Nachshon ben Aminadav

(1) And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture thereof, and the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and sanctified them; (2) that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’houses, offered—these were the princes of the tribes, these are they that were over them that were numbered. (3) And they brought their offering before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen: a wagon for every two of the princes, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the tabernacle. (4) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (5) ’Take it of them, that they may be to do the service of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service.’ (6) And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them unto the Levites...(10) And the princes brought the dedication-offering of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes brought their offering before the altar. (11) And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘They shall present their offering each prince on his day, for the dedication of the altar.’ (12) And he that presented his offering the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah.

(2) ’Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’houses, according to the number of names, every male, by their polls;

(5) And these are the names of the men that shall stand with you: of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur. (6) Of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. (7) Of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

(23) And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

(18) Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; (19) and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; (20) and Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon;

(12) ויהי המקריב ביום הראשון, “and the prince who was the first one to present these offerings, etc.” The Torah underlines the fact that Nachshon was the first of the twelve princes to present this offering, although merely reading the list would have made this clear, as it wanted us to know that although he did not possess the seniority to be the first, he was accorded that honour. Seeing that in the future the tribe of Yehudah would provide the first Royal dynasty with the appointment of King David, this development, as predicted by Yaakov on his deathbed, is hinted at here. Alternately, he was accorded this honour seeing that he was the brother-in-law of Aaron the High Priest.

(8) Judah, your brothers shall praise... (10) The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, As long as men come to Shiloh; And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be. (11) Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; He washeth his garments in wine, And his vesture in the blood of grapes; (12) His eyes shall be red with wine, And his teeth white with milk.