Azariah
Azariah was a descendant of Jerahmeel, the son of Hezron, from the tribe of Judah (1 Chr 2:38, 39).
Biography
This Azariah was a descendant of Jerahmeel within the tribe of Judah, appearing in the genealogical list of 1 Chronicles 2:38-39 as a son of Helez and father of Helez, a name duplicated across several generations in this branch of the family. The Jerahmeelite clan to which he belonged was a significant subdivision of Judah, occupying territory in the Negev and maintaining its own tribal identity within the larger tribe. Azariah's inclusion in this genealogy, though without narrative elaboration, places him within a family line the Chronicler considered worth preserving. He represents one of the many unnamed threads that, woven together, constitute the fabric of the covenant community's tribal history.
Significance
The preservation of Azariah's name in the Jerahmeelite genealogy of 1 Chronicles 2 reflects the Chronicler's theological conviction that every person within the lineage of Judah has a place in the sacred record. Judah's genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2-4 functions as the foundational document of Israel's identity, anchoring the nation's story in the promises made to the patriarchs and pointing forward to the Davidic covenant. Azariah's unnamed, unnoted place within this record is itself a theological statement, that God's covenant is not merely with the famous but with the entire community of his people, generation by generation, known fully to him even when unknown to history.
Verse Appearances (2)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]