Who was Shuthelah in the Bible?

Shuthelah was a descendant of the tribe of Ephraim, specifically noted as the son of Zabad. He is mentioned in the genealogical records found in 1 Chronicles 7:20-21.

Why is Shuthelah mentioned in the Bible?

Shuthelah is listed to preserve the genealogical line of the tribe of Ephraim, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. These records were crucial for establishing tribal lineage, inheritance rights, and the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham's descendants.

Are there any stories about Shuthelah in the Bible?

No, there are no narrative stories or key events recorded about Shuthelah's personal life. His mention is purely genealogical, serving to connect the lineage from Ephraim to his descendants.

Shuthelah

Old TestamentDivided MonarchyMaleSon

Shuthelah was an Ephraimite descendant, the son of Zabad, mentioned in the genealogy of Ephraim.

Shuthelah

Biography

Shuthelah son of Zabad was an Ephraimite recorded in the extended genealogy of Ephraim in 1 Chronicles 7:20-21. He appears as part of a sequence of father-son relationships tracing Ephraimite lineage through the period corresponding to the Divided Monarchy era. The Chronicles passage recounts that men of Gath killed Ezer and Elead, sons of Ephraim himself, when they went to raid Gathite livestock, and Ephraim mourned them for many days before fathering another son named Beriah. Within the broader genealogical list, Shuthelah son of Zabad represents a later generation of this same tribal line, though the precise relationship to earlier Shuthelahs in the text is textually complex. His inclusion preserves the memory of an Ephraimite family line that maintained its tribal identity across generations.

Significance

Shuthelah son of Zabad occupies a place in the genealogical record of Ephraim that speaks to the persistence of tribal identity through the turbulent history of the Northern Kingdom. Ephraim was the dominant tribe of the northern tribes, and its genealogical records carry special significance as testimony to the breadth of Israel's covenant community beyond the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Chronicler's preservation of Ephraimite lineages, even after the Northern Kingdom's exile to Assyria, reflects a theological conviction that God's covenant with all twelve tribes had not been abandoned. Shuthelah's place in this chain of names represents the endurance of a people held together not merely by political structures but by the covenant faithfulness of God.

Verse Appearances (1)

1Chr

1Chr 7:21

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]

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