Pedahzur

Pedahzur is the father of Gamaliel, the wilderness-era prince of the tribe of Manasseh. The name appears as a patronymic — within these verses Pedahzur himself does not speak or act — and it surfaces in five verses of Numbers, all clustered around the census, the camp arrangement, the tabernacle dedication, and the order of march out from Sinai.

Father of the Prince of Manasseh

Pedahzur enters the narrative through his son's appointment. When Yahweh tells Moses to take a census of Israel by their fathers' houses, the named delegate from each tribe stands as that tribe's head; the Joseph tribes appear together: "Of the sons of Joseph: Of Ephraim: Elishama the son of Ammihud. Of Manasseh: Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 1:10). The patronymic "the son of Pedahzur" is the only thing said of him, and it identifies Gamaliel — and through Gamaliel, the leadership of Manasseh — by his paternal line.

In the Camp

When the tribes are arrayed around the tabernacle on the west side of the camp under the standard of Ephraim, Manasseh takes its place beside its sister tribe: "And next to him will be the tribe of Manasseh: and the prince of the sons of Manasseh will be Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 2:20). Pedahzur's name marks his son's office — "prince of the sons of Manasseh" — within the encampment order.

The Eighth-Day Offering

In the twelve-day sequence of tribal princes' offerings at the tabernacle's dedication, Gamaliel's day is the eighth. The notice opening his oblation names him by the patronymic and the office: "On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the sons of Manasseh:" (Nu 7:54). The closing summary of his offering returns to the same identification: "and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs a year old: this was the oblation of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 7:59). The bookending of the dedication notice with "the son of Pedahzur" is the textual frame within which Pedahzur's name is preserved.

At the Head of Manasseh's Host

When Israel breaks camp from Sinai and moves out by tribal hosts, the leadership names of each tribe are restated. For Manasseh: "And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur" (Nu 10:23). The same patronymic that identified Gamaliel at the census, in the camp, and at the dedication identifies him again at the order of march — the four contexts in which Pedahzur is named are the four contexts in which Manasseh's tribal leadership is being formally registered.