'Clan' in the Bible

You are to consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom in the land for all its inhabitants. It will be your Jubilee, when each of you is to return to his property and each of you to his clan.

Then he and his children are to be released from you, and he may return to his clan and his ancestral property.

“If a foreigner or temporary resident living among you prospers, but your brother living near him becomes destitute and sells himself to the foreigner living among you, or to a member of the foreigner’s clan,

His uncle or cousin may redeem him, or any of his close relatives from his clan may redeem him. If he prospers, he may redeem himself.

The Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; they camped by their banners in this way and moved out the same way, each man by his clan and by his ancestral house.

The Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan came from Gershon; these were the Gershonite clans.

The Amramite clan, the Izharite clan, the Hebronite clan, and the Uzzielite clan came from Kohath; these were the Kohathites.

The Mahlite clan and the Mushite clan came from Merari; these were the Merarite clans.

Reuben was the firstborn of Israel.Reuben’s descendants:the Hanochite clan from Hanoch;the Palluite clan from Pallu;

the Hezronite clan from Hezron;the Carmite clan from Carmi.

Simeon’s descendants by their clans:the Nemuelite clan from Nemuel;the Jaminite clan from Jamin;the Jachinite clan from Jachin;

the Zerahite clan from Zerah;the Shaulite clan from Shaul.

Gad’s descendants by their clans:the Zephonite clan from Zephon;the Haggite clan from Haggi;the Shunite clan from Shuni;

the Oznite clan from Ozni;the Erite clan from Eri;

the Arodite clan from Arod;the Arelite clan from Areli.

Judah’s descendants by their clans:the Shelanite clan from Shelah;the Perezite clan from Perez;the Zerahite clan from Zerah.

The descendants of Perez:the Hezronite clan from Hezron;the Hamulite clan from Hamul.

Issachar’s descendants by their clans:the Tolaite clan from Tola;the Punite clan from Puvah;

the Jashubite clan from Jashub;the Shimronite clan from Shimron.

Zebulun’s descendants by their clans:the Seredite clan from Sered;the Elonite clan from Elon;the Jahleelite clan from Jahleel.

Manasseh’s descendants:the Machirite clan from Machir.Machir fathered Gilead;the Gileadite clan from Gilead.

These were Gilead’s descendants:the Iezerite clan from Iezer;the Helekite clan from Helek;

the Asrielite clan from Asriel;the Shechemite clan from Shechem;

the Shemidaite clan from Shemida;the Hepherite clan from Hepher;

These were Ephraim’s descendants by their clans:the Shuthelahite clan from Shuthelah;the Becherite clan from Becher;the Tahanite clan from Tahan.

These were Shuthelah’s descendants:the Eranite clan from Eran.

Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:the Belaite clan from Bela;the Ashbelite clan from Ashbel;the Ahiramite clan from Ahiram;

the Shuphamite clan from Shupham;the Huphamite clan from Hupham.

Bela’s descendants from Ard and Naaman:the Ardite clan from Ard;the Naamite clan from Naaman.

These were Dan’s descendants by their clans:the Shuhamite clan from Shuham.These were the clans of Dan by their clans.

Asher’s descendants by their clans:the Imnite clan from Imnah;the Ishvite clan from Ishvi;the Beriite clan from Beriah.

From Beriah’s descendants:the Heberite clan from Heber;the Malchielite clan from Malchiel.

Naphtali’s descendants by their clans:the Jahzeelite clan from Jahzeel;the Gunite clan from Guni;

the Jezerite clan from Jezer;the Shillemite clan from Shillem.

These were the Levites registered by their clans:the Gershonite clan from Gershon;the Kohathite clan from Kohath;the Merarite clan from Merari.

These were the Levite family groups:the Libnite clan,the Hebronite clan,the Mahlite clan,the Mushite clan,and the Korahite clan.Kohath was the ancestor of Amram.

Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan? Since he had no son, give us property among our father’s brothers.”

If his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative of his clan, and he will take possession of it. This is to be a statutory ordinance for the Israelites as the Lord commanded Moses.”

So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled in it.

You are to receive the land as an inheritance by lot according to your clans. Increase the inheritance for a large clan and decrease it for a small one. Whatever place the lot indicates for someone will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to your ancestral tribes.

The family leaders from the clan of the descendants of Gilead—the son of Machir, son of Manasseh—who were from the clans of the sons of Joseph, approached and addressed Moses and the leaders who were over the Israelite families.

This is what the Lord has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they like provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe.

Any daughter who possesses an inheritance from an Israelite tribe must marry someone from the clan of her ancestral tribe, so that each of the Israelites will possess the inheritance of his fathers.

They married men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.

Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit.

In the morning you must present yourselves tribe by tribe. The tribe the Lord selects is to come forward clan by clan. The clan the Lord selects is to come forward family by family. The family the Lord selects is to come forward man by man.

He had the clans of Judah come forward, and the Zerahite clan was selected. He had the Zerahite clan come forward by heads of families, and Zabdi was selected.

Abimelech son of Jerubbaal went to his mother’s brothers at Shechem and spoke to them and to all his maternal grandfather’s clan, saying,

There was a young man, a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, who resided within the clan of Judah.

Saul responded, “Am I not a Benjaminite from the smallest of Israel’s tribes and isn’t my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjaminite tribe? So why have you said something like this to me?”

Then he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by its clans, and the Matrite clan was selected. Finally, Saul son of Kish was selected. But when they searched for him, they could not find him.

Then David responded, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel that I should become the king’s son-in-law?”

If your father misses me at all, say, ‘David urgently requested my permission to quickly go to his town Bethlehem for an annual sacrifice there involving the whole clan.’

He said, ‘Please let me go because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the town, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if you are pleased with me, let me go so I can see my brothers.’ That’s why he didn’t come to the king’s table.”

Now the whole clan has risen up against your servant and said, ‘Hand over the one who killed his brother so we may put him to death for the life of the brother he murdered. We will destroy the heir!’ They would extinguish my one remaining ember by not preserving my husband’s name or posterity on earth.”

Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, Israelites, against the entire clan that I brought from the land of Egypt:

I will remove the blood from their mouthsand the detestable thingsfrom between their teeth.Then they too will become a remnant for our God;they will become like a clan in Judahand Ekron like the Jebusites.