1 Chronicles 1:17
in 1 Chronicles 1The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.
KJV
The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 1
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The sons of Shem - i. e., descendants. Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech (or Mash), are stated to have been “sons of Aram” Gen 10:23. Meshech is the reading of all the MSS., and is supported by the Septuagint here and in Gen 10:23. It seems preferable to “Mash,” which admits of no very probable explanation.
This site's exposition
The sons of Shem
on 1 Chronicles 1:17-27
Shem's line carries the second narrative flash: Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided, kept from Gen 10:25 with its riddle intact and unexplained here as there. Then the list runs Arphaxad to Abram in the ten-name rhythm of the flood-to-Abraham line, and verse 27 lands the whole chapter's first movement in three words: Abram; the same is Abraham. Two thousand years of Genesis stand behind that semicolon.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
), 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.
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The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the Jebusite, &c.--At 1Ch 1:14-17 the names are not those of individuals, but of people who all sprang from Canaan; and as several of them became extinct or were amalgamated with their brethren, their national appellations are given instead of the personal names of their ancestors.
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How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
The sons of Shem. The list includes grandsons along with sons; for Uz, Hul, Gesher and Meshech were sons of Aram.
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
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| שֵׁ֔ם | shem | Shem | H8035 → | 17 times |
| עֵילָ֣ם | ʾeilam | Elam | H5867 → | 28 times |
| וְאַשּׁ֔וּר | veashur | and Asshur | H804 → | 151 times |
| וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁ֖ד | vearpakhshad | and Arphaxad | H775 → | 9 times |
| וְל֣וּד | velud | and Lud | H3865 → | |
| וַאֲרָ֑ם | vaaram | and Aram | H758 → | 143 times |
| וְע֥וּץ | veutz | and Uz | H5780 → | |
| וְח֖וּל | vechul | and Hul | H2343 → | |
| וְגֶ֥תֶר | vegeter | and Gether | H1666 → | |
| וָמֶֽשֶׁךְ׃ ס | vameshekh | and Meshech | H4902 → |
בְּנֵ֣י[the] sons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
שֵׁ֔םShem
shemH8035 →17 times
עֵילָ֣םElam
ʾeilamH5867 →28 times
וְאַשּׁ֔וּרand Asshur
veashurH804 →151 times
וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁ֖דand Arphaxad
vearpakhshadH775 →9 times
וְל֣וּדand Lud
veludH3865 →
וַאֲרָ֑םand Aram
vaaramH758 →143 times
וְע֥וּץand Uz
veutzH5780 →
וְח֖וּלand Hul
vechulH2343 →
וְגֶ֥תֶרand Gether
vegeterH1666 →
וָמֶֽשֶׁךְ׃ סand Meshech
vameshekhH4902 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Hosea 14:3Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.”
it leads to
- Psalms 10:14
But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Psalms 68:5
A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
- Isaiah 31:1
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
- Psalms 10:14
Through
Isaiah 21:2A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:34
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.
- Jeremiah 49:34
Through
Numbers 23:7And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and…
it leads to
- Numbers 22:5–6
he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the…
- Numbers 24:3
and he lifted up an oracle, saying: “This is the prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of a man whose eyes are open,
- Deuteronomy 23:4
For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
- Numbers 22:5–6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Chronicles

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.
