📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 2:26
What does 1 Chronicles 2:26 mean?
"Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah. She was the mother of Onam."
— 1 Chronicles 2:26 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath, and its villages, even sixty cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.
After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah Hezron’s wife bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah.
Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah. She was the mother of Onam.
The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
The sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
The name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bore him Ahban and Molid.
Explanation
1 Chronicles 2:26 is a simple genealogical note tucked into one of the long lineage lists that open the book of Chronicles. In plain language, it tells us that Jerahmeel, a descendant of Judah, had a second wife named Atarah, and that she bore him a son named Onam. It's a brief family record, noting a marriage and a birth within a larger web of ancestral relationships.
To understand its context, it helps to know that 1 Chronicles opens with nine chapters of genealogies tracing Israel's tribes, beginning with Adam and moving through the patriarchs down to the returned exiles. These records were likely compiled after the Babylonian exile, when the Jewish community needed to reestablish identity, land claims, priestly lines, and tribal belonging. Jerahmeel was a great-grandson of Judah through Hezron, and this verse sits within the record of Jerahmeel's descendants (1 Chronicles 2:25-33). The mention of Atarah as "another wife" indicates Jerahmeel had more than one wife, a common practice in that era, and the text is carefully distinguishing which sons came from which mother — a detail that mattered for inheritance and tribal identification.
Theologically, these genealogies, though easy to skim past, carry real weight. They demonstrate God's providential care in preserving specific families and lines through history, particularly the line of Judah, from which King David and ultimately the Messiah would come. Every name recorded testifies that God knows and remembers individuals — even those who appear only once, in a single
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