1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:1-10

One reason, no doubt, why Ezra is here most particular in the register of the tribe of Judah is because it was that tribe which, with its appendages, Simeon, Benjamin, and Levi, made up the kingdom of Judah, which not only long survived the other tribes in Canaan, but in process of time, now when this was written, returned out of captivity, when the generality of the other tribes were lost in the kingdom of Assyria. The most remarkable person in this paragraph is Jabez. It is not said whose... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:9

And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren ,.... The Targum adds,"and wiser in the law than his brethren;'or he might be a man of great wealth and riches, or of great strength and courage, all which make a man honourable; or he may be so called, because a praying man, as follows, a man of devotion and religion, a man of God, see 1 Samuel 9:6 , but who he was is not easy to say, probably a son or brother of Harum, or however that belonged to one of the families of Aharhel, mentioned in... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:10

And Jabez called on the God of Israel ,.... Or prayed to him, as the Targum; though some understand it as a vow, promising what he would do if God would do thus and thus for him; the Syriac and Arabic versions read in the third person, taking it to be what others, his parents and friends, wished for him: let him bless thee ,.... but they are doubtless his own words, and a supplication of his to the Lord: saying, oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed ; the Targum adds, with children;... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Chronicles 4:9

And Jabez was more honorable - This whole account is variously understood by some of the principal versions. I shall subjoin a translation of each. Septuagint. - "And Igabes was more glorious than his brethren; and his mother called his name Igabes, saying, I have brought thee forth as Gabes. And Igabes invoked the God of Israel, saying, If in blessing thou wilt bless me, and enlarge my borders, and thy hand be with me, and wilt give me understanding not to depress me: and God... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:1-23

EXPOSITION After the large space given to the "sons of David," of the tribe of Judah, in the previous chapter, this chapter returns for twenty-three verses to group together a few additional ramifications of the same tribe, whose registers were for some reasons, perhaps not very evident, preserved and known. The first verses follow in the direction already indicated in 1 Chronicles 2:1-55 ; near the end of which we were left with Shobal and Haroeh, probably the same with Reaiah (the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:9

This is not less true of the name of verses. 9, 10, which, however, has made its own mark amid the whole scene. The episode of these two verses, offering itself amid what should seem, superficially, a dry mass of dead names, is welcome and grateful as the oasis of the desert, and it warns us that life lies hidden at our every footfall on this ground, spread over though it is with monument and inscription, and hollow, as we thought, with the deadest of the dead. But the glimpse of old real life... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:10

When Jabez grew to manhood he has learnt to estimate rightly the value of God's blessing. He invokes it, and depends upon it. His language implies the confidence that he had in the reality of providential blessing. For the expression, enlarge my coast, see Deuteronomy 12:20 : Deuteronomy 19:8 ; and though we know nothing as matter of fact about the occasion of this prayer, we may assume that it was one when not selfishness and greed of larger territory, but just opportunity, had awakened a... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Chronicles 4:9

It is remarkable that Jabez should be introduced without description, or patronymic, as if a well-known personage. We can only suppose that he was known to those for whom Chronicles was written, either by tradition, or by writings which have perished. In 1 Chronicles 4:10 Jabez alludes to his name, “sorrowful” (margin): “Grant that the grief implied in my name may not come upon me!” read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Chronicles 4:9

1 Chronicles 4:9. Jabez was more honourable, &c. For courage and fervent piety. His mother called his name Jabez That is, sorrowful; saying, Because I bare him with sorrow She had hard labour when she was in travail with him. She records this, that it might be a memorandum to herself, to be thankful to God as long as she lived, for bringing her through that sorrow: and a memorandum to him, that she bore him into a vale of tears, in which he might expect few days and full of... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Chronicles 4:10

1 Chronicles 4:10. Jabez called on the God of Israel The living and true God, who alone can hear and answer prayer: and in prayer he had an eye to him as the God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people, the God with whom Jacob wrestled and prevailed, and was thence called Israel. Saying, O that thou wouldest bless me indeed! He did not say in what respect he desired God to bless him, but leaves that to God, giving him, as it were, a blank paper, that he might write what he pleased.... read more

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