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Summary
- Jabez appears only in 1 Chronicles 4:9–10, in the genealogy of Judah; the man is named three times in those two verses, and a town called Jabez appears once in 1 Chronicles 2:55.
- His mother named him Jabez “because I bare him with sorrow”; the name sounds like the Hebrew word for pain, and the same root returns in his prayer.
- He asked God to bless him, enlarge his border, be with him and keep him from harm, “and God granted him that which he requested.”
- Scripture names neither of his parents and does not say when he lived or why he was “more honourable than his brethren.”
- The Talmud (Temurah 16a) identifies Jabez with Othniel son of Kenaz, a link Chronicles itself does not make.
- Bruce Wilkinson’s The Prayer of Jabez (2000) sold 9.2 million copies by 2002 and was criticized for treating the prayer as a formula for blessing.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Genesis 35:18; Judges 3:9; 1 Chronicles 2:55; 4:1, 8–11, 13; 2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Matthew 6:11). The count of the name Jabez was made on the same text. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Hebrew text of 1 Chronicles 2:55 and 4:9–10: Miqra according to the Masorah, Sefaria. https://www.sefaria.org/I_Chronicles.4.9-10
- NET Bible, translators’ notes on 1 Chronicles 4:9 and 4:10 and Genesis 35:18. Biblical Studies Press. https://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=1Ch&chapter=4&verse=9&tab=commentaries; https://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=1Ch&chapter=4&verse=10&tab=commentaries; https://classic.net.bible.org/verse.php?book=Gen&chapter=35&verse=18&tab=commentaries
- “1 Chronicles 4:9-10 – The Prayer of Jabez.” Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary. https://enterthebible.org/passage/1-chronicles-49-10-jabezs-prayer/
- Babylonian Talmud, Temurah 16a. William Davidson Edition, Sefaria. https://www.sefaria.org/Temurah.16a
- Kiesling, Angie. “‘Jabez’ Enlarges Multnomah’s ‘Territory.’” Publishers Weekly, 1 April 2002. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20020401/39594-jabez-enlarges-multnomah-s-territory.html
- Dotson, James. “Bruce Wilkinson shares background for ‘Prayer of Jabez’ phenomenon.” Baptist Press, 9 August 2001. https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/bruce-wilkinson-shares-background-for-prayer-of-jabez-phenomenon/
- Ryken, Phil. “The Prayer of Jabez.” Tenth Presbyterian Church, 20 May 2001. https://www.tenth.org/resource-library/articles/the-prayer-of-jabez/
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