Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Chronicles 4:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Here the KJV word means boundary or territory; it does not refer specifically to a seashore or a modern national border. In 1 Chronicles 4:10, “coast” belongs to the complete movement “Jabez prays within a genealogy.”
Read It With
- 1 Chronicles 4:9–10
Read 1 Chronicles 4:10 with 4:9–10. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the relationships and outcome summarized here: Jabez's mother names sorrow, he asks Israel's God for blessing, enlarged territory, presence, and protection, and the request is granted.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Jabez prays within a genealogy,” 1 Chronicles 4:10 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: Jabez's brief pain-and-prayer notice interrupts surrounding Judahite names and then yields back to households, crafts, women, and places, so the answer cannot become the genealogy's universal prosperity rule.
Read 1 Chronicles 4:9–10 together
Why these verses belong together: 1 Chronicles 4:9–10 forms the complete movement “Jabez prays within a genealogy”: Jabez's mother names sorrow, he asks Israel's God for blessing, enlarged territory, presence, and protection, and the request is granted.
Verse 9. 9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.
Verse 10. 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.
Follow the Context
- Jabez's mother names sorrow, he asks Israel's God for blessing, enlarged territory, presence, and protection, and the request is granted.
- The short prayer interrupts names with remembered pain and dependence before the genealogy resumes ordinary households and work.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“coast”
In plain language: Here the KJV word means boundary or territory; it does not refer specifically to a seashore or a modern national border.
In 1 Chronicles 4:10, “coast” belongs to the complete movement “Jabez prays within a genealogy.”
Why it matters: This wording materially sharpens the passage-specific meaning or boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Chronicles 4:10 does not permit the wording “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. Jabez's answered prayer does not guarantee wealth, property expansion, pain-free life, political territory, or a repeatable prosperity formula.
What Remains True
Prayer responds to God within the passage's covenantal setting; it is not a technique for control, prosperity, immunity, or coercion. This unit tests that truth through the narrated movement: Jabez's mother names sorrow, he asks Israel's God for blessing, enlarged territory, presence, and protection, and the request is granted. In 1 Chronicles 4:10, the concrete line “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge….” Pray honestly while also using evidence, medicine, safeguarding, restitution, financial transparency, and other responsible means appropriate to the need. This response follows from the unit's own movement: Jabez's mother names sorrow, he asks Israel's God for blessing, enlarged territory, presence, and protection, and the request is granted.
Teach It Back
Explain why 1 Chronicles 4:10 records Jabez's request for blessing, territory, presence, protection, and its answer. Use 4:9–10, paraphrase “And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge…,” state one source or reconstruction limit, identify one person or group power can obscure, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Chronicles 4:9–10 — Jabez prays within a genealogySources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The Hebrew wordplay on Jabez and pain is clearer than the precise social setting, extent of territory, chronology, or reason this individual notice was preserved.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 4:9–10, 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 4:9–10
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 4:9–10, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗