Joel the chief, and Shapham the next, and Jaanai, and Shaphat in Bashan.
This verse belongs to the genealogical record that preserves the tribes of Israel, standing within the long lists of names that fill the first eight chapters of 1 Chronicles, in a chapter made up almost entirely of personal names. It records leaders among the descendants of Reuben who lived in Bashan, naming Joel as chief, Shapham as next, and Jaanai and Shaphat. The careful preservation of names in such records shows that a faithful record of each soul is kept in heaven.
Such lists of names are seldom read in family worship or private devotions, and their value is hard to see. Yet the verse is fully inspired even though it is not equally interesting and valuable to all persons and under all circumstances. God placed such genealogies in the Bible to interest scholars and all classes of minds and not the illiterate only, recording the origin and distribution of races because He knew men would study ethnology. He scattered pearls of spiritual truth along the path of scientists so that many seeking only human knowledge find what is divine.
This verse belongs to the genealogical record that preserves the tribes of Israel, standing within the long lists of names that fill the first eight chapters of 1 Chronicles, in a chapter made up almost entirely of personal names. It records leaders among the descendants of Reuben who lived in Bashan, naming Joel as chief, Shapham as next, and Jaanai and Shaphat. The careful preservation of names in such records shows that a faithful record of each soul is kept in heaven.
Such lists of names are seldom read in family worship or private devotions, and their value is hard to see. Yet the verse is fully inspired even though it is not equally interesting and valuable to all persons and under all circumstances. God placed such genealogies in the Bible to interest scholars and all classes of minds and not the illiterate only, recording the origin and distribution of races because He knew men would study ethnology. He scattered pearls of spiritual truth along the path of scientists so that many seeking only human knowledge find what is divine.