What Does 1 Chronicles 9:3 Mean in the King James?

And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;

1 Chronicles 9:3 · 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

Jerusalem’s wholeness makes room for distinct tribes to dwell together without losing their names.

THE MEANING

Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh remain distinct, yet they share one dwelling in Jerusalem. The verse speaks of belonging as shared habitation, not sameness. Its picture of wholeness has room for more than one inheritance.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

Unity requires every difference to disappear.

THE ROOT

יְרוּשָׁלַיִם

Yerushalayim

GROWS FROM

שלם

sh-l-m

To be whole or complete; wholeness.

“Jerusalem” in this verse is Yerushalayim. The name carries the language of wholeness. Here, that wholeness is inhabited by several named lineages, so unity does not require their differences to vanish.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness; peace.

שָׁלוֹם

It makes the city’s name resonate with the wholeness these households share.

shalem: Whole; complete.

שָׁלֵם

It gives the name a sense of completeness that can hold distinct peoples together.

יָשְׁבוּ

yāshəvū

GROWS FROM

ישב

y-sh-b

To sit, remain, or settle.

“dwelt” in this verse is yāshəvū. The word for dwelling grows from the sense of settling or remaining in a place. These tribes are pictured as inhabitants of the shared center, not as passing visitors.

ALSO GROWS

yōshēv: One who sits or dwells.

יוֹשֵׁב

It names the person by their settled presence, the condition this verse describes.

mōshāv: Dwelling place or settlement.

מוֹשָׁב

It makes dwelling tangible as a place where people settle together.

yeshivah: Sitting; session or assembly.

יְשִׁיבָה

It preserves the root’s image of people gathered in a place to remain.

THE PATTERN

Wholeness gathers distinct households into shared dwelling while preserving their names.

Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:

Psalm 122:3 · KJVJerusalem’s compactness pictures distinct parts joined into one shared city.

The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

Isaiah 56:8 · KJVThe gathering makes room for additional people alongside those already gathered.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

Ephesians 2:19 · KJVFormer strangers share one household without being reduced to strangers again.

THE THREAD

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

Psalm 122:6 · KJV

The verse places Jerusalem beside shalom, the same root family that carries wholeness. The tribal names in 1 Chronicles show that this wholeness is lived as distinct households sharing one dwelling.

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