Jezer
Jezer, a son of Naphtali, was the ancestor of the Jezerite clan (Gen.46.24; Num.26.49; 1Ch.7.13).
Biography
Jezer was one of the four sons born to Naphtali, the sixth son of Jacob through Bilhah (Genesis 46:24). He accompanied his grandfather Jacob and the extended family during the migration to Egypt, becoming part of the seventy souls who entered that land. His name, meaning "formation" or "purpose," is preserved in the tribal records of Israel. By the time of the wilderness census under Moses, Jezer's descendants had grown into a recognizable clan within the tribe of Naphtali, designated the Jezerites (Numbers 26:49). He is also recorded in the genealogical lists of 1 Chronicles 7:13, affirming his enduring place in Israel's tribal memory and the continuity of Naphtali's ancestral heritage across the generations from patriarchal times through the settlement era.
Significance
Though Jezer appears only in genealogical lists, his inclusion in Scripture carries genuine theological weight. His lineage became one of the foundational clans of Naphtali, a tribe that would later inhabit the northern regions of Canaan including the area around the Sea of Galilee, a territory that, according to Isaiah 9:1-2, would see a great light in the person of Jesus Christ. Jezer thus represents the quiet, generational faithfulness through which God preserves and multiplies His covenant people, demonstrating that divine purposes are carried forward not only through the celebrated but through the faithfully obscure who remain true across the generations.
Verse Appearances (3)
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]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]