Who were the descendants of Hur mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:20? Genealogical Setting in 1 Chronicles 2 1 Chronicles 2 traces the royal tribe of Judah from Jacob down to King David. Within that lineage “Caleb son of Hezron” marries Ephrath; “she bore to him Hur. Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri was the father of Bezalel” (1 Chronicles 2:19-20). Thus Hur appears as Judah’s great-great-grandson and the direct ancestor of a short, three-generation sub-branch. Immediate Descendants Named in 1 Chronicles 2:20 • Uri (אֻרִי, “my light”): the single son explicitly credited to Hur in this verse. • Bezalel (בְּצַלְאֵל, “in the shadow/protection of God”): Uri’s son and Hur’s grandson. These two names complete the entire descent list given in 1 Chronicles 2:20; no additional children are attached to Hur in this specific text. Confirmation from the Exodus Narratives Exodus corroborates the same two-generation line without variation: “See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah” (Exodus 31:2; cf. 35:30; 38:22). The Pentateuch therefore matches the Chronicler word for word regarding Hur’s only recorded offspring. Extended Lineage and Territorial Legacy Chronicles later re-introduces Hur, probably the same man, as a clan-chief: “Hur was the firstborn of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem” (1 Chronicles 4:4). Through him the town that would become David’s and Messiah’s birthplace (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1) enters Judah’s map. A few collateral figures (Penuel, Gedor, Hushah—1 Chr 4:4) descend from that Bethlehem branch, but they are not linked to the specific Uri-Bezalel line spelled out in 2:20. Vocational and Spiritual Impact of Bezalel Bezalel receives the Spirit of God “in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of craftsmanship” to construct the Tabernacle (Exodus 31:3). Centuries later the bronze altar Bezalel made was still standing at Gibeon in Solomon’s day (2 Chronicles 1:5). Thus Hur’s line directly contributes to Israel’s earliest centralized worship, foreshadowing Christ—the true Tabernacle (John 1:14; Hebrews 9:11). Canonical Harmony and Manuscript Stability All extant Hebrew manuscripts (Masoretic), the Septuagint, and the Dead Sea Scroll fragment 4Q118 for 1 Chronicles testify to the same triad: Hur → Uri → Bezalel. No textual variants insert or omit additional descendants, underscoring the consistency of Scripture’s self-attesting record. Archaeological and Cultural Backdrop Egyptian woodworking, metal-inlay, and gemstone mosaics of the 15th–13th centuries B.C. parallel the craftsmanship skills assigned to Bezalel, aligning the biblical description with the material culture of an Exodus-era date. The Timna copper mines in the Arabah, worked heavily in the Late Bronze Age, illustrate the technological plausibility of Bezalel’s bronze work for the Tabernacle furnishings. Concise Answer The descendants of Hur cited in 1 Chronicles 2:20 are his son Uri and his grandson Bezalel; no other children are listed in that verse. |
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