What is the meaning of 1 Chronicles 7:23? And again he slept with his wife “Again he slept with his wife” comes right after Ephraim’s season of mourning for his slain sons (1 Chron 7:21-22). Scripture shows a pattern in which marital intimacy, even after deep sorrow, is God’s means of renewing life and hope (see 2 Samuel 12:24, where David comforts Bathsheba and Solomon is conceived). Here, Ephraim refuses to let grief have the last word; he embraces the covenant privilege of marriage, trusting God to restore what was lost. This action underscores the literal, historical rhythm of life the genealogies record. and she conceived and gave birth to a son Just as God had promised fruitfulness to Jacob’s family line (Genesis 35:11), the conception of this child testifies that God’s blessing is still operative despite tragedy. Similar flashes of new life follow loss elsewhere—Eve conceiving Seth after Abel’s death (Genesis 4:25) and Ruth bearing Obed after Naomi’s devastation (Ruth 4:13-17). The chronicler includes this detail not as a minor footnote but as living proof that the Lord keeps multiplying His people exactly as He said He would (Exodus 1:7). So he named him Beriah Names in Scripture often capture the spiritual temperature of a moment. “Beriah” sounds like the Hebrew for “misfortune,” signaling that Ephraim memorializes both pain and providence in one word. Joseph did something similar when he named his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to mark past suffering and future fruitfulness (Genesis 41:51-52). By naming the boy Beriah, Ephraim both acknowledges the wound and bears witness that God is still writing the family story. because tragedy had come upon his house The “tragedy” refers to the killing of Ephraim’s earlier sons by the men of Gath (1 Chron 7:21). This loss parallels other national sorrows—such as the capture of the ark when Phinehas’s wife named her child Ichabod, saying “The glory has departed” (1 Samuel 4:21). Yet Chronicles places the grief inside a genealogy that ultimately leads to Joshua (Numbers 13:8; 1 Chron 7:27), the conqueror who would bring Israel into the land. Even unthinkable disaster cannot derail God’s covenant trajectory; instead, it becomes a dark backdrop against which His faithfulness shines brighter. summary 1 Chronicles 7:23 records a literal event in Ephraim’s life: following a crushing family loss, he comforts his wife, God grants another son, and the couple names him Beriah to mark their sorrow. The verse teaches that: • God’s design for marriage continues to be fruitful even after heartbreak. • New life is His gracious answer to human grief. • Naming can memorialize pain yet still testify to hope. • No tragedy, however severe, cancels God’s covenant purposes for His people. |
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