1 Chronicles 7 in Hebrew & English

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Tenakh Study · Read 1 Chronicles in Hebrew and English, one chapter per page. Our Tenakh study meets every Wednesday at 7 pm (Central Time) on Zoom. Text us for the Zoom link. Our Messianic Jewish notes appear below each passage; tap Commentary above to hide them. The full commentary on this chapter is on our 1 Chronicles commentary page.

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Tenakh Study · 1 Chronicles 7:1–40

1 Chronicles, Chapter 7

דברי הימים א ז

The families and fighting men of Yissachar, Binyamin, Naftali, Menashe, Efrayim and Asher, with Machir and the daughters of Tzelofchad, Efrayim’s sons slain by the men of Gat and the birth of Beri’ah, She’erah who built Beit Choron, the line down to Yehoshua, and the towns of the sons of Yosef.

The sons of Yissachar

7:1Now the sons of Yissachar (Issachar) were, Tola, and Pu’ah (Puah), Yashuv (Jashub), and Shimron (Shimrom), four.

אוְלִבְנֵ֣י יִשָׂשכָ֗ר תּוֹלָ֧ע וּפוּאָ֛ה יָשׁ֥וּב (כתיב ישיב) וְשִׁמְר֖וֹן אַרְבָּעָֽה׃

7:2And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Refayah (Rephaiah), and Yeri’el (Jeriel), and Yachmai (Jahmai), and Yivsam (Jibsam), and Shmuel (Shemuel), heads of their father’s house, to wit, of Tola: they were valiant men of might in their generations; whose number was in the days of David two and twenty thousand and six hundred.

בוּבְנֵ֣י תוֹלָ֗ע עֻזִּ֡י וּרְפָיָ֡ה וִֽ֠ירִיאֵל וְיַחְמַ֨י וְיִבְשָׂ֜ם וּשְׁמוּאֵ֗ל רָאשִׁ֤ים לְבֵית־אֲבוֹתָם֙ לְתוֹלָ֔ע גִּבּ֥וֹרֵי חַ֖יִל לְתֹלְדוֹתָ֑ם מִסְפָּרָם֙ בִּימֵ֣י דָוִ֔יד עֶשְׂרִֽים־וּשְׁנַ֥יִם אֶ֖לֶף וְשֵׁ֥שׁ מֵאֽוֹת׃

7:3And the sons of Uzzi; Yizrachyah (Izrahiah): and the sons of Yizrachyah; Micha’el (Michael), and Ovadyah (Obadiah), and Yo’el (Joel), Yishiyah (Ishiah), five: all of them chief men.

גוּבְנֵ֥י עֻזִּ֖י יִֽזְרַֽחְיָ֑ה וּבְנֵ֣י יִֽזְרַֽחְיָ֗ה מִֽיכָאֵ֡ל וְ֠עֹבַדְיָה וְיוֹאֵ֧ל יִשִּׁיָּ֛ה חֲמִשָּׁ֖ה רָאשִׁ֥ים כֻּלָּֽם׃

7:4And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, were bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand men: for they had many wives and sons.

דוַעֲלֵיהֶ֨ם לְתֹלְדוֹתָ֜ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבוֹתָ֗ם גְּדוּדֵי֙ צְבָ֣א מִלְחָמָ֔ה שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים וְשִׁשָּׁ֖ה אָ֑לֶף כִּֽי־הִרְבּ֥וּ נָשִׁ֖ים וּבָנִֽים׃

7:5And their brethren among all the families of Yissachar were valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies eighty and seven thousand.

הוַאֲחֵיהֶ֗ם לְכֹל֙ מִשְׁפְּח֣וֹת יִשָׂשכָ֔ר גִּבּוֹרֵ֖י חֲיָלִ֑ים שְׁמוֹנִ֤ים וְשִׁבְעָה֙ אֶ֔לֶף הִתְיַחְשָׂ֖ם לַכֹּֽל׃

Commentary · 7:1–5

Yissachar, the tribe that understood the times

The chapter opens with Yissachar’s four sons and then does what it will do all through these lists: it counts soldiers. Tola’s house alone had 22,600 “valiant men of might” in David’s day, and the whole tribe came to 87,000 (7:2–5). These are military rolls, probably from David’s census, kept so the returned community would know that the northern tribes were once strong and were counted.

Yissachar’s fame is not its army. Among the men who came to crown David at Chevron were “the children of Yissachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (12:33). The Talmud makes that the mark of the tribe: “You will not find a Torah scholar who issues rulings unless he is from the tribe of Levi or from the tribe of Yissachar” (Yoma 26a). The Midrash says two hundred heads of the Sanhedrin came from Yissachar (Bereshit Rabbah 72:5), and Rashi on Deuteronomy 33:18 explains the old partnership: Zevulun traded and fed Yissachar, who sat in the tents of Torah.

The Chronicler counts Yissachar’s soldiers; the sages count its scholars. Yeshua rebuked a generation that could read the sky: “can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3). Yissachar is the tribe that could.

Read more in the full commentary →

The sons of Binyamin

7:6The sons of Binyamin (Benjamin); Bela, and Becher, and Yedia’el (Jediael), three.

ובִּנְיָמִ֗ן בֶּ֧לַע וָבֶ֛כֶר וִידִֽיעֲאֵ֖ל שְׁלֹשָֽׁה׃

7:7And the sons of Bela; Etzbon (Ezbon), and Uzzi, and Uzzi’el (Uzziel), and Yerimot (Jerimoth), and Iri, five; heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour; and were reckoned by their genealogies twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.

זוּבְנֵ֣י בֶ֗לַע אֶצְבּ֡וֹן וְעֻזִּ֡י וְ֠עֻזִּיאֵל וִירִימ֨וֹת וְעִירִ֜י חֲמִשָּׁ֗ה רָאשֵׁי֙ בֵּ֣ית אָב֔וֹת גִּבּוֹרֵ֖י חֲיָלִ֑ים וְהִתְיַחְשָׂ֗ם עֶשְׂרִ֤ים וּשְׁנַ֨יִם֙ אֶ֔לֶף וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖ים וְאַרְבָּעָֽה׃

7:8And the sons of Becher; Zemirah (Zemira), and Yo’ash (Joash), and Eli’ezer (Eliezer), and Elyo’enai (Elioenai), and Omri, and Yeremot (Jerimoth), and Aviyah (Abiah), and Anatot (Anathoth), and Alamet (Alameth). All these are the sons of Becher.

חוּבְנֵ֣י בֶ֗כֶר זְמִירָ֡ה וְיוֹעָ֡שׁ וֶ֠אֱלִיעֶזֶר וְאֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֤י וְעָמְרִי֙ וִירֵמ֣וֹת וַאֲבִיָּ֔ה וַעֲנָת֖וֹת וְעָלָ֑מֶת כָּל־אֵ֖לֶּה בְּנֵי־בָֽכֶר׃

7:9And the number of them, after their genealogy by their generations, heads of the house of the fathers, mighty men of valour, was twenty thousand and two hundred.

טוְהִתְיַחְשָׂ֣ם לְתֹלְדוֹתָ֗ם רָאשֵׁי֙ בֵּ֣ית אֲבוֹתָ֔ם גִּבּוֹרֵ֖י חָ֑יִל עֶשְׂרִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף וּמָאתָֽיִם׃

7:10The sons also of Yedia’el; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan; Ye’ush (Jeush), and Binyamin, and Ehud, and Kena’anah (Chenaanah), and Zetan (Zethan), and Tarshish (Tharshish), and Achishachar (Ahishahar).

יוּבְנֵ֥י יְדִיעֲאֵ֖ל בִּלְהָ֑ן וּבְנֵ֣י בִלְהָ֗ן יְע֡וּשׁ (כתיב יעיש) וּ֠בִנְיָמִן וְאֵה֤וּד וּֽכְנַעֲנָה֙ וְזֵיתָ֔ן וְתַרְשִׁ֖ישׁ וַאֲחִישָֽׁחַר׃

7:11All these the sons of Yedia’el, by the heads of their fathers, mighty men of valour, were seventeen thousand and two hundred soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle.

יאכָּל־אֵ֜לֶּה בְּנֵ֤י יְדִֽיעֲאֵל֙ לְרָאשֵׁ֣י הָאָב֔וֹת גִּבּוֹרֵ֖י חֲיָלִ֑ים שִׁבְעָֽה־עָשָׂ֥ר אֶ֨לֶף֙ וּמָאתַ֔יִם יֹצְאֵ֥י צָבָ֖א לַמִּלְחָמָֽה׃

7:12Shupim (Shuppim) also, and Chupim (Huppim), the children of Ir, and Chushim (Hushim), the sons of Acher (Aher).

יבוְשֻׁפִּ֤ם וְחֻפִּם֙ בְּנֵ֣י עִ֔יר חֻשִׁ֖ם בְּנֵ֥י אַחֵֽר׃

Commentary · 7:6–12

Binyamin, and a tribe called “Another”

Genesis 46:21 gives Binyamin ten sons, Numbers 26:38–39 five, this chapter three, and chapter 8 five with different names. The traditional answer is that the lists come from different times: some sons died childless, some appear under two names (Yedia’el is often taken to be Ashbel), and a clan can be counted under a father or a grandfather. Chronicles copies several registers and lets us see the seams.

Then a strange verse: “Shupim also, and Chupim, the children of Ir, and Chushim, the sons of Acher” (7:12). Chushim is the only son of Dan (Genesis 46:23), and אַחֵר (Acher) means “another.” The traditional commentators, Rashi on Chronicles among them, read “the sons of Another” as the sons of Dan, named sideways because of the idol that stood in Dan from the Judges to the fall of the north (Judges 18:30; 1 Kings 12:29). Whatever the reason, Dan has no family list anywhere in these nine chapters, and neither does Zevulun.

FFOZ notices the same silence in Revelation 7, which seals twelve thousand from each tribe and leaves Dan out. Irenaeus and Hippolytus built a theory that the antichrist would come from Dan; FFOZ calls that “not a very persuasive argument” and notes that it became “a favorite topic for antisemitic conspiracies” (End of Days, Lesson 12, “Acharit HaYamim”). A tribe can be hidden in a list without being cut off from Israel; Ezekiel’s restored land still has a portion for Dan, named first (Ezekiel 48:1).

Read more in the full commentary →

The sons of Naftali

7:13The sons of Naftali (Naphtali); Yachatzi’el (Jahziel), and Guni, and Yetzer (Jezer), and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.

יגבְּנֵ֣י נַפְתָּלִ֗י יַחֲצִיאֵ֧ל וְגוּנִ֛י וְיֵ֥צֶר וְשַׁלּ֖וּם בְּנֵ֥י בִלְהָֽה׃

Commentary · 7:13

Naftali, in one verse

“The sons of Naftali; Yachatzi’el, and Guni, and Yetzer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah” (7:13). That is all. The closing words quietly group Naftali with Dan, Bilhah’s other son, who has just gone by as “Another.”

Naftali’s land was the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it was Naftali that Isaiah had in view when he promised that the Assyrian darkness would not last: “the land of Zevulun and the land of Naftali… Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light” (Isaiah 8:23–9:1).

Messianic reading. Matthew quotes those words when Yeshua settles in Capernaum, “in the borders of Zevulun and Naftali” (Matthew 4:13–16). Our Statement of Faith notes that even the Zohar expected the King Messiah to be revealed first in Galilee. The tribe that gets one verse in Chronicles gets the first light of the kingdom.

Read more in the full commentary →

The sons of Menashe

7:14The sons of Menashe (Manasseh); Asri’el (Ashriel), whom she bore: (but his concubine the Aramiyah (Aramitess) bore Machir the father of Gil’ad (Gilead):

ידבְּנֵ֣י מְנַשֶּׁ֔ה אַשְׂרִיאֵ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָלָ֑דָה פִּֽילַגְשׁוֹ֙ הָֽאֲרַמִּיָּ֔ה יָלְדָ֕ה אֶת־מָכִ֖יר אֲבִ֥י גִלְעָֽד׃

7:15And Machir took to wife the sister of Chupim and Shupim, whose sister’s name was Ma’achah (Maachah);) and the name of the second was Tzelofchad (Zelophehad): and Tzelofchad had daughters.

טווּמָכִ֞יר לָקַ֤ח אִשָּׁה֙ לְחֻפִּ֣ים וּלְשֻׁפִּ֔ים וְשֵׁ֤ם אֲחֹתוֹ֙ מַעֲכָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖י צְלָפְחָ֑ד וַתִּהְיֶ֥נָה לִצְלָפְחָ֖ד בָּנֽוֹת׃

7:16And Ma’achah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sharesh (Sheresh); and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

טזוַתֵּ֨לֶד מַעֲכָ֤ה אֵֽשֶׁת־מָכִיר֙ בֵּ֔ן וַתִּקְרָ֤א שְׁמוֹ֙ פֶּ֔רֶשׁ וְשֵׁ֥ם אָחִ֖יו שָׁ֑רֶשׁ וּבָנָ֖יו אוּלָ֥ם וָרָֽקֶם׃

7:17And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gil’ad, the son of Machir, the son of Menashe.

יזוּבְנֵ֥י אוּלָ֖ם בְּדָ֑ן אֵ֚לֶּה בְּנֵ֣י גִלְעָ֔ד בֶּן־מָכִ֖יר בֶּן־מְנַשֶּֽׁה׃

7:18And his sister Hamolechet (Hammoleketh) bore Ishhod (Ishod), and Avi’ezer (Abiezer), and Machlah (Mahalah).

יחוַאֲחֹת֖וֹ הַמֹּלֶ֑כֶת יָלְדָה֙ אֶת־אִישְׁה֔וֹד וְאֶת־אֲבִיעֶ֖זֶר וְאֶת־מַחְלָֽה׃

7:19And the sons of Shemida (Shemidah) were, Achyan (Ahian), and Shechem, and Likchi (Likhi), and Ani’am (Aniam).

יטוַיִּהְי֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י שְׁמִידָ֑ע אַחְיָ֣ן וָשֶׁ֔כֶם וְלִקְחִ֖י וַאֲנִיעָֽם׃

Commentary · 7:14–19

Menashe: Machir, Gil’ad and the daughters of Tzelofchad

The Hebrew of 7:14–15 is difficult, but the outline is clear. Menashe’s son Machir, born of an Aramean concubine, is “the father of Gil’ad”; the Machirites took Gil’ad in Moshe’s day (Numbers 32:39–40). Through Machir come the clans Numbers 26:29–33 also knows, including Avi’ezer (7:18), the family of Gid’on (Judges 6:11).

And this: “the name of the second was Tzelofchad: and Tzelofchad had daughters” (7:15). The Chronicler does not need to name them. Everyone knew Machlah, No’ah, Choglah, Milkah and Tirtzah, who asked Moshe for their father’s inheritance and were told, “The daughters of Tzelofchad speak right” (Numbers 27:7).

The Talmud praises them in three words: wise, expounders of Torah, and righteous (Bava Batra 119b). Rashi on Numbers 26:64 adds that the decree of death in the wilderness fell on the men and not the women, because the women loved the land: the men said, “let us return into Mitzrayim” (Numbers 14:4); the daughters said, “Give unto us… a possession” (Numbers 27:4). The Chronicler, writing for people who had just come back to the land, names a family whose daughters wanted it when their fathers did not.

Read more in the full commentary →

The sons of Efrayim

7:20And the sons of Efrayim (Ephraim); Shutalach (Shuthelah), and Bered his son, and Tachat (Tahath) his son, and El’adah (Eladah) his son, and Tachat his son,

כוּבְנֵ֥י אֶפְרַ֖יִם שׁוּתָ֑לַח וּבֶ֤רֶד בְּנוֹ֙ וְתַ֣חַת בְּנ֔וֹ וְאֶלְעָדָ֥ה בְנ֖וֹ וְתַ֥חַת בְּנֽוֹ׃

7:21And Zavad (Zabad) his son, and Shutelach (Shuthelah) his son, and Ezer, and El’ad (Elead), whom the men of Gat (Gath) that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.

כאוְזָבָ֥ד בְּנ֛וֹ וְשׁוּתֶ֥לַח בְּנ֖וֹ וְעֵ֣זֶר וְאֶלְעָ֑ד וַהֲרָג֗וּם אַנְשֵׁי־גַת֙ הַנּוֹלָדִ֣ים בָּאָ֔רֶץ כִּ֣י יָרְד֔וּ לָקַ֖חַת אֶת־מִקְנֵיהֶֽם׃

7:22And Efrayim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.

כבוַיִּתְאַבֵּ֛ל אֶפְרַ֥יִם אֲבִיהֶ֖ם יָמִ֣ים רַבִּ֑ים וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ אֶחָ֖יו לְנַחֲמֽוֹ׃

7:23And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bore a son, and he called his name Beri’ah (Beriah), because it went evil with his house.

כגוַיָּבֹא֙ אֶל־אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַתַּ֖הַר וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֑ן וַיִּקְרָ֤א אֶת־שְׁמוֹ֙ בְּרִיעָ֔ה כִּ֥י בְרָעָ֖ה הָיְתָ֥ה בְּבֵיתֽוֹ׃

7:24(And his daughter was She’erah (Sherah), who built Beit Choron (Beth-horon) the nether, and the upper, and Uzen She’erah (Uzzen-sherah).)

כדוּבִתּ֣וֹ שֶׁאֱרָ֔ה וַתִּ֧בֶן אֶת־בֵּית־חוֹר֛וֹן הַתַּחְתּ֖וֹן וְאֶת־הָעֶלְי֑וֹן וְאֵ֖ת אֻזֵּ֥ן שֶׁאֱרָֽה׃

7:25And Refach (Rephah) was his son, also Reshef (Resheph), and Telach (Telah) his son, and Tachan (Tahan) his son,

כהוְרֶ֣פַח בְּנ֗וֹ וְרֶ֧שֶׁף וְתֶ֛לַח בְּנ֖וֹ וְתַ֥חַן בְּנֽוֹ׃

7:26La’dan (Laadan) his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,

כולַעְדָּ֥ן בְּנ֛וֹ עַמִּיה֥וּד בְּנ֖וֹ אֱלִישָׁמָ֥ע בְּנֽוֹ׃

7:27Non his son, Yehoshua (Jehoshuah) his son.

כזנ֥וֹן בְּנ֖וֹ יְהוֹשֻׁ֥עַ בְּנֽוֹ׃

7:28And their possessions and habitations were, Beit El (Bethel) and the towns thereof, and eastward Na’aran (Naaran), and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Ayah (Gaza) and the towns thereof:

כחוַאֲחֻזָּתָם֙ וּמֹ֣שְׁבוֹתָ֔ם בֵּֽית־אֵ֖ל וּבְנֹתֶ֑יהָ וְלַמִּזְרָ֣ח נַעֲרָ֔ן וְלַֽמַּעֲרָ֗ב גֶּ֤זֶר וּבְנֹתֶ֨יהָ֙ וּשְׁכֶ֣ם וּבְנֹתֶ֔יהָ עַד־עַיָּ֖ה וּבְנֹתֶֽיהָ׃

7:29And by the borders of the children of Menashe, Beit She’an (Beth-shean) and her towns, Ta’nach (Taanach) and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Yosef (Joseph) the son of Israel.

כטוְעַל־יְדֵ֣י בְנֵי־מְנַשֶּׁ֗ה בֵּית־שְׁאָ֤ן וּבְנֹתֶ֨יהָ֙ תַּעְנַ֣ךְ וּבְנֹתֶ֔יהָ מְגִדּ֥וֹ וּבְנוֹתֶ֖יהָ דּ֣וֹר וּבְנוֹתֶ֑יהָ בְּאֵ֨לֶּה֙ יָשְׁב֔וּ בְּנֵ֥י יוֹסֵ֖ף בֶּן־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Commentary · 7:20–29

Efrayim: the sons who went out too early, and Yehoshua

Ezer and El’ad were killed by “the men of Gat that were born in that land,” and “Efrayim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him” (7:21–22). Radak reads it as a border raid. The Talmud reads much more: these were “the sons of Efrayim, who calculated the end and erred” (Sanhedrin 92b). They counted Avraham’s four hundred years (Genesis 15:13) from the wrong start, marched out of Mitzrayim thirty years early and died on the road to Gat, and theirs are the bones Ezekiel saw come to life (Ezekiel 37). Rabbi Palvanov, in his class “Understanding Mashiach ben Yosef, Part 3,” ties the great resurrection scene in the Prophets to the sons of Yosef, and so to Mashiach ben Yosef.

Messianic reading. Our Statement of Faith teaches that Yeshua came first in the pattern of Mashiach ben Yosef and will return in the fullness of Mashiach ben David. Yet the end cannot be forced: “Of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36), and Benei Avraham sets no dates.

Hebrew lesson: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yehoshua). Verse 27 ends the only genealogy of Yehoshua in Scripture. His name was Hoshea until Moshe made it “Hashem saves” (Numbers 13:16). After the exile it was shortened to יֵשׁוּעַ (Yeshua); Nehemiah calls him “Yeshua the son of Nun” (Nehemiah 8:17). The first Yeshua led Israel into the inheritance; the Son of David who bears his name leads us into the greater one (Hebrews 4:8–9).

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The sons of Asher

7:30The sons of Asher; Yimnah (Imnah), and Yishvah (Isuah), and Yishvi (Ishuai), and Beri’ah, and Serach (Serah) their sister.

לבְּנֵ֣י אָשֵׁ֗ר יִמְנָ֧ה וְיִשְׁוָ֛ה וְיִשְׁוִ֥י וּבְרִיעָ֖ה וְשֶׂ֥רַח אֲחוֹתָֽם׃

7:31And the sons of Beri’ah; Chever (Heber), and Malki’el (Malchiel), who is the father of Birzayit (Birzavith).

לאוּבְנֵ֣י בְרִיעָ֔ה חֶ֖בֶר וּמַלְכִּיאֵ֑ל ה֖וּא אֲבִ֥י בִרְזָֽיִת (כתיב ברזות)׃

7:32And Chever begat Yaflet (Japhlet), and Shomer, and Chotam (Hotham), and Shu’a (Shua) their sister.

לבוְחֶ֨בֶר֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־יַפְלֵ֔ט וְאֶת־שׁוֹמֵ֖ר וְאֶת־חוֹתָ֑ם וְאֵ֖ת שׁוּעָ֥א אֲחוֹתָֽם׃

7:33And the sons of Yaflet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvat (Ashvath). These are the children of Yaflet.

לגוּבְנֵ֣י יַפְלֵ֔ט פָּסַ֥ךְ וּבִמְהָ֖ל וְעַשְׁוָ֑ת אֵ֖לֶּה בְּנֵ֥י יַפְלֵֽט׃

7:34And the sons of Shamer; Achi (Ahi), and Rohgah, Chubah (Jehubbah), and Aram.

לדוּבְנֵ֖י שָׁ֑מֶר אֲחִ֥י וְרָהְגָּ֖ה (כתיב ורוהגה) וְחֻבָּ֥ה (כתיב יחבה) וַאֲרָֽם׃

7:35And the sons of his brother Helem; Tzofach (Zophah), and Yimna (Imna), and Shelesh, and Amal.

להוּבֶן־הֵ֖לֶם אָחִ֑יו צוֹפַ֥ח וְיִמְנָ֖ע וְשֵׁ֥לֶשׁ וְעָמָֽל׃

7:36The sons of Tzofach; Suach (Suah), and Charnefer (Harnepher), and Shu’al (Shual), and Beri, and Yimrah (Imrah),

לובְּנֵ֖י צוֹפָ֑ח ס֧וּחַ וְחַרְנֶ֛פֶר וְשׁוּעָ֖ל וּבֵרִ֥י וְיִמְרָֽה׃

7:37Betzer (Bezer), and Hod, and Shamma and Shilshah, and Yitran (Ithran), and Be’era (Beera).

לזבֶּ֣צֶר וָה֗וֹד וְשַׁמָּ֧א וְשִׁלְשָׁ֛ה וְיִתְרָ֖ן וּבְאֵרָֽא׃

7:38And the sons of Yeter (Jether); Yefuneh (Jephunneh), and Pispah, and Ara.

לחוּבְנֵ֖י יֶ֑תֶר יְפֻנֶּ֥ה וּפִסְפָּ֖ה וַאְרָֽא׃

7:39And the sons of Ula (Ulla); Arach (Arah), and Chani’el (Haniel), and Ritzya (Rezia).

לטוּבְנֵ֖י עֻלָּ֑א אָרַ֥ח וְחַנִּיאֵ֖ל וְרִצְיָֽא׃

7:40All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father’s house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the number throughout the genealogy of them that were apt to the war and to battle was twenty and six thousand men.

מכָּל־אֵ֣לֶּה בְנֵי־אָ֠שֵׁר רָאשֵׁ֨י בֵית־הָאָב֤וֹת בְּרוּרִים֙ גִּבּוֹרֵ֣י חֲיָלִ֔ים רָאשֵׁ֖י הַנְּשִׂיאִ֑ים וְהִתְיַחְשָׂ֤ם בַּצָּבָא֙ בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔ה מִסְפָּרָ֣ם אֲנָשִׁ֔ים עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וְשִׁשָּׁ֖ה אָֽלֶף׃

Commentary · 7:30–40

Asher, and Serach their sister

“The sons of Asher; Yimnah, and Yishvah, and Yishvi, and Beri’ah, and Serach their sister” (7:30). Three times the Tenakh counts Asher’s family, and three times Serach is there: when Ya’akov goes down to Mitzrayim (Genesis 46:17), when Moshe counts the people more than two centuries later (Numbers 26:46), and here.

Rabbi Palvanov, in his class “Lebanon & Iran in the End of Days,” tells what the sages made of that: the oral tradition says she broke the news to Ya’akov, in song, that Yosef was alive, and was blessed with long life for it. The Talmud says she showed Moshe where Yosef’s coffin was sunk in the Nile (Sotah 13a). The Midrash says that when the elders told her Moshe had said פָּקֹד פָּקַדְתִּי, “I have surely visited you” (Exodus 3:16), she knew he was the redeemer, because that was the password Yosef had left (Shemot Rabbah 5:13).

Messianic reading. An old woman of Asher knows the sign of redemption and recognizes the redeemer when he comes. Luke gives us her sister: Chanah the prophetess “of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age… which departed not from the temple,” and she “spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (Luke 2:36–38). The word Serach watched for, pakad, is the word Zechariah sings: “he hath visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68). Asher’s named daughter in Chronicles and Asher’s named daughter in the Gospels have the same job.

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Sources & method

Hebrew text: The Masoretic text with vowels (nikkud) and cantillation marks (ta’amim), from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain) as published by the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0). Where the written text (ketiv) differs from the reading (qere), the reading is shown and the written form follows in small type. A paragraph mark (ס or פ) inside a verse is shown in small type.
English translation: The King James Version (public domain), lightly modernized by Benei Avraham: “thee/thou/ye” become “you,” older verb forms are updated (“hath” to “has”), and archaic words are replaced only where the meaning would otherwise be unclear. People and places carry their Hebrew names, with the King James spelling in parentheses the first time on each page (e.g., Yehudah (Judah)). The Divine Name (יהוה, “the LORD” in the KJV) is written “Hashem”; “God” (Elohim) is unchanged, and “law” is “Torah” where the Hebrew is תּוֹרָה.
Verse numbers: Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Chronicles they differ from most English Bibles in chapters 5, 6 and 12; a note under the summary on those pages explains how.
Commentary: Written for our Wednesday Tenakh study from a Messianic Jewish perspective, in line with the Benei Avraham Statement of Faith. It reads the passage first in its Torah setting, then with the Sages, and then with the witness of the Brit Hadashah. Its sources include the Talmud and Midrash, Rashi, Radak, Rambam, the First Fruits of Zion End of Days lessons, and teachings of Rabbi Efraim Palvanov and Ariel Cohen Alloro. Numerical readings (gematria) are offered as hints, not proofs. The notes here are short versions of our full 1 Chronicles commentary, which is a draft for our teachers to review. They are shown by default; tap Commentary to hide them.
Quiz: Written by Benei Avraham for young readers (about 11 and up). Every answer is in the chapter on this page. Answers and scores are kept only in this browser (local storage) and can be cleared with Start over.
Hebrew font: SBL Hebrew, by the Society of Biblical Literature.

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1 Chronicles 7 (Divrei HaYamim Alef) in Hebrew and English

1 Chronicles, Chapter 7

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