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1 Chronicles 8

The chapter records Benjamin’s households and settlements, giving extended attention to Saul’s family and its descendants.

Benjamin’s descendants are listed by family, with notes about where they lived and what some households did. The record includes captivity at Manahath, children born in Moab, town builders, and household heads living in Jerusalem. Some family links and the circumstances of the move to Manahath remain unclear. The genealogy then traces Saul’s family through Jonathan and Merib-baal into later generations. It closes with Ulam’s descendants, described as warriors and archers, and counts their sons and grandsons.

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1Benjamin became the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third,
5Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.
6These are the sons of Ehud. These are the heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Geba, who were carried captive to Manahath:
8Shaharaim became the father of children in the field of Moab, after he had sent them away. Hushim and Baara were his wives.
12The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;
13and Beriah and Shema, who were heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath;
28These were heads of fathers’ households throughout their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem.
33Ner became the father of Kish. Kish became the father of Saul. Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
34The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal. Merib-baal became the father of Micah.
40The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons, and grandsons, one hundred fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.
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Key verses
1 Chronicles 8:33Saul’s name anchors this part of the genealogy, connecting Benjamin’s households with the royal family traced through the remaining verses.
1 Chronicles 8:12The reference to building Ono and Lod connects the family list to the towns these descendants helped establish.
1 Chronicles 8:1Benjamin and his sons establish the tribal frame for the households, settlements, and descendants named throughout the chapter.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis and Numbers also record Benjamin’s descendants, while 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel share the people named in Saul’s family line, including Saul and Jonathan. Nehemiah names Ono and Lod among settlements occupied after the exile, linking these town names with another record of Israel’s communities.

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Questions people ask about 1 Chronicles 8

Why is Saul’s genealogy in 1 Chronicles 8?

Saul belongs to Benjamin, the tribe whose families fill this chapter. Verse 33 names his father and sons, and the following verses trace descendants through Jonathan and Merib-baal. This places Saul’s household within the wider tribal record and shows that the family line extends across many generations.

Is Ehud in 1 Chronicles 8 the same Ehud from Judges?

The text does not establish that identification. Verse 6 names the sons of Ehud as household heads associated with Geba and a move into captivity at Manahath. Judges also names a Benjaminite called Ehud, but the shared name and tribe do not settle whether these passages refer to the same person.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).