H8635 H8635
brood of, offspring of (contemptuous term for descendants or progeny)
This noun means 'increase' or 'brood,' but in Numbers 32:14 carries a distinctly contemptuous tone. Moses rebukes the Reubenites and Gadites as 'a brood of sinful men'—that is, offspring who have inherited and perpetuate their ancestors' sinfulness. The term derives from a root meaning 'to increase' or 'multiply,' but in this context emphasizes not merely quantity but quality: they are an increase of evil, a proliferation of rebellion. The word parallels מַרְבִּית in 1 Samuel 2:33, which also denotes 'increase' in a negative sense. The contemptuous force comes from calling adult men a 'brood,' as if they were merely breeding more sin.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Denotes a brood, offspring, or progeny, used contemptuously in Numbers 32:14 to characterize the Reubenites and Gadites as 'a brood of sinful men.' The term emphasizes hereditary continuity of sin—these are the offspring who perpetuate their fathers' rebellion. The root sense of 'increase' takes on negative moral coloring: they are an increase of wickedness, a multiplication of transgression. Spanish 'cría' (brood, offspring) and English 'brood' both capture the contemptuous overtone of treating grown men as mere breeding stock for sin. The term underscores generational patterns of disobedience. 1×
AR["نَسْلَ"]·ben["বংশবৃদ্ধি"]·DE["brood-von"]·EN["brood-of"]·FR["brood-de"]·heb["תרבות"]·HI["वृद्धि"]·ID["keturunan"]·IT["brood-di"]·jav["tutuwuhan"]·KO["무리가"]·PT["cria-de"]·RU["порождение"]·ES["cría-de"]·SW["kizazi-cha"]·TR["çoğalması"]·urd["بڑھوتی"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תַּרְבּוּת n.f. increase, brood;—cstr. in phr. ת׳ אֲנָשִׁים חַטָּאִים Nu 32:14 a brood (contempt.) of sinful men (cf. מַרְבִּית 1 S 2:33).