1 Chronicles 8:24 Meaning and Explanation
“And Hananiah, and Elam, and Antothijah,”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →There is a payoff waiting at the end of this section, and it is worth reading toward. Four verses after these three names, the chapter says that all of these men were chief men who dwelt in Jerusalem. That single line lifts a stretch of unfamiliar names into something significant, because it tells us that Benjamin had a settled, leading presence in the city of David.
Hananiah, Elam, and Antothijah appear in a run of Benjamite household heads whose list closes in verse 25 as the sons of Shashak, and whose company, verse 28 says, lived in Jerusalem.
The Context of 1 Chronicles 8:24
The middle of 1 Chronicles 8 is built from short blocks, each closing with the name of the father whose sons have just been listed. Verses 17 and 18 end with Elpaal. Verses 19 through 21 end with Shimhi. Verses 22 through 25 end with Shashak, and our verse sits inside that block, following Abdon, Zichri, and Hanan in verse 23 and preceding Iphedeiah and Penuel in verse 25. Verse 26 begins a final block ending with Jeroham, and verse 28 sums up the whole arrangement.
What Does 1 Chronicles 8:24 Mean?
The three names are worth hearing individually. Hananiah is a common Israelite name built on the Hebrew word for showing favor, and one of Daniel's companions carried it in Babylon. Elam is a name shared with a nation east of Babylon, a reminder that Israelite families sometimes carried names drawn from the wider world. Antothijah appears only here in Scripture, and its form recalls Anathoth, a Benjamite town within an easy walk of Jerusalem. Even in a bare list, these names hold traces of geography, of worship, and of the neighbors among whom this family lived.
Verse 28 gives the block its point: these were heads of the fathers, chief men, and they dwelt in Jerusalem. Jerusalem sat on the boundary between Judah and Benjamin, and Benjamin's presence in the capital runs through Israel's history. The chapter then moves to Gibeon and to Saul's family in verses 29 through 33, which is the real destination of the whole genealogy. Our verse is one of the load-bearing lines that gets the chronicler there, establishing a broad and settled Benjamite population before the king from that tribe is introduced.
After the exile, the question of who belonged in Jerusalem became urgent again. Nehemiah 11 records the Benjamites who settled in the city once the wall was finished, using the same kind of household language found here. A list of chief men who dwelt in Jerusalem was therefore a living document for the chronicler's readers. It told them that their presence in the city had deep roots, and that God had kept a place for them there. Hope for the future often rests on a clear memory of what God has already done.
1 Chronicles 8:24 in the Original Language
Chananyah (חֲנַנְיָה), 'Hananiah' -- a name combining the verb for showing favor with a short form of the divine name, understood as the LORD has been gracious.
Bible Verses Related to 1 Chronicles 8:24
“And Iphedeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak;”
- 1 Chronicles 8:25
“These were heads of the fathers, by their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.”
- 1 Chronicles 8:28
“And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;”
- 1 Chronicles 9:3
“And these are the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jesaiah.”
- Nehemiah 11:7
Where 1 Chronicles 8:24 Echoes in Scripture
Nehemiah 11:7 opens the roll of Benjamin's sons who lived in Jerusalem after the return, and the resemblance to 1 Chronicles 8:28 is hard to miss. Both passages care about the same thing: which families of Benjamin held a place in the holy city. The chronicler's older list gave the returning community a pattern to follow and a claim to stand on. Names recorded in one century became the ground of belonging in another.
How to Apply 1 Chronicles 8:24 Today
Belonging is rarely automatic. People need to know that they have a place, and communities need to name the people who carry weight among them. We can take a lesson from a chapter that bothered to write down who lived where. Introducing a newcomer by name, learning the histories of the families around us, and honoring the quiet people who hold a congregation or a neighborhood together are all small acts with long effects. Where we sense that someone feels like a guest among us, we can act to make them at home.
Reflection & Prayer
Whose name have we been meaning to learn, and what has kept us from it? A prayer to carry: Lord, You know every household by name and every dwelling place by address. Thank You for giving people a place. Make me quick to welcome, slow to overlook, and glad to be counted among those who simply live where You have put me.