What Does 1 Chronicles 3:23 Mean?
And the sons of Neariah were Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.
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 the sons of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.THE KEY
The three names form a compressed sentence: eyes toward God, strength from YHWH, and help rising.
THE MEANING
Your present life is more than a place in a larger line; it remains particular and named. These names picture attention turned toward God, strength sourced in YHWH, and help rising into view.
THE ROOT
אֶלְיוֹעֵינַי
ʾElyoʿenai
GROWS FROM
עין
Eye; also a spring or source.
Elioenai is commonly understood as “my eyes are toward God.” The root’s use for both an eye and a spring lets the name picture attention as a source: where the eyes turn shapes what comes into view.
ALSO GROWS
ʿayin: Eye
עַיִן
In the name, the eye gives attention a direction: toward God.
maʿyan: Spring or fountain
מַעְיָן
This related word for a spring extends the image of the eye as a source or opening.
חִזְקִיָּה
Ḥizqiyyāh
GROWS FROM
חזק
Be strong, grow firm, or strengthen.
Hezekiah means “YHWH strengthens.” The same root describes both becoming strong and making something strong, placing strength in a relationship rather than in isolation.
ALSO GROWS
ḥāzaq: Be strong, grow firm, or prevail
חָזַק
The name carries strength as a state that can be reached and sustained.
ḥizzēq: Strengthen or make firm
חִזֵּק
This form shows the active side of the same root: strength is also something given.
עַזְרִיקָם
ʿAzrîqām
GROWS FROM
עזר
Help or come to someone’s aid.
Azrikam is commonly understood as “my help has risen.” Its name joins help with the image of rising, so aid appears as something active and present, not merely an idea.
ALSO GROWS
ʿezer: Help or support
עֵזֶר
This noun names the aid carried in Azrikam’s name.
ʿāzar: Help or come to someone’s aid
עָזַר
The verb gives help movement: it is enacted by coming to another’s aid.
THE PATTERN
Scripture’s names can compress a person’s history, calling, or relation to God into a name.
No longer shall your name be called Abram, but Abraham, father of multitudes, for I have set you as a father of many nations.And he said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, the one who struggles with God, for you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.And the nations shall see your alignment, and all kings your weight; and you shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.THE THREAD
Take hold and be braced. Do not fear, and do not be shattered from the face of the king of Assyria, nor from the face of all the roaring multitude that is with him, for more are with us than with him.“Be strong” comes from חזק (ḥazaq), the same root carried in Hezekiah’s name. The name says YHWH strengthens; this verse uses the same seed to speak of strength made firm.
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