Hezron
Hezron was a son of Reuben, the firstborn of Jacob, and his descendants formed a clan within the tribe of Reuben.
Biography
Hezron was a son of Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and is listed among the seventy members of Jacob's household who descended into Egypt (Genesis 46:9; Exodus 6:14). As one of Reuben's four sons, he became the progenitor of the Hezronite clan within the tribe of Reuben, a lineage counted in the Mosaic census of Numbers 26:6. His life coincides with the critical transition of the Israelite people from a patriarchal family group in Canaan to a tribal nation growing within Egypt. While Hezron himself receives no further individual narrative, he served as a foundational tribal ancestor during the formative period when the twelve tribes were taking definitive shape as a people called by God.
Significance
Hezron son of Reuben illustrates the tribal structure through which God's covenant with Abraham began to take institutional form. The genealogical precision of texts like Numbers 26 serves a theological purpose: it demonstrates that God's faithfulness to Abraham, the promise of a great nation, was being fulfilled clan by clan, generation by generation, even during the hardship of Egyptian bondage. The Hezronites of Reuben represent the persistence of covenant identity across adverse circumstances. Their counting in the wilderness census also foreshadows the eventual allocation of the Promised Land, where each clan would receive its inheritance in fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise.
Verse Appearances (4)
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]