Section 4:18–22

A list of David’s ancestors

This section contains a list of the family line from Perez through Obed to King David. Five names represent all the generations from Perez, the son of Judah, to Nahshon, who lived at the time of Moses, about four hundred years after Perez. The names of the next five generations represent all the generations from Nahshon to David, who lived about 450 years later. Clearly, many names have been left out of the list.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The ancestors of David
-or-
Obed in the Genealogy of David (NET Bible)
-or-

⌊ The list of⌋the ancestors of ⌊King⌋ David

The names in this listing agree with the lists in 1 Chronicles chapter 2, Matthew chapter 1, and Luke chapter 3. If you have already translated any of these books, refer to the way you transliterated the names there.

Paragraph 4:18–22

4:18

Now these are the generations of Perez: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as the generations refers to a list of descendants.

These are the descendants of Perez: (NET Bible)
-or-
Here is a list of the descendants of Perez: (Translation for Translators)

The family line here starts with Perez. Perez was the son of Judah. His mother was Tamar. See the note at 4:12b. It might be helpful for you to provide a footnote saying that Perez was a son of Judah and a great-grandson of Abraham.

Perez was the father of Hezron: The Hebrew verb used in each occurrence in this list means “father a child.” So the Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Perez was the father of Hezron is literally “Perez fathered Hezron.” Translate this verse and the following verses into your language in whatever manner the people use to recite the list of their family’s ancestors or the names in their genealogies. For example:

Hezron was the son of Perez.
-or-
Perez’s son was Hezron, (Translation for Translators)

the father of: In some cases, the father mentioned in genealogies was not the actual father, but an ancestor. If in your language it is possible to use a word that could mean either father or grandfather (or even great-grandfather), it would be good to use that word here.

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