What Does 1 Chronicles 23:12 Mean in the King James?

The sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.

1 Chronicles 23:12 · 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

Hebrew’s word for “sons” echoes the root “to build,” so this list shows a family line taking shape through generations.

THE MEANING

The verse holds four names within Kohath’s family line. Each name has a place in a record that carries the line forward.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A lineage is more than a number: the verse counts four, then preserves each name.

THE ROOT

בְּנֵי

benei

GROWS FROM

בנה

b-n-h

to build

The word for “sons” is linked to the root for building. That echo lets the family line appear as something formed across generations, with each name adding a place in its structure.

ALSO GROWS

banah: to build

בָּנָה

The shared root makes the family line resonate with the act of building: one generation follows and extends another.

binyan: building, structure

בִּנְיָן

The list gives the family line a visible structure, naming the members who compose it.

THE PATTERN

Scripture preserves continuity by naming each generation within a larger line.

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;

Genesis 5:1 · KJVThe verse introduces a record of generations, framing individual lives within a continuing line.

And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

Exodus 6:18 · KJVThe same four names are recorded as Kohath’s sons, with his years added to the family record.

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew 1:1 · KJVThe opening verse names a line through which each generation connects to those before it.

THE THREAD

And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

Exodus 6:18 · KJV

Exodus repeats the same four names under “the sons of Kohath,” echoing the Hebrew benei in this verse. It also gives Kohath’s years, placing the list within a fuller record of the line.

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