What Does 1 Chronicles 9:40 Mean in the King James?

And the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal: and Merib-baal begat Micah.

1 Chronicles 9:40 · 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

This genealogy places a name carrying contention and lordship just before the verb that carries life into the next generation.

THE MEANING

Life reaches you as a continuation: names and lives move through generations. Jonathan’s son bears the name Merib-baal, and the line continues as Micah is begotten.

THE ROOT

הוֹלִיד

holid

GROWS FROM

ילד

yalad

Bear, beget, bring forth.

The verb behind “begat” comes from ⁨ילד⁩, the same root behind words for child and generations. The sentence records continuity through the life one person brings forth, with names carried along that line.

ALSO GROWS

yeled: Child, boy.

יֶלֶד

The same root names the life brought forth by the act of begetting.

toledot: Generations, descendants, genealogies.

תּוֹלְדוֹת

This branch names the unfolding line that the verse captures in a single generation.

מְרִיב־בַּעַל

Meriv-Ba'al

GROWS FROM

ריב

riv

Contend, dispute, strive.

Merib-baal joins the contention in the ⁨ריב⁩ family with Baal, a title meaning lord or master. The name holds contention and lordship together, carrying more than a simple label into the genealogy.

ALSO GROWS

riv: Dispute, contention.

רִיב

This noun gives the name Merib-baal its element of contention.

merivah: Quarrel, strife.

מְרִיבָה

This related form makes the name’s sense of struggle audible in the line.

THE PATTERN

Life is carried forward through begetting, so a genealogy records continuity in people and names.

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Genesis 5:3 · KJVBegetting carries a life forward, and this verse makes the likeness transmitted along the line explicit.

Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

Deuteronomy 32:18 · KJVThe language of begetting presents life as received from a source that brings it forth.

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

Matthew 1:1 · KJVA genealogy traces life and identity through a line of named generations.

THE THREAD

And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:

Genesis 5:3 · KJV

The Hebrew verb behind “begat” in both verses comes from ⁨ילד⁩ (yalad), bringing forth. Genesis makes the likeness carried through begetting explicit; Chronicles compresses that continuity into a succession of names.

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