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1 Chronicles 8:8-11
The list shifts to Shaharaim in Moab, noting his wives and sons, and marking them as heads of extended households.
Meaning in context
The list shifts to Shaharaim in Moab, noting his wives and sons, and marking them as heads of extended households.
Section 2 of 5
Shaharaim’s households and chief sons
The list shifts to Shaharaim in Moab, noting his wives and sons, and marking them as heads of extended households.
Movement
Remembering David after exile
Artifact
Genealogies and temple preparation
Biblical Timeline
Exile & Return
1 Chronicles context: 586 BC - 400 BC
Biblical Timeline
Exile & Return
1 Chronicles context
Exile & Return / 586 BC - 400 BC
1 Chronicles context is set in the exile and return, where Babylonian exile, return, rebuilding, and renewed covenant life under Persian rule.
Scripture Text
Thesis
The list shifts to Shaharaim in Moab, noting his wives and sons, and marking them as heads of extended households.
Verse by Verse
Moab setting and wives Shaharaim is said to have fathered children in Moab. The verse adds a timing note: this happened after he had “sent them away,” and it identifies two wives by name, Hushim and Baara. The line frames the births with a household change and a place outside Israel’s core territory.
Sons through Hodesh and their status The list continues by naming Hodesh as a wife connected with several sons: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Shachia, and Mirmah. After naming them, the writer comments that these sons were “heads of fathers’ houses,” meaning they functioned as leading figures over their family groups.
Sons through Hushim The genealogy adds a second, shorter list tied to Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal. This returns to the recurring pattern of linking specific children to a specific wife, keeping separate branches of the household clear.
Literary Context
1 Chronicles 8 is part of the Chronicler’s longer genealogical map of Israel, here focusing on Benjamin and its family lines. The chapter strings together households through repeated “became the father of” statements, naming children and sometimes highlighting heads of family groups (compare 1 Chronicles 8). Verses 8–11 form a small, self-contained cluster inside the Benjamin lists: it pauses to mention an unusual setting (Moab) and then resumes the steady pattern of naming sons and noting their standing as chiefs.
Historical Context
Chronicles was compiled in the Persian period, when Judah existed as a small province inside a larger empire and community identity was reinforced through remembered ancestry and recognized households. Genealogies served social purposes: they located people within clan networks, clarified who belonged where, and supported claims about leadership and inheritance patterns. This unit also recalls that Benjamite lines could have connections beyond the central hill country, since Moab lay east of the Dead Sea. Mentioning residence and family shifts hints at mobility, marriage ties, and settlement changes across generations.
Theological Significance
Questions
Keep Studying
This short note treats family history as meaningful public memory. It links a Benjamite man, Shaharaim, to a period of life in Moab, and it records his wives and sons in a way that preserves distinct household branches. The text also highlights that some sons were “heads of fathers’ houses,” which signals recognized leadership within extended family units, not merely biological descent.
Several explicit claims shape the picture: Shaharaim had children while in Moab; this was “after he had sent them away”; Hushim and Baara are named as wives; Hodesh is named as a wife associated with multiple sons; and later Abitub and Elpaal are linked specifically to Hushim (vv. 8–11).
Who were “them” that Shaharaim “sent away”? Some read “sent them away” as divorce of wives (often taken to be Hushim and Baara). Others read it more generally as a relocation or separation of some part of the household (for example, sending away earlier family members), without specifying divorce.
How does Hodesh relate to Hushim and Baara? Some take Hodesh as an additional wife (possibly connected to the Moab setting). Others think the wording could reflect complicated household reporting—naming wives and then listing sons under different maternal lines—without making the order of marriages clear.
Were all the listed sons born in Moab? Some readers assume the Moab detail covers all the children named in the unit. Others think the Moab note may only frame the situation generally (or a subset of births), while the later lists simply organize sons by mother.
Why the disagreement exists The passage is compressed and does not explain the backstory. The pronoun “them” in “sent them away” is not identified in these verses, and the household structure is reported in a ledger-like style: wives are named, then sons are grouped, with minimal narrative connectors. Also, “field/country of Moab” describes location but not duration, so it is unclear how much of the genealogy should be tied to that setting.
What this passage clearly contributes It shows how the Chronicler’s genealogies do more than list names: they track belonging, branching households, and recognized leaders (“heads of fathers’ houses”). It also reflects mobility and cross-border residence (Moab) within Israel’s remembered family lines, while still classifying descendants within Benjamin’s clan map (1 Chronicles 8).
hushim (ḥū·šîm)