1 Chronicles 8:4 — Word Study
WLCוַאֲבִישׁ֥וּעַ וְנַעֲמָ֖ן וַאֲחֽוֹחַ׃
BSAAbishuaʼĂbîyshûwaʻ [my father is rescue] NaamanNaʻămân [a commander, a leader] AhoahʼĂchôwach△ [a Benjamite, son of Bela]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| וַאֲבִישׁ֥וּעַ | and Abishua | Conjunction, noun proper masculine |
| וְנַעֲמָ֖ן | and Naaman | Conjunction, noun proper masculine |
| וַאֲחֽוֹחַ׃ | and Ahoah | Conjunction, noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, |
| KJV | And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, |
| ASV | and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, |
| YLT | and Abihud, and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, |
| WEB | Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, |
| BBE | And Abishua and Naaman and Ahoah |
Where they part company is in the details of the names listed — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence is a straightforward list of names, emphasizing their importance in the genealogy.
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 8:4
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 8:4 presents a brief genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin, highlighting key figures in its lineage. This verse is part of a larger context that traces the descendants of Bela, emphasizing their roles and connections within Israel's history. The chronicler meticulously records these names to preserve the heritage of the tribes of Israel.
Cross References
The Key Word — אֲבִישׁוּעַ, va.'a.vi.Shu.a'generated
The name אֲבִישׁוּעַ (Abiyshuwae) means 'my father is rescue' or 'my father is opulence'. It refers to two individuals in the Old Testament, one being a Levite and the other a Benjamite. The parsing indicates it is a proper masculine noun, showing its significance as a name in genealogical records.
This name's connection to a Levite lineage links it to the priestly heritage, which is an important aspect of the genealogies in the Chronicles. The name also reflects a cultural emphasis on familial identity and divine protection.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
In this study, the verse is read in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses the names directly without additional commentary.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The verse consists of a main clause listing three names: וַאֲבִישׁ֥וּעַ, וְנַעֲמָ֖ן, and וַאֲחֽוֹחַ. The structure is straightforward, with each name joined by conjunctions, indicating a series of individuals.
The simple list format emphasizes the importance of each name in the genealogy, allowing for easy identification of lineage without complex grammatical constructions.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates אֲבִישׁוּעַ as αβισουε, נַעֲמָן as νοομα, and אֲחוֹחַ as αξια. This choice of words shows a direct correspondence with the Hebrew names, maintaining their identity across the translations.
The use of these Greek terms indicates an effort to preserve the original meanings and significance of the names within the context of the Jewish diaspora.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
1 Chronicles 8:4 lists three names from the tribe of Benjamin: Abishua, Naaman, and Ahoah. Abishua means 'my father is rescue', Naaman means 'pleasantness', and Ahoah is noted as a Benjamite. These names connect to the lineage of Israel.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Abishua was a name shared by two Israelites, one a Levite and the other a Benjamite, meaning 'my father is rescue'.
Naaman means 'pleasantness' and refers to a commander from Syria who was healed by Elisha.
Ahoah was a Benjamite mentioned in the genealogies, identified as a descendant of Bela.
Genealogies like this one preserve the heritage and lineage of the tribes of Israel, emphasizing their historical and cultural significance.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- What can I learn from the names mentioned in this genealogy about my own family heritage?
- How do genealogies in the Bible help us understand the history of God's people?
- Why do you think names and their meanings were so important in ancient Israel?
- In what ways can I honor my own family lineage and its significance?
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 1 Chronicles 8:4 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleVer. 4,5. And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, and Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram.
Read John Gill on 1 Chronicles 8 →Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryAnd Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, Naaman - head of the Naamite family (Numbers 26:40). Ahoah - gave rise to the patronymic Ahohite (2 Samuel 23:9-28; 1 Chronicles 11:12-29; 1 Chronicles 27:14>).
Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Chronicles 8 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersTHE SONS OF AND BELA (1 Chronicles 8:1-5). (See Notes on 1 Chronicles 7:6-7.) Bela his first-born.—The Hebrew word for “firstborn” in Genesis 46:21 may have been turned into the proper name Becher, by an ancient mistake of the scribes. (See Note on 1 Chronicles 7:6.) Ashbel.—Probably the same as Jediael. Aharah the same as Ahiram and Ehirosh. (2) Nohah and Rapha.—These names do not occur in either of the other lists. The present series agrees with Numbers 26:38 in assigning five sons to Benjamin, of whom Bela is the first, and Ashbel the second. Further, there is enough likeness between the name Aharah here and Ahiram there to warrant our assumption of their original identity. But we cannot…
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
Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
Tyndale line
And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah;
And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
And Abishua, and Naaman and Ahoah,
Strictly literal
and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
and Abihud, and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
and Abihud, and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,
And Abishua', and Na'aman, and Achoach,
Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
From the Latin
And Abisue, and Naamar, and Ahoe,
Simplified
Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah,
And Abishua and Naaman and Ahoah
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, with all three words matched directly. This consistency across witnesses highlights the reliability of the genealogical record in both texts.
וַאֲבִישׁ֥וּעַ וְנַעֲמָ֖ן וַאֲחֽוֹחַ׃
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 8:4
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.
אֲבִישׁוּעַ (Abiyshuwae) refers to two individuals in the Old Testament: one is a Levite, son of Phinehas, and the other is a Benjamite, son of Bela. The name means 'my father is rescue (safety), or is opulence.' The entries highlight the familial connections of both figures, with the Levite being a grandson of Aaron.
אֲבִישׁוּעַ n.pr.m. (my father is rescue, or is opulence)
a son of Phinehas
a Benjamite, son of Bela
base
H50 אֲבִישׁוּעַ
50 'Abiyshuwae ab-ee-shoo'-ah
from 1 and 7771; father of plenty (i.e. prosperous); Abishua,
the name of two Israelites:--Abishua.
see HEBREW for 01
see HEBREW for 07771
אֲבִישׁוּעַ (a.vi.shu.a) — Abishua.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at 1Ch.6.4;
son of: Phinehas (H6372);
father of: Bukki (H1231H)
§ Abishua = "my father is rescue (safety), or is opulence"
son of Phinehas, grandson of Aaron
אֲבִישׁוּעַ (a.vi.shu.a) — Abishua.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, only mentioned at 1Ch.8.4;
son of: Bela (H1106A);
brother of: Ard (H0714H), Naaman (H5283H), Ezbon (H0675H), Uzzi (H5813I), Uzziel (H5816I), Jerimoth (H3406), Iri (H5901), Addar (H0146H), Gera (H1617I), Abihud (H0031) and Ahoah (H0265)
§ Abishua = "my father is rescue (safety), or is opulence"
son of Phinehas, grandson of Aaron
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun proper masculineHC/Npm
Abishua
Father of welfare; i.e., “fortunate.” (1.) The grandson of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:4).
(2.) The son of Phinehas the high priest (1 Chr. 6:4,5,50; Ezra 7:5).
Son of Phinehasm and fourth high priest, 1Ch 6:50. He was probably a contemporary of Eglon and Ehud, Jud 3:1-31.
father of salvation
נַעֲמָן (Na`aman) refers to a name meaning 'pleasantness.' It denotes both a man from the tribe of Benjamin, mentioned in genealogies, and a commander of the Syrian army, known for being cured of leprosy by the prophet Elisha. The entries highlight his familial connections and historical context, with no significant disagreement among lexicons.
נַעֲמָן 16 n.pr.m.
son of Benj.
Aramaean general
base
H5283 נַעֲמָן . son of Benj.
. Aramaean general
5283 Na`aman nah-am-awn'
the same as 5282; Naaman, the name of an Israelite and of a
Damascene:--Naaman.
see HEBREW for 05282
נַעֲמָן (na.a.man) — Naaman.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Gen.46.21;
son of: Benjamin (H1144);
brother of: Bela (H1106A), Becher (H1071), Ashbel (H0788), Gera (H1617), Ehi (H0278), Rosh (H7220), Muppim (H4649), Huppim (H2650H), Ard (H0714), Ahiram (H0297) and Jediael (H3043); also called Nohah at 1Ch.8.2;
Also named: no.chah (נוֹחָה "Nohah" H5119)
§ Naaman = "pleasantness"
1) son of Bela of the family of Benjamin; he was among the family of Jacob that went down to Egypt
2) commander-in-chief of the army of Syria; stricken with leprosy he went to Elisha, eventually followed his instructions, and was cured
נַעֲמָן (na.a.man) — Naaman.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Num.26.40;
son of: Bela (H1106A);
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun proper masculineHC/Npm
na'-a-man (na`aman, "pleasantness"; Septuagint; Codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus Naiman; so Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek in the New Testament; Textus Receptus of the New Testament, Neeman) :
(1) A successful Syrian general, high in the confidence and esteem of the king of Syria, and honored by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer (2Ki 5:1-27). Afflicted with leprosy, he heard from a Hebrew slave-maid in his household of the wonder-working powers of an Israelite prophet. Sent by his master with a letter couched in somewhat peremptory terms to the king of Israel, he came to Samaria for healing. The king of Israel was filled with suspicion and alarm by the demands of the letter, and rent his clothes; but Elisha the prophet intervened, and sent word to Naaman that he must bathe himself seven times in the Jordan. He…
Naaman
Pleasantness, a Syrian, the commander of the armies of Benhadad II. in the time of Joram, king of Israel. He was afflicted with leprosy; and when the little Hebrew slave-girl that waited on his wife told her of a prophet in Samaria who could cure her master, he obtained a letter from Benhadad and proceeded with it to Joram. The king of Israel suspected in this some evil design against him, and rent his clothes. Elisha the prophet hearing of this, sent for Naaman, and the strange interview which took place is recorded in 2 Kings 5. The narrative contains all that is known of the Syrian commander. He was cured of his leprosy by dipping himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of Elisha. His cure is alluded to by our Lord (Luke 4:27).
(pleasantness). "Naaman the Syrian." (Luke 4:27) Naaman was commander-in-chief of the army of Syria, and was nearest to the person of the king, Ben-hadad II., whom he accompanied officially and supported when he went to worship in the temple of Rimmon, (2 Kings 5:18) at Damascus, the capital. (B.C. 885.) A Jewish tradition at least as old as the time of Josephus, and which may very well be a genuine one identifies him with the archer whose arrow, whether at random or not, struck Ahab with his mortal wound, and thus "gave deliverance to Syria." The expression in (2 Kings 5:1) is remarkable --"because that by him Jehovah had given deliverance to Syria." The most natural explanation perhaps is that Naaman in delivering his country…
The highly esteemed general of Ben-hadad, king of Damascene Syria in the time of Joram king of Israel. He was afflicted with the leprosy; but was miraculously cured, on washing seven times in the Jordam, Le 14:7, according to the direction of Elisha, 2Ki 5:1- 27; Lu 4:27. He had found all his honor and power valueless, and all physicians of no avail for his cure; was led to renounce his pride, and avail himself of the simple remedy prescribed; and being cured, was grateful not only to the prophet, but to the prophet’s God. He frankly yielded other evidence which probed that Jehovah was the living and true God; and took home with him two mule-loads of earth, for an altar to the Lord,
אֲחוֹחַ (Achowach) refers to Ahoah, a man from the tribe of Benjamin. The name is derived from a reduplication of another Hebrew word meaning 'brotherly.' He is mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:9 and 1 Chronicles 8:4, where he is identified as a descendant of Benjamin and has several brothers.
אֲחוֹחַ n.pr.m. a Benjamite 1 Ch 8:4
ref
H265 אֲחוֹחַ
265 'Achowach akh-o'-akh
by reduplication from 251; brotherly; Achoach, an
Israelite:--Ahoah.
see HEBREW for 0251
אֲחוֹחַ (a.cho.ach) — Ahoah.
A man of the tribe of Benjamin living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at 2Sa.23.9;
son of: Bela (H1106A);
brother of: Ard (H0714H), Naaman (H5283H), Ezbon (H0675H), Uzzi (H5813I), Uzziel (H5816I), Jerimoth (H3406), Iri (H5901), Addar (H0146H), Gera (H1617I), Abihud (H0031) and Abishua (H0050H); also called Ahoah at 1Ch.8.4;
Also named: a.cho.chi (אֲחוֹחִי "Ahohite" H0266)
§ Ahoah = "brother of rest"
a grandson of Benjamin
Conj | N-proper — Conjunction · noun proper masculineHC/Npm
a-ho'-a ('achoah, "brotherly"(?)): A son of Bela of the tribe of Benjamin (1Ch 8:4).
Ahoah
Brotherly, one of the sons of Bela, the son of Benjamin (1 Chr. 8:4). He is also called Ahiah (ver. 7) and Iri (1 Chr. 7:7). His descendants were called Ahohites (2 Sam. 23:9, 28).
(brothely), son of Bela the son of Benjamin. (1 Chronicles 8:4) In (1 Chronicles 8:7) he is called AHIAH, OR AHIJAH. The patronymic, AHOHITE, is found in (2 Samuel 23:9,28; 1 Chronicles 11:12,29; 27:4)
a live brother; my thorn or thistle