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1 Chronicles 3

KJV · Chapter 3/29

1Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess:

2The third, Absalom the son of Maachah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur: the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith:

3The fifth, Shephatiah of Abital: the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife.

4These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

5And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath–shua the daughter of Ammiel:

6Ibhar also, and Elishama, and Eliphelet,

7And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

8And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.

9These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.

10And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

11Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,

12Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,

13Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,

14Amon his son, Josiah his son.

15And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

16And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.

17And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son,

18Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.

19And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister:

20And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab–hesed, five.

21And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah.

22And the sons of Shechaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.

23And the sons of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.

24And the sons of Elioenai were, Hodaiah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Dalaiah, and Anani, seven.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The direct descent of David is recorded, listing his sons born in Hebron and later in Jerusalem, including Solomon, and the royal line that continues even after the Babylonian exile.

Explanation

This chapter functions as a kind of official family tree of the monarchy of Judah, from its beginning with David to the generation living in the chronicler's own time, generations after the exile. This is significant because it shows that, even with the end of the kingdom and the destruction of Jerusalem, David's line did not disappear — it kept existing, keeping alive the hope that the promise made to David of an eternal kingdom could still be fulfilled. This messianic expectation, nurtured across generations, is part of the backdrop that the New Testament Gospels would later pick up when connecting Jesus to this same royal line.

Fun facts

  • Zerubbabel, mentioned at the end of the list as a descendant of the royal line, is the same figure who leads the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple in the books of Ezra and Haggai.
  • The Davidic line listed here is one of the sources used by the Gospels of Matthew and Luke to trace the genealogy of Jesus Christ back to King David.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Chronicles 3:1This list of David’s sons, some born in Hebron and others already in Jerusalem, is a court record: it shows the kingdom’s transition from a small city to the capital, and the royal custom of the time of having several children by several different wives.
  2. 1 Chronicles 3:2Among the sons born in Hebron are Absalom, who years later will rebel against his own father, and Adonijah, who will also contend for the throne — but Chronicles saves those stories for elsewhere and here only records the names.
  3. 1 Chronicles 3:3Two more sons of David born in Hebron, Shephatiah and Ithream, by different mothers — ancient kings usually had several wives, and each one is named to make clear whose son is whose.
  4. 1 Chronicles 3:4A quick summary of David’s entire reign: seven and a half years in Hebron, where these six sons were born, and then thirty-three years in Jerusalem — forty years on the throne in all.
  5. 1 Chronicles 3:5Already in Jerusalem, four more sons are born, among them Solomon, by Bath-shua, daughter of Ammiel — this is the same person as Bathsheba, but notice that Chronicles never tells the story of the adultery with David, it only records the son.
  6. 1 Chronicles 3:6Three more sons born in Jerusalem — Ibhar, Elishama, and Eliphelet — names that show the size of David’s royal family after he becomes king of all Israel.
  7. 1 Chronicles 3:7The sons born in Jerusalem continue: Nogah, Nepheg, and Japhia, part of a group of nine boys the list is about to close out.
  8. 1 Chronicles 3:8This group closes with three more names, two of them repeating names already mentioned before (Elishama and Eliphelet) — common at the time, since several mothers might choose the same name for their sons.
  9. 1 Chronicles 3:9The final summary: all these are David’s sons by his wives, not counting the sons of the concubines, and it also names Tamar, their sister — the same Tamar whom Amnon, another son of David, will violate in a much sadder story told in Samuel.
  10. 1 Chronicles 3:10The direct list of the kings of Judah begins, father to son: from Solomon comes Rehoboam, then Abia, then Asa, then Jehoshaphat — four generations of kings summarized in a single sentence.
  11. 1 Chronicles 3:11The royal line continues: Joram, then Ahaziah, then Joash — kings whose full stories, full of war and intrigue, are told in more detail in Kings.
  12. 1 Chronicles 3:12Two more kings in the sequence, Amaziah and Jotham — notice that this list skips over Uzziah (also called Azariah), who appears at this same point elsewhere in the Bible.
  13. 1 Chronicles 3:13The royal line continues: Ahaz, then Hezekiah — one of the kings most remembered for his faith — and then Manasseh, one of those most remembered for the opposite.
  14. 1 Chronicles 3:14The last two kings before the end of the kingdom: Amon and Josiah, the king who carries out Judah’s last great religious reform shortly before the exile to Babylon.
  15. 1 Chronicles 3:15The four sons of Josiah mark the tragic end of the monarchy: among them Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, the last two kings of Judah, who will reign under foreign domination until the fall of Jerusalem.
  16. 1 Chronicles 3:16Jehoiakim has a son named Jeconiah, the still-young king carried captive to Babylon, and a Zedekiah of his own, a name that repeats within the royal family of this period.
  17. 1 Chronicles 3:17Even after being carried captive, Jeconiah has descendants on record — proof that David’s line does not disappear with the exile, it just comes to live far from the promised land.
  18. 1 Chronicles 3:18More grandsons of Jeconiah listed in captivity — among them Shenazar and Pedaiah, names that will matter in the next verse because of an even better-known grandson.
  19. 1 Chronicles 3:19The list continues well past the end of the kingdom, down to the sons of Zerubbabel, the same man who leads the return from exile. This shows that David’s line does not disappear once the kings are gone: the chronicler makes a point of proving that it survives down to the time of the book’s first readers, still alive even without a throne.
  20. 1 Chronicles 3:20The sons of Zerubbabel continue, the same man who will later lead the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the temple — David’s line, even without a throne, is still carefully recorded.
  21. 1 Chronicles 3:21The royal genealogy keeps advancing generations after the return from exile — proof that, even with no more kings, David’s descendants were still known and counted in the time of the first readers of Chronicles.
  22. 1 Chronicles 3:22One more generation of the post-exilic royal line, closing with the number of sons counted — a care repeated throughout the chapter to make sure no one gets lost in the list.
  23. 1 Chronicles 3:23Three sons of Neariah continue this line that is already far removed from the days of David, but that the chronicler insists on documenting down to the most recent generation he knows.
  24. 1 Chronicles 3:24The chapter closes with seven sons of Elioenai — the royal list carries David’s genealogy well past the exile, showing the first readers that the promise of an everlasting line had not been lost.

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