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1 Chronicles 1:18

in 1 Chronicles 1

Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Arpachshad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.

KJV

And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.

This verse in 1 Chronicles 1

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth--The three sons of this patriarch are enumerated, partly because they were the founders of the new world, and partly because the fulfilment of Noah's prophecy (Ge 9:25-27) could not otherwise appear to have been verified.

This site's exposition

The sons of Shem

on 1 Chronicles 1:17-27

Shem's line carries a second clause of story, kept from Genesis 10:25: Peleg was named so because in his days the earth was divided. The list then runs from Shem to Abram in ten names, and verse 27 closes the chapter's first movement: and Abram (that is, Abraham).

This site's exposition

Arphaxad was the father of Shelah

Arphaxad, Shelah, and Eber follow Shem as in Genesis 11:10 to 15. Luke 3:36 places a Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah. The name Hebrew is often traced to Eber, the father of Peleg and Joktan.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The great promise of the Messiah (says bishop Patrick) was translated from Adam to Seth, from him to Shem, from him to Eber, and so to the Hebrew nation, who were entrusted, above all nations, with that sacred treasure, till the promise was performed and the Messiah had come, and then that nation was made not a people.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), contain the sacred line of Christ from Adam to Abraham, and are inserted in his pedigree, Luke iii. 34-38 , the order ascending as here it descends. This genealogy proves the falsehood of that reproach, As for this man, we know not whence he is.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

The sons of Shem. The list includes grandsons along with sons; for Uz, Hul, Gesher and Meshech were sons of Aram.
Radak: Provence, 1160–1235 · Radak on I Chronicles 1:17:1, via Sefaria, The Commentary of Radak to Chronicles: A Translation with Introduction and Supercommentary, by Yitzhak Berger, Brown University, 2007

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 1 further source is cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

8 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁ֖דand Arphaxad

    vearpakhshadH775 →9 times

  • יָלַ֣דhe fathered

    yaladH3205 →496 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שָׁ֑לַחShelah

    shalachH7974 →9 times

  • וְשֶׁ֖לַחand Shelah

    veshelachH7974 →9 times

  • יָלַ֥דhe fathered

    yaladH3205 →496 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • עֵֽבֶר׃Eber

    ʾeverH5677 →15 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

2 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Genesis 10:24

    Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber.

    it leads to

    • Luke 3:35

      the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

    • Genesis 11:12–15

      When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Chronicles

King David Playing the Harp, Gerard van Honthorst, 1622. Public domain.
King David Playing the Harp, Gerard van Honthorst, 1622. Public domain.

This page draws on Berean Standard Bible, Genesis 11:10 to 15; Berean Standard Bible, Luke 3:35 to 36; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.