1 Chronicles 4

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1 The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.
2 Reaiah the son of Shobal became the father of Jahath; and Jahath became the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.
3 These were [the sons of] the father of Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazzelelponi;
4 and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Beth-lehem.
5 Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
6 Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.
7 The sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
8 Hakkoz became the father of Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers: and his mother named him Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow.
10 Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that it not be to my sorrow! God granted him that which he requested.
11 Chelub the brother of Shuhah became the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.
12 Eshton became the father of Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.
13 The sons of Kenaz: Othniel, and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath.
14 Meonothai became the father of Ophrah: and Seraiah became the father of Joab the father of Ge-harashim; for they were craftsmen.
15 The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the sons of Elah; and Kenaz.
16 The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17 The sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and she bore Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.
18 His wife the Jewess bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.
19 The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20 The sons of Shimon: Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth.
21 The 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 those who worked fine linen, of the house of Ashbea;
22 and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubilehem. The records are ancient.
23 These were the potters, and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah: there they lived with the king for his work.
24 The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul;
25 Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
26 The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.
27 Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn't have many children, neither did all their family multiply like the children of Judah.
28 They lived at Beersheba, and Moladah, and Hazarshual,
29 and at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,
30 and at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag,
31 and at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities to the reign of David.
32 Their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;
33 and all their villages that were round about the same cities, to Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy.
34 Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah,
35 and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
36 and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,
37 and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah-
38 these mentioned by name were princes in their families: and their fathers' houses increased greatly.
39 They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
40 They found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for those who lived there before were of Ham.
41 These written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and struck their tents, and the Meunim who were found there, and destroyed them utterly to this day, and lived in their place; because there was pasture there for their flocks.
42 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.
43 They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.

1 Chronicles 4 Commentary

Chapter 4

Genealogies.

- 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.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 4

In this chapter is a further account of the tribe of Judah, and of some principal families in it, 1Ch 4:1-23 and of the tribe of Simeon, their families, cities, and villages, 1Ch 4:24-38 and of the enlargement of their borders, and conquest of the Amalekites, 1Ch 4:39-43.

1 Chronicles 4 Commentaries

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