What Does 1 Chronicles 11:29 Mean in the King James?

Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,

1 Chronicles 11:29 · 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.

THE KEY

Even inside a roll of warriors, the record keeps each man particular by name and origin.

THE MEANING

Sibbecai and Ilai stand before the reader as two distinct people, each named and tied to an origin. Their place in a larger company does not erase their particularity; the record holds on to who each one is.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that belonging to a larger group makes a person interchangeable dissolves here: both men remain individually named.

THE ROOT

עִלַּי

ʿIllay

GROWS FROM

עָלָה

ʿālāh

to go up, rise, ascend

Ilai’s name is understood as “exalted” and is associated with the Hebrew language of rising. The verse gives no deed or trait to attach to him, so the name opens an ascent resonance without turning it into a claim about his character.

ALSO GROWS

ʿālāh: to go up, ascend

עָלָה

The root gives the name’s association with exaltation a sense of upward movement.

maʿălāh: an ascent, step, or degree

מַעֲלָה

This branch makes rising concrete, echoing the possible height carried in Ilai’s name while leaving his character unstated.

THE PATTERN

A name keeps a person particular inside a larger account.

Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem,

2 Samuel 23:24 · KJVThe roster names Asahel and Elhanan and preserves their distinct ties even within a counted company.

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:

Romans 16:3 · KJVA brief greeting holds two people in view by name and recognizes their distinct place in the work.

Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.

Acts 9:36 · KJVThe account identifies Tabitha by name before describing the particular life associated with her.

THE THREAD

And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.

1 Chronicles 20:4 · KJV

The roster’s mention of Sibbecai opens into a specific scene where he confronts Sippai. A name that could pass as one entry in a list carries a whole action in the connected verse.

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