1 Chronicles 4
New English Translation
Judah’s Descendants
4 The descendants of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
2 Reaiah the son of Shobal was the father of Jahath, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the Zorathites.
3 These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. Their sister was Hazzelelponi.
4 Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem.
5 Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. 7 The sons of Helah: Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, 8 and Koz, who was the father of Anub, Hazzobebah, and the clans of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9 Jabez was more respected than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, for she said, “I experienced pain when I gave birth to him.”[a] 10 Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only[b] you would greatly bless me and expand my territory.[c] May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm[d] so I might not endure pain.” God answered his prayer.[e]
11 Kelub, the brother of Shuhah, was the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12 Eshton was the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of Ir Nahash.[f] These were the men of Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah.
The sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai.[g] 14 Meonothai was the father of Ophrah.
Seraiah was the father of Joab, the father of those who live in the Valley of the Craftsmen,[h] for they were craftsmen.
15 The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam.
The son of Elah: Kenaz.[i]
16 The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17 The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon.
Mered’s wife Bithiah[j] gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa. 18 (His Judahite wife gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) These were the sons of Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered married.[k]
19 The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham: the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20 The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben Hanan, and Tilon.
The descendants of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben Zoheth.[l]
21 The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, the clans of the linen workers at Beth Ashbea, 22 Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, both of whom ruled in Moab and Jashubi Lehem. (This information is from ancient records.)[m] 23 They were the potters who lived in Netaim and Gederah; they lived there and worked for the king.[n]
Simeon’s Descendants
24 The descendants of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul, 25 his son Shallum, his son Mibsam, and his son Mishma.
26 The descendants of Mishma: his son Hammuel, his son Zaccur, and his son Shimei.
27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many sons, so their whole clan was not as numerous as the sons of Judah. 28 They lived in Beer Sheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri, and Shaaraim. These were their towns until the reign of David. 32 Their settlements also included Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns, 33 along with all their settlements that surrounded these towns as far as Baal.[o] These were the places where they lived; they kept genealogical records.
34 Their clan leaders were:[p] Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, 35 Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah (son of Seraiah, son of Asiel), 36 Eleoenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, 37 Ziza son of Shipi (son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah). 38 These who are named above were the leaders of their clans.
Their extended families increased greatly in numbers. 39 They went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east of the valley, looking for pasture for their sheep. 40 They found fertile and rich pasture; the land was very broad, undisturbed and peaceful. Indeed some Hamites had been living there before that. 41 The men whose names are listed came during the time of King Hezekiah of Judah and attacked the Hamites’ settlements,[q] as well as the Meunites they discovered there, and they wiped them out, as can be seen to this very day. They dispossessed them,[r] for they found pasture for their sheep there. 42 Five hundred men of Simeon, led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, went to the hill country of Seir 43 and defeated the rest of the Amalekite refugees;[s] they live there to this very day.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 4:9 tn In Hebrew the name יַעְבֵּץ (yaʿbets, “Jabez”) sounds like the noun עֹצֶב (ʿotsev) which means “pain.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:10 tn Here the word אִם (ʾim, “if only”) begins an oath formula (see HALOT 60 s.v. and GKC 151e, 159dd, 167a). A full reporting of the oath would include both the request made of God and the promise made to God (cf. Gen 28:20; Num 21:2; Judg 11:30; 1 Sam 1:11; 2 Sam 15:8; Ps 81:9-14). Jabez’ promise is not recorded here, only that God granted his request. Perhaps Jabez’ vow in return had not been preserved by tradition and so the author could not include it, or perhaps those details were simply less important to the purpose of the book. Likely the author wants to emphasize to the post-exilic community (the original audience of the book) that God answers prayer, including concerns for their borders. That God granted his request implies that Jabez was faithful to his vow, so that his destiny was different than the expectation arising from his namesake. This should challenge the audience to consider their own faithfulness to God.
- 1 Chronicles 4:10 sn It is not certain whether the person Jabez should be connected with the town Jabez mentioned in 1 Chr 2:55. If Jabez were the head of the town (“more respected than his brothers” v. 9), then the request for an enlarged territory would not be a simple request for his own benefit, but an example of a leader of character whose faithfulness to God benefits those under his leadership.
- 1 Chronicles 4:10 tc The Hebrew text is difficult. As it stands in the MT, it says “and do some harm so that I might not be hurt.” When directly modifying עָשָׂה (ʿasah; “to do”), the preposition מִן (min; “from,”) can indicate the source or type of action, hence “do some harm” (cf. Lev 4:22; 18:30). But this makes little sense in context unless we suppose with no other basis that it refers to harming enemies. There is no other example of the privative use of מִן (min) with the verb עָשָׂה (ʿasah), which would have meant “act so as to prevent” harm. And one expects it would be confusing to use מִן (min) for both the type of action done and the type of action excluded or prevented. On the basis of a parallel to Isa 26:18, BHS suggests inserting יְשׁוּעָתִי (yeshuati; “my salvation”) on the possibility that it was omitted by haplography (as “do” and “my salvation,” עָשִׂיתָ and יְשׁוּעָתִי, share similar consonants). This would mean “perform my salvation from harm.” Instead of מֵרָעָה (meraʿah; “from harm”), the LXX has γνῶσιν (gnosin; “knowledge”) which normally stands for Hebrew דַעַת (daʿat) or דֵעָה (deʿah) “knowledge; wisdom,” implying a simple confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר). The Greek text says “do/produce wisdom so that I will not be humiliated,” though the Hebrew behind this would be “act wisely so that I will not be grieved.” Rather than ask God to act wisely, we might suppose that the verb was first singular “may your hand be with me so that I may act wisely in order to not be grieved.” This would involve the loss of a yod at the end of the verb, which matches the verbal forms preceding it. Finally one might suppose that instead of רָעָה (raʿah; “harm”), some form of the root of רֵעָה (reʿah; “friend”) was original, meaning something like, “act from friendship…” but there is no direct parallel for this.
- 1 Chronicles 4:10 tn Heb “and God brought about what he had asked.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:12 tn Or “of the city of Nahash.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:13 tc “Meonothai” is read here by some mss of the LXX, along with the Vulgate. The name apparently was dropped from the Hebrew text by haplography. Note that the name appears at the beginning of the next verse as well.
- 1 Chronicles 4:14 tn Heb “Ge-harashim,” which could be left untranslated as a place name.
- 1 Chronicles 4:15 tn Heb “and the sons of Elah and Kenaz.” Kenaz was actually the son of Elah.
- 1 Chronicles 4:17 tn The Hebrew text has simply, “and she gave birth to,” without identifying the subject. The words “Mered’s wife Bithiah” are added in the translation for clarification. See v. 18b, which mentions “Bethiah, whom Mered married.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:18 tn Heb “took,” referring to taking in marriage.
- 1 Chronicles 4:20 tn Or “and the son of Zoheth” (NAB). The word בֶּן (ben) in Hebrew means “son [of].”
- 1 Chronicles 4:22 tn Heb “and the words are old.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:23 tn Heb “and those who lived in Netaim and Gederah; with the king in his work they lived there.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:33 tc Some LXX mss read “Baalath” (cf. Josh 19:8). This is followed by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
- 1 Chronicles 4:34 tn The words “their clan leaders were” are added in the translation for clarification. See v. 38a, which makes this clear.
- 1 Chronicles 4:41 tn The Hebrew text reads “their tents,” apparently referring to those of the Hamites mentioned at the end of v. 40. Some prefer to emend the text to read, “the tents of Ham.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:41 tn Heb “and they lived in place of them.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:43 tn Heb “and struck down the remnant that had escaped belonging to Amalek.”
1 Chronicles 4
Living Bible
4 These are the sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur,
2 Shobal’s son Reaiah was the father of Jahath, the ancestor of Ahumai and Lahad. These were known as the Zorathite clans.
3-4 The descendants of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, Idbash, Hazzelelponi (his daughter), Penuel (the ancestor of Gedor), Ezer (the ancestor of Hushah), the son of Hur, the oldest son of Ephrathah, who was the father of Bethlehem.
5 Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives—
6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari; 7 and Helah bore him Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
8 Koz was the father of Anub and Zobebah; he was also the ancestor of the clan named after Aharhel, the son of Harum.
9 Jabez was more distinguished than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because she had such a hard time at his birth (Jabez means[a] “Distress”).
10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would wonderfully bless me and help me in my work; please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all evil and disaster!” And God granted him his request.
11-12 The descendants of Recah were:
Chelub (the brother of Shuhah), whose son was Mahir, the father of
Eshton was the father of Bethrapha, Paseah, and
Tehinnah was the father of Irnahash.
13 The sons of Kenaz were
Othniel’s sons were Hathath and
14 Meonothai was the father of Ophrah;
Seraiah was the father of Joab, the ancestor of the inhabitants of Craftsman Valley (called that because many craftsmen lived there).
15 The sons of Caleb (the son of Jephunneh): Iru,
The sons of Elah included Kenaz.
16 Jehallelel’s sons were: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, Asarel.
17 Ezrah’s sons were: Jether,
Mered married Bithiah, an Egyptian princess. She was the mother of Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah—an ancestor of
18 Eshtemoa’s wife was a Jewess; she was the mother of Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel, who were, respectively, the ancestors of the Gedorites, Socoites, and Zanoahites.
19 Hodiah’s wife was the sister of Naham. One of her sons was the father of Keilah the Garmite, and another was the father of Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20 The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, Tilon.
The sons of Ishi: Zoheth, Ben-zoheth.
21-22 The sons of Shelah (the son of Judah):
Er (the father of Lecah),
Laadah (the father of Mareshah),
The families of the linen workers who worked at Beth-ashbea,
Jokim,
The clans of Cozeba,
Joash,
Saraph (who was a ruler in Moab before he returned to Lehem).
These names all come from very ancient records.
23 These clans were noted for their pottery, gardening, and planting; they all worked for the king.
24 The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah,
25 Shaul’s son was Shallum, his grandson was Mibsam, and his great-grandson was
26 Mishma’s sons included Hammuel (the father of Zaccur and grandfather of
27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but none of his brothers had large families—they all had fewer children than was normal in Judah.
28 They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29 Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, 30 Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These cities were under their control until the time of David.
32-33 Their descendants also lived in or near Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan; some were as far away as Baal. (These facts are recorded in their genealogies.)
34-39 These are the names of some of the princes of wealthy clans who traveled to the east side of Gedor Valley in search of pasture for their flocks: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah, Joel, Jehu, Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, Ziza (the son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah).
40-41 They found good pastures, and everything was quiet and peaceful; but the land belonged to the descendants of Ham.
So during the reign of King Hezekiah of Judah these princes invaded the land and struck down the tents and houses of the descendants of Ham; they killed the inhabitants of the land and took possession of it for themselves.
42 Later, five hundred of these invaders from the tribe of Simeon went to Mount Seir. (Their leaders were Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel—all sons of Ishi.)
43 There they destroyed the few surviving members of the tribe of Amalek. And they have lived there ever since.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 4:9 Jabez means. A play on words. Jabez sounds like ozeb, the Hebrew word meaning “distress.”
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