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1 Chronicles7:30–40

The Descendants of Asher

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1 Chronicles 7:30–40 — The Descendants of Asher. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

30

The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ’ā·šêr yim·nāh wə·yiš·wāh wə·yiš·wî ū·ḇə·rî·‘āh ’ă·ḥō·w·ṯām wə·śe·raḥ

Word by word8 · parsed
בְּנֵ֣יbə·nêThe childrenH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
bên: a son, as a builder of the family name The construct plural that governs the whole pericope: every later verse restarts with it. Its force is architectural rather than merely biological, which is why the same noun can carry grandsons, clans and subjects.
אָשֵׁ֗ר’ā·šêrof AsherH836
√ ʼÂshêr — happyNounpropermasculine singular
ʼÂshêr: happy The tribal eponym is an adjective of blessedness. It stands in forty-one verses of the canon, and in this unit it opens verse 30 and closes the summary in verse 40, framing the whole list.
יִמְנָ֧הyim·nāhImnahH3232
√ Yimnâh — Jimnah, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וְיִשְׁוָ֛הwə·yiš·wāhIshvahH3438
√ Yishvâh — Jishvah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְיִשְׁוִ֥יwə·yiš·wîIshviH3440
√ Yishvîy — Jishvi, the name of two IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וּבְרִיעָ֖הū·ḇə·rî·‘āhBeriahH1283
√ Bᵉrîyʻâh — Beriah, the name of four IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
אֲחוֹתָֽם׃’ă·ḥō·w·ṯāmand their sisterH269
√ ʼâchôwth — a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural
ʼâchôwth: a sister (used very widely, literally and figuratively) A relatively common word (104 verses), but rare in this position: genealogies of this type normally record only sons. Serah's presence here and at Genesis 46:17 is the single feature that survives untouched from the older list, and Ellicott and Cambridge both note that Numbers 26:46 gives her name apart, not as a family.
וְשֶׂ֥רַחwə·śe·raḥSerahH8294
√ Serach — Serach, an IsraelitessConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Serach: Serach, an Israelitess The name occurs in only three verses in the whole canon, which is why the Verifier can use it to tie this list to Genesis 46:17 and Numbers 26:46 with real weight rather than coincidence.
31

The sons of Beriah: Heber, as well as Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê ḇə·rî·‘āh ḥe·ḇer ū·mal·kî·’êl hū ’ă·ḇî ḇir·zōṯ

Word by word7 · parsed
וּבְנֵ֣יū·ḇə·nêThe sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
בְרִיעָ֔הḇə·rî·‘āhof BeriahH1283
√ Bᵉrîyʻâh — Beriah, the name of four IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
חֶ֖בֶרḥe·ḇerHeberH2268
√ Cheber — Cheber, the name of a Kenite and of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וּמַלְכִּיאֵ֑לū·mal·kî·’êlas well as MalchielH4439
√ Malkîyʼêl — Malkiel, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
ה֖וּאhūwhoH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
hûwʼ: he (she or it) A function word, but load-bearing here: it is the hinge that turns a name in a list into a clause about that name.
אֲבִ֥י’ă·ḇîwas the father ofH1
√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationNounmasculine singular construct
ʼâb: father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application The one substantive common noun in the verse. Whether Malchiel fathered a man or founded a town is the whole question the commentators divide over, and the lexicon licenses both.
בִרְזוֹת׃ḇir·zōṯBirzaithH1269
√ Birzôwth — Birzoth, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
Birzôwth: Birzoth, an Israelite The word occurs nowhere else in the canon, which is exactly why it cannot be controlled by usage. Kethiv and Qere differ (waw against yod), and on the yod spelling it reads as well of the olive tree, which fits an Asherite territory known for olives.
32

Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and of their sister Shua.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·ḥe·ḇer hō·w·lîḏ ’eṯ- yap̄·lêṭ wə·’eṯ- šō·w·mêr wə·’eṯ- ḥō·w·ṯām wə·’êṯ ’ă·ḥō·w·ṯām šū·‘ā

Word by word11 · parsed
וְחֶ֙בֶר֙wə·ḥe·ḇerHeberH2268
√ Cheber — Cheber, the name of a Kenite and of three IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
הוֹלִ֣ידhō·w·lîḏwas the father ofH3205
√ yâlad — to bear youngVerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular
yâlad: to bear young (Hifil) The causative of the birth verb, and the engine of every biblical genealogy. Its presence here marks verse 32 as the one place in this pericope where the list becomes a sentence: Heber does something, rather than merely heading a column.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
ʼêth: properly, self, used to point out more definitely the object of a verb A function particle. Its interest here is quantitative: four of them in one short verse.
יַפְלֵ֔טyap̄·lêṭJaphletH3310
√ Yaphlêṭ — Japhlet, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
שׁוֹמֵ֖רšō·w·mêrShomerH7763
√ Shôwmêr — Shomer, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
חוֹתָ֑םḥō·w·ṯāmand HothamH2369
√ Chôwthâm — Chotham, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וְאֵ֖תwə·’êṯandH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
אֲחוֹתָֽם׃’ă·ḥō·w·ṯāmof their sisterH269
√ ʼâchôwth — a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine plural
ʼâchôwth: a sister The second sister in this pericope, again with the third masculine plural suffix, again attached to a set of brothers. Two sisters in eleven verses is unusual density for a Chronicles list.
שׁוּעָ֥אšū·‘āShuaH7774
√ Shûwʻâʼ — Shua, an IsraelitessNounproperfeminine singular
Shûwʻâʼ: Shua, an Israelitess The lexeme appears in only two verses, the other being 1 Chronicles 2:3, where a Shua is the Canaanite wife of Judah. The Verifier records the shared lexeme; the two women are not the same person.
33

The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were Japhlet’s sons.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê yap̄·lêṭ pā·saḵ ū·ḇim·hāl wə·‘aš·wāṯ ’êl·leh yap̄·lêṭ bə·nê

Word by word8 · parsed
וּבְנֵ֣יū·ḇə·nêThe sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
יַפְלֵ֔טyap̄·lêṭof JaphletH3310
√ Yaphlêṭ — Japhlet, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
Yaphlêṭ: Japhlet, an Israelite The head of this sub-house. Ellicott, Pulpit and K&D all independently refuse to identify him with the Japhletite clan on Ephraim's border in Joshua 16:3, on geographical grounds.
פָּסַ֥ךְpā·saḵPasachH6457
√ Pâçak — Pasak, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
וּבִמְהָ֖לū·ḇim·hālBimhalH1118
√ Bimhâl — Bimhal, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְעַשְׁוָ֑תwə·‘aš·wāṯand AshvathH6220
√ ʻAshvâth — Ashvath, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
אֵ֖לֶּה’êl·lehTheseH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural
ʼêl-leh: these or those The list-closing demonstrative. In this pericope it functions as punctuation: it ends a branch at verse 33 and opens the tribal summary at verse 40.
יַפְלֵֽט׃yap̄·lêṭwere Japhlet’sH3310
√ Yaphlêṭ — Japhlet, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
בְּנֵ֥יbə·nêsonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
bên: a son The fourth generation from Asher is reached here, counting Asher, Beriah, Heber, Japhlet, and then these three.
34

The sons of Shemer: Ahi, Rohgah, Hubbah, and Aram.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê šā·mer ’ă·ḥî wə·rō·hă·ḡå̄h yaḥ·bå̄h wa·’ă·rām

Word by word6 · parsed
וּבְנֵ֖יū·ḇə·nêThe sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
שָׁ֑מֶרšā·merof ShemerH8106
√ Shemer — Shemer, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
Shemer: Shemer, the name of three Israelites The spelling shift from verse 32 is either a pausal form, as Ellicott holds, or a scribal drift. Cambridge takes the simpler route and proposes reading Shomer here to agree with verse 32.
אֲחִ֥י’ă·ḥîAhiH277
√ ʼĂchîy — Achi, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
ʼĂchîy: Achi, the name of two Israelites A genuinely undecidable word. The lexeme appears in only two verses in the canon, the other being 1 Chronicles 5:15, which K&D cites as proof that Ahi can be a real name. Pulpit, weighing the same evidence, calls the decision impossible.
וְרוֹהֲגָהwə·rō·hă·ḡå̄hRohgahH7303
√ Rôwhăgâh — Rohagah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
יַחְבָּהyaḥ·bå̄hHubbahH3160
√ Yᵉchubbâh — Jechubbah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉchubbâh: Jechubbah, an Israelite The one place in this unit where the written text and the reading tradition openly disagree, and where every commentator in the brief sides with the margin.
וַאֲרָֽם׃wa·’ă·rāmand AramH758
√ ʼĂrâm — Aram or Syria, and its inhabitantsConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
ʼĂrâm: Aram or Syria, and its inhabitants Asher's territory lay on the northern edge of Israel, against Aramean country. Ellicott draws the natural inference that the name may mark a clan of mixed descent rather than an individual.
35

The sons of his brother Helem: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇen- ’ā·ḥîw hê·lem ṣō·w·p̄aḥ wə·yim·nā‘ wə·šê·leš wə·‘ā·māl

Word by word7 · parsed
וּבֶן־ū·ḇen-The sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct
bên: a son A singular construct heading a plural list. Grammatically the simplest reading is that the Hebrew has lost a yod; the versions and Cambridge alike supply the plural.
אָחִ֑יו’ā·ḥîwof his brotherH251
√ ʼâch — a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like father))Nounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
ʼâch: a brother, used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity The lexicon's own breadth is the difficulty. Ellicott makes the point structurally: if brother is taken strictly, Helem must be Hotham; if it is tribal rather than familial, Helem may head an entirely separate Asherite house.
הֵ֖לֶםhê·lemHelemH1987
√ Helem — Helem, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
Helem: Helem, the name of two Israelites The pivot of the second half of the pericope. Everything from verse 36 to verse 39 descends from this one uncertain name.
צוֹפַ֥חṣō·w·p̄aḥZophahH6690
√ Tsôwphach — Tsophach, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
וְיִמְנָ֖עwə·yim·nā‘ImnaH3234
√ Yimnâʻ — Jimna, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְשֵׁ֥לֶשׁwə·šê·lešSheleshH8028
√ Shelesh — Shelesh, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְעָמָֽל׃wə·‘ā·māland AmalH6000
√ ʻÂmâl — Amal, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
ʻÂmâl: Amal, an Israelite Named nowhere else in Scripture, and the point at which the witnesses used by the commentators visibly part company.
36

The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bə·nê ṣō·w·p̄āḥ sū·aḥ wə·ḥar·ne·p̄er wə·šū·‘āl ū·ḇê·rî wə·yim·rāh

Word by word7 · parsed
בְּנֵ֖יbə·nêThe sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
bên: a son The asyndetic opening. In a chapter whose grammar is almost entirely conjunctions, the absence of one is the clearest structural signal available.
צוֹפָ֑חṣō·w·p̄āḥof ZophahH6690
√ Tsôwphach — Tsophach, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
Tsôwphach: Tsophach, an Israelite Ellicott calls Zophah's line "the elder house" of Helem. With Jether in verse 38, his sons carry the genealogy to the sixth and seventh generations from Asher, by Pulpit's count.
ס֧וּחַsū·aḥSuahH5477
√ Çûwach — Suach, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
וְחַרְנֶ֛פֶרwə·ḥar·ne·p̄erHarnepherH2774
√ Charnepher — Charnepher, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Charnepher: Charnepher, an Israelite Ellicott's Egyptian reading is a philological suggestion, not a textual fact; he supports it by pointing to other Egyptian contacts in the same book, the slave Jarha and Mered's marriage in 1 Chronicles 4:18. Treat it as plausible and unproven.
וְשׁוּעָ֖לwə·šū·‘ālShualH7777
√ Shûwʻâl — Shual, the name of an Israelite and of a place in PalestineConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Shûwʻâl: Shual, the name of an Israelite and of a place in Palestine A rare lexeme, standing in only two verses of the canon. The Verifier ties this one to 1 Samuel 13:17, the sole other occurrence, where by the lexicon's own second sense the word is a place in Palestine rather than a man. The link is lexical, and no identity between an Asherite and a district is claimed.
וּבֵרִ֥יū·ḇê·rîBeriH1275
√ Bêrîy — Beri, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְיִמְרָֽה׃wə·yim·rāhImrahH3236
√ Yimrâh — Jimrah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
37

Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

be·ṣer wā·hō·wḏ wə·šam·mā wə·šil·šāh wə·yiṯ·rān ū·ḇə·’ê·rā

Word by word6 · parsed
בֶּ֣צֶרbe·ṣerBezerH1221
√ Betser — Betser, a place in PalestineNounpropermasculine singular
Betser: Betser, a place in Palestine A place-name doing duty as a personal name, invisible in translation. It is worth weighing against Shual in verse 36, whose lexicon entry likewise covers both an Israelite and a place, and against Aram in verse 34, which names a people: this list draws several of its personal names from the map.
וָה֗וֹדwā·hō·wḏHodH1936
√ Hôwd — Hod, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְשַׁמָּ֧אwə·šam·māShammaH8037
√ Shammâʼ — Shamma, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְשִׁלְשָׁ֛הwə·šil·šāhShilshahH8030
√ Shilshâh — Shilshah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וְיִתְרָ֖ןwə·yiṯ·rānIthranH3506
√ Yithrân — Jithran, the name of an Edomite and of an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Yithrân: Jithran, the name of an Edomite and of an Israelite A rare lexeme, three verses in the canon, the other two being Genesis 36:26 and 1 Chronicles 1:41. The lexicon glosses it "Jithran, the name of an Edomite and of an Israelite," so it already tells us the two bearers are distinct men; the Verifier records only the shared word.
וּבְאֵרָֽא׃ū·ḇə·’ê·rāand BeeraH878
√ Bᵉʼêrâʼ — Beera, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Bᵉʼêrâʼ: Beera, an Israelite Attested here only. Its position at the end of the eleven is what Ellicott uses to explain the intrusive Ara of verse 38 and the unattached Ulla of verse 39.
38

The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê ye·ṯer yə·p̄un·neh ū·p̄is·pāh wa’·rā

Word by word5 · parsed
וּבְנֵ֖יū·ḇə·nêThe sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
יֶ֑תֶרye·ṯerof JetherH3500
√ Yether — Jether, the name of five or six Israelites and of one MidianiteNounpropermasculine singular
Yether: Jether, the name of five or six Israelites and of one Midianite The identification with Ithran of verse 37 is the hinge on which the continuity of the whole second half of the genealogy hangs. Ellicott states the payoff openly: allow it, and verse 38 connects to the sons of Zophah; refuse it, and Jether is another unattached head.
יְפֻנֶּ֥הyə·p̄un·nehJephunnehH3312
√ Yᵉphunneh — Jephunneh, the name of two IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
Yᵉphunneh: Jephunneh, the name of two Israelites The lexicon's own "two Israelites" settles the question Ellicott raises and Gill answers: the Asherite here and Caleb's father in Judah are counted as two men, not one.
וּפִסְפָּ֖הū·p̄is·pāhPispaH6462
√ Piçpâh — Pispah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
וַאְרָֽא׃wa’·rāand AraH690
√ ʼărâʼ — Ara, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
ʼărâʼ: Ara, an Israelite A hapax, and one Ellicott suspects of being a copyist's accident from Beera at the end of verse 37. Ellicott's own preference is that the correct name is Ulla, the form that opens verse 39.
39

The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇə·nê ‘ul·lā ’ā·raḥ wə·ḥan·nî·’êl wə·riṣ·yā

Word by word5 · parsed
וּבְנֵ֖יū·ḇə·nêThe sonsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct
עֻלָּ֑א‘ul·lāof UllaH5925
√ ʻUllâʼ — Ulla, an IsraeliteNounpropermasculine singular
ʻUllâʼ: Ulla, an Israelite The single largest gap in the chain. Ellicott proposes Ulla is the Ara of verse 38 misread; Poole takes him for another son of Jether; K&D, following Bertheau, expects the name earlier in the list and admits no such name is there; Pulpit refuses all three as conjecture. Four authorities, no agreement, and the ⚙ layer adds nothing to it.
אָרַ֥ח’ā·raḥArahH733
√ ʼÂrach — Arach, the name of three IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
ʼÂrach: Arach, the name of three Israelites Four verses in the canon, one of them Nehemiah 7:10, which the Verifier returns as a candidate on this lexeme. The lexicon already says the name belongs to three separate Israelites, so the shared word establishes no identity between them.
וְחַנִּיאֵ֖לwə·ḥan·nî·’êlHannielH2592
√ Channîyʼêl — Channiel, the name of two IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
Channîyʼêl: Channiel, the name of two Israelites A two-verse lexeme. Its partner, Numbers 34:23, uses the same title (nâsîyʼ) that verse 40 will give to Asher's own chiefs, which is the only substantive link between the passages.
וְרִצְיָֽא׃wə·riṣ·yāand RiziaH7525
√ Ritsyâʼ — Ritsjah, an IsraeliteConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular
40

All these were the descendants of Asher—heads of their families, choice and mighty men of valor, and chiefs among the leaders. The number of men fit for battle, recorded in their genealogies, was 26,000.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kāl- ’êl·leh ḇə·nê- ’ā·šêr rā·šê hā·’ā·ḇō·wṯ ḇêṯ- bə·rū·rîm gib·bō·w·rê ḥă·yā·lîm rā·šê han·nə·śî·’îm mis·pā·rām ’ă·nā·šîm bam·mil·ḥā·māh baṣ·ṣā·ḇā wə·hiṯ·yaḥ·śām ‘eś·rîm wə·šiš·šāh ’ā·lep̄

Word by word20 · parsed
כָּל־kāl-AllH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
אֵ֣לֶּה’êl·lehtheseH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thosePronouncommon plural
בְנֵי־ḇə·nê-[were] the descendantsH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
אָ֠שֵׁר’ā·šêrof AsherH836
√ ʼÂshêr — happyNounpropermasculine singular
רָאשֵׁ֨יrā·šêheadsH7218
√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct
הָאָב֤וֹתhā·’ā·ḇō·wṯof their familiesH1
√ ʼâb — father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote applicationArticleNounmasculine plural
ʼâb: father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application Here in the plural with the article and governed by bayith, "house": the standard Chronicles idiom for an ancestral clan-unit. Cambridge corrects the English singular to "of the fathers' houses."
בֵית־ḇêṯ-. . .H1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
בְּרוּרִים֙bə·rū·rîmchoiceH1305
√ bârar — to clarify (iVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural
bârar: to clarify, to sift (Qal passive participle) The one metaphor in the summary. The root elsewhere describes purifying metal and winnowing grain, and applying it to men makes the register an act of separation, not merely of counting. Ellicott's "picked, eximii" and the Hebrew participle agree: these are what was left after a sifting.
גִּבּוֹרֵ֣יgib·bō·w·rê[and] mighty menH1368
√ gibbôwr — powerfulAdjectivemasculine plural construct
חֲיָלִ֔יםḥă·yā·lîmof valorH2428
√ chayil — probably a force, whether of men, means or other resourcesNounmasculine plural
chayil: probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources Bound to gibbôwr ("powerful") in construct. K&D, glossing "chosen valiant heroes," notes that the same word stands at 1 Chronicles 7:5 earlier in this chapter, so it is the Chronicler's own formula for a tribe's reckoned strength rather than a compliment paid to Asher.
רָאשֵׁ֖יrā·šêand chiefsH7218
√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine plural construct
הַנְּשִׂיאִ֑יםhan·nə·śî·’îmamong the leadersH5387
√ nâsîyʼ — properly, an exalted one, iArticleNounmasculine plural
nâsîyʼ: properly, an exalted one The title stands in 120 verses of Scripture for tribal princes, among them Hanniel of Numbers 34:23. Chronicles here ranks Asher's clan-heads above the nâsîyʼ level, which sits oddly beside the tribe's absence from the chief-ruler list of 1 Chronicles 27:16-22 that Pulpit observes.
מִסְפָּרָ֣םmis·pā·rāmThe numberH4557
√ miçpâr — a number, definite (arithmetical) or indefinite (large, innumerableNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural
אֲנָשִׁ֔ים’ă·nā·šîmof menH582
√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural
בַּמִּלְחָמָ֔הbam·mil·ḥā·māhfit for battleH4421
√ milchâmâh — a battle (iPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular
milchâmâh: a battle With the article and preposition, in the battle. The register's stated purpose, and the reason K&D distinguishes it from a register of inhabitants.
בַּצָּבָא֙baṣ·ṣā·ḇāH6635
√ tsâbâʼ — a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially regPreposition-b, ArticleNouncommon singular
וְהִתְיַחְשָׂ֤םwə·hiṯ·yaḥ·śāmrecorded in their genealogiesH3187
√ yâchas — to enroll by pedigreeConjunctive wawVerbHitpaelInfinitive constructthird person masculine plural
yâchas: to enroll by pedigree (Hitpael) A rare and technical verb, and in this stem reflexive: the men enter themselves on the roll. The Chronicler's whole enterprise is named by this one word, and here it is put to a military purpose, which K&D says distinguishes this register from others.
עֶשְׂרִ֥ים‘eś·rîmwas 26,000H6242
√ ʻesrîym — twentyNumbercommon plural
וְשִׁשָּׁ֖הwə·šiš·šāh. . .H8337
√ shêsh — six (as an overplus beyond five or the fingers of the hand)Conjunctive wawNumbermasculine singular
אָֽלֶף׃ס’ā·lep̄. . .H505
√ ʼeleph — hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alphabet, and this eventually used as a numeral) a thousandNumbermasculine singular
ʼeleph: a thousand The closing word of the pericope. Its ordinary sense is a numeral, though the lexicon notes the term's origin in the ox-head letter; the figure it completes, 26,000, is the one datum in this unit that all four commentators who touch it try to explain in different ways.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A transcript, and the name that fell out of it — 7:30-31

The pericope opens by copying. Ellicott states the relation flatly: this opening is "a literal transcript of Genesis 46:17," and Cambridge agrees that the names of verses 30 and 31 "are derived from Genesis 46:17." The Verifier bears this out from the other side: יִשְׁוָה (Yishvâh, H3438) stands in only two verses in the whole canon, and Genesis 46:17 is the other one. But the copy is not complete, and the commentators say so before we do. Cambridge: the names are unvaried, "but Isuah (R.V. Ishuah) is missing in Num." K&D says the same of Numbers 26:44-47, that there "the name Ishuai does not occur among the families of Asher." So the Chronicler preserves a son whom the wilderness census no longer counted as a clan. Then comes the one piece of information found nowhere else: Malchiel is אֲבִי father-of Birzaith. K&D refuses to settle even its pronunciation: "How ברזות, the Kethibh, is to be pronounced, cannot be with certainty determined." Pulpit reads it as a place, "the name of a place rather than of a person"; Gill reports Jarchi's reading, "prince of a city of this name, which signifies pure oil," and grounds it in Asher's olives. Three named authorities, three different confidences, one unrepeated word.

ii. Brothers, or a brother: where the consonants will not decide — 7:32-35

Verse 32 is the only sentence in the list: הוֹלִיד (hô·lîḏ, Hifil of yâlad, H3205), Heber caused to be born, with the object marker אֶת repeated over each child, the sister included. After that the grammar goes quiet and the problems begin. At verse 34 אֲחִי is tagged a proper name, Ahi; Barnes simply prints the other rendering, "his brother, Rohgah, etc."; Pulpit judges that "It seems impossible to decide with certainty" between them. K&D takes the opposite side and argues from the waw on the following name that "אחי is not an appellative, but a proper name." In the same verse the written text and the reading tradition part: Ellicott notes that the "Heb. margin has we-Hubbah," and K&D writes, "For יחבּה we should read וחבּה." Then verse 35 turns on אָחִיו, his brother, with no antecedent. Poole will name two candidates and choose neither; Gill reports Hillerus identifying Helem with Hotham; Ellicott sets out the alternative that the brotherhood "would be that of the tribe, not of the clan or family"; K&D concedes that if the identification holds, one of the two names "must have resulted from an error in transcription," and that which one is original is now past finding out. Four authorities, and none of them pretends the text is clean.

iii. Eleven names, and a link with nothing on the far side — 7:36-39

Verse 36 restarts without a conjunction, and Gill counts what follows: the sons of Zophah, "in all eleven." Ellicott hears an Egyptian name among them, Harnepher, "the beauteous Horus," which would not be the only Egyptian contact in this book. Pulpit tracks the generations, reaching "the sixth generation from Asher" in verse 37 and the seventh in verse 38. At verse 38 Ellicott smooths the chain by identifying Jether with the Ithran of verse 37, which would "connect 1Chronicles 7:38 with the preceding line of the sons of Zophah," and he adds that Jephunneh is "the name of the father of Caleb the Kenizzite." Gill blocks that inference at once: "not Jephunneh the father of Caleb; he was not of the tribe of Asher, but of Judah." Verse 39 then names Ulla, who is attached to nothing. Ellicott: "Apparently Ulla is not connected with the foregoing genealogy." He proposes Ulla is the Ara of verse 38, misread by a copyist's eye straying to Be-era. Poole prefers "another son of Jether." Pulpit reviews the same options and refuses them all: "neither professes to be anything better than mere conjecture." K&D, following Bertheau, expects the name to have occurred earlier in the list and admits that no such name is there. The chain, honestly read, has a missing link, and the ⚙ layer should not weld it shut.

iv. Picked men, and a number smaller than it was — 7:40

The summary uses two words the English smooths. בְּרוּרִים (bə·rū·rîm, H1305 bârar) is a Qal passive participle from a root meaning to clarify or sift: these men are sifted out, and Ellicott renders them "picked chiefs of the father-houses," "picked men, eximii." וְהִתְיַחְשָׂם (wə·hiṯ·yaḥ·śām, H3187 yâchas) is Hitpael, a reflexive: their enrolling themselves by pedigree. K&D reads the clause as purpose-built, that the register "was prepared with reference to the men capable of bearing arms, and had not, like other registers, reference to the number of inhabitants." Then the number: 26,000. Ellicott sets it against Numbers 1:41 (41,500) and Numbers 26:47 (53,000) and concludes that the tribe "may have declined in numbers and importance" by David's day, citing Deborah's line that "Asher continued at the sea-shore." Cambridge notes that 1 Chronicles 12:36 gives Asher forty thousand, and refuses to build on any of it: the figures "may be based on family traditions, but it would be unsafe to draw any important conclusions from them." K&D offers the harmonizing alternative, that the 26,000 covers only Heber's family, "of which alone a register had been preserved till the time of the chronicler." Pulpit adds the tribe's later silence: Asher supplies no name to the list of chief rulers in 1 Chronicles 27:16-22, and gave no judge to the nation. This is the honest shape of the paragraph: a tribe whose name means happy, whose fighting strength is recorded as reduced, and whose own register the sources cannot fully reconcile.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. Read straight, 1 Chronicles 7:30-40 is a list that keeps what it cannot explain. It preserves Ishvah, whom the Numbers census had already stopped counting as a clan. It preserves two sisters, Serah and Shua, in a form that has no structural need of them. It preserves Birzaith, Harnepher, Beri and Amal, names with no story attached and, in several cases, no second occurrence anywhere in Scripture. It preserves a link, Ulla, that joins to nothing the editors can find. A tidier scribe would have pruned all of it. What survives instead is a record that values being kept over being coherent. The summary then names the men בְּרוּרִים, sifted, and enrolls them וְהִתְיַחְשָׂם, by pedigree, for the host and for the battle, and gives a number that the sources themselves admit is lower than the wilderness counts and lower than 1 Chronicles 12:36. So the tribe called happy ends its paragraph with fewer soldiers than before, no judge in its history, and no name among David's chief rulers. The list does not apologize for that and does not explain it away, and neither should we. What it does is refuse to drop anyone. If God keeps a register at all, this chapter is evidence that the entries are kept for their own sake and not for their usefulness, which is the only ground on which names like Pispah and Rizia are in Scripture at all. Test that reading against the text; it claims no more than the list itself does. The single line set apart below is the machine layer's own summary of this reading, not a verse of Scripture and not a quotation from any commentator.

A name that means happy, a register kept for war: the list holds both and explains neither.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The list that was copied: Asher in Genesis 46 verbal / quotation: confirmed

The opening two verses reproduce the Asherite line of Genesis 46:17. Ellicott calls it "a literal transcript of Genesis 46:17"; Cambridge says the names "are derived from Genesis 46:17" and adds that there is "no variation in the Heb. spelling of the names." The Verifier supplies the hard basis independently: יִשְׁוָה (Yishvâh, H3438) occurs in only two verses in the entire canon, this one and Genesis 46:17, and both verses also carry אֲחוֹת (ʼâchôwth, H269) and אָשֵׁר (ʼÂshêr, H836). A shared lexeme that exists in two verses total is not coincidence; combined with the named editorial judgment of Ellicott and Cambridge, this is a genuine textual dependence, Hebrew to Hebrew.

Genesis 46:17

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H3438 Yishvâh (in 2 vv, i.e. this verse and Genesis 46:17 only), H269 ʼâchôwth (in 104 vv), H836 ʼÂshêr (in 41 vv). The rare lexeme H3438 plus Ellicott's and Cambridge's independent judgment of literal derivation carries the verbal tier.

The same clan list, minus one son: Numbers 26 structural / thematic: confirmed

Numbers 26:44-46 gives the Asherite clans at the second wilderness census, with the clan name attached to each eponym. The overlap of names is heavy: Imnah, Ishvi, Beriah, Heber, Malchiel and Serah all stand in both lists. What is absent is the point. Cambridge: Isuah "is missing in Num." K&D: "in Numbers 26:44-47, on the contrary, the name Ishuai does not occur among the families of Asher." Pulpit adds that in Numbers the daughter's name "is given by itself, and not as furnishing a family." The Chronicler therefore follows Genesis rather than Numbers where the two differ. That is a structural relation between two census lists, not a quotation, and it is deliberately tiered below verbal.

Numbers 26:44 · Numbers 26:45 · Numbers 26:46

basis: Verifier: Numbers 26:44 shares H836 ʼÂshêr (41 vv), H3232 Yimnâh (4 vv), H3440 Yishvîy (4 vv); Numbers 26:45 shares H1283 Bᵉrîyʻâh (10 vv), H2268 Cheber (10 vv), H4439 Malkîyʼêl (3 vv); Numbers 26:46 shares H836 and H8294 Serach (3 vv). Real shared lexemes across a parallel clan register, but the lists diverge (Ishvah absent in Numbers), so no quotation is claimed.

Ahi: the rare name that decides how verse 34 is read structural / thematic: confirmed

Whether אֲחִי in verse 34 is the proper name Ahi or the common noun his brother is the one live grammatical question in the pericope. K&D settles it by appeal to usage elsewhere: "אחי is not an appellative, but a proper name, as the ו before the following name shows; cf. another Ahi in 1 Chronicles 5:15." That Gadite Ahi is the only other bearer of the lexeme in Scripture. Barnes and Pulpit read the other way, Barnes translating "his brother, Rohgah," Pulpit calling the decision impossible. The cross-reference is therefore real evidence, but evidence in a dispute, not a citation of one text by another.

1 Chronicles 5:15

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H277 ʼĂchîy (in 2 vv, this verse and 1 Chronicles 5:15 only). The link is onomastic and is invoked explicitly by K&D as a usage argument; it is not a quotation, and Barnes and Pulpit read the word differently, so the tier stays structural.

Hanniel, and the word for prince structural / thematic: confirmed

Verse 39 names Hanniel; verse 40 titles the heads of Asher הַנְּשִׂיאִים (han·nə·śî·ʼîm, H5387 nâsîyʼ, "an exalted one"). Both words meet again at Numbers 34:23, where Hanniel son of Ephod is the nâsîyʼ appointed to divide the land for Manasseh. The lexeme Channîyʼêl stands in only those two verses in all of Scripture. The two men are not the same man, and nothing in the brief claims they are; what the pair shows is that the title Chronicles assigns to Asher's chiefs is the same office-word the Torah uses for the tribal princes of the allotment.

Numbers 34:23

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H2592 Channîyʼêl (in 2 vv) and H5387 nâsîyʼ (in 120 vv). The rare name is shared by two distinct persons, so no identification and no quotation is claimed; the recorded link is the common office-title nâsîyʼ.

How many men of Asher: numbers that do not agree flagged: verify source

Verse 40 records 26,000 men fit for battle. Numbers 1:41 gives Asher 41,500 at the first census; Numbers 26:47 gives 53,000 at the second; 1 Chronicles 12:36 gives forty thousand coming to David at Hebron. Four figures, and the sources in the brief do not agree on how to hold them. Ellicott infers decline and notes that "the date of the present census is not assigned." K&D harmonizes instead, restricting the 26,000 to Heber's family alone, "of which alone a register had been preserved till the time of the chronicler." Pulpit reports the same restriction as a supposition. Cambridge declines the whole exercise: the numbers "may be based on family traditions, but it would be unsafe to draw any important conclusions from them." This link is flagged because the harmonization, not the text, is what is in dispute, and because none of these references appears in the Verifier's computed candidate list, so there is no lexeme basis behind them, only the commentators' cross-citation.

Numbers 1:41 · Numbers 26:47 · 1 Chronicles 12:36

basis: No Verifier lexeme basis: these references are not in the computed candidate set and are carried only by the named commentators (Ellicott, Cambridge, Pulpit, K&D), who openly disagree on how to reconcile 26,000 with 41,500, 53,000 and 40,000. Cambridge explicitly warns against drawing conclusions from the figures.

Asher at the temple: Anna in Luke 2 structural / thematic: confirmed

The tribe whose register ends here without a judge, without a name among David's chief rulers, and with a reduced count, reappears once in the New Testament at the moment of the infant Christ's presentation: "Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser." Pulpit sets that certainty against the unverifiable legend about Paul's parents in Asherite territory and calls it something we may "gratefully remember." This is a cross-Testament link, so it cannot rest on a shared Strong's number: the Hebrew אָשֵׁר (H836) and Luke's Greek Aser are the same tribal identity in two languages, and the Verifier cannot compute across them. The relation is one of continuity of a named people, and is tiered accordingly.

Luke 2:36

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible and none is claimed. The recorded basis is the tribal designation itself (H836 ʼÂshêr rendered Aser in Luke 2:36) and Pulpit's explicit citation of the verse in his note on 1 Chronicles 7:40.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The last word about Asher is spoken in the temple ancient/widely-held

⚙ Taken as a whole, this pericope records a tribe fading: Ishvah's clan gone from the Numbers list, a census below both wilderness counts, and, as Pulpit observes, no Asherite among the chief rulers of 1 Chronicles 27:16-22 and no judge given to the nation. The canon's last notice of the tribe is an aged widow who kept to the temple and who is identified there, in Pulpit's own words, as "of the tribe of Aser": she sees the child and speaks of him to those waiting for redemption. Pulpit puts that verse forward as the certainty to be held against an unverifiable legend about the same tribe. Two things should be kept apart here. The cross-reference from Asher's register to Luke 2:36 is Pulpit's, made explicitly in his note on verse 40. The weight placed on it is the machine layer's: that a house is kept on the roll not because it is strong but because it is his, and that the keeping is answered when one of its daughters is standing in the temple at the arrival of the redemption.

Luke 2:36 · Luke 2:38

Sifted for the host: bârar and the register that is not for war novel

⚙ The men of verse 40 are בְּרוּרִים (bârar, H1305, to clarify or sift), sifted out, and וְהִתְיַחְשָׂם (yâchas, H3187, Hitpael) enrolls them for the host, for the battle. K&D is explicit that this register differs from others precisely in its purpose: it "was prepared with reference to the men capable of bearing arms." A register whose sole criterion is fitness to fight necessarily excludes the sisters named in verses 30 and 32, and everyone too young, too old or too weak. When Christ answers the returning seventy, he does not abolish the register but reverses its criterion, directing their joy away from what they had accomplished and toward the fact that their names stand written in heaven. This is the tool's own figural reading, not a claim that the Chronicler intended it and not a claim that any named commentator in this brief draws it; it is offered as a novel reading to be tested against the text.

Luke 10:20 · Revelation 21:27

Happy: the name the tribe could not make good on novel

⚙ The lexicon glosses אָשֵׁר (H836) as happy, and the word opens verse 30 and closes the summary in verse 40. Between those two occurrences the text records the tribe's fighting strength as 26,000 against the 41,500 of Numbers 1:41 and the 53,000 of Numbers 26:47, and Ellicott recalls Deborah's verdict that "Asher continued at the sea-shore, and abode on his creeks," that is, did not bestir himself for the war. The name outran the history. The New Testament beatitudes place blessedness somewhere other than in tribal strength or numbers, which is where this list, honestly read, has already failed to find it. The connection is thematic and cross-Testament, and cannot be a lexical one; it is marked novel because no commentator in this brief makes it.

Judges 5:17 · Matthew 5:3

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. Scripture text is the Berean Standard Bible (CC0); the interlinear surfaces, transliterations, Strong's numbers and parses are from the Berean interlinear as supplied in the brief, and all lexical glosses are quoted from that lexicon rather than composed here. Two places in this unit have a Kethiv and Qere divide: בִרְזוֹת in verse 31, where K&D states the pronunciation "cannot be with certainty determined," and יַחְבָּה in verse 34, where Ellicott records that the "Heb. margin has we-Hubbah" and K&D writes, "For יחבּה we should read וחבּה." BSB follows the margin in both cases without a footnote in the text as given to us.

Word order. At verses 30 and 33 the interlinear's word indices follow the English order rather than the Hebrew: in verse 30 the sister-word is indexed before Serah's name, and in verse 33 the name Japhlet is indexed before the construct bᵉnê that governs it. The literal renderings here follow the Hebrew construct relations; the note keys follow the brief's indices, as required.

Sources used and not used. Ten commentators are attached to these verses in the brief. Two are not quoted, for stated reasons. The Geneva entries on every verse of this unit consist only of the verse text plus the heading "EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)," with no exposition to quote. The JFB entry attached to all eleven verses is his note on 1 Chronicles 7:21, the men of Gath and the sons of Ephraim, which lies outside this pericope. Barnes's note attached to verses 30 through 33 likewise concerns Sherah and the cities credited to her, a subject earlier in the chapter and outside this pericope, so Barnes is quoted only at verse 34, where his note is genuinely on Shamer and Ahi. Henry's entry is a single chapter-level remark, repeated verbatim on every verse, and is quoted once, at verse 37, with that context stated.

What is uncertain. A great deal, and the commentators say so themselves. Whether Ahi (v. 34) is a name or the words "his brother"; whether Shemer (v. 34) and Shomer (v. 32) are one man, since the lexicon assigns them different Strong's numbers, H8106 and H7763; whether Helem (v. 35) is the Hotham of verse 32 and, if so, which spelling is the error; whether Birzaith is a man, a woman or a town; whether Jether (v. 38) is the Ithran of verse 37; and above all where Ulla (v. 39) belongs, which Pulpit judges to be beyond anything "better than mere conjecture." Gill's text at verse 35 reads Aram where BSB, Geneva and the interlinear read Amal; that is a witness difference, noted and not resolved here. Ellicott's Egyptian derivation of Harnepher is a suggestion he supports by analogy, not a demonstrated etymology. The census figure of 26,000 is reported as the text gives it; the reconciliation with Numbers 1:41, Numbers 26:47 and 1 Chronicles 12:36 is disputed among the sources and is flagged rather than settled. No source quotation in this unit was typed by the machine layer; every excerpt is a contiguous span lifted from the brief by code.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)