1 Chronicles 25:18 — Word Study
WLCעַשְׁתֵּֽי־ עָשָׂ֣ר עֲזַרְאֵ֔ל בָּנָ֥יו וְאֶחָ֖יו שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר׃
BSAthe eleventhʻashtêy to AzarelʻĂzarʼêl [a Levite, son of Heman] his sonsbên [descendants, offspring] and his brothersʼâch [male siblings, close relatives, a dozen, twelve in all] 12 [in all]shᵉnayim
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| עַשְׁתֵּֽי־ | one [plus] | Noun common, both singular construct |
| עָשָׂ֣ר | ten | Noun common, both singular absolute |
| עֲזַרְאֵ֔ל | Azarel | 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 eleventh to Azarel, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all; |
| KJV | The eleventh to Azareel, he, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve: |
| ASV | the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve: |
| YLT | eleventh [to] Azareel, his sons and his brethren, twelve; |
| WEB | the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve; |
| BBE | The eleventh Azarel, with his sons and his brothers, twelve; |
Where they part company is עַשְׁתֵּי — see How Translations Differ.
The sentence is structured around a main clause followed by a series of noun phrases that describe the subjects and their total count.
3 commentators on this verse
Gill, Ellicott, Cambridge & 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 25:18
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 25:18 describes the eleventh group of temple musicians, assigned to Azarel, along with his sons and brothers, totaling twelve individuals. This passage is part of a larger enumeration of the divisions of the Levites, which served specific roles in temple worship, illustrating the structured approach to worship in ancient Israel.
Cross References
The Key Word — עַשְׁתֵּֽי, 'ash.tei-generated
The word עַשְׁתֵּי ('ashtey) signifies the number eleven, derived from the root for ten, עָשָׁר (asar). This term is used in the context of counting, indicating one more than ten, and is essential for understanding the organization of the Levites in this passage.
As a masculine plural form, it emphasizes the collective nature of the musicians assigned to Azarel, highlighting the importance of community in worship practices.
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 is structured around the numeral phrase עַשְׁתֵּי ('ashtey), which establishes the order of the division, followed by a noun phrase that identifies Azarel and his family, and concludes with another numeral phrase indicating the total count.
The organization of the sentence reflects the Hebrew preference for placing the numeral at the beginning, emphasizing the order of the musicians in relation to their service in the temple.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates עַשְׁתֵּי as ἑνδέκατος, which directly corresponds to the ordinal eleventh. This choice maintains the numerical significance while providing a Greek equivalent that would be familiar to its audience.
The consistent rendering across both texts highlights the importance of the structured roles within the temple, emphasizing the continuity of worship practices from Hebrew to Greek traditions.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
1 Chronicles 25:18 tells us that the eleventh group of musicians in the temple was assigned to a Levite named Azarel, along with his sons and brothers, making a total of twelve. This organization reflects the careful planning for worship in ancient Israel.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
The number twelve often represents completeness and is significant in the context of the tribes of Israel, reflecting the totality of the Levitical service.
Azarel was a Levite and a descendant of Heman, known for his role in the temple service during the time of David.
The divisions of musicians are important because they illustrate the organized structure of worship in the temple, ensuring that the music played during services was orderly and consistent.
This verse fits into the larger context of 1 Chronicles by detailing the organization and roles of the Levites, emphasizing their importance in the worship and service of God.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How does the organization of the Levites reflect the importance of structure in worship?
- What can we learn from Azarel's role about the significance of family in service to God?
- In what ways can we apply the concept of order and structure in our own acts of worship today?
- How does understanding the roles of the Levites enhance our appreciation for the temple practices of ancient Israel?
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 1 Chronicles 25:18 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleVer. 18 [See comments on 1 Chronicles 25:9]
Read John Gill on 1 Chronicles 25 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(18) Azareel.—Called Uzziel in 1 Chronicles 25:4. (Comp. Azariah as a variant of Uzziah, 1 Chronicles 3:12, and 2 Chronicles 26:1.)
Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Chronicles 25 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges18. Azarel] Called Uzziel, 1 Chronicles 25:4.
Read Cambridge 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 eleventh to Azarel, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all;
the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, twelve;
the eleventh to Azarel, his sons, and his brothers—12 in all;
the eleventh to Azarel and his sons and relatives – twelve in all,
Tyndale line
The eleventh to Azareel, he, his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:
the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve:
the eleventh to Azarel, his sons and his brethren, twelve:
The eleventh to Azareel, he , his sons, and his brethren, were twelve:
The eleuenth, to Azareel, he, his sonnes and his brethren twelue.
Strictly literal
The eleventh to Azareel; his sons and his brethren, twelve.
eleventh [to] Azareel, his sons and his brethren, twelve;
eleventh, Azareel, his sons and his brothers—twelve;
The eleventh was 'Asarel, his sons, and his brethren, being twelve;
the eleventh fell to Azarel, his sons and his relatives, twelve persons in number;
From the Latin
The eleventh to Azareel, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
Simplified
The eleventh fell to Azarel, his sons and his brothers, 12 in total.
The eleventh Azarel, 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 closely in this verse, with all seven words matched. The Septuagint's word order and articles differ, but the core content remains consistent, affirming the structure of the Levite divisions.
עַשְׁתֵּֽי־ עָשָׂ֣ר עֲזַרְאֵ֔ל בָּנָ֥יו וְאֶחָ֖יו שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָֽׂר׃
7 of the 7 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 25:18
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.
עַשְׁתֵּי (ashtey) refers to the number eleven or the ordinal eleventh. It is a masculine plural form derived from the root word for ten, עָשָׂר (asar). The term is used in contexts that involve counting or numbering, particularly in relation to the number ten.
H6249 עַשְׁתֵּי one
6249 `ashtey ash-tay'
apparently masculine plural construction of 6247 in the sense
of an afterthought (used only in connection with 6240 in lieu
of 259) eleven or (ordinal) eleventh:--+ eleven(-th).
see HEBREW for 06247
see HEBREW for 06240
see HEBREW for 0259
עַשְׁתֵּי (ash.te) — eleven.
1) one, eleven, eleventh
1a) one as combined with ten ( a.sar (עָשָׂר "ten" H6240))
Adj — Noun common · both singular constructHNcbsc
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
The Hebrew word עֲזַרְאֵל (*Azar'el*) means "God has helped" and refers to several individuals in the Old Testament. It is composed of elements meaning 'help' and 'God.' The name appears in contexts related to warriors, musicians, and priests, specifically during the time of David and the return from exile. Notably, it is mentioned in 1 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
עֲזַרְאֵל n.pr.m. (Ēl hath helped)
warrior of David
Levite musician
a Danite
one with foreign wife
priestly name
base
H5832 עֲזַרְאֵל
5832 `Azar'el az-ar-ale'
from 5826 and 410; God has helped; Azarel, the name of five
Israelites:--Azarael, Azareel.
see HEBREW for 05826
see HEBREW for 0410
עֲזַרְאֵל (a.zar.el) — Azarel.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.12.6
§ Azarael or Azareel = "God has helped"
1) a Korhite warrior of David who joined him at Ziklag
2) a Levite musician of the family of Heman in the time of David
3) a Danite, son of Jeroham and a prince of the tribe at the census of David
4) one of the sons of Bani who took a foreign wife in the time of Ezra
5) a priest, ancestor of Maasiai or Amashai, a priest in Jerusalem after the return from exile
6) a priest and musician in the time of Nehemiah
עֲזַרְאֵל (a.zar.el) — Azarel.
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, only mentioned at 1Ch.27.22;
son of: Jeroham (H3395L)
§ Azarael or Azareel = "God has helped"
1) a Korhite warrior of David who joined him at Ziklag
2) a Levite musician of the family of Heman in the time of David
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
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