1 Chronicles 23:7–11, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Chronicles 23:7–11
Gershonite houses are grouped for service
Gershon is listed through Laadan and Shimei
Of the Gershonites were Laadan and Shimei. The sons of Laadan: the chief was Jehiel, then Zetham and Joel, three. The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.
Two small Shimeite branches become one house
The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei. Jahath is the chief, Zizah the second; but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house.
Administrative grouping answers household size. Combining houses does not erase Jeush and Beriah, and family size is not a measure of dignity. A service roster may merge small branches without declaring those people lesser.
How this should shape us
When you group people for work, say why a small household was combined, and keep the names. Do not treat headcount as worth, and do not let an org chart swallow the people it merged.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Chronicles 23:7–11 in your own words. Include its movement, placement in Chronicles, one Samuel-Kings comparison, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one modern use the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The received text clearly assigns roles, while the history, date, development, and relation of these orders to Torah, Samuel-Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, Psalms, and later practice remain debated.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
1 Chronicles 23:7–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 23:7–11
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
STEP Bible NET2full, 1 Chronicles 23:7–11, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Chronicler's God, worship, Israel, kingship, retribution, and hope, used only within the stated access limit.
Japhet, The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles (2009), officially exposed introduction pp. 1–8, worship pp. 156–208, Israel pp. 209–307, kingship pp. 308–383, and redemption pp. 384–394; detailed chapter bodies were not available
Supports: Only abstract-supported composition alternatives, the rejected single Chronicler's History model, and Chronicles' northern-Israel, Davidic, Jerusalem, priest, and Levite emphases.
Klein, Oxford Handbook chapter (2020), pp. 353–366, complete official abstract
Supports: Complete article on genealogical inclusion and exclusion, Davidic legitimation, temple personnel, worship ordering, and discourse of power.
Geyser-Fouché, HTS 79.1 (2023), article 8011, pp. 1–13, especially pp. 3–11
Supports: Case-sensitive distinction between events and literary presentation in ancient historiography, including credibility limits and rhetorical shaping.
Kalimi, 'History, Historiography, Historical Evaluation and Credibility,' repository PDF pp. 7–25
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 1 Chronicles 23:7–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 23:7–11
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 1 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 1 Chronicles 23:7–11, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph limited access
The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles and Its Place in Biblical Thought
Sara Japhet
Eisenbrauns / Penn State University Press, English edition 1989; reprint 2009
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Chronicler's God, worship, Israel, kingship, retribution, and hope, used only within the stated access limit.
Exact location: Japhet, The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles (2009), officially exposed introduction pp. 1–8, worship pp. 156–208, Israel pp. 209–307, kingship pp. 308–383, and redemption pp. 384–394; detailed chapter bodies were not available
Open source ↗modern scholarly handbook chapter abstract
The Rise and Fall of the So-Called Chronicler's History and the Current Study of the Composition of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah
Ralph W. Klein
The Oxford Handbook of the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible, pp. 353-366, 2020
Supports: Only abstract-supported composition alternatives, the rejected single Chronicler's History model, and Chronicles' northern-Israel, Davidic, Jerusalem, priest, and Levite emphases.
Exact location: Klein, Oxford Handbook chapter (2020), pp. 353–366, complete official abstract
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
1 and 2 Chronicles as a Discourse of Power
Ananda Geyser-Fouche
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 79(1), article 8011, pp. 1-13, 2023
Supports: Complete article on genealogical inclusion and exclusion, Davidic legitimation, temple personnel, worship ordering, and discourse of power.
Exact location: Geyser-Fouché, HTS 79.1 (2023), article 8011, pp. 1–13, especially pp. 3–11
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
History, Historiography, Historical Evaluation and Credibility: Chronicles in Its Ancient Context
Isaac Kalimi
Poznan Theological Studies repository edition, pp. 7-25, 2019 repository edition
Supports: Case-sensitive distinction between events and literary presentation in ancient historiography, including credibility limits and rhetorical shaping.
Exact location: Kalimi, 'History, Historiography, Historical Evaluation and Credibility,' repository PDF pp. 7–25
Open source ↗