What Does 1 Chronicles 2:35 Mean?
And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha, his servant, as wife; and she brought forth Attai to him.
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 Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai.THE KEY
The verb translated “gave” also carries the sense of setting or placing, and here that bond becomes the route by which the family line continues.
THE MEANING
The next generation comes through Sheshan’s daughter, her marriage to Jarha, and the child she bears. Jarha is named both as a servant and as a husband and father, with his place in the family record held alongside his household status.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A family line moves forward only through men already marked as heirs; here it continues through Sheshan’s daughter and the man identified as his servant.
THE ROOT
וַיִּתֵּן
wayyitten from natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, set, place
“gave” in this verse is wayyitten from natan. The verb is not only about a transfer; its root also carries the sense of setting or placing. Here Sheshan’s act places a marriage within the household, and the genealogy follows that bond to Attai, making relationship the route through which the line continues.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: gift
מַתָּנָה
This noun shares the root נתן, showing how the seed behind “gave” also names what is given.
nethinim: given or assigned ones; temple servants
נְתִינִים
This related form preserves the sense of being placed into service, echoing the servant designation attached to Jarha in this verse.
THE PATTERN
A family line advances through marriages and the children born from them.
And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife. And when he went in to her, the LORD gave her to conceive, and she bore a son.Salmon brought forth Boaz out of Rahab, and Boaz brought forth Obed out of Ruth, and Obed brought forth Jesse.THE THREAD
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife. And when he went in to her, the LORD gave her to conceive, and she bore a son.Ruth 4:13 uses the same Hebrew root נָתַן (natan, “give, set, place”) in the words “the LORD gave her conception.” Here Sheshan gives his daughter into marriage; there, conception is given, linking the household bond with the next generation.
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