What Does 1 Chronicles 2:13 Mean?
And Jesse brought forth his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,
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 Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,THE KEY
In the Hebrew forms אֱלִיאָב (Eli’av, “my God is father”), אֲבִינָדָב (Avinadav, “my father is willing”), and שִׁמְעָא (Shim’a, “hearing”), Jesse’s first three sons carry meanings of fatherhood, generosity, and hearing.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to you through a life that begins in relation: Jesse begets sons whose names carry meanings of fatherhood, generosity, and hearing. Your identity, too, is held within relationships and meanings that precede your own self-description.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It loosens the belief that identity begins as a self-made label: here, a person arrives through relationship and is already named with meaning.
THE ROOT
וַיּוֹלֶד
wayyoled
GROWS FROM
ילד
to bear, give birth, or beget
“brought forth” in this verse is wayyoled. The root that names begetting also names the child and the birth or lineage itself. English separates the act from its outcome, while Hebrew holds them in one family of words.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: child
יֶלֶד
The same root joins the act of begetting to the person brought forth.
moledet: birth, origin, or kindred
מוֹלֶדֶת
This branch extends the root from a birth to the line and belonging that come from it.
אֲבִינָדָב
Avinadav
GROWS FROM
נדב
to be willing, volunteer, or offer freely
“Abinadab” in this verse is Avinadav. The name joins אָבִי (avi, “my father”) with נָדָב (nadav, “willing” or “generous”). English leaves that quality sealed inside the name, while the root also connects it to generosity and freewill giving.
ALSO GROWS
nadiv: generous or noble
נָדִיב
The branch makes the generosity carried in the name more visible.
nedavah: a freewill gift or offering
נְדָבָה
This branch shows the root’s movement from willingness into freely given generosity.
שִׁמְעָא
Shim’a
GROWS FROM
שמע
to hear or listen
“Shimma” in this verse is Shim’a. Shim’a belongs to the root that holds hearing, listening, and what is heard together. The name carries a field of received sound and report that the English spelling does not reveal.
ALSO GROWS
shama: hear or listen
שָׁמַע
This is the root’s basic action, present within Shim’a’s name.
shemuah: a report or something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This branch links the name’s hearing to what is received and carried onward.
THE PATTERN
Scripture presents life as received through generation and identity as carried through names.
And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and brought forth a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.The book of the origin of Jesus, the anointed one, son of David, son of Abraham.Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.THE THREAD
And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and brought forth a son in his own likeness, after his image, and called his name Seth.The same root ילד (yalad, “bear” or “beget”) appears in both verses. Genesis makes visible what this genealogy holds compact: begetting carries likeness, and the child is also given a name.
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