Son of Amminadab, CHIEFTAIN of the tribe of Judah at the wilderness census (Numbers 1:7; 2:3; 7:12) — and one of the most quietly important names in the Bible's genealogies. His sister Elisheba married Aaron (Exodus 6:23), so he is the high priest's brother-in-law; and the line runs straight from him to the throne and beyond: Nahshon → Salmon → Boaz (who marries Ruth) → Obed → Jesse → King DAVID (Ruth 4:20–22), and on to the Messiah in both Gospel genealogies (Matthew 1:4; Luke 3:32). It is fitting that Judah's chieftain heads the muster and camps first, on the east, leading the march (Numbers 2:3, 9). Jewish tradition (Midrash, and the Talmud at Sotah 37a) honors Nahshon as the first Israelite to step into the Red Sea, before it parted — faith walking in before the water opened.