What Does 1 Chronicles 25:18 Mean?

The eleventh to Azareel, he, his sons, and his brothers, were twelve.

1 Chronicles 25:18 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

The eleventh to Azareel, he, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:

THE KEY

The eleventh place is named Azareel, “God has helped”, so this roll call carries a testimony of received help inside the name of the one serving.

THE MEANING

The verse presents service as both particular and shared: Azareel has a distinct place, yet he is counted with his sons and brothers. His name, “God has helped,” carries received aid into the work named here.

THE ROOT

עֲזַרְאֵל

ʿĂzarʾēl

GROWS FROM

עזר

ʿ-z-r

To help, aid, or support.

The name joins ⁨עָזַר⁩ (ʿāzar, to help) with ⁨אֵל⁩ (ʾēl, God): “God has helped.” The roster makes Azareel look like a name in a list, but the name itself carries help into the shared service.

ALSO GROWS

ʿāzar: To help or aid.

עָזַר

This verb is the seed in Azareel’s name, so help is part of the name’s meaning.

ʿēzer: Help, aid, or one who helps.

עֵזֶר

This related form shows the same root moving from the act of helping to the help or helper received.

THE PATTERN

Shared service takes its place through ordered turns, while each person remains part of a wider whole.

And they let the lots fall, watch against watch, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the student.

1 Chronicles 25:8 · SDVThe service is arranged in turns, with both role and place made clear.

But now God has set the limbs, each one of them, in the body, as he willed.

1 Corinthians 12:18 · SDVEach member has a particular place within a body that is larger than any one part.

As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.

1 Peter 4:10 · SDVWhat each person receives becomes part of service shared with others.

THE THREAD

My help comes from the LORD, who makes heavens and earth.

Psalm 121:2 · SDV

The Hebrew word for “my help” is ⁨עֶזְרִי⁩ (ʿezrî, my help), from the same root ⁨עזר⁩ (ʿ-z-r, help) carried in Azareel’s name. The Psalm gives voice to what the name compresses: help comes from the LORD.

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