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1 Chronicles 23:17

in 1 Chronicles 23

The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

KJV

And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief. And Eliezer had none other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.

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This verse in 1 Chronicles 23

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the chief,.... The first and only begotten, as it follows: and Eliezer had none other sons; before nor after him: but the sons of Rehabiah were very many; or greatly multiplied; not, as the Targum says, above 600,000; the number of Israel, as the Jewish writers (m) fancy; which they gather from Exo 1:7, and that though Moses deprecated the multiplication of his seed, God fulfilled it. (m) T. Bab Beracot, fol. 7. 1, 2, Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 16. fol. 220. 4.

This site's exposition

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel

on 1 Chronicles 23:12-17

Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever “to consecrate the most holy things”. Moses is named to record that “his sons were named among the tribe of Levi”, so the lawgiver's line is counted with the common Levites. Chronicles states the contrast without comment, the same restraint Numbers keeps.

This site's exposition

Rehabiah was the first

Eliezer had one son, Rehabiah, whose sons became very many. Matthew Henry connects the growth to Exodus 32:10, where Moses refused God's offer to make a great nation of him, and sees the family repaid. John Gill rejects the Targum's figure of over 600,000 for this line.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

When God proposed to him that, if he would let fall his intercession for Israel, he would make of him a great nation, he generously refused it, in recompence for which his family is here greatly increased, and makes up in number what it wants in figure, in the tribe of Levi. The levelling of Moses' family with the rest is an evidence of his self-denial.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

But the sons of Rehabiah were very many - The Targum says, “On account of the merits of Moses, the posterity of Rehabiah were multiplied to more than sixty myriads.”

The words behind it

14 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.

  • וַיִּֽהְי֥וּand they were

    vaiyihyuH1961 →3559 times

  • בְנֵי־[the] sons of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • אֱלִיעֶ֖זֶרEliezer

    ʾeliezerH461 →14 times

  • רְחַבְיָ֣הRehabiah

    rechavyahH7345 →5 times

  • הָרֹ֑אשׁthe chief

    haroshH7218 →599 times

  • וְלֹא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הָיָ֤הit belonged

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • לֶאֱלִיעֶ֙זֶר֙to Eliezer

    leeliezerH461 →14 times

  • בָּנִ֣יםsons

    banimH1121 →4930 times

  • אֲחֵרִ֔יםother

    ʾacherimH312 →166 times

  • וּבְנֵ֥יand [the] sons of

    uveneiH1121 →4930 times

  • רְחַבְיָ֖הRehabiah

    rechavyahH7345 →5 times

  • רָב֥וּthey were numerous

    ravuH7235 →227 times

  • לְמָֽעְלָה׃<to> upwards <towards>

    lemaelahH4605 →140 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

The walk

3 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

    1 Chronicles 26:25

    His relatives through Eliezer included Rehabiah his son, Jeshaiah his son, Joram his son, Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 23:17–18

      The descendants of Eliezer: Rehabiah was the first. Eliezer did not have any other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.

    • 1 Chronicles 23:15

      The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.

    • Exodus 18:4

      The other son was named Eliezer, for Moses had said, “The God of my father was my helper and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”

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.
1 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 1 Chronicles 23 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Chronicles 23 →