What Does 1 Chronicles 4:38 Mean in the King James?
These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly.
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 household multiplies without dissolving the distinct nature carried by each name.
THE MEANING
A name holds a person’s nature in view even as the father’s house grows beyond measure. You remain particular within the wider life you share with others.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Belonging to a growing whole makes each person indistinguishable.
THE ROOT
וַיִּרְבּוּ
vayirbu
GROWS FROM
רבה
rabah
be many, become numerous, increase
“increased” in this verse is vayirbu. This root carries both being many and becoming many: abundance is movement, not just a fixed state. The line pictures a household growing beyond its former measure.
ALSO GROWS
rav: many, great
רַב
The same root links increase with becoming many, so the household’s growth is an expansion in number.
hirbah: increase, make numerous
הִרְבָּה
This form makes the root’s movement explicit: what is already living becomes more abundant.
נְשִׂיאִים
nesi'im
GROWS FROM
נשא
nasa
lift, carry, bear
The Hebrew title for “princes” comes from the language of being lifted or carrying. Here, named leaders and a growing household sit together, joining elevation with the weight of family continuity.
ALSO GROWS
nasa: lift, carry, bear
נָשָׂא
This verb shares the root of the title, keeping the idea of carrying within the idea of leadership.
massa: burden, load
מַשָּׂא
A burden is something carried, showing the responsibility beneath the elevated title.
THE PATTERN
Life’s increase expands a household or community beyond its initial bounds.
And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.THE THREAD
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.Both verses use רבה (rabah, increase): Genesis names multiplication in living creatures, and Chronicles uses the same root for a father’s house growing beyond measure. The root carries abundance from the filling of creation into the continuity of a family.
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