1 Chronicles 7:1-40
The Families of the Tribes
1The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron—four in all.
2The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, the heads of their families. In the days of David, 22,600 descendants of Tola were numbered in their genealogies as mighty men of valor.
3The son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. The sons of Izrahiah: Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah. All five of them were chiefs.
4In addition to them, according to their genealogy, they had 36,000 troops for battle, for they had many wives and children.
5Their kinsmen belonging to all the families of Issachar who were mighty men of valor totaled 87,000, as listed in their genealogies.
6The three sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.
7The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, heads of their families—five in all. There were 22,034 mighty men of valor listed in their genealogies.
8The sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth; all these were Becher’s sons.
9Their genealogies were recorded according to the heads of their families—20,200 mighty men of valor.
10The son of Jediael: Bilhan. The sons of Bilhan: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar.
11All these sons of Jediael were heads of their families, mighty men of valor; there were 17,200 fit for battle.
12The Shuppites and Huppites were descendants of Ir, and the Hushites were descendants of Aher.
13The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum—the descendants of Bilhah.
14The descendants of Manasseh: Asriel through his Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Machir the father of Gilead.
15Machir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. The name of his sister was Maacah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters.
16Machir’s wife Maacah gave birth to a son, and she named him Peresh. His brother was named Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rekem.
17The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
18His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.
19And these were the sons of Shemida: Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
20The descendants of Ephraim: Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son,
21Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son. Ezer and Elead were killed by the natives of Gath, because they went down to steal their livestock.
22Their father Ephraim mourned for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him.
23And again he slept with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. So he named him Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house.
24His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth-horon, as well as Uzzen-sheerah.
25Additionally, Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son,
26Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
27Nun his son, and Joshua his son.
28Their holdings and settlements included Bethel and its villages, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages as far as Ayyah and its villages.
29And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.
30The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
31The sons of Beriah: Heber, as well as Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.
32Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and of their sister Shua.
33The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were Japhlet’s sons.
34The sons of Shemer: Ahi, Rohgah, Hubbah, and Aram.
35The sons of his brother Helem: Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.
36The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah,
37Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.
38The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.
39The sons of Ulla: Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.
40All these were the descendants of Asher—heads of their families, choice and mighty men of valor, and chiefs among the leaders. The number of men fit for battle, recorded in their genealogies, was 26,000.
Berean Standard Bible
The descendants of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher are recorded. Some lines are only a few names long; others include warriors, sons, daughters, and large households. The uneven length does not mean one family mattered more to God than another.
Ephraim's genealogy includes the grief of sons killed while trying to take livestock. Ephraim mourns, and another son is born and named Beriah because disaster had come to his house. The list remembers loss without letting loss become the final word about the family.
The descendants of Asher are described as select men, mighty warriors, and chiefs. The record recognizes strength and leadership, but it does so within family lines. A warrior is still a son, a brother, and part of a people whose future depends on more than military skill.
Genealogies can seem impersonal until we notice the fragments of sorrow, recovery, and responsibility within them. These are not spare parts in an archive. They are households whose lives were gathered into Israel's continuing story.
Questions
1 Which tribes are included in this record?
AnswerIssachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher are included.
2 What sorrow is remembered in Ephraim's line?
AnswerEphraim mourned sons who were killed while trying to take the livestock of the people of Gath.
3 What does the name Beriah recall?
AnswerBeriah's name recalls the disaster that had come upon Ephraim's house.
4 How are Asher's descendants described?
AnswerThey are described as select men, mighty warriors, and chiefs among their families.
What This Means for Us
A family is not defined only by its victories. The record has room for grief, new beginnings, capable leaders, and ordinary descendants who keep a household going.
When loss becomes part of your family's story, remember it honestly without treating it as the whole story. Grief and hope can live in the same account.
Prayer
LORD, remember families who carry old grief. Give them comfort without false simplicity, strength for the work before them, and hope that does not erase what they have lost. Amen.