What Does 1 Chronicles 5:7 Mean in the King James?

And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

1 Chronicles 5:7 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The word translated “chief” is rosh, “head”, so leadership is named within a family line made of generations of births.

THE MEANING

Your life belongs to generations rather than standing alone; the line is made visible through births, kinship, and names. Those called “chief” are named among their brethren, so leadership remains within the family it heads.

THE ROOT

תֹּלְדוֹת

toledot

GROWS FROM

ילד

yalad

To bear, beget, or bring forth.

“Generations” can sound like units of time, but toledot grows from yalad, “to bring forth.” The line is made of births: each generation is another bringing forth, so genealogy holds more than a sequence of dates.

ALSO GROWS

yalad: To bear, beget, bring forth.

יָלַד

The root names the act from which a line of generations is formed.

yeled: Child.

יֶלֶד

A lineage is composed of children and offspring, not an abstract count.

toledot: Generations, genealogies, or accounts of origins.

תּוֹלְדוֹת

This is the word used for “generations” in the verse, carrying the sense of lives brought forth.

הָרֹאשׁ

harosh

GROWS FROM

ראש

rosh

Head, top, or beginning.

The label “chief” is literally “the head.” Rosh connects leadership with the head or leading place within a line, keeping those named at its head inside the family record.

ALSO GROWS

rosh: Head, top, chief.

רֹאשׁ

This is the word translated “chief” here; leadership and headship share the same image.

reshit: Beginning, first, or first fruits.

רֵאשִׁית

The same root can name a beginning, linking the head of a line with its leading point.

rishon: First or former.

רִאשׁוֹן

This branch carries the sense of being first in position or sequence.

זְכַרְיָהוּ

Zekharyahu

GROWS FROM

זכר

zakar

To remember or call to mind.

Zechariah’s name joins zakar, “remember,” with Yah: “Yah remembers.” In a genealogy that records generations and names its heads, remembrance is carried in the name of a person within the line.

ALSO GROWS

zakar: To remember or call to mind.

זָכַר

This is the root within Zechariah’s name, giving the name its sense of remembrance.

zikkaron: Remembrance or memorial.

זִכָּרוֹן

A written record of names preserves people in remembrance across generations.

zekher: Remembrance or memory.

זֵכֶר

This related form echoes the verse’s act of keeping a family line identifiable.

THE PATTERN

A lineage becomes visible when births are traced and those who stand at its head are named.

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 record names Adam’s generations, presenting human lineage as a traceable line of lives brought forth.

Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,

Ruth 4:18 · KJVThe verse begins a named family line by tracing generations through births.

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

Matthew 1:1 · KJVThe opening identifies a person through the generations and named ancestors from whom he comes.

THE THREAD

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 · KJV

Both verses use toledot, the word for generations, rooted in yalad, “to bring forth.” Genesis names the generations of Adam; 1 Chronicles traces a family within that same human line, naming its heads among their brethren.

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