What Does 1 Chronicles 1:19 Mean?
And to Eber were brought forth two sons. The name of one was Peleg, the splitting, for in his days the earth was split. And his brother's name was Joktan.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother’s name was Joktan.THE KEY
The root behind Peleg’s name means both “divide” and “watercourse,” holding separation and the shaping of channels in one word.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you in a world where division leaves its name on a life: Peleg is named for the earth being divided. Yet the same root can name a stream or channel, holding open the possibility that a parting gives shape as well as separation.
THE ROOT
נִפְלְגָה
niphlegah
GROWS FROM
פלג
To divide or split; the related noun can also mean a stream or channel.
“the earth was split” in this verse is niphlegah. The Hebrew verb for “was divided” shares its root with Peleg’s name. That root also names a watercourse, so English “divided” conceals a word that can hold both separation and a channel taking shape.
ALSO GROWS
palag: To divide or split
פָּלַג
This verb is the root of the word translated “was divided” and explains the meaning carried by Peleg’s name.
peleg: A stream or watercourse
פֶּלֶג
This branch shows that the same root can name a channel, widening “division” beyond the image of a rupture.
palgei: Streams or channels
פַלְגֵי
This plural form appears in Psalm 1:3 for the watercourses beside a fruitful tree.
THE PATTERN
Division can form distinct courses, whether among peoples, through water, or in the distribution of gifts.
From these were the coastlands of the nations parted in their lands, each by his tongue, by their families, in their nations.And he becomes like a tree planted by the channels of the waters, that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; whatever he does, he breaks through.But the one and the same breath works all these, portioning to each one as it wills.THE THREAD
And he becomes like a tree planted by the channels of the waters, that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; whatever he does, he breaks through.The Hebrew word translated “rivers” is palgei, from the same root as Peleg and “divided.” That shared root lets the name hold more than rupture: it can also evoke water moving through distinct channels.
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