It is probable that, as in other ancient societies, a name carried spiritual significance. A large majority of the 2,800 personal names found in the Hebrew Bible (shared among about 15,000 persons) convey a specific meaning. The meanings of the remainder have been obscured either through textual corruption or insufficient current understanding of comparative philology. In addition, a considerable number of these names are probably eponyms. There is little doubt that this applies to the names of the Israelite clans, each of which was assumed to be descended from the descendants of Jacob, described in Numbers 26.