Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 2:55
and the clans of the scribes who lived at Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text functions as a genealogical appendix in 1 Chronicles 2, continuing the list of Salma’s descendants from verse 54 to catalog resident groups near Jabez. It records settlement data without addressing a speaker, audience, or narrative event.
The words — סֹפְרִים (soferim) is rendered "[the] Sophrites," identifying a clan name rather than an occupational title. יֹשְׁבֵי (yoshevei) translates as "[who were] dwelling," pinning these family groups to the location of Jabez.
The thread — The verse explicitly identifies these clans as Kenites originating from Hammath, linking to the Kenite migrations recorded in Judges 1:16 and Judges 4:11. This lineage establishes the ancestral line that later produces the Rechabite house mentioned in 2 Kings 10:15.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to track how biblical genealogies document territorial settlements and tribal affiliations without theological commentary. It grounds the later Rechabite tradition in a specific Kenite migration and geographic origin.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.
Cross-references
- Judges 1:16 Now the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up with the men of Judah from the City of Palms to the Wilderness of Judah in the Negev near Arad. They went to live among the people.
- 2 Kings 10:15 When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?” “It is!” Jehonadab replied. “If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot,
- Judges 4:11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent by the great tree of Zaanannim, which was near Kedesh.
- Jeremiah 35:2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them to one of the chambers of the house of the LORD to offer them a drink of wine.”
- Jeremiah 35:19 this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never fail to have a man to stand before Me.’”
- 1 Samuel 15:6 And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
- 1 Chronicles 4:9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”
- Ezra 7:6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
- Jeremiah 8:8 How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?