Bible Commentaries

1 Chronicles 3:1-9

Now these are the sons of David.

A family record

As we read their names they convey no meaning to us, but as defined etymologically we may get a new aspect of part at least of the king’s household. Ibhar signifies “God chooseth”; Elishama, “God heareth”; Eliphelet, “God is deliverance”; Eliada, “God knoweth.” Keeping in mind the well-established feet that in Oriental countries it was customary to mark family history by the names of the children, we can but be struck with the deep religiousness of the family record now before us. In every child David sees some new manifestation of God. Every son was an historical landmark, Every life was a new phase of providence. Blessed is the man who need not look beyond his own house for signs and proofs of the manifold and never-ceasing goodness of God. (J. Parker, D. D.)

Significance of Hebrew names

A name is to us a matter of convenience; to the Hebrews it was a solemn and sacred thing. Our names are short and simple, and generally meaningless. Bible names are thought-fossils, rich in memories of the past. We often designate our streets by the letters of the alphabet, we distinguish our houses by Arabic numerals, and in large bodies of men we distinguish one from another by placing numbers on their caps or badges. The number on the house has nothing to do with the size or location of the dwelling; the number on the cap or badge tells nothing of the brain or heart beneath. But the old Hebrews would have thought it sacrilegious to give names in such careless fashion. Their names of places were often given altar solemn thought and prayer. Historical records were few. The name must contain the history of the past and embody the sublimest hopes of the future. The name Bethel, or “House of God,” recalled to every Jew the night when Jacob slept on his stony pillow, and the word Meribah, or “bitterness,” commemorated in the mind of every Jewish boy the murmuring and rebellion in the wilderness. (W. P. Faunce.)