Jabez is a man appearing in the
Book of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...
. He is implied to be ancestor of the
Kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David ...
, although not explicitly included in the lineage. Jabez's birth is difficult; for this reason, his mother names him Jabez (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
יַעְבֵּץ ), meaning "he makes sorrowful". Jabez's most important action is to conquer new territory with divine sanction.
Although the textual description of Jabez is brief, some
Targumim
A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...
elaborate that Jabez also established a religious institution for the
Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew defi ...
children of
Zipporah
Zipporah, or Tzipora (; he, צִפּוֹרָה, ''Ṣīppōrā'', "bird"),, ''Sepphōra''; ar, صفورة, ''Ṣaffūrah'' is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Reuel/Jethro, the priest and prince of Midi ...
: "And he was called Jabez, because in his council he instituted a school of 31 disciples; they were called ''Tirathim'', because in their hymns their voice was like trumpets; and ''Shimaathim'', because in hearing they lifted up their faces, i.e., in prayer; and ''Suchathim'', because they were overshadowed by the Spirit of prophecy."
In Arabic and Persian, Jabez is transliterated as ''Yabis'' or ''Yabiz'' ( يَعْبِيصَ ). However, Syriac and Arabic translations use a substantially different transliteration of ''ainei'' or "aina", cognate with
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
עיני .
Jabez is also mentioned in , possibly as a place name.
See also
*''
The Prayer of Jabez'', a book by
Bruce Wilkinson
Bruce Wilkinson is the founder and chairman of Teach Every Nation (TEN), an Evangelical parachurch organization. He is best known for founding Walk Thru the Bible, an evangelical Christian educational organization, with Howard Hendricks, and for ...
encouraging Christians to take inspiration from Jabez's life.
References
{{Reflist
Hebrew Bible people