(Mic 5:2), another name for "families" or "clans" (see Nu 1:16; 10:4; Jos 22:14,21). Several "thousands" or "families" made up a "tribe."
These were the men chosen from the congregation. They were the leaders of their ancestors' tribes, and heads of the divisions of Israel.
When only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders of the clans are to gather around you.
Ten leading men went with Phinehas, one from each of the western tribes and each one the head of a family among the clans.
The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered the heads of the families of the western tribes:
You Bethlehem Ephrathah who are little to be among the thousands of Judah. Out of you one will come to me who is to be ruler in Israel! His origin is from of old, from everlasting (days of antiquity) (ancient times).