What Does 1 Chronicles 1:29 Mean?
These are the births of them, the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth, then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
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
These are their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,THE KEY
The word translated “generations” comes from “beget, give birth,” so this list names a living chain of origins.
THE MEANING
Your life is not a self-contained beginning: it sits within births, names, and continuities that reach beyond one moment. This verse keeps Ishmael’s line in view by naming his sons, with the firstborn and those who follow included.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a person’s story is sealed off from others is undone here: Ishmael’s name continues through his sons.
THE ROOT
תּוֹלְדוֹת
toledot
GROWS FROM
ילד
y-l-d
To bear, beget, or give birth.
“Generations” carries the language of births: a lineage is something brought forth, not merely a list of names. The word lets you see the family line as continuities being born across time.
ALSO GROWS
yalad: To bear or beget.
יָלַד
The root verb makes the birth-shaped meaning of “generations” visible.
yeled: Child.
יֶלֶד
A child is the next life brought forth within the lineage this verse names.
יִשְׁמָעֵאל
Yishmaʿel
GROWS FROM
שמע
š-m-ʿ
To hear, listen, or respond; the name means “God hears.”
The name carries hearing within the genealogy: Ishmael is not only an ancestor’s name, but a name that says “God hears.” His sons’ names extend that name into a line.
ALSO GROWS
shamaʿ: To hear, listen, or respond.
שָׁמַע
This verb supplies the hearing within Ishmael’s name.
shemuʿah: A report or something heard.
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch shows how the same root can carry what is heard onward, as this genealogy carries a name onward.
בְּכוֹר
bekhor
GROWS FROM
בכר
b-k-r
To come first or early; to yield first produce.
The firstborn is marked by the language of firstness and first yield. The verse names Nebaioth as the firstborn, then lets the rest of the line follow in sequence.
ALSO GROWS
bekhor: Firstborn or firstling.
בְּכוֹר
This is the word used for Nebaioth’s place in Ishmael’s line.
bikkurim: Firstfruits.
בִּכּוּרִים
Firstfruits are the earliest yield, echoing the root’s sense of what comes first.
THE PATTERN
Scripture carries life forward through births and names, keeping a lineage open across generations.
Now these are the births of Ishmael, Abraham's son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bore to Abraham.This is written for the generation to come, and a people yet to be created praise the LORD.The book of the origin of Jesus, the anointed one, son of David, son of Abraham.THE THREAD
And the messenger of the LORD said to her, Behold, you are with child, and you will bear a son, and you will call his name Ishmael, God-hears; for the LORD has heard and responded to your bending low.Genesis 16:11 gives the meaning carried by Ishmael’s name: “the LORD hath heard.” Its “shalt bear” shares the birth-root ילד (y-l-d) behind “generations” here, joining the naming of Ishmael to the line of births that follows.
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