What Does 1 Chronicles 11:46 Mean?
Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,
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
Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,THE KEY
The word “sons” carries the same root as “build,” presenting family as something formed and continued through its children.
THE MEANING
The verse holds personal identity and belonging together: each person is named, while family and origin remain visible too. Eliel, Jeribai, and Joshaviah are named as Elnaam’s sons; Ithmah is named as a Moabite.
THE ROOT
בְּנֵי
benê
GROWS FROM
בנה
build, establish
The word בְּנֵי (benê, “sons of”) is the construct plural of בֵּן (ben, “son”), commonly linked to בָּנָה (banah, “build”). The family term carries a building echo: a household takes shape and continues through its children.
ALSO GROWS
banah: build
בָּנָה
This is the root linked to “son,” giving the family word a sense of building or continuation.
ben: son
בֵּן
This is the singular form behind the verse’s “sons,” and it shares the root’s building association.
binyan: building, structure
בִּנְיָן
This noun makes the root’s building image concrete: a family line can be understood as something formed over time.
אֶלְנָעַם
Elna'am
GROWS FROM
נעם
be pleasant, delight
“Elnaam” in this verse is Elna'am. The name combines אֵל (El, “God”) with נֹעַם (no’am, “pleasantness”); it is commonly understood as “God is pleasantness” or “God’s delight.” The name attached to this family line carries an image of delight within the roster.
ALSO GROWS
no'am: pleasantness, delight
נֹעַם
This noun supplies the name’s element of delight.
na'im: pleasant, delightful
נָעִים
This related form shows the root describing something experienced as pleasing.
THE PATTERN
Scripture preserves people as particular names while keeping their relationships and belonging in view.
These are the births of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood.Abraham brought forth Isaac, and Isaac brought forth Jacob, and Jacob brought forth Judah and his brothers.Embrace Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in the anointed one, Jesus.THE THREAD
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from Adam, he built into a woman, and brought her to Adam.The Hebrew verb וַיִּבֶן (vayyiven, “built”) behind “made” comes from בנה (banah, “build”), the root commonly linked to בֵּן (ben, “son”) in this verse. Together, the verses let family language carry the image of building and continuation.
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