Bible Strands
Exodus 6:14
These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks to Moses and Aaron, charging them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, immediately preceding a genealogical list of the tribes.
The words — אֵ֖לֶּה ('E.leh) literally means "these," and בְּכֹ֣ר (be.Khor) literally means "firstborn," anchoring the list in specific identity and birth order.
The thread — This genealogical record appears in Genesis 46:9 and 1 Chronicles 5:3, consistently naming Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi as Reuben’s sons.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to acknowledge that the promised deliverance operates through documented family lines rather than abstract claims.
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
These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.
Cross-references
- Genesis 46:9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
- 1 Chronicles 5:3 The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
- Numbers 26:5 Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. These were the descendants of Reuben: The Hanochite clan from Hanoch, the Palluite clan from Pallu,
- Genesis 49:3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
- Exodus 6:25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.
- Joshua 13:15 This is what Moses had given to the clans of the tribe of Reuben:
- Joshua 13:23 And the border of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the clans of the Reubenites, including the cities and villages.
- Joshua 14:1 Now these are the portions that the Israelites inherited in the land of Canaan, as distributed by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 5:24 These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their families.
- 1 Chronicles 7:2 The 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.