What Does 1 Chronicles 6:35 Mean in the King James?

The son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,

1 Chronicles 6:35 · 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

The chain of “sons” is also a chain of names, and Elkanah carries the root “acquire/create” inside it.

THE MEANING

The repeated “son of” makes belonging visible: each name stands within a chain of names before it. Elkanah carries the root qanah, “acquire” or “create,” so descent here also holds the image of life received and carried forward. The verse meets you as part of a story of belonging rather than an isolated beginning.

THE ROOT

אֶלְקָנָה

Elqanah

GROWS FROM

קנה

Acquire, possess, or bring forth/create.

The name Elkanah holds the root qanah within this genealogy, a word English leaves hidden inside a proper name. Its presence makes the chain of descent carry more than ancestry: it also bears the language of acquiring and bringing forth.

ALSO GROWS

qanah: To acquire, possess, or create.

קָנָה

This is the root carried in Elkanah’s name, so the name itself speaks of acquiring or bringing forth.

qaniti: “I have acquired” or “I have gotten.”

קָנִיתִי

This form makes the root an active receiving, echoing the way a life enters a lineage.

qoneh: One who acquires or possesses; creator.

קֹנֵה

This form keeps acquisition and creation close together, deepening the meaning compressed into Elkanah’s name.

THE PATTERN

A life is named within a chain of belonging that carries identity forward.

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 generations of Adam place each life within a continuing line that begins with a name.

And the women her neighbours gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Ruth 4:17 · KJVObed’s name is held in a chain that carries belonging forward through Jesse to David.

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

Matthew 1:1 · KJVThe repeated “son of” ties a name to those who came before, making identity a lineage rather than an isolated label.

THE THREAD

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

Genesis 4:1 · KJV

“I have gotten” translates qaniti, from the same root ⁨קנה⁩, qanah, carried in Elkanah’s name. The genealogy’s name therefore echoes language of acquiring and bringing forth.

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