1 Chronicles 4:9
in 1 Chronicles 4Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
KJV
And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
It is remarkable that Jabez should be introduced without description, or patronymic, as if a well-known personage. We can only suppose that he was known to those for whom Chronicles was written, either by tradition, or by writings which have perished. In 1Ch 4:10 Jabez alludes to his name, “sorrowful” (margin): “Grant that the grief implied in my name may not come upon me!”
This site's exposition
was more honourable than his brethren
on 1 Chronicles 4:9-10
The name list stops for two verses of narrative. Jabez is called more honourable than his brethren, and the reason given is his mother's naming him for the sorrow of his birth. His prayer asks four things only, blessing, enlarged territory, God's hand with him, and protection from evil that would grieve him, and the text closes the matter in one clause, God granted him that which he requested. The verse records one man's prayer and one answer, and Spurgeon preached the text directly under the title The Prayer of Jabez.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
To whom he prayed, not to any of the gods of the Gentiles; no, he called on the God of Israel, the living and true God, who alone can hear and answer prayer, and in prayer had an eye to him as the God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people, the God with whom Jacob wrestled and prevailed and was thence called Israel. What was the nature of his prayer.
The most remarkable person in this paragraph is Jabez. It is not said whose son he was, nor does it appear in what age he lived; but, it should seem, he was the founder of one of the families of Aharhel, mentioned
And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And Jabez was more honorable - This whole account is variously understood by some of the principal versions. I shall subjoin a translation of each. Septuagint. - “And Igabes was more glorious than his brethren; and his mother called his name Igabes, saying, I have brought thee forth as Gabes. And Igabes invoked the God of Israel, saying, If in blessing thou wilt bless me, and enlarge my borders, and thy hand be with me, and wilt give me understanding not to depress me: and God brought about all that he requested.” Syriac. - “And one of these was dear to his father and to his mother; and he called his name ainai, My Eye. And he said to him, In blessing may the Lord bless thee, and enlarge thy boundary; and may his hand be with thee; and may he preserve thee from evil, that it may not rule over thee; and may he give to thee whatsoever thou shalt request of him!” Arabic. - “And this one (Hastahar or Harum) was beloved of his father and his mother: and they called his name aina, My Eye; and they said unto him, May the Lord bless thee, and multiply thy people, and may his hand be present with thee, because thou wast born in Beth-lehem!” These two latter versions seem to have copied each other, and the Vulgate is nearly, like ours, a literal rendering of the Hebrew; but the Chaldee is widely different from all the rest: - Chaldee. - “And Jabets also, he is Othniel, honorable and skilled in the law beyond his brethren, whose mother called his name Jabets, because she had borne him with sorrow. And Jabets prayed to the God of Israel, saying, O that in blessing thou wouldest bless me with children, and enlarge my borders with disciples; and that thy hand may be with me in business, that thou mayest make me like to my companions, that evil concupiscence may the less grieve me! […]
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֣י | vayhi | and he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| יַעְבֵּ֔ץ | ya'betz | Jabez | H3258 → | 4 times |
| נִכְבָּ֖ד | nikhbad | honored | H3513 → | 113 times |
| מֵאֶחָ֑יו | meechav | more than brothers his | H251 → | 630 times |
| וְאִמּ֗וֹ | veimo | and mother his | H517 → | |
| קָרְאָ֨ה | kareah | she had called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| שְׁמ֤וֹ | shemo | name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יַעְבֵּץ֙ | ya'betz | Jabez | H3258 → | 4 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָלַ֖דְתִּי | yaladti | I gave birth | H3205 → | 496 times |
| בְּעֹֽצֶב׃ | beotzev | in pain | H6090 → |
וַיְהִ֣יand he was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
יַעְבֵּ֔ץJabez
ya'betzH3258 →4 times
נִכְבָּ֖דhonored
nikhbadH3513 →113 times
מֵאֶחָ֑יוmore than brothers his
meechavH251 →630 times
וְאִמּ֗וֹand mother his
veimoH517 →
קָרְאָ֨הshe had called
kareahH7121 →733 times
שְׁמ֤וֹname his
shemoH8034 →864 times
יַעְבֵּץ֙Jabez
ya'betzH3258 →4 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
יָלַ֖דְתִּיI gave birth
yaladtiH3205 →496 times
בְּעֹֽצֶב׃in pain
beotzevH6090 →
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
Genesis 3:16To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
it leads to
- Titus 2:5
to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.
- Colossians 3:18
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
- 1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
- Ephesians 5:22–24
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
- 1 Timothy 2:15
Women, however, will be saved through childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.
- Titus 2:5
Through
1 Samuel 4:21And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel,” because the ark of God had been captured and her father-in-law and her husband had been killed.
it leads to
- Psalms 26:8
O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
- Psalms 78:61
He delivered His strength to captivity, and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.
- Jeremiah 2:11
Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Psalms 26:8
About 1 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 994, The Prayer of Jabez; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.