What Does 1 Chronicles 1:43 Mean in the King James?

Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
1 Chronicles 1:43 · KJV
The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

In Hebrew, “kings” and “reigned” share one root, joining the ruler to the act of ruling.

Rule appears here through named people and places: a king, a land, and a city. Edom’s kings stand before Israel’s in the account, placing political order within a sequence.

מָלַךְ

mālaḵ

GROWS FROM

מלך

To rule or become king.

The Hebrew uses the same root for “kings” and “reigned,” so the title and the act of ruling grow from one seed. English separates the ruler from the act; Hebrew keeps their connection audible.

ALSO GROWS

melekh: king

מֶלֶךְ

This is the same root as “reigned”: the person who rules carries the name of the action.

mamlāḵāh: kingdom, realm

מַמְלָכָה

The same root extends from the ruler and the act of ruling to the realm shaped by that rule.

אֱדוֹם

ʾĔḏôm

GROWS FROM

אדם

Red or ruddy; the same consonants appear in words for human and ground.

Edom’s name carries the sense of “red.” Its consonants also echo Adam and adamah, joining the place-name to human and ground language without making those words identical in meaning.

ALSO GROWS

adom: red, ruddy

אָדֹם

This word makes the color carried in Edom’s name explicit.

adam: human; Adam

אָדָם

The shared consonants let Edom’s name echo the word for a human.

adamah: ground, soil

אֲדָמָה

The consonant echo also reaches the word for ground, giving the land-name an earthbound resonance.

Scripture places each human reign within a wider sequence of rule.

And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.
Genesis 36:31 · KJVThe same list introduces Edom’s kings before Israel’s, making the sequence explicit.
And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Daniel 2:21 · KJVKings enter and leave their place within an order that extends beyond any single reign.
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 1:33 · KJVThe sequence of human reigns opens onto a reign described as having no end.
God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.
Psalm 47:8 · KJV

The Hebrew root ⁨מלך⁩ appears in Chronicles for both “kings” and “reigned,” and in this verse for “reigneth.” The shared root places Edom’s named human rulers beside a wider claim about who rules over the nations.

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1 Chronicles 1:43 KJV Meaning