Day 7 — Names that Build, Tears that Teach (1 Chronicles 7)
Setting the scene We have been walking with the Chronicler through the long corridors of memory—names upon names, a people reassembled after exile. Yesterday we lingered with the Levites and the “service of song,” and earlier we met Jabez in his prayer that broke a painful label. Today we turn to 1 Chronicles 7, a chapter many skim. But if you pause, you will hear history whisper and hope take shape.
What’s here—and why now This chapter gathers several northern tribes: Issachar (7:1–5), Benjamin (7:6–12 in a brief, alternative line to chapter 8), Naphtali (7:13), Manasseh and Ephraim (7:14–29), and Asher (7:30–40). Judah and Levi were already treated (chs. 2–4; 6). Dan and Zebulun are notably absent here, which itself invites reflection.
The Chronicler writes after the Babylonian exile, when the kingdom had long been divided and the northern tribes scattered. To name these northern clans now is an act of pastoral hope—God’s promise is not limited to one tribe or region. The Chronicler quietly invites a fractured people to imagine being one again.
Key moments tucked into the list 1) Ephraim’s tearful line and unexpected consolation (7:20–23) In the middle of the register, the narrative pauses. Ephraim loses sons in a border raid—“men of Gath, born in the land” kill Ezer and Elead during a cattle foray. “Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him” (New International Version). Out of that sorrow, a new son is born: “He named him Beriah, because there had been misfortune in his family” (New International Version).
What a Western reader might miss - A pastoral note on numbers: Ancient Hebrew numerals are notoriously difficult to copy. The Chronicler’s headcounts likely combine historical memory and theological messaging—God still has a people, organized for mission. The point is identity and readiness, more than a modern census accuracy. - The cattle raid is not incidental. In the ancient Near East, herds were mobile wealth. Borderlands between Ephraim and Philistine Gath (likely Tel es-Safi) were tense. “Men of Gath, born in the land” (Hebrew: yelidê ha’aretz) suggests locally born warriors—settled, rooted adversaries. The Chronicler knows that life of faith includes both lament and vigilance. - An intriguing line in 7:12 mentions “Hushim the sons of Aher.” Aher can mean “the other.” Some Jewish and Christian interpreters have wondered if this veils Dan (whose tribal story tilts tragically toward idolatry in Judges 18), or if it preserves a branch of Benjamin under a variant name. We cannot be sure. Theologically, silence can speak: some legacies are dimmed by unfaithfulness, and some names the Spirit chooses not to spotlight. - Names preach. Jediael (“God knows”), Eliel (“my God is God”), Michael (“Who is like God?”), and others whisper identity: a people remembered and re-named by the Lord.
Theological threads - Grief that builds: Ephraim’s house moves from tears (Beriah) to cities (Sheerah). In Christ, our wounds do not vanish; they become places where grace erects new structures. Compare Jabez’s cry (ch. 4) and our reflection earlier this month: faithful prayer and perseverance can break cycles and plant futures. - The whole family of God: The Chronicler includes northern tribes to say, “They are still ours.” This anticipates the prophets’ hope of a reunited people (Ezekiel 37:15–28) and in the New Testament, the ingathering of all nations into one new humanity in Christ (Ephesians 2:11–22). Even in Luke’s Gospel, Anna the prophet is “of the tribe of Asher” (Luke 2:36)—a quiet nod that the old northern lines still bear fruit in the story of Jesus. - Remembered for readiness: The Chronicler’s “mighty men” recall that covenant life is not passive. We are to be fitted for worship, work, and warfare (Ephesians 6:10–18). God counts readiness as part of faithfulness. - Sacred memory in ordinary records: As we have noted in earlier days, genealogies are sacraments of memory. Calvin saw in these lists the careful providence of God preserving a people for his promises. Augustine, pondering the long arc from patriarchs to Christ, insisted that history is the womb of hope: God creates a people by weaving time, tears, and faith into a single tapestry—the City of God on pilgrimage.
A few linguistic notes - Gibbor chayil (גִּבּוֹר חַיִל): “mighty, valorous, capable.” A character word, not only a combat term. - Beriah (בְּרִיעָה): likely “in misfortune.” Pain acknowledged, lineage continued. - Sheerah (שְׁאֵרָה?): possibly linked to she’er (“flesh/kin”) or a name of uncertain root; her eponymous town Uzzen-sheerah suggests “portion/domain of Sheerah.” - Yelidê ha’aretz (יְלִידֵי הָאָרֶץ): “native-born of the land.” Not immigrants—locals, entrenched. - Aher (אַחֵר): “another/other.” Perhaps a personal name, perhaps a delicate sidestep; either way a reminder that Scripture sometimes leaves puzzles that keep us humble and searching.
Cross-references for deeper reading - Genesis 46; Numbers 26: early tribal lists for comparison - Deuteronomy 33: blessings on the tribes (note Issachar, Joseph/Ephraim-Manasseh, Asher) - Joshua 10:10–11; 16–17: Beth-horon’s strategic pass; Ephraim and Manasseh’s allotments - Judges 4–5: Issachar and Naphtali under Deborah; Asher’s mixed record - Judges 18: Dan’s idolatry and the shadow it casts - Ezekiel 37:15–28: reunified Israel as one stick - Luke 2:36: Anna of Asher—a northern ember glowing in the dawn of Christ
For the church today - Carry your Beriah honestly. Name the pain, but keep walking. Ask the Spirit to turn your lament into a workshop where something sturdy is built. - Bless the Sheerahs among you. Some of God’s most strategic builders are women whose work becomes the very road the rest of us travel. - Practice whole-church imagination. Pray and labor for a unity that honors different histories and gifts. The Chronicler remembered the north; whom have we forgotten? - Be ready. Spiritual formation includes both song (ch. 6) and strength (ch. 7). Train your heart in worship and your hands for good works.
A hymn to sing “By Faith” (Keith and Kristyn Getty, Stuart Townend). It traces the people of God walking into promises they could not yet see—fitting for a chapter where memory becomes a map and sorrow becomes a city.
A brief meditation from the text “Sheerah… built Lower and Upper Beth Horon” (New International Version). The Chronicler dares to say that after funerals, we can still lay foundations. This is not denial; it is resurrection hope rehearsed in stone and street.
Prayer Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, You remember what we forget and gather who we scatter. Teach us to carry our Beriahs without bitterness, to build like Sheerah with steady hands, and to stand as gibborê chayil—strong in Your grace. Stitch our fractured memories into one hope, and make our churches places where tears become blueprints for mercy. Through Jesus Christ, who binds the tribes and the nations into one new family. Amen.
Narrated version of this devotional on 1 Chronicles Chapter 7