1 Chronicles 8:15 — Word Study
WLCוּזְבַדְיָ֥ה וַעֲרָ֖ד וָעָֽדֶר׃
BSAZebadiahZᵉbadyâh [endowment of Jehovah, a gift from God] AradʻĂrâd [a place near ancient Palestine, or a personal name] EderʻEder△ [a descendant of Benjamin, or a flock]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וּזְבַדְיָ֥ה | and Zebadiah | Conjunction, noun proper masculine |
| וַעֲרָ֖ד | and Arad | Conjunction, noun proper masculine |
| וָעָֽדֶר׃ | and Eder | Conjunction, noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, |
| KJV | And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader, |
| ASV | and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder, |
| YLT | and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader, |
| WEB | Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, |
| BBE | And Zebadiah and Arad and Eder |
Where they part company is in additional context or descriptions, but the core names remain the same across translations.
The verse consists of a single main clause listing names, reflecting the genealogical focus of the passage.
3 commentators on this verse
Gill, Jamieson, Ellicott & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
1 of 3 occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament — a word chosen on purpose.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — 1 Chronicles 8:15
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Genealogy of Benjamingenerated
1 Chronicles 8:15 presents a brief list of names, highlighting the descendants of Benjamin. This genealogy contributes to the understanding of Israel's tribal structure and the heritage of its people. The mention of Zebadiah, Arad, and Eder connects these individuals to the larger narrative of Israel's history and identity.
Cross References
The Key Word — זְבַדְיָה, u.ze.vad.Yahgenerated
The name זְבַדְיָה (Zebadiah) is a proper masculine noun meaning 'endowment of Jehovah' or 'gift from God.' It is derived from the root that signifies giving or bestowing. The parsing indicates it is a noun, which aligns with its role as a personal name in the genealogy.
Zebadiah appears multiple times in the Old Testament, associated with various figures, primarily from the tribes of Benjamin and Levi. This name reflects a connection to divine favor and leadership within the Israelite community.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of the verse is straightforward, consisting of a noun phrase that lists three names: זְבַדְיָה, עֲרָד, and עֶדֶר. Each name is a proper noun, indicating individuals within the genealogy.
The simplicity of the structure reflects the genealogical nature of the text, where names are presented in succession without additional clauses or modifiers.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
In the Septuagint, זְבַדְיָה is rendered as ζαβαδια, which shows a direct transliteration of the Hebrew name. This choice maintains the identity of the individual while adapting it for a Greek-speaking audience.
The names עֲרָד and עֶדֶר are similarly represented, indicating a consistent approach in preserving the original names within the translation.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
1 Chronicles 8:15 lists three names: Zebadiah, Arad, and Eder. These names are part of the genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin, showing the lineage and heritage of the Israelites.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Zebadiah means 'endowment of Jehovah' or 'gift from God', reflecting a connection to divine favor.
Arad refers to both a geographical location near ancient Palestine and a personal name of a Benjamite who lived during the Israelites' wilderness journey.
Eder means 'flock' and refers to a Benjamite mentioned in the genealogy, indicating his role within the tribe.
These names are significant as they trace the lineage of the tribe of Benjamin, contributing to the understanding of Israel's history and tribal structure.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What do the names in this genealogy tell us about the importance of lineage in Israelite culture?
- How can understanding the meanings of these names deepen our appreciation for the biblical text?
- In what ways does the genealogy reflect God's faithfulness to His promises?
- How does the study of genealogies in the Bible help us connect with the broader narrative of Scripture?
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 1 Chronicles 8:15 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleVer. 15,16. And Zebadiah,.... And all that follow in this and the next verse were the sons of Beriah the son of Elpaal; namely, Arad, Ader, Michael, Ispah, and Joha.
Read John Gill on 1 Chronicles 8 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth, No JFB commentary on these verses.
Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Chronicles 8 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14-16) Apparently nine sons of Beriah. But (1) in 1 Chronicles 8:14, the LXX. reads ὁἀδελφὸςαὐτοῦ instead of Ahio. With different vowels the Hebrew term would mean this. (2) All the other names in this list are connected by the conjunctive particle. It is therefore likely that this was once the case with Shashak. (3) 1 Chronicles 8:14-27 give five groups of Benjamite clans—viz., the sons of Beriah, the sons of Elpaal, the sons of Shimhi, the sons of Shashak, and the sons of Jeroham, all dwelling in Jerusalem. Apparently, their eponymous heads are named in 1 Chronicles 8:13-14—viz., Beriah (Elpaal? omitted by accident), Shema (the same as Shimhi; there is no h in the Heb.), Shashak, and…
Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Chronicles 8 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
Tyndale line
And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,
and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder,
and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder;
And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,
And Sebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,
Strictly literal
and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder,
and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,
and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,
And Zebadyah, and 'Arad, and 'Eder,
Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
From the Latin
And Zabadia, and Arod, and Heder,
Simplified
Zebadiah, Arad, Eder,
And Zebadiah and Arad and Eder
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree on the names listed in this verse. Both sources present זְבַדְיָה, עֲרָד, and עֶדֶר without variation, affirming the reliability of this genealogical record.
וּזְבַדְיָ֥ה וַעֲרָ֖ד וָעָֽדֶר׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in 1 Chronicles 8:15
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
זְבַדְיָהוּ (Zebadiah) means 'Jah has given' and is a personal name associated with several individuals in the Old Testament, primarily from the tribes of Benjamin and Levi. The entries detail various figures named Zebadiah, including a Levite and officers under King David and Jehoshaphat, as well as a priest during Ezra's time. The name appears in contexts related to leadership and priesthood.
זְבַדְיָהוּ, זְבַדְיָה n.pr.m. (י׳ hath bestowed)
Levites
an officer of Jehoshaphat
Benjamites
one of David’s men
an officer of David
a returning exile
one of priestly house
base
H2069 זְבַדְיָהוּ, זְבַדְיָה, זְבַדיָה
2069 Zbadyah zeb-ad-yaw'
or Zbadyahuw {zeb-ad-yaw'-hoo}; from 2064 and 3050; Jah has
given; Zebadjah, the name of nine Israelites:--Zebadiah.
see HEBREW for 02064
see HEBREW for 03050
זְבַדְיָהוּ (ze.vad.yah) — Zebadiah.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, only mentioned at 1Ch.8.15;
son of: Beriah (H1283I);
brother of: Arad (H6166B), Ahio (H0283H), Shashak (H8349), Jeremoth (H3406I), Eder (H5738), Michael (H4317L), Ishpah (H3472) and Joha (H3109)
§ Zebadiah = "endowment of Jehovah"
1) a Benjamite of the sons of Beriah
2) a Benjamite of the sons of Elpaal
3) one of the sons of Jeroham of Gedor and one of David's men
4) son of Asahel, brother of Joab, and one of David's men
5) son of Michael, of the sons of Shephatiah
6) a priest of the sons of Immer, who had a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
7) a Levite, 3rd son of Meshelemiah the Korhite
8) a Levite in the reign of Jehoshaphat
9) son of Ishmael and prince of the house of Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat
זְבַדְיָהוּ (ze.vad.yah) — Zebadiah.
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun proper masculineHC/Npm
zeb-a-di'-a
(1) zebhadhyaha,
(2) zebhadhyah, "Yah has bestowed";
the form (1) is the Hebrew name in (1), (a), (b), (2), below; the form (2) in the rest. Some manuscripts have Zechariah in (1), (a), (b), (3)).
Compare ZABDI; ZABDIEL:
(1) Levites:
(a) a Korahite doorkeeper of David's reign (1Ch 26:2);
(b) one of the Levites sent by King Jehoshaphat to teach the Torah in Judah (2Ch 17:8).
Zebadiah
Gift of Jehovah. (1.) A son of Asahel, Joab’s brother (1 Chr. 27:7).
(2.) A Levite who took part as one of the teachers in the system of national education instituted by Jehoshaphat (2 Chr. 17:7, 8).
(3.) The son of Ishmael, “the ruler of the house of Judah in all the king’s matters” (2 Chr. 19:8-11).
(4.) A son of Beriah (1 Chr. 8:15).
(5.) A Korhite porter of the Lord’s house (1 Chr. 26:2). Three or four others of this name are also mentioned.
A Benjamite of the sons of Beriah. (1 Chronicles 8:15) A Benjamite of the sons of Elpaal. (1 Chronicles 8:17) One of the sons of Jeroham of Gedor. (1 Chronicles 12:7) Son of Asahel, the brother of Joab. (1 Chronicles 27:7) Son of Michael, of the sons of Shephatiah. (Ezra 8:8) A priest Of the sons of Immer, who had married a foreign wife after the return from Babylon. (Ezra 10:20) Third son of Meshelemiah the Korhite. (1 Chronicles 26:3) A Levite in the reign of Jehoshaphat. (
portion of the Lord; the Lord is my portion
עֲרָד (Arad) refers to both a city in the Negev region of Canaan and a Benjamite individual mentioned in 1 Chronicles 8:15. The name is thought to mean 'wild ass' and is derived from a root implying seclusion or being a fugitive. The entries indicate its dual significance as a geographical location and a personal name.
ref
H6166a עֲרָד Can. city in the Negeb H6166b עֲרָד Benjamite
6166 `Arad ar-awd'
from an unused root meaning to sequester itself; fugitive;
Arad, the name of a place near Palestine, also of a Canaanite
and an Israelite:--Arad.
עֲרָד (a.rad) — Arad.
§ Arad = "a wild ass"
a royal city of the Canaanites north of the wilderness of Judah
עֲרָד (a.rad) — Arad.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, only mentioned at 1Ch.8.15;
son of: Beriah (H1283I);
brother of: Ahio (H0283H), Shashak (H8349), Jeremoth (H3406I), Zebadiah (H2069), Eder (H5738), Michael (H4317L), Ishpah (H3472) and Joha (H3109)
§ Arad = "a wild ass"
a Benjamite, son of Beriah, who drove out the inhabitants of Gath
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun proper masculineHC/Npm
a'-rad (`aradh; Arad):
(1) A city mentioned four times in the Old Testament. In the King James Version it is twice mistakenly rendered as the name of a king (Nu 21:1; 33:40). Three times it is spoken of as in the South Country, one mention using the phrase `the wilderness of Judah which is in the South Country of Arad' (Jud 1:16), that is, the part of the wilderness of Judah which is in the South Country near Arad. It was situated near the frontier of Judah and Simeon, being grouped with Debir, Hormah, Makkedah, etc. (Jos 12:14). Arad and other cities joined in attacking Israel in the fortieth year of the sojourn in the wilderness (Nu 21:1-3), and Israel vowed to "make their…
Arad
(1.) Now Tell Arad, a Canaanite city, about 20 miles south of Hebron. The king of Arad “fought against Israel and took of them prisoners” when they were retreating from the confines of Edom (Num. 21:1; 33:40; Judg. 1:16). It was finally subdued by Joshua (12:14).
(2.) One of the sons of Beriah (1 Chr. 8:15).
a royal city of the Canaanites, named with Hormah and Libnah. (Joshua 12:14) The wilderness of Judah was to the south of Arad." (Judges 1:16) It may be identified with a hill, Tel ’Arad , an hour and a half northeast by east from Milh (Moladah), and eight hours from Hebron.
עֶ֫דֶר (Eder) refers to a Benjamite mentioned in 1 Chronicles 8:15, identified as a son of Beriah and a chief of the inhabitants of Aijalon. The word is derived from a root meaning 'arrangement' or 'drove,' and it also appears as a name for an Israelite. There are no significant disagreements among the lexicons regarding this entry.
[עֶ֫דֶר] n.pr.m. a Benjamite, 1 Ch 8:15
ref
H5738 עֶ֫דֶר
5738 `Eder eh'-der
from 5737; an arrangement (i.e. drove); Eder, an
Israelite:--Ader.
see HEBREW for 05737
עֶ֫דֶר (e.der) — Eder.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, only mentioned at 1Ch.8.15;
son of: Beriah (H1283I);
brother of: Arad (H6166B), Ahio (H0283H), Shashak (H8349), Jeremoth (H3406I), Zebadiah (H2069), Michael (H4317L), Ishpah (H3472) and Joha (H3109)
§ Ader = "flock"
1) a Benjamite, son of Beriah, chief of the inhabitants of Aijalon
1a) also 'Eder'
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun proper masculineHC/Npm
Eder
Flock. (1.) A city in the south of Judah, on the border of Idumea (Josh. 15:21).
(2.) The second of the three sons of Mushi, of the family of Merari, appointed to the Levitical office (1 Chr. 23:23; 24:30).
(a flock). One of the towns of Judah, in the extreme south, and on the borders of Edom. (Joshua 15:21) No trace of it has been discovered in modern times. A Levite of the family of Merari, in the time of David. (1 Chronicles 23:23; 24:30)
a flock