1 Chronicles 7:14-40

Descendants of Manasseh

14 The sons of Manasseh were Asriel, whom his Aramean concubine bore; she bore Machir the father of Gilead. 15 Machir took a wife for Huppim and Shuppim, [o]whose sister’s name was Maacah. And the name of the second was Zelophehad, and Zelophehad had daughters. 16 Maacah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she named him Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. 17 The [p]son of Ulam was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. 18 His sister Hammolecheth bore Ishhod and [q]Abiezer and Mahlah. 19 The sons of Shemida were Ahian and Shechem and Likhi and Aniam.

Descendants of Ephraim

20 The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah and [r]Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, 21 Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take their livestock. 22 Their father Ephraim mourned many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. 23 Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and he named him [s]Beriah, because misfortune had come upon his house. 24 His daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon, also Uzzen-sheerah. 25 Rephah was his son along with Resheph, Telah his son, Tahan his son, 26 Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, 27 [t]Non his son and Joshua his son.

28 Their possessions and settlements were Bethel with its towns, and to the east [u]Naaran, and to the west Gezer with its towns, and Shechem with its towns as far as [v]Ayyah with its towns, 29 and along the borders of the sons of Manasseh, Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, Dor with its towns. In these lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.

Descendants of Asher

30 The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi and Beriah, and Serah their sister. 31 The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. 32 Heber [w]became the father of Japhlet, [x]Shomer and Hotham, and Shua their sister. 33 The sons of Japhlet were Pasach, Bimhal and Ashvath. These were the sons of Japhlet. 34 The sons of [y]Shemer were Ahi and Rohgah, Jehubbah and Aram. 35 The [z]sons of his brother Helem were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh and Amal. 36 The sons of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri and Imrah, 37 Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran and Beera. 38 The sons of Jether were Jephunneh, Pispa and Ara. 39 The sons of Ulla were Arah, Hanniel and Rizia. 40 All these were the sons of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice and mighty men of valor, heads of the princes. And the number of them enrolled by genealogy for service in war was 26,000 men.

You’ll often hear of how women were treated as little more than property in ancient (and even not-so-ancient) times. So it’s interesting to find notable women even in these long lists of who bore who. For example, we even see a mention of Sheerah, who built two towns–not by herself of course, but she was obviously a prominent woman in the tribe of Ephraim.

With all the cultural bias against women, and the idea many have about God being terribly sexist, it should be an encouragement to men and women alike. While He created us differently, God values us the same. He didn’t send Jesus to pay the penalty for just the men. His mission was to rescue all of humanity, regardless of sex, race, or culture.

His love is showered on all of us, and the only question is, will we embrace it? No matter how small you might feel, you are big in His eyes, and He knows you. God knows every little detail about you, and loves you for it (or in spite of it). What will you do with His love?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *