Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 7:40
All 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
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler catalogs the tribal structure of Israel, concluding the genealogy of Asher immediately after listing the sons of Ulla. The narrator records family heads and combat-ready men to document the tribe's organizational and military capacity.
The words — The text labels these men as ra'Shei veit 'aVot (chiefs of the house of ancestors) and be.ru.Rim (chosen), marking their selected authority within their lineage. These terms frame the verse as an administrative inventory rather than a narrative account.
The thread — The systematic counting of fighting men reappears in 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1, where royal census-taking shifts from tribal documentation to a point of divine confrontation.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to treat genealogical lists as concrete records of national strength and social order. It asks the reader to recognize how lineage directly structured Israel's military readiness and administrative hierarchy.
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
All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father’s house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the number throughout the genealogy of them that were apt to the war and to battle was twenty and six thousand men.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He stirred up David against them, saying, “Go and take a census of Israel and Judah.”
- 1 Chronicles 21:1 Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.