World English Bible
- The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal.
- 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.
- These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. The name of their sister was Hazzelelponi.
- Penuel was the father of Gedor and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem.
- Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
- Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.
- The sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.
- Hakkoz became the father of Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
- Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him with sorrow.”
- Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border! May your hand be with me, and may you keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” God granted him that which he requested.
- Chelub the brother of Shuhah became the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.
- Eshton became the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These are the men of Recah.
- The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath.
- Meonothai became the father of Ophrah: and Seraiah became the father of Joab the father of Ge Harashim, for they were craftsmen.
- The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz.
- The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
- The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon; and Mered’s wife bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.
- His wife the Jewess bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.
- The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
- The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben Hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth, and Ben Zoheth.
- The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of those who worked fine linen, of the house of Ashbea;
- and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubilehem. These records are ancient.
- These were the potters, and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king for his work.
- The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul;
- Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son.
- The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.
- Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn’t have many children, and all their family didn’t multiply like the children of Judah.
- They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazarshual,
- at Bilhah, at Ezem, at Tolad,
- at Bethuel, at Hormah, at Ziklag,
- at Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, at Beth Biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until David’s reign.
- Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;
- and all their villages that were around the same cities, as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept their genealogy.
- Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah,
- Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
- Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah,
- and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah—
- these mentioned by name were princes in their families. Their fathers’ houses increased greatly.
- They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
- They found rich, good pasture, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceful, for those who lived there before were descended from Ham.
- 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 they destroyed them utterly to this day, and lived in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks.
- Some 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.
- They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.
Suggested reading before you begin: 1 Chronicles 4; Psalm 90; James 4.
(All quotations below are from the New International Version unless noted.)
The fourth chapter of 1 Chronicles looks, at first sight, like a phone book from the ancient world. Most western readers hurry past it. Yet the Chronicler is building a quiet argument:
Hebrew writers delighted in rhythm and pattern. Notice the repeated phrase “sons of…”—a litany that stops only when a life lesson demands our attention. The genealogy is a river, and in verse 9 the river pauses at a waterfall named Jabez.
Verses 9-10 read like an early morning bell in the stillness of names:
“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, ‘I gave birth to him in pain.’ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”
• The name Jabez (יַעְבֵּץ, yaʿbēṣ) echoes the
Hebrew word for pain, ʿeṣeb. The Chronicler sets up a
pun: the boy branded “Pain” dares to ask God to reverse his label.
• Jabez asks that he be spared from hā-raʿah (“the
evil”)—a term broad enough to mean physical hurt, moral evil, or the
sorrow his name embodies.
The chronicler uses a simple closing sentence—“And God granted his request”—as if to say: Yes, heaven bends toward earth even in a list of names. For Israel in post-exile stress, that reminder was gold.
The genealogy resumes with people who:
No priest or prophet stands in these verses—only artisans. The Chronicler is preaching that vocation, offered to God, is a form of worship.
Simeon never shone like Judah or Levi. By David’s day its land lay inside Judah’s borders (Joshua 19:1-9). Yet 1 Chronicles 4 honors Simeon’s:
The lesson is quiet but sharp: obscurity is not failure when God weighs the work.
| Theme | Where it appears | Wider biblical echo |
|---|---|---|
| God remembers every person | Whole genealogy | Luke 12:7 – “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” |
| Prayer can change a story | Jabez | James 5:16 – “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” |
| Blessing is meant to overflow | “Enlarge my territory” | 2 Corinthians 9:11 – “You will be enriched… so you can be generous on every occasion.” |
| Work as worship | King’s potters, linen workers | Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do… do it for the Lord.” |
| Hope for the overlooked | Tribe of Simeon | 1 Corinthians 1:28 – God chooses “the lowly things of this world.” |
Early church readers such as Origen saw in Jabez a foreshadowing of the Gentiles: once named “Pain,” now enlarged by grace. Medieval writers used the text to urge monks to pray for inner territory—the growth of virtue. Modern Protestant thinkers often apply it to mission or church planting, cautioning, however, against reading it as a blank check for personal comfort.
“Take My Life, and Let It Be” (Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874)
Sing especially the lines:
“Take my hands and let them move / At the impulse of Thy love;
Take my moments and my days, / Let them flow in ceaseless praise.”
Lord of Abraham and Jabez,
You count every star and every unknown name.
Break the power of labels that bind us.
Enlarge the borders of our love,
Set Your hand upon our work,
And guard us from the evil that steals joy.
May our hidden days, like Simeon’s,
Bring lasting fruit for Your kingdom.
Through Jesus Christ, in whom every promise is “Yes,”
Amen.
Narrated version of this devotional on 1 Chronicles Chapter 4