1 Chronicles 4
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CHAPTER 4
Other Clans of Judah (4:1–23)
1–23 These verses list additional descendants of Judah, son of Israel (Jacob) and founder of the chosen tribe of Judah.
In verses 9–10, the writer mentions a man called Jabez, whose name in Hebrew sounds like the word for “pain.” His mother had given him that name because of the pain she had endured while giving birth to him (see John 16:21–24); but her pain was soon replaced by the joy of having a son more honorable than his brothers (verse 9).
The writer quotes a prayer of Jabez in which Jabez asks God to bless him and to enlarge [his] territory (verse 10). This is a prayer that all of us can repeat. We need to ask God to “enlarge our territory.” As humans, we are limited, weak, and often “boxed in” by circumstances. Jabez teaches us to enlarge our vision, to ask great things of God—not only earthly things but spiritual things also. Think of the Apostle Paul, “boxed in” by a prison cell; and yet from that cell flowed some of the greatest writings in all of human history. Let our prayers be big, because our God is big. The writer adds: And God granted [Jabez’s] request.
Simeon (4:24–43)
24–43 These verses list the descendants of Simeon (see Joshua 19:1–9 and comment).