1 Chronicles 7
1 The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, to Tola, mighty men of valor in their generations; their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred.
3 The sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah; and the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, five; all of them chief men. 4 With them, by their generations, after their fathers’ houses, were bands of soldiers for war, thirty-six thousand men; for they had many wives and sons.
5 Their brothers among all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valor, reckoned by genealogies, were eighty-seven thousand in all.
6 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael, three. 7 The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor; and they were reckoned by genealogies twenty-two thousand thirty-four.
8 The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth; all these were the sons of Becher. 9 They were reckoned by genealogies, after their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor, twenty thousand two hundred.
10 The sons of Jediael: Bilhan; and the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. 11 All these were the sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor, seventeen thousand two hundred, able to go out in the army for war.
12 Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir; Hushim was the son of Aher.
13 The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
14 The sons of Manasseh: Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead. 15 Machir took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister’s name was Maacah; and the name of the second was Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had daughters.
16 Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she named him Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. 17 The sons of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
18 His sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah. 19 The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
20 The sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, 21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take away their livestock. 22 Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him.
23 He went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bore a son, and he named him Beriah, because it went evil with his house. 24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built Beth Horon the lower and the upper, and Uzzen Sheerah.
25 Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son, 26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, 27 Nun his son, Joshua his son.
28 Their possession and habitation were Bethel and its towns, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer and its towns; Shechem also and its towns, to Ayyah and its towns; 29 and by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth Shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these lived the children of Joseph the son of Israel.
30 The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah; and Serah was their sister. 31 The sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. 32 Heber became the father of Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua their sister. 33 The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the sons of Japhlet. 34 The sons of Shomer: Ahi, Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. 35 The sons of his brother Helem: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. 36 The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, 37 Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. 38 The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara. 39 The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.
40 All these were the sons of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, choice and mighty men of valor, chief of the princes. The number of them reckoned by genealogies for service in war was twenty-six thousand men.
1 Chronicles 7 Commentary
Chapter Overview
First Chronicles 7 records families from Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher. Much of the chapter counts household leaders and men available for military service, but the genealogy is not only a census. It also preserves women, grief, settlement boundaries, and the line that produced Joshua. Israel’s strength is shown as something rooted in remembered families rather than anonymous numbers.
The chapter does not attempt to list every tribe or every descendant in the same amount of detail. Some lines are brief, Benjamin receives another fuller genealogy in the next chapter, and several names differ from other biblical lists. Chronicles selects material that served its purpose: restoring tribal identity, showing continuity with earlier Israel, and demonstrating that communities scattered by history still had an ordered place in the nation’s memory.
Key Themes
Issachar’s genealogy begins with four sons also named among Jacob’s descendants in Genesis 46. The line quickly moves from ancestry to fathers’ houses and warriors. This pattern shows how a founding family became clans capable of serving the larger nation across later generations.
The repeated phrase “mighty men of valor” describes proven or capable fighting men. It does not automatically declare that every person named was spiritually faithful. Chronicles can recognize courage, discipline, and public usefulness while other passages remind readers that character before God must be assessed by more than military reputation.
The numbers connected with Issachar are tied to genealogical registration and, in verse 2, specifically to the days of David. David’s reign required organized knowledge of Israel’s available forces, although 2 Samuel 24 also warns that a census could become sinful when driven by pride or distrust. Counting people was not inherently wrong; the purpose and posture behind it mattered.
Large households contributed to Issachar’s military capacity. Verse 4 mentions many wives and sons as the practical reason for numerous troops. The statement describes the social structure behind the count; it is not an endorsement of every feature of ancient polygamous family life.
Benjamin’s list is selective and differs from the arrangements in Genesis and Numbers 26. Ancient genealogies could organize descendants as sons, clan founders, or prominent branches, and some lines may be omitted or known under variant names. The differences should be acknowledged rather than forced into an artificial one-to-one sequence.
Benjamin appears here because the chapter surveys several northern and central tribes, but 1 Chronicles 8 returns to Benjamin at much greater length. That second treatment prepares especially for Saul’s family. Repetition therefore serves a literary purpose: chapter 7 places Benjamin among Israel’s tribes, while chapter 8 narrows toward the monarchy.
Verse 12 is unusually compressed. Shuppim, Huppim, Ir, Hushim, and Aher are difficult to align confidently with other lists, and “Aher” may function as a name or as a term meaning “another.” The text gives too little information for certainty. Its brevity is a reminder that not every genealogical puzzle can be solved from the surviving details.
Naphtali receives only one verse, naming four sons and identifying them through Bilhah, Jacob’s concubine and Naphtali’s mother. The short notice does not imply that the tribe was unimportant. Genealogical space varies according to the records available and the Chronicler’s immediate aims.
The Manasseh section repeatedly includes women. An Aramean concubine, Maacah, Hammolecheth, and Zelophehad’s daughters all appear within the family record. Genealogies often follow male descent, yet women are named when their relationships, inheritance, or contribution are necessary to tell the family’s history accurately.
Zelophehad had no sons, and his daughters successfully appealed for an inheritance in Numbers 27. Their case established that a father’s name and property could continue through daughters under defined covenant law. Their appearance in Chronicles confirms that their claim was not a side story but part of Manasseh’s enduring tribal identity.
Joshua 17 records the daughters receiving their portion in the land. Together, Numbers, Joshua, and Chronicles show law, fulfillment, and memory working together. God’s provision was expressed not only in a ruling but in an actual inheritance that later generations continued to recognize.
The Ephraim section interrupts the normal rhythm of names with a family tragedy. Ezer and Elead were killed by men of Gath during a conflict involving livestock, and Ephraim mourned many days. The genealogy does not reduce people to links in a chain; it remembers loss, communal comfort, and the emotional cost carried within a family’s history.
The exact chronology of the Gath episode is difficult. The wording speaks of Ephraim as a grieving father, yet the event appears connected with life in or near Canaan. The genealogy may compress generations, use the ancestor’s name for his clan, or preserve an early movement not fully explained elsewhere. A cautious reading should retain the event’s clear meaning without pretending the timing is certain.
Ephraim named a later son Beriah because disaster had come upon his house. The name preserved sorrow rather than hiding it. Biblical faith does not require families to erase painful chapters from memory; grief can be honestly named while life continues.
Sheerah, Ephraim’s daughter, is credited with building Lower and Upper Beth Horon and Uzzen Sheerah. “Built” may include founding, fortifying, enlarging, or establishing these settlements. Whatever the precise activity, the verse gives a woman an unusually prominent role in the development of communities and ensures that her work is remembered by name.
The line then moves through several generations to Joshua son of Nun. Joshua’s ancestry stands after the account of death and mourning, creating a quiet contrast. The family that suffered severe loss later produced the leader who brought Israel into the promised land. Genealogy allows grief and future service to stand within the same story.
Joshua belonged to Ephraim, the younger son whom Jacob had placed before Manasseh in Genesis 48. His leadership did not arise from an unrelated heroic background; he came from a known tribe, family, and sequence of generations preserved through both hardship and growth.
Verses 28–29 connect Joseph’s descendants to towns in Ephraim and Manasseh. The locations broadly correspond to the tribal allotments in Joshua 16 and Joshua 17. Genealogy and geography belong together because Israel’s families were called to inhabit particular places within the covenant inheritance.
Several listed cities stood near contested boundaries, and some remained difficult for Israel to control fully, as Judges 1 records. Possession on a tribal list could express rightful allotment and enduring claim even when actual control had been incomplete or disrupted.
Asher’s section closes the chapter with another substantial family tree and a count of twenty-six thousand men available for war. The tribe is described through household heads, choice warriors, and princes. As with Issachar and Benjamin, the genealogy turns family continuity into organized responsibility for the community.
Several sisters are named in the chapter, including Serah and Shua in Asher’s line. Their inclusion reinforces a broader feature of the chapter: covenant memory is not complete when it notices only the most publicly powerful men. The record preserves people whose presence shaped inheritance, households, settlements, and identity even when few details survive.
Important Verses and Questions
Why are so many military numbers included? They show that fathers’ houses had grown into organized tribal communities capable of national service. The counts also connect ancestry with responsibility: belonging to Israel involved more than knowing one’s past; able members were expected to contribute to the nation’s defense.
Why do Benjamin’s names differ from other genealogies? Biblical lists may select different generations, clan branches, or forms of names for different purposes. Chapter 7 gives a tribal military record, while chapter 8 develops lines related to Benjamin and Saul. Variation does not require that every list be attempting the same exhaustive arrangement.
What is important about Zelophehad’s daughters? They demonstrate that Israel’s inheritance laws protected a family line when no son existed. Chronicles remembers them because their lawful portion became a permanent part of Manasseh’s history.
Who was Sheerah? She was a daughter in Ephraim’s line credited with building or establishing three locations. Scripture gives no fuller biography, but the brief notice honors concrete work that strengthened communities and remained attached to her name.
Why is Ephraim’s mourning included in a genealogy? The family record preserves lived history, not merely biological descent. Death, comfort, a child named after calamity, and later generations all belong to the explanation of how the line continued.
What is the significance of Joshua in verse 27? His appearance connects the genealogy to one of Israel’s central leaders. It also shows that a family marked by grief was not defined only by tragedy; God later used a descendant of that same line in the fulfillment of Israel’s inheritance.
Practical Applications
Remember people as more than statistics. Chronicles gives large totals, but it also records mothers, sisters, daughters, builders, mourners, and named households. Healthy communities measure capacity without allowing numbers to erase the dignity and story of individuals.
Use ability as a responsibility rather than a reason for pride. The tribes trained men for service and recognized capable leaders. Strength, skill, family resources, and organizational influence are best understood as trusts to be used for the good of others.
Make room in faithful memory for grief. Ephraim mourned many days, and his brothers came to comfort him. Scripture does not rush him past loss. Communities serve suffering people by being present, acknowledging what happened, and refusing to treat sorrow as spiritual failure.
Do not let tragedy become the final definition of a family. Beriah’s name remembered calamity, yet the genealogy continued to Sheerah’s building and Joshua’s leadership. Pain may remain part of the story without being the only future available.
Honor contributions that are easily overlooked. Zelophehad’s daughters protected an inheritance, Sheerah developed towns, and several sisters are deliberately named. God’s people should notice faithful work even when it does not fit the most visible or expected form of leadership.
Preserve both identity and purpose. The genealogies told post-exilic readers where they came from, while the military registrations and territorial notices showed what tribal belonging required. Remembering heritage is valuable when it strengthens present faithfulness, service, and responsibility.