1 Chronicles 4 · WEB
Further Genealogies of Judah and Simeon; The Prayer of Jabez
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The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
2Reaiah 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.
3These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, 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 firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.
5Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
6Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.
7The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
8Koz became the father of Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him with sorrow."
10Jabez 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.
11Chelub the brother of Shuhah became the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.
12Eshton became the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These are the men of Recah.
13The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai.
14Meonothai became the father of Ophrah; and Seraiah became the father of Joab the father of Ge Harashim, for they were craftsmen.
15The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
16The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
17The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.
18His Jewish wife bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.
19The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
20The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben Hanan, and Tilon. 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 linen workers in the house of Ashbea,
22and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubi Lehem. The records are ancient.
23These were the potters and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king for his work.
24The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul;
25Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
26The sons of Mishma: Hamuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.
27Shimei 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.
28They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual,
29Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad,
30Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,
31Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities to the reign of David.
32Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan — five cities;
33and all their villages that were around these cities, as far as Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy.
34Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah,
35Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah the son of Seraiah the son of Asiel,
36Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,
37Ziza 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.
39They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
40They found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide and quiet and peaceful; for those who lived there before were of Ham.
41These written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and struck their tents and the Meunim who were found there, and devoted them to destruction to this day, and lived in their place; because there was pasture there for their flocks.
42Some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel the sons of Ishi.
43They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.
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Summary
The chapter resumes Judah's genealogy with various clans and towns, interrupted by the famous two-verse account of Jabez — a man who prayed for blessing, expanded borders, God's presence, and protection from evil, and received exactly what he asked. The second half of the chapter covers the tribe of Simeon, which was geographically surrounded by Judah and gradually absorbed into it; Simeon's clans settled in the Negev and eventually expanded east and south during the reigns of Hezekiah and later kings.
Themes
- Bold, believing prayer
- God's willingness to bless those who seek him
- Simeon's dependence on and absorption into Judah
Key verses
- 1 Chr 4:10 — “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.”
- 1 Chr 4:9 — “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, 'Because I bore him with sorrow.'”
Context & background
The prayer of Jabez is remarkable for its brevity and boldness, standing out in the middle of a long genealogy as a model of faith. Jabez's name sounds like the Hebrew word for "pain" or "sorrow," yet he refused to let his painful origins define his future. Simeon's territory was located within Judah in the Negev desert of modern southern Israel; the tribe never established independent prominence and its cities were gradually absorbed by Judah. The Amalekites (v. 43), a nomadic people of the Sinai and Negev, were traditional enemies of Israel.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 27:6 — Ziklag given to David; mentioned as a Simeonite city here
- James 4:2-3 — "You do not have, because you do not ask" — contrasts with Jabez's bold asking
- Joshua 19:1-9 — Simeon's territory allotted within Judah's inheritance
- Judges 3:9-11 — Othniel of Judah/Kenaz, first judge of Israel
- Matthew 7:7-8 — "Ask, and it will be given to you" — Jabez exemplifies this principle