1 Chronicles 14:3-7 meaning

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1 Chronicles 14:3-7 lists the growth of David's family at Jerusalem—more wives, more sons and daughters—and names the thirteen children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

1 Chronicles 14:3-7 records the royal family growing in the new capital: Then David took more wives at Jerusalem, and David became the father of more sons and daughters (v 3). In the ancient world a large royal house signaled a secure dynasty, and the chronicler presents the births as part of God's establishing work. At the same time, Scripture elsewhere lets the cost show. The law had warned Israel's king against multiplying wives (Deuteronomy 17:17), and the rivalries among these half-brothers later tore apart David's household (2 Samuel 13-18; 1 Kings 1). The chronicler reports without comment, but the wider narrative supplies the caution.

The list itself carries the future: These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon (v 4), followed by Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Beeliada and Eliphelet (vv 5-7). Thirteen names appear, matching the family register of 1 Chronicles 3:5-8, which adds that the first four were born to Bath-shua (better known as Bathsheba). Two of those four carry the line of the Messiah: Matthew traces Jesus' legal descent through Solomon, emphasizing His right to rule (Matthew 1:6-7), and Luke traces His line through Nathan, possibly following Mary's lineage (Luke 3:31). Solomon's name, Shelomoh, is built on shalom, peace, a connection God Himself makes when He promises, concerning this son, rest and quiet for Israel (1 Chronicles 22:9). Nathan's name means "He has given." Out of a household the narrative barely pauses over, God was quietly laying two roads to Bethlehem.

One name preserves a small window into the period's language. The son called Beeliada (v 7) appears as Eliada in both parallel lists (2 Samuel 5:16; 1 Chronicles 3:8). The name joins yada', "to know," with ba'al, an ordinary Hebrew noun for master, owner, or lord—"the lord knows," or with El, "God knows." In David's day ba'al could still serve as an innocent title for the true God; as the fertility god Baal polluted the word, later usage replaced it with El. The next section turns on the same word used the same innocent way, in the place name Baal-perazim (1 Chronicles 14:11).