1 Chronicles 25:13 — Word Study
WLCהַשִּׁשִּׁ֣י בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ בָּנָ֥יו וְאֶחָ֖יו שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר׃
BSAthe sixthshishshîy to BukkiahBuqqîyâh [a Levite, son of Heman] his sonsbên [descendants, offspring] and his brothersʼâch [male siblings, close relatives, a dozen, twelve in total] 12 [in all]shᵉnayim
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| הַשִּׁשִּׁ֣י | the sixth | Particle |
| בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ | Bukkiah | Noun proper masculine |
| בָּנָ֥יו | sons his | Noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
| וְאֶחָ֖יו | and relatives his | Conjunction, noun common masculine plural construct, suffix |
| שְׁנֵ֥ים | two [plus] | Noun common, both dual absolute |
| עָשָֽׂר׃ | ten | Noun common, both singular absolute |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; |
| KJV | The sixth to Bukkiah, he, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve: |
| ASV | the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve: |
| YLT | the sixth [to] Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve; |
| WEB | the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve; |
| BBE | The sixth Bukkiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; |
All translations agree on the names and numbers in this verse.
The structure is clear, with a main clause followed by additional phrases that provide detail about Bukkiah and his family.
1 commentators on this verse
Gill & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — 1 Chronicles 25:13
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Organization of Temple Musiciansgenerated
1 Chronicles 25:13 describes the division of responsibilities among the Levite musicians in the temple. This specific verse identifies Bukkiah as the leader of the sixth group, emphasizing the structured approach to worship and music in ancient Israel. Each group had a designated leader and was made up of family members, highlighting the importance of lineage in temple service.
Cross References
The Key Word — בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ, vu.ki.Ya.hugenerated
The name בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ (Buqqiyah) refers to a Levite musician, specifically a son of Heman. His name means 'Jehovah has proved' and indicates his role in the temple service during the Divided Monarchy.
As a proper noun, it identifies an individual and conveys the significance of his lineage and responsibilities within the temple. The parsing as a masculine noun shows that he is a male figure, specifically recognized in the context of his family and duties.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The main clause centers around the subject בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ, Bukkiah, who is identified as the leader of this group. The structure includes additional noun phrases that describe his sons and brothers, indicating familial ties and the total number of musicians.
The sentence is straightforward, presenting a list format that emphasizes the order of the divisions and the relationships among the individuals involved.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ as βουκιας (Boukias), which maintains the identity of this Levite musician. This choice reflects a direct correspondence to the Hebrew name without significant interpretive alteration.
The Greek term does not add any new meaning but preserves the original context and role of Bukkiah in the temple service.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
1 Chronicles 25:13 lists Bukkiah as the leader of the sixth group of temple musicians, along with his sons and brothers, totaling twelve musicians. This shows the organized structure of worship in ancient Israel.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Bukkiah means 'Jehovah has proved' and identifies him as a Levite musician from the time of the Divided Monarchy.
The organization reflects the structured approach to worship in the temple, emphasizing the roles of family and lineage in serving God.
There are twelve musicians in total in this division, as indicated in the verse.
Bukkiah served as a leader among the Levite musicians, responsible for overseeing the musical aspects of worship.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- In what ways can I serve in my community like Bukkiah served in the temple?
- How does understanding the roles of individuals in the Bible help us appreciate the structure of worship?
- What can we learn from the importance of lineage and family in serving God?
- How can I contribute to the worship experience in my own community?
Commentators on this verse — 1 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 1 Chronicles 25:13 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleVer. 13 [See comments on 1 Chronicles 25:9]
Read John Gill on 1 Chronicles 25 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all;
the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, twelve;
the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all;
the sixth to Bukkiah and his sons and relatives – twelve in all,
Tyndale line
The sixth to Bukkiah, he, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:
the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve:
the sixth to Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve:
The sixth to Bukkiah, he , his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:
The sixt, to Bukkiah, he, his sonnes and his brethren twelue.
Strictly literal
The sixth to Bukkijah; his sons and his brethren, twelve.
the sixth [to] Bukkiah, his sons and his brethren, twelve;
the sixth, Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers—twelve;
The sixth was Bukkiyahu, his sons, and his brethren, being twelve:
the sixth fell to Bukkiah, his sons and his relatives, twelve persons in number;
From the Latin
The sixth to Bocciau, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
Simplified
The sixth fell to Bukkiah, his sons and his brothers, 12 in total.
The sixth Bukkiah, with his sons and his brothers, twelve;
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree on the wording of this verse, with all six words matched in the translation. This consistency indicates a shared understanding of the text across these ancient witnesses.
הַשִּׁשִּׁ֣י בֻקִּיָּ֔הוּ בָּנָ֥יו וְאֶחָ֖יו שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר׃
6 of the 6 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in 1 Chronicles 25:13
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
שִׁשִּׁי (shishshiy) means 'sixth' and can refer to both an ordinal number and a fractional part. It is derived from the root word for 'six' and has masculine and feminine forms. The entries consistently emphasize its use as a numerical designation.
שִׁשִּׁי m. 22 שִׁשִּׁית f. 6 adj.num.ordin. sixth
base
H8345 שִׁשִּׁי, שִׁשִּׁית sixth
8345 shishshiy shish-shee'
from 8337; sixth, ord. or (feminine) fractional:--sixth
(part).
see HEBREW for 08337
שִׁשִּׁי (shish.shi) — sixth.
1) sixth
1a) sixth (ordinal number)
1b) sixth (as fraction)
Art | Adj — ParticleHTd/Aomsa
בֻּקִּיָּ֫הוּ (Buqqiyah) refers to a Levite musician from the time of the Divided Monarchy, specifically mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:4. The name means 'wasting of Jah' or 'Jehovah has emptied.' He is identified as a son of Heman and has several brothers listed in the biblical text.
בֻּקִּיָּ֫הוּ n.pr.m. (proved of י׳) Levite, son of Heman 1 Ch 25:4; son of Asaph (?) v 13.
done
H1232 בֻּקִּיָּ֫הוּ
1232 Buqqiyah book-kee-yaw'
from 1238 and 3050; wasting of Jah; Bukkijah, an
Israelite:--Bukkiah.
see HEBREW for 01238
see HEBREW for 03050
בֻּקִּיָּ֫הוּ (buq.qiy.yah) — Bukkiah.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.25.4;
son of: Heman (H1968I);
brother of: Mattaniah (H4983H), Uzziel (H5816J), Shebuel (H7619H), Jerimoth (H3406L), Hananiah (H2608P), Hanani (H2607H), Eliathah (H0448), Giddalti (H1437), Romamti-ezer (H7320), Joshbekashah (H3436), Mallothi (H4413), Hothir (H1956), Mahazioth (H4238)
§ Bukkiah = "Jehovah has emptied"
a Kohathite Levite, of the sons of Heman, one of the musicians in the temple
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
buk-i'-a (buqqiyahu, "proved of God"): A Levite, son of Heman (1Ch 25:4,13).
See BAKBUKIAH.
(wasting from Jehovah), a Kohathite Levite, of the sons of Heman, one of the musicians in the temple. (1 Chronicles 25:4,13)
the dissipation of the Lord
→ A Levite 1Ch 25:4,13
בֵּן (ben) means 'son' or 'male child' and encompasses a wide range of meanings, including descendants, young animals, and even figurative uses like sparks or arrows. It can refer to members of a tribe or class and is used in various contexts throughout the Old Testament, such as in 1 Chronicles 24:26. The word is derived from a root meaning 'to build' and implies a connection to family or lineage.
בֵּן 4870 n.m. son
son, male child, born of a woman
children (male and female)
youth, young men
the young of animals
of plant shoots
fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows
member of a guild, order or class
of animals son of (the) herd
ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.
n. relat. of age
base
בְּנוֹ 1 Ch 24:26, 27 as n.pr.m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son, cf. VB & Be Öt.
done
H1121a בֵּן son . son, male child, born of a woman
. children (male and female)
. youth, young men
. the young of animals
. of plant shoots
. fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows
. . member of a guild, order or class
. of animals son of (the) herd
. ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.
. n. relat. of age
H1121b בְּנוֹ as n. pr. m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son
1121 ben bane
from 1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the
widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship,
including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition,
etc., (like 1, 251, etc.)):--+ afflicted, age, (Ahoh-)
(Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-)ite, (anoint-)ed one, appointed to,
(+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-)ian, one born,
bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X
came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of
first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, +
kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+)
people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, +
spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous
one, + valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.
see HEBREW for 01129
see HEBREW for 01
see HEBREW for 0251
בֵּן (ben) — son: child.
: child/son
בְּנוֹ (be.no) — Beno.
A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.24.26;
son of: Jaaziah (H3269);
brother of: Shoham (H7719), Zaccur (H2139I) and Ibri (H5681)
§ Beno = "his son"
the sons of Jaaziah and the sons of Merari by Jaahziah (his son)
בֵּן (ben) — son: descendant/people.
: descendant, people, tribe, nation
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
§ : child/son
בֵּן (ben) — son: young animal.
: calf/lamb/young(ANIMAL)
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
§ : descendant
בֵּן (ben) — son: type of.
: rebel/son(Belial)
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
§ : people/men/nation/tribe
בֵּן (ben) — son.
: [inheriting]son/heir
A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)
בֵּן (ben) — son: warrior.
: warrior/son(strong)
N-mp | Suff — Noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHNcmpc/Sp3ms
אָח (ach) means 'brother' and encompasses a broad range of relationships, including literal siblings, half-brothers, and metaphorical kinship. It can refer to any male relative or compatriot, and it may also imply resemblance or reciprocal relationships. The term is used in various contexts throughout the Old Testament, highlighting both familial and figurative connections.
אָח 630 n.m. brother
brother, born of same mother (& father)
indef. = relative
fig. of resemblance
in phr. one … another
base
H251 אָח brother
251 'ach awkh
a primitive word; a brother (used in the widest sense of
literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance
(like 1)):--another, brother(-ly); kindred, like, other.
Compare also the proper names beginning with "Ah-" or "Ahi-".
see HEBREW for 01
אָח (ach) — brother: male-sibling.
: male-sibling
1) brother
1a) brother of same parents
1b) half-brother (same father)
1c) relative, kinship, same tribe
1d) each to the other (reciprocal relationship)
1e) (fig.) of resemblance
אָח (ach) — brother: male-relative.
: male-relative
1) brother
1a) brother of same parents
1b) half-brother (same father)
1c) relative, kinship, same tribe
1d) each to the other (reciprocal relationship)
1e) (fig.) of resemblance
אָח (ach) — brother: compatriot.
: compatriot
1) brother
1a) brother of same parents
1b) half-brother (same father)
1c) relative, kinship, same tribe
1d) each to the other (reciprocal relationship)
1e) (fig.) of resemblance
Conj | N-mp | Suff — Conjunction · noun common masculine plural construct · suffixHC/Ncmpc/Sp3ms
שְׁנַ֫יִם (shnayim) means 'two' and serves as both a cardinal and ordinal number. It can denote 'both,' 'double,' or 'twice,' and is used in various combinations with other numbers. The word is derived as a dual form of שָׁנָה (shanah), which relates to the concept of pairs.
שְׁנַ֫יִם, שְׁתַּיִם 768 n.m. et f. du. two
base
H8147 שְׁנַ֫יִם, שְׁתַּיִם two
8147 shnayim shen-ah'-yim
dual of 8145; feminine shttayim {shet-tah'-yim}; two; also
(as ordinal) twofold:--both, couple, double, second, twain, +
twelfth, + twelve, + twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.
see HEBREW for 08145
שְׁנַ֫יִם (she.na.yim) — two.
1) two
1a) two (the cardinal number)
1a1) two, both, double, twice
1b) second (the ordinal number)
1c) in combination with other numbers
1d) both (a dual number)
Adj — Noun common · both dual absoluteHNcbda
עָשָׂר (asar) means 'ten' and is used exclusively in combination with other numbers to form the teen numbers (11-19), both as cardinal and ordinal forms. The entries indicate that it is derived from another Hebrew root, but do not elaborate on its etymology.
עָשָׂר, עֶשְׂרֵה ten, only after units to make num. 11-19, both cardinal and ordinal
base
H6240 עָשָׂר, עֶשְׂרֵה ten, only after units to make num. 11-19, both cardinal and ordinal
6240 `asar aw-sawr'
for 6235; ten (only in combination), i.e. -teen; also
(ordinal) -teenth:--(eigh-, fif-, four-, nine-, seven-,
six-, thir-)teen(-th), + eleven(-th), + sixscore thousand, +
twelve(-th).
see HEBREW for 06235
עָשָׂר (a.sar) — ten.
1) ten, -teen (in combination with other numbers)
1a) used only in combination to make the numbers 11-19
HNcbsa — Noun common · both singular absoluteHNcbsa