the intended meaning in its fullest sense. What Leah had in mind was this -there is good fortune (good results) in large numbers. Leah had borne Jacob four sons and then stopped bearing. Now she was able to have more sons through her surrogate – Zilpah. This was fortuitous for her in that she could continue to make Jacob happy with more sons. The point was that there is strength in numbers, not only in battles between military forces, but also in battles between sisters.