Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 11:18
And Rehoboam married Mahalath, who was the daughter of David’s son Jerimoth and of Abihail, the daughter of Jesse’s son Eliab.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler records this genealogical detail during the early reign of Rehoboam, immediately following 2 Chronicles 11:17's note on Judah's three-year spiritual alignment with David and Solomon. The narrative shifts from national consolidation to royal lineage to establish dynastic legitimacy.
The words — The verb וַיִּקַּח (va-yi-kach) literally means "and he took," functioning as the standard Hebrew idiom for marriage. The name מָחֲלַת (Maḥălaṯ) identifies the bride, whose ancestry is explicitly traced through בַּת (bat, "daughter of") to David’s son Jerimoth and Jesse’s son Eliab.
The thread — This lineage connects to 1 Samuel 16:6 and 1 Samuel 17:13, where Eliab is named as Jesse’s firstborn and David’s older brother. The Chronicler uses this genealogical link to ground Rehoboam’s royal line in the established Davidic covenant.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how royal marriages were engineered to secure political alliances and validate dynastic claims. It requires the reader to track how biblical history treats lineage as the structural foundation of covenant continuity.
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 Rehoboam took him Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David to wife, and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse;
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 16:6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Surely here before the LORD is His anointed.”
- 1 Samuel 17:13 The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.
- 1 Samuel 17:28 Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”
- 1 Chronicles 27:18 over Judah was Elihu, one of David’s brothers; over Issachar was Omri son of Michael;
- 1 Chronicles 2:13 Jesse was the father of Eliab his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third,