What Does 1 Chronicles 2:20 Mean in the King James?

And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.

1 Chronicles 2:20 · 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

This family line carries Uri (“my light”) into Bezalel (“in the shadow of God”), holding illumination and divine shelter together.

THE MEANING

Your life is not an isolated beginning: what is brought forth carries a line forward. Here, Uri (⁨אוּרִי⁩, ʾŪrî, “my light”) leads to Bezalel (⁨בְּצַלְאֵל⁩, bəṣalʾēl, “in the shadow of God”), so illumination and shelter meet in what the line brings forth.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that a meaningful life begins with the self alone: this verse makes each arrival part of a line of bringing forth.

THE ROOT

בְּצַלְאֵל

bəṣalʾēl

GROWS FROM

צלל

ṣ-l-l

To shade or darken; ⁨צֵל⁩ (ṣēl) is shadow or shade.

The name means “in the shadow of God,” placing Bezalel within an image of shade and shelter. In Exodus 31:3, this same Bezalel is named for wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and workmanship, so the name holds making within divine shelter.

ALSO GROWS

ṣēl: Shadow, shade

צֵל

This is the direct shadow element in Bezalel’s name.

ṣālal: To grow dark or be shadowed

צָלַל

The verbal form gives the name’s shadow image a sense of being covered or shaded.

אוּרִי

ʾŪrî

GROWS FROM

אור

ʾ-w-r

Light, to shine or illuminate; the name Uri means “my light.”

Uri brings the language of light into the family line. The next name, Bezalel, carries the image of God’s shadow, allowing light and shade to stand together in the names the verse preserves.

ALSO GROWS

ʾôr: Light

אוֹר

This is the root meaning held in Uri’s name.

māʾôr: Luminary, a source of light

מָאוֹר

This branch shows light as something made visible through a bearer.

הוֹלִיד

hôlîd

GROWS FROM

ילד

y-l-d

To bear, beget, or bring forth.

English presents “begat” as a family fact, while the root names the act of bringing forth. Repeated twice, it makes the verse’s shape a chain: one life brings forth another, and that life brings forth the next.

ALSO GROWS

yeled: Child, one who is brought forth

יֶלֶד

The child is the life that emerges from the act named by the root.

tôledôt: Generations, what is brought forth

תּוֹלְדוֹת

This branch opens the single act of begetting into a continuing line.

THE PATTERN

What is brought forth carries a line of inheritance forward, where received life can take on a distinct form.

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Genesis 5:3 · KJVThe language of begetting joins a child to what came before, naming likeness as part of what is carried forward.

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

Exodus 31:3 · KJVThe Bezalel named in the family line is also named here for the capacities through which his life takes form.

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

2 Timothy 1:5 · KJVWhat dwells in one life can be carried through generations and become visible in another.

THE THREAD

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Genesis 5:3 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨ילד⁩ (yalad, “bring forth”) for begetting. Genesis names likeness carried into a child; Chronicles gives the unfolding line, Hur, Uri, Bezalel, so the shared root makes bringing forth the thread between them.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us