What Does Nehemiah 11:13 Mean in the King James?

And his brethren, chief of the fathers, two hundred forty and two: and Amashai the son of Azareel, the son of Ahasai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer,

Nehemiah 11:13 · 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 rendered “chiefs” means “heads,” keeping leadership joined to the family line it represents.

THE MEANING

A community takes shape through people whose names, number, and family ties are kept in view. Here the counted group and Amashai’s named lineage stand together, placing each person within a larger people.

THE ROOT

רָאשֵׁי

ro’shei

GROWS FROM

ר־א־שׁ

r-ʾ-š

Head, top, or first.

“chiefs” in this verse is ro’shei. English presents “chief” as a title, while the Hebrew keeps the image of a head: a point of leadership within a larger body. The same root also speaks of beginnings and what comes first, linking position with precedence.

ALSO GROWS

rosh: Head; chief or leader.

רֹאשׁ

This is the singular form behind “chiefs,” preserving the bodily image inside the leadership title.

reshit: Beginning; first part or first fruits.

רֵאשִׁית

It shows the root’s reach from the head or top to what comes first.

rishon: First; former.

רִאשׁוֹן

It carries the same sense of precedence that can make someone a leader.

THE PATTERN

A people becomes visible in the text through names, kinship, and number held together.

Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;

Numbers 1:2 · KJVThe count preserves each person’s place within a family and the wider congregation.

And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Luke 3:23 · KJVThe genealogy places a named person within an extended chain of family ties.

THE THREAD

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

Psalm 118:22 · KJV

The “head” in this verse is the same Hebrew word as “chiefs.” Psalm 118 uses that head-image for the stone at the corner, revealing how the word can carry both leadership and a place that holds a structure together.

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