📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 4:30
What does 1 Chronicles 4:30 mean?
"at Bethuel, at Hormah, at Ziklag,"
— 1 Chronicles 4:30 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn’t have many children, and all their family did not multiply like the children of Judah.
They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazarshual,
at Bilhah, at Ezem, at Tolad,
at Bethuel, at Hormah, at Ziklag,
at Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, at Beth Biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until David’s reign.
Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;
and all their villages that were around the same cities, to Baal. These were their settlements, and they have their genealogy.
Explanation
This verse is a simple item in a list of place names, part of a longer catalog naming the towns and villages settled by the tribe of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:28-33). In plain language, it tells us that Bethuel, Hormah, and Ziklag were among the towns that belonged to the Simeonites as their inheritance in the land of Canaan. There is no narrative action or teaching packed into this verse by itself — it is simply naming locations, continuing a list that begins in verse 28 with Beersheba and continues through several more towns before summarizing in verse 31 that "these were their cities until David reigned."
The book of 1 Chronicles was likely compiled after the Babylonian exile,
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