1 Chronicles 4:34–43, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Chronicles 4:34–43
Simeonite expansion is remembered with displacement and killing
Named princes go looking for pasture
Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah, Joel, Jehu, and their companions are princes in their families; the house increased greatly. They go to the entrance of Gedor, to the east of the valley, to seek pasture. They find fat pasture, wide, quiet, and peaceable, for they of Ham had dwelt there of old.
The land is already inhabited in the memory the text itself supplies. Increase and quiet pasture are not an empty map.
Hezekiah's days, seizure, and a second killing at Seir
These written by name come in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, smite the tents and habitations, destroy them utterly unto this day, and dwell in their rooms because there was pasture for their flocks. Another band of five hundred Simeonites, captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, go to mount Seir, smite the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwell there unto this day.
Clan memory here contains migration, dispossession, and killing. Reporting those acts is not the same as commanding them. The account does not authorize ethnic cleansing, genocide, settler violence, modern land entitlement, or hatred of people labeled Hamite or Amalekite.
How this should shape us
If you read a land story, name the pasture pressure, the people who already dwelt there, the date, and the killing. Independent evidence still matters. This genealogy is not permission for seizure or ethnic violence now.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Chronicles 4:34–43 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 groups, geography, dates, scale, terms translated 'destroyed utterly' and 'remnant,' and relationship to other Amalek traditions are historically and textually disputed.
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 4:34–43, 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 4:34–43
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 4:34–43, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Supports: Complete article on the reuse of Genesis genealogies to negotiate a broad all-Israel identity after exile, used as a contextual proposal rather than an ethnic prescription.
Jonker, Old Testament Essays 25.2 (2012), pp. 316–333, especially pp. 316–323 and 328–331
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
Supports: Only accessible arguments about possible historical-geographical layers in selected genealogical lists; not a complete archaeological proof or an inspected full article.
Finkelstein, Journal of Biblical Literature 131.1 (2012), pp. 65–83; official record and limited exposed page images
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 4:34–43, 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 4:34–43
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 4:34–43, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
Reading the Pentateuch's Genealogies after the Exile: The Chronicler's Usage of Genesis 1-11 in Negotiating an All-Israelite Identity
Louis C. Jonker
Old Testament Essays 25(2), pp. 316-333, 2012
Supports: Complete article on the reuse of Genesis genealogies to negotiate a broad all-Israel identity after exile, used as a contextual proposal rather than an ethnic prescription.
Exact location: Jonker, Old Testament Essays 25.2 (2012), pp. 316–333, especially pp. 316–323 and 328–331
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 ↗peer reviewed scholarly article limited access
The Historical Reality behind the Genealogical Lists in 1 Chronicles
Israel Finkelstein
Journal of Biblical Literature 131(1), pp. 65-83, 2012
Supports: Only accessible arguments about possible historical-geographical layers in selected genealogical lists; not a complete archaeological proof or an inspected full article.
Exact location: Finkelstein, Journal of Biblical Literature 131.1 (2012), pp. 65–83; official record and limited exposed page images
Open source ↗