1 Chronicleschapter 4
43 verses · BSB1 Chronicles book hub →
Speaks with:Joshua 19×61 Chronicles 4×81 Chronicles 2×5Joshua 15×5Numbers 26×4Genesis 46×2
Summary
Chapter summary
More of Judah's clans, the craftsmen and linen-workers and potters who 'dwelt with the king for his work.' Set in the middle of the names is one of Scripture's smallest and most famous prayers: Jabez, whose mother named him for sorrow, 'called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it be not to my sorrow! And God granted him that which he requested' (4:9-10). Then Simeon's families, their towns 'until the reign of David,' and their raids for pasture toward Gedor and the hill country of Seir.
Context
History · Ezra — 1 Chronicles overview
- A. 1–8 Judah's lesser-known families
- B. 9–10 The prayer of Jabez, more honorable than his brothers
- C. 11–23 Craftsmen, linen workers, and the king's potters
- D. 24–43 Simeon's towns and the hunt for pasture
The outline
A.Judah's lesser-known familiesvv. 1 to 8
Read vv. 1 to 8 →B.The prayer of Jabez, more honorable than his brothersvv. 9 to 10
Read vv. 9 to 10 →C.Craftsmen, linen workers, and the king's pottersvv. 11 to 23
Read vv. 11 to 23 →D.Simeon's towns and the hunt for pasturevv. 24 to 43
Read vv. 24 to 43 →
The world behind this chapter
1 Chronicles 4The history
This chapter is full of trades. There are the families of linen workers at Beth-ashbea, whose craft meant growing and retting flax, combing it, and weaving cloth fine enough to sell. There are potters who lived at Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king — royal estates employed their own potters, and jar handles stamped for the crown have been dug up all over Judah.
Jabez's prayer sits inside that world of land and labor. Asking God to enlarge his border was not a wish for a vague blessing; borders were stone markers in a field, and moving one was theft. He is asking for more ground to work and protection while he works it.
Simeon's section explains a puzzle in the map. Simeon's towns sat inside Judah's territory, and the tribe was slowly absorbed. The two raids at the end are grazing raids: one party pushes east of the valley of Gedor looking for quiet pasture and finds it held by settled Hamites; another five hundred men go up to Mount Seir and finish off a surviving band of Amalekites. Both are dated to Hezekiah's reign, which is how old family records get anchored in time.
What it meant to them
The people hearing this were farmers, potters, weavers, and stone-cutters again. Their fathers had held court appointments in Babylon or worked its canals; now they were back to flax and clay. The register told them that God had always kept the names of working families.
And the note that Simeon held those towns 'until David reigned' taught them something about borders. Territory shifts, tribes fade into their neighbors, kings come and go — the written record is what survives.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on 1 Chronicles 4. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.