1 Chronicles4

American Standard Version · Public Domain

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¹The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.

²And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.

³And these were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi;

⁴and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephrathah, the father of Beth-lehem.

⁵And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.

⁶And Naarah bare him Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.

⁷And the sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.

⁸And Hakkoz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.

⁹And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.

¹⁰And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it be not to my sorrow! And God granted him that which he requested.

¹¹And Chelub the brother of Shuhah begat Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.

¹²And Eshton begat Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.

¹³And the sons of Kenaz: Othniel, and Seraiah. And the sons of Othniel: Hathath.

¹⁴And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab the father of Ge-harashim; for they were craftsmen.

¹⁵And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the sons of Elah; and Kenaz.

¹⁶And the sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.

¹⁷And the sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.

¹⁸And his wife the Jewess bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.

¹⁹And the sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.

²⁰And the sons of Shimon: Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi: Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth.

²¹The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea;

²²and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And the records are ancient.

²³These were the potters, and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah: there they dwelt with the king for his work.

²⁴The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul;

²⁵Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.

²⁶And the sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.

²⁷And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Judah.

²⁸And they dwelt at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-shual,

²⁹and at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,

³⁰and at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag,

³¹and at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities unto the reign of David.

³²And their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;

³³and all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy.

³⁴And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah,

³⁵and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,

³⁶and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,

³⁷and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah—

³⁸these mentioned by name were princes in their families: and their fathers’ houses increased greatly.

³⁹And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.

⁴⁰And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they that dwelt there aforetime were of Ham.

⁴¹And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the Meunim that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their stead; because there was pasture there for their flocks.

⁴²And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.

⁴³And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped, and have dwelt there unto this day.

Study Guide

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Chronicles 4.

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Chapter Summary

In this chapter: Genealogies. (1-43).

vv1-43

In this chapter we have a further account of Judah, the most numerous and most famous of all the tribes; also an account of Simeon. The most remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. We are not told upon what account Jabez was more honourable than his brethren; but we find that he was a praying man. The way to be truly great, is to seek to do God's will, and to pray earnestly. Here is the prayer he made. Jabez prayed to the living and true God, who alone can hear and answer prayer; and, in prayer he regarded him as a God in covenant with his people. He does not express his promise, but leaves it to be understood; he was afraid to promise in his own strength, and resolved to devote himself entirely to God. Lord, if thou wilt bless me and keep me, do what thou wilt with me; I will be at thy command and disposal for ever. As the text reads it, this was the language of a most ardent and affectionate desire, Oh that thou wouldest bless me! Four things Jabez prayed for. 1. That God would bless him indeed. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings: God's blessings are real things, and produce real effects. 2. That He would enlarge his coast. That God would enlarge our hearts, and so enlarge our portion in himself, and in the heavenly Canaan, ought to be our desire and prayer. 3. That God's hand might be with him. God's hand with us, to lead us, protect us, strengthen us, and to work all our works in us and for us, is a hand all-sufficient for us. 4. That he would keep him from evil, the evil of sin, the evil of trouble, all the evil designs of his enemies, that they might not hurt, nor make him a Jabez indeed, a man of sorrow. God granted that which he requested. God is ever ready to hear prayer: his ear is not now heavy.

Key Words

sonsH1121Hebrew

בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)

JudahH3063Hebrew

יְהוּדָה: Jehudah (or Judah), the name of five Israelites; also of the tribe descended from the first, and of its territory

PerezH6557Hebrew

פֶּרֶץ: Perets, the name of two Israelites

HezronH2696Hebrew

חֶצְרוֹן: Chetsron, the name of a place in Palestine; also of two Israelites

CarmiH3756Hebrew

כַּרְמִי: Karmi, the name of three Israelites

HurH2354Hebrew

חוּר: Chur, the name of four Israelites and one Midianite

ShobalH7732Hebrew

שׁוֹבָל: Shobal, the name of an Edomite and two Israelites