What Does 1 Chronicles 24:21 Mean in the King James?
Concerning Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, the first was Isshiah.
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
The word rendered “first” is literally “the head,” and Rehabiah’s name carries widening: the line begins as spaciousness taking shape.
THE MEANING
This verse gives continuity a shape: Rehabiah’s sons form a line, and Isshiah stands at its head. Rehabiah’s name carries the image of widening by Yah, placing this line within a name of spaciousness.
THE ROOT
הָרֹאשׁ
hā-rōʾš
GROWS FROM
ר־א־שׁ
resh
Head, top; by extension, chief or first.
English makes “first” sound like a position in a count, while the Hebrew word is “the head.” In this genealogy, Isshiah is named as the head of the line, revealing a position as well as an order.
ALSO GROWS
rōʾš: Head; chief or leader.
רֹאשׁ
The shared word shows that the “first” son occupies the head position in the line.
rēʾšît: Beginning; first part.
רֵאשִׁית
This branch carries the same head-root into the idea of a beginning, linking position with what comes first.
רְחַבְיָהוּ
Reḥavyāhû
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ב
resh
To become broad or make spacious.
Rehabiah joins the widening root רחב with Yah’s name, carrying the sense “Yah has made wide.” The line’s head is thus named within a family name that holds spaciousness.
ALSO GROWS
rāḥav: To be broad; to make room.
רָחַב
This is the seed carried in Rehabiah’s name: widening or room-making.
merḥāb: A broad place; open space.
מֶרְחָב
This branch gives the root’s widening a place to inhabit, echoing the spaciousness contained in the father’s name.
THE PATTERN
Scripture uses head-language for a leading or defining position in a line, a structure, or a body.
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion.The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.THE THREAD
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.The Hebrew word rendered “first” here is הָרֹאשׁ (hā-rōʾš), “the head.” Psalm 118 uses the same head-word for the stone at the corner, so Isshiah’s place in the line carries the language of position, not just counting.
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