1 Chronicles 1:18
in 1 Chronicles 1Arphaxad 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
4 notes on this verseA 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.
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.
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.
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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁ֖ד | vearpakhshad | and Arphaxad | H775 → | 9 times |
| יָלַ֣ד | yalad | he fathered | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שָׁ֑לַח | shalach | Shelah | H7974 → | 9 times |
| וְשֶׁ֖לַח | veshelach | and Shelah | H7974 → | 9 times |
| יָלַ֥ד | yalad | he fathered | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֵֽבֶר׃ | ʾever | Eber | H5677 → | 15 times |
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 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
Genesis 10:24Arphaxad 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.
- Luke 3:35
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Chronicles
This page draws on 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.