1 Chronicles 7:24
Sheerah, builder of the Beth-horons
All witnesses credit Ephraim's daughter Sheerah with building Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah. The library's Greek adds that she was "among those who survived."
Disputed addition: some witnesses include it, some do not
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ includes the disputed words · ✕ does not include them · ❝ quotes part of them · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
Every witness, in order
Composed c. 4th century BC (debated)
Original Chronicles
No original survives; no certain Qumran copy of 1 Chronicles.
Translated c. 2nd century BC
Septuagint, 1 Paraleipomena (library text: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Et sa fille s'appelait Saraa, et elle fut de ceux qui survécurent, et elle bâtit Béthoron-la-Haute et Béthoron-la-Basse.
And his daughter was called Saraa, and she was among those who survived, and she built Upper and Lower Beth-horon.
The plus may connect her with the survivors after the killing of Ephraim's sons (7:21–22). One Greek text (Vaticanus type) via Giguet's French; not checked against a critical Greek edition.
c. AD 400
Jerome's Vulgate
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
filia autem ejus fuit Sara, quæ ædificavit Bethoron inferiorem et superiorem, et Ozensara.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
וּבִתּוֹ שֶׁאֱרָה וַתִּבֶן אֶת־בֵּית־חוֹרוֹן הַתַּחְתּוֹן וְאֶת־הָעֶלְיוֹן וְאֵת אֻזֵּן שֶׁאֱרָה
and his daughter Sheerah, and she built Beth-horon the lower and the upper, and Uzzen-sheerah
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon the nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah.
What changed, and why
Sheerah is the only woman in the Bible credited with founding cities. Uzzen-sheerah ("Sheerah's ear" or "portion") is unlocated.
What the evidence shows
- All checked witnesses credit Sheerah with building the Beth-horons.
- The library's Greek adds "among those who survived."
Sources
- E. Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. (2012)
Related lessons
- Six Tribes and Sheerah the Builder →Brief genealogies of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim and Asher, many with military counts "in the days of David." Women stand out: Maachah, Hammoleketh, the daughters of Zelophehad, and Sheerah, Ephraim's daughter, who built the two Beth-horons and Uzzen-sheerah.
- Investigation: Family Names and Historical Geography →Ancient genealogies did more than record ancestry: they expressed land claims, alliances, priestly rights and identity. 1 Chronicles 1–9 combines lists from Genesis and Numbers with clan and town lists of uncertain date. Some scholars find in them the geography of Persian- or Hellenistic-period Judah; others see older tribal memories.