What Does 1 Chronicles 26:31 Mean in the King James?
Among the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even among the Hebronites, according to the generations of his fathers. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valour at Jazer of Gilead.
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 verse links seeking with finding: the search reveals strength that is already present.
THE MEANING
The verse speaks now of capacity that can remain unseen until someone looks for it. Strength is found among people already in a community; the search brings it into view rather than creating it. A name sits within a lineage, and ability is recognized in a particular place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that unrecognized strength is absent.
THE ROOT
נִדְרָשׁוּ
nidrāshû
GROWS FROM
דרשׁ
Seek, inquire, or require.
The verse does not describe a chance discovery: the men are first actively sought, then found. The root makes seeking part of how what is present becomes visible.
ALSO GROWS
doresh: One who seeks or inquires.
דֹּרֵשׁ
The branch names the active seeker, making the search a deliberate act rather than passive waiting.
midrash: An inquiry or interpretive exposition; a later Hebrew usage.
מִדְרָשׁ
The same root can describe searching for meaning, as well as searching for people.
וַיִּמָּצֵא
vayyimmāṣēʾ
GROWS FROM
מצא
Find, come upon, or be present.
The men are found among the Hebronites: the wording locates strength within a people before the search identifies it. Finding reveals what is there; it does not add it.
ALSO GROWS
matsa: To find or come upon.
מָצָא
The verb names discovery as an encounter with what the search reaches.
metzi’ah: A finding or discovery.
מְצִיאָה
This noun keeps discovery tied to the act of finding, rather than to creation.
גִּבּוֹרֵי
gibbōrê
GROWS FROM
גבר
Grow strong, prevail, or be mighty.
“mighty” in this verse is gibbōrê. The word carries the sense of strength that prevails, not just a label of praise. Paired with being found, it presents capability as something recognized in people who are already there.
ALSO GROWS
gibbōr: A mighty one or warrior.
גִּבּוֹר
The singular form names the kind of person the search brings into view.
gevurah: Might or strength.
גְּבוּרָה
This branch carries the same seed into the quality of prevailing strength.
THE PATTERN
Seeking brings what is already present into discovery and encounter.
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:THE THREAD
And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.Both verses use the same Hebrew roots for seeking and finding, joining the search to what comes into view. Here that movement reveals capable people within a community; in the connected verse, it describes a living relation with the LORD.
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