1 Chronicles 7-8 - Northern Tribes and Benjamin

Audio narrationAlso in your podcast app

This narration is from a previous version of the study and may include a combined recording of multiple chapters.

Speed0.75×1×1.2×1.5×2×3×

A family list pauses long enough for a father to mourn. Ephraim’s brothers come to comfort him, a later child is born, and the names continue. Chapters 7–8 preserve northern tribes and Benjamin with their strength, displacement, grief, and inhabited towns. The people remembered here are more than a record of political success.

These chapters complete another part of Israel’s ancestral memory before chapter 9 turns to Jerusalem and then reprises Saul’s family. Saul’s death comes in chapter 10. The sequence prepares for David without making Benjamin expendable, and it teaches us to remember wounded households without either flattering or condemning a whole family.

Families, strength, and a wider memory (1 Chronicles 7:1-19)

¹ And as to the sons of Issachar, they were Thola, and Phua, and Jasub, and Semeron, four. ² And the sons of Thola; Ozi, Raphaia, and Jeriel, and Jamai, and Jemasan, and Samuel, chiefs of their fathers’ houses belonging to Thola, men of might according to their generations; their number in the days of David was twenty and two thousand and six hundred. ³ And the sons of Ozi; Jezraia: and the sons of Jezraia; Michael, Abdiu, and Joel, and Jesia, five, all rulers. ⁴ And with them, according to their generations, according to the houses of their families, were men mighty to set armies in array for war, thirty and six thousand, for they had multiplied their wives and children. ⁵ And their brethren among all the families of Issachar, also mighty men, were eighty-seven thousand—this was the number of them all. ⁶ The sons of Benjamin; Bale, and Bachir, and Jediel, three. ⁷ And the sons of Bale; Esebon, and Ozi, and Oziel, and Jerimuth, and Uri, five; heads of houses of families, mighty men; and their number was twenty and two thousand and thirty-four. ⁸ And the sons of Bachir; Zemira, and Joas, and Eliezer, and Elithenan, and Amaria, and Jerimuth, and Abiud, and Anathoth, and Eleemeth: all these were the sons of Bachir. ⁹ And their number according to their generations, (they were chiefs of their fathers’ houses, men of might), was twenty thousand and two hundred. ¹⁰ And the sons of Jediel; Balaan: and the sons of Balaan; Jaüs, and Benjamin, and Aoth, and Chanana, and Zæthan, and Tharsi, and Achisaar. ¹¹ All these were the sons of Jediel, chiefs of their families, men of might, seventeen thousand and two hundred, going forth to war with might. ¹² And Sapphin, and Apphin, and the sons of Or, Asom, whose son was Aor. ¹³ The sons of Nephthali; Jasiel, Goni, and Aser, and Sellum, his sons, Balam his son. ¹⁴ The sons of Manasse; Esriel, whom his Syrian concubine bore; and she bore to him also Machir the father of Galaad. ¹⁵ And Machir took a wife for Apphin and Sapphin, and his sister’s name was Moöcha; and the name of the second son was Sapphaad; and to Sapphaad were born daughters. ¹⁶ And Moöcha the wife of Machir bore a son, and called his name Phares; and his brother’s name was Surus; his sons were Ulam, and Rocom. ¹⁷ And the sons of Ulam; Badam. These were the sons of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasse. ¹⁸ And his sister Malecheth bore Isud, and Abiezer, and Maela. ¹⁹ And the sons of Semira were, Aim, and Sychem, and Lakim, and Anian.

The first register names Issachar’s chiefs and dates one count to David’s days (7:2). The numbers describe households able to muster fighting men; they preserve a people’s remembered capacity to act together. The repeated language of strength gives these tribes a real place in Israel’s history even when they receive little space in the later royal narrative. In a book read after exile, remembering that breadth resists the temptation to make the whole people identical with its most visible family.

The entries differ in length. Naphtali receives a single verse, while Manasseh’s family branches name a Syrian concubine, Machir’s wife, daughters, and a sister with descendants (7:13-19). Their brevity or prominence is no measure of a person’s worth before God. Neither does the register certify the final salvation of everyone named. An ancestral record locates people within Israel’s history; the heavenly Book of Life concerns God’s final judgment. Those realities must remain distinct.

Christian readers can receive these names as a rebuke to selective remembrance. We readily remember those who have helped our own household or parish and forget the people whose service made their lives possible. Prayer begins to heal that narrowness when we bring actual people before Christ, including those outside our familiar circle. The register itself is historical testimony, not a prescribed Christian prayer rite.

Mourning, comfort, and continuing life (1 Chronicles 7:20-29)

²⁰ And the sons of Ephraim; Sothalath, and Barad his son, and Thaath his son, Elada his son, Saath his son, ²¹ and Zabad his son, Sothele his son, and Azer, and Elead: and the men of Geth who were born in the land slew them, because they went down to take their cattle. ²² And their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him. ²³ And he went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bore a son, and he called his name Beria, because, said he, He was afflicted in my house. ²⁴ And his daughter was Saraa, and he was among them that were left, and he built Bæthoron the upper and the lower. And the descendants of Ozan were Seera, ²⁵ and Raphe his son, Saraph and Thalees his sons, Thaen his son. ²⁶ To Laadan his son was born his son Amiud, his son Helisamai, his son ²⁷ Nun, his son Jesue, these were his sons. ²⁸ And their possession and their dwelling were Bæthel and her towns, to the east Noaran, westward Gazer and her towns, and Sychem and her towns, as far as Gaza and her towns. ²⁹ And as far as the borders of the sons of Manasse, Bæthsaan and her towns, Thanach and her towns, Mageddo and her towns, Dor and her towns. In this the children of Joseph the son of Israel dwelt.

A family register suddenly becomes a lament. Verse 21 describes men of Gath killing members of Ephraim’s line in a conflict over cattle. The compressed account does not settle every question about the participants and the generations; it does plainly preserve the violence and the bereavement it caused. A devotional reading should neither romanticize the raid nor make the grieving father an example of deficient faith.

Ephraim mourns “many days,” and his brothers come to comfort him (7:22). Their coming is the first human answer the text records. Before anything is built, before another child is born, relatives draw near. They cannot reverse the deaths. Their presence keeps sorrow from becoming abandonment. To sit with someone whose loss cannot be repaired is already a work of mercy.

Beria’s birth continues the household, but his name remains attached to its affliction (7:23). New life does not erase the dead, and hope need not demand that a parent stop missing a child. The genealogy can carry grief and continuing life together. John 11:33-36 gives Christian consolation its center: Christ meets mourners with tears even as He comes to overcome death. The Church’s hope in the Resurrection gives room for sorrow rather than making sorrow an embarrassment.

The line leads to Nun and Joshua, whom Brenton names “Nun” and “Jesue” (7:27), and then to the towns inhabited by Joseph’s descendants. The family story opens again into a people’s dwelling places. The future is larger than this wound, yet the wound has been allowed its own words.

Language insight: “Saraa” and “Sheerah”

The Hebrew-based reading of 7:24, reflected in the NKJV and other English versions, names Sheerah as the woman who built Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah. The Hebrew verb rendered “built,” וַתִּבֶן (wattiben), is feminine singular. Brenton instead names “Saraa,” follows with masculine wording about building Beth-horon, and continues with “the descendants of Ozan” and “Seera.” The woman builder therefore belongs to the Hebrew-based comparison, not to the exact wording quoted above.¹ Her remembered work deserves attention on that stated basis: Scripture can preserve a woman’s constructive public work within a largely male genealogy.

Asher and the households behind the numbers (1 Chronicles 7:30-40)

³⁰ The sons of Aser; Jemna, and Suia, and Isui, and Beria, and Sore their sister. ³¹ And the sons of Beria; Chaber, and Melchiel; he was the father of Berthaith. ³² And Chaber begot Japhlet, and Samer, and Chothan, and Sola their sister. ³³ And the sons of Japhlet; Phasec, and Bamael, and Asith: these are the sons of Japhlet. ³⁴ And the sons of Semmer; Achir, and Rooga, and Jaba, and Aram. ³⁵ And the sons of Elam his brother; Sopha, and Imana, and Selles, and Amal. ³⁶ The sons of Sopha; Sue, and Arnaphar, and Suda, and Barin, and Imran, ³⁷ and Basan, and Oa, and Sama, and Salisa, and Jethra, and Beëra. ³⁸ And the sons of Jether, Jephina, and Phaspha, and Ara. ³⁹ And the sons of Ola; Orech, Aniel, and Rasia. ⁴⁰ All these were the sons of Aser, all heads of families, choice, mighty men, chief leaders: their number for battle array—their number was twenty-six thousand men.

Asher’s family contains a sister, Sore, another sister, Sola, several lines of descent, and chiefs able to assemble men for battle. The concluding number belongs to those households; it should not swallow the people the genealogy has just named. Israel’s remembered life includes both public strength and the family relationships through which a people continues.

The summary calls these men “choice” and “mighty” (7:40). Those are descriptions of their role and capacity, not a complete judgment on their holiness. Christians honor courage while submitting its use to Christ. The military census gives no permission to despise the weak, to measure a parish by its most forceful members, or to imagine that armed success proves righteousness. Within the Church, the strong bear the infirmities of the weak (Romans 15:1); strength reaches its Christian purpose in service.

Benjamin, displacement, and inhabited towns (1 Chronicles 8:1-28)

¹ Now Benjamin begot Bale his first-born, and Asbel his second son, Aara the third, Noa the fourth, ² and Rapha the fifth. ³ And the sons of Bale were, Adir, and Gera, and Abiud, ⁴ and Abessue, and Noama, and Achia, ⁵ and Gera, and Sephupham, and Uram. ⁶ These were the sons of Aod: these are the heads of families to them that dwell in Gabee, and they removed them to Machanathi: ⁷ and Nooma, and Achia and Gera, he removed them, and he begot Aza, and Jachicho. ⁸ And Saarin begot children in the plain of Moab, after that he had sent away Osin and Baada his wives. ⁹ And he begot of his wife Ada, Jolab, and Sebia, and Misa, and Melchas, ¹⁰ and Jebus, and Zabia, and Marma: these were heads of families. ¹¹ And of Osin he begot Abitol, and Alphaal. ¹² And the sons of Alphaal; Obed, Misaal, Semmer: he built Ona, and Lod, and its towns: ¹³ and Beria, and Sama; these were heads of families among the dwellers in Elam, and they drove out the inhabitants of Geth. ¹⁴ And his brethren were Sosec, and Arimoth, ¹⁵ and Zabadia, and Ored, and Eder, ¹⁶ and Michael, and Jespha, and Joda, the sons of Beria: ¹⁷ and Zabadia, and Mosollam, and Azaki, and Abar, ¹⁸ and Isamari, and Jexlias, and Jobab, the sons of Elphaal: ¹⁹ and Jakim, and Zachri, and Zabdi, ²⁰ and Elionai, and Salathi, ²¹ and Elieli, and Adaia, and Baraia, and Samarath, sons of Samaith: ²² and Jesphan, and Obed, and Eliel, ²³ and Abdon, and Zechri, and Anan, ²⁴ and Anania, and Ambri, and Ælam, and Anathoth, ²⁵ and Jathin, and Jephadias, and Phanuel, the sons of Sosec: ²⁶ and Samsari, and Saarias, and Gotholia, ²⁷ and Jarasia, and Eria, and Zechri, son of Iroam. ²⁸ These were heads of families, chiefs according to their generations: these dwelt in Jerusalem.

Benjamin receives a second, fuller treatment after its earlier register in 7:6-12. The narrative is approaching Saul, but first it gives his tribe more than a royal name. Families move, children are born in Moab, towns are built, and chiefs dwell in Jerusalem. The references to removal in 8:6-7 and the family changes in 8:8 are compressed; the text does not supply enough detail to reconstruct every circumstance.

The building of Ono and Lod and their towns (8:12) makes settlement concrete. Verse 13 also remembers the driving out of Gath’s inhabitants. These are accounts of ancient territorial conflict, not instructions for Christian treatment of neighboring peoples. Love of a homeland does not suspend Christ’s command to love enemies.

By 8:28 the chiefs are dwelling in Jerusalem. Benjamin belongs within the shared life that Chronicles is recovering, even though Saul’s kingship will fail. The book does not divide humanity into a holy Davidic bloodline and a worthless Saulide one. Its attention to a tribe’s households prepares us to judge acts and responsibilities truthfully without making inherited identity either a moral achievement or a permanent disgrace.

Saul’s family remembered without a verdict on every descendant (1 Chronicles 8:29-40)

²⁹ And the father of Gabaon dwelt in Gabaon; and his wife’s name was Moacha. ³⁰ And her first-born son was Abdon, and Sur, and Kis, and Baal, and Nadab, and Ner, ³¹ and Gedur and his brother, and Zacchur, and Makeloth. ³² And Makeloth begot Samaa: for these dwelt in Jerusalem in the presence of their brethren with their brethren. ³³ And Ner begot Kis, and Kis begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, and Melchisue, and Aminadab, and Asabal. ³⁴ And the son of Jonathan was Meribaal; and Meribaal begot Micha. ³⁵ And the sons of Micha; Phithon, and Melach, and Tharach, and Achaz. ³⁶ And Achaz begot Jada, and Jada begot Salæmath, and Asmoth, and Zambri; and Zambri begot Mæsa; ³⁷ and Mæsa begot Baana: Rhaphæa, was his son, Elasa his son, Esel his son. ³⁸ And Esel had six sons, and these were their names; Ezricam his first-born, and Ismael, and Saraia, and Abdia, and Anan, and Asa: all these were the sons of Esel. ³⁹ And the sons of Asel his brother; Ælam his first-born, and Jas the second, and Eliphalet the third. ⁴⁰ And the sons of Ælam were mighty men, bending the bow, and multiplying sons and grandsons, a hundred and fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.

Saul appears within a household extending before and after him. Jonathan’s line continues through Meribaal and Micha (8:34-35), and the register ends with further descendants and skilled bowmen. This continuity matters when chapter 10 later describes the destruction of Saul and his house: the royal catastrophe must not be stretched into a claim that every biological descendant died.

Chapter 9 intervenes before Saul’s death and repeats his genealogy at its close. The repeated ancestry is a bridge from the registers to the tragic opening of the royal narrative. Preserving the family does not acquit Saul of unfaithfulness; it prevents the fall of a king from becoming the erasure of everyone related to him.

Gems from the Fathers 💎

St John Chrysostom, expounding Matthew’s genealogy rather than Chronicles, finds a double healing in Christ’s willingness to enter a family history marked by sin. We need neither boast in ancestors nor live imprisoned by their disgrace. The incarnate Lord came, he says, “not to escape our disgraces, but to bear them away.”² This is a Christian illumination of ancestry, not an identification of Saul’s line with Christ’s genealogy. Christ gives us a truthful way to remember: acknowledge the wrong, refuse inherited contempt, and seek the repentance and virtue possible now.

Spiritual Fruit 🍇

Draw near before offering advice. Ephraim’s relatives come while he is still mourning (7:22). Visit or contact someone bereaved and offer something specific: a meal, a necessary errand, or unhurried company. Let that person speak of the dead without turning every conversation toward recovery. A later blessing does not make an earlier love replaceable.

Receive family history truthfully. Name before Christ one inherited wound and one gift you have received. Give thanks for the gift without claiming personal credit; ask for healing of the wound without calling yourself destined to repeat it. Where reconciliation is possible and safe, take a modest first step. Where it is not, prayer need not pretend trust has already been restored.

Remember those outside the prominent line. Pray for a person whose work rarely receives notice and thank that person directly. The lists preserve more than kings. The Hebrew-based Sheerah reading also gives a particular reason to honor women’s constructive work without borrowing an interpretation from a different wording unnoticed.

Ephraim’s house has not become painless. His brothers have nevertheless come, and life is continuing without the lost being forgotten. Stand there in prayer with the grieving, before rushing toward a lesson. Ask Christ, who wept at Lazarus’s tomb, to make your presence patient and your hope gentle.

Teaching Notes

Families, strength, and a wider memory (1 Chronicles 7:1-19)

• Ask: What does the varying length of the tribal entries allow us to see, and what can it not tell us?
• Emphasize: Historical registration and remembered strength are different from a verdict of salvation.
• Watch for: Do not identify ancestral enrollment with the Book of Life.
• Connect: Prayer can widen remembrance beyond our own household.

Mourning, comfort, and continuing life (1 Chronicles 7:20-29)

• Ask: Why does the arrival of Ephraim’s brothers matter before the continuation of the line?
• Emphasize: Comfort precedes any exhortation to rebuild.
• Watch for: A new birth does not replace the dead; identify Sheerah’s Hebrew-based textual basis.
• Connect: John 11:33-36 joins Christ’s tears to resurrection hope.

Asher and the households behind the numbers (1 Chronicles 7:30-40)

• Ask: How do the family names change the way we read the concluding military total?
• Emphasize: Capacity for battle is one aspect of these households, not their entire worth.
• Watch for: Avoid making strength or success a certificate of holiness.
• Connect: Romans 15:1 directs strength toward bearing the weak.

Benjamin, displacement, and inhabited towns (1 Chronicles 8:1-28)

• Ask: What can be learned from the towns and migrations without filling the account’s silences?
• Emphasize: Benjamin’s history includes households, settlement, and conflict as well as Saul.
• Watch for: Ancient dispossession licenses no hostility toward contemporary peoples.
• Connect: Christian remembrance joins truth to love of neighbor.

Saul’s family remembered without a verdict on every descendant (1 Chronicles 8:29-40)

• Ask: How does the continuing line of Jonathan prepare us to read chapter 10 carefully?
• Emphasize: Family continuity and accountable kingship can be affirmed together.
• Watch for: Chrysostom is interpreting Matthew, not commenting directly on Chronicles.
• Connect: Christ heals ancestral shame without concealing wrongdoing.

Sources

Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX).

1. Brenton, 1 Chronicles chapter 7 and chapter 8; John 11:33-36; Romans 15:1.

2. St John Chrysostom, Homily 3 on Matthew §§2-3, especially §3: exposition of Matthew’s genealogy, used here as a thematic and canonical parallel.

3. The Coptic lectionary evidence checked for this study yielded no current direct appointment overlapping chapters 7–8. This limited finding does not exclude other historical uses.

Footnotes

1. 1 Chronicles 7:24, Hebrew-based English versions and Hebrew form, verse comparison; compare Brenton 7:24. The comparison establishes the difference in wording, not its textual origin. ↩

2. St John Chrysostom, Homily 3 on Matthew §§2-3, especially §3, NPNF, first series, vol. 10, trans. George Prevost, revised M. B. Riddle, primary text. ↩