What Does 1 Chronicles 1:54 Mean?
Chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.
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
Duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.THE KEY
Magdiel’s name carries the root גָּדַל (gādal, “grow or become great”) joined to אֵל (El, “God”), placing greatness inside Edom’s list of chiefs.
THE MEANING
Magdiel and Iram are named as individuals, and their rank is held within Edom. The verse presents leadership as both a person’s name and a place among a people.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A title alone tells the whole story of a person, detached from their name and people.
THE ROOT
מַגְדִּיאֵל
Magdîʾēl
GROWS FROM
גדל
To grow or become great; in a causative form, to make great.
Magdiel combines a form of גדל (gādal, “grow or become great”) with אֵל (El, “God”). English preserves the name but hides its greatness language, joining the chief’s identity to God within Edom’s named roster.
ALSO GROWS
gādōl: Great or large.
גָּדוֹל
This adjective shares the גדל seed in Magdiel’s name and makes its greatness language audible.
higdîl: To make great or magnify.
הִגְדִּיל
This causative form illuminates the common reading of Magdiel as “God makes great.”
THE PATTERN
Scripture makes a people legible by naming its members and locating them within a line or community.
Chief Magdiel and Iram; these are the chiefs of Edom, according to their settlements in the land of their holding; he is Esau, the father of the Edomites.And with you there shall be a man of every staff; each one a head of the house of his fathers.The book of the origin of Jesus, the anointed one, son of David, son of Abraham.THE THREAD
And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and be a blessing.Genesis 12:2 uses the same גדל (gādal, “grow or become great”) root in “great” and “make thy name great.” That shared seed opens Magdiel’s name as greatness joined to El, while this verse names him among Edom’s chiefs.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us