[ ]Mapping the Familywould depend on the longevity or fecundity of its members at a particu-
lar time.
The term beit av, which Meyers sees as integrating implications about
residence and descent, can also indicate descent alone. In Numbers ,
the term is used to express the way a tribe is subdivided. The Levites
are div ided into three clans (batei av), each associated w ith one of Lev i’s
t h ree sons. T he cla ns a re t hen subd iv ided i nto u n its (mishpahot), each of
which bears the name of one of the grandsons of Levi. At other times, the
term beit av seems to be interchangeable with the word for tribe.^4
While the term beit av is used in rabbinic literature, the usage offers
us little information on the rabbis’ understanding of the family. The
term is used primarily in discussions of the organization of the priests
for service in the Temple. The priests, according to the Mishnah, were
divided into watches (mishmarot) that served in the Temple on a rotat-
ing basis; each mishmar was made up of six batei av. Discussions about
the priests and proper priestly conduct suggest that the batei av were
based on family ties.^5 The term is also used with a possessive beit aviha,
“the house of her father,” to describe the physical residence of a woman
before her marriage and/or her father’s control over her during her mi-
nor it y.^6 The term beit av is not used in rabbinic literature to describe
non-priestly families. The term may have retained some of the familial-
residential connotation it had in the Bible, at least for the priests, but it is
not used in rabbinic literature to describe an extended family.^7
The Hebrew Bible also employs the word mishpaha, wh ich i n moder n
Hebrew means “family,” but the Bible’s use of the word appears to be
much broader. The term mishpaha generally denotes a subdivision of a
t r ibe (mateh or shevet). The precise relationship of the mishpaha and the
beit av is unclear. The terms are used together when a census is taken.^8
The word mishpaha ca n be used more broad ly to spea k of ent i re nat ions,
as in “a l l of t he fa m i lies of t he ea r t h.” It may a lso be used more na r rowly,
as when Dav id requests per m ission to t ravel to Bet h lehem to pa r t icipate
in a “family sacrifice”; this sacrifice may involve more than just his im-
mediate family but need not include all of his father’s lineage.
Carol Meyers argues that mishpaha “is more than a family, although
it may well be a grouping of related family units.” She sees the mishpaha
as a “residential kinship group,” a group of related households that
share a village.^9 N. P. Lemche, however, believes that the mishpaha has