Genesis 46:14

Summary

The verse lists the sons of Zebulun, one of the sons of Jacob, giving three personal names: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. It is part of the genealogical enumeration of Jacob's descendants who went to Egypt.

Key words

• bene ("sons of", H1121A) — masculine plural noun in construct state, linking directly to Zevulun, meaning "sons of Zebulun"; the construct form shows this is not a complete phrase alone but requires the following name to complete its meaning.
• Zevulun ("Zebulun", H2074) — proper name, here functioning as the possessor in the construct chain, identifying whose sons are being listed.
• Sered ("Sered", H5624) — proper name, first son listed, introduced without a conjunction since it follows the construct chain directly.
• Elon ("Elon", H0356H) — proper name, second son, joined by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002).
• Yachle'el ("Jahleel", H3177) — proper name, third son, also joined by ve ("and", H9002).

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence begins with the conjunction u ("and", H9002), connecting this verse to the preceding genealogical list. The core grammatical structure is a construct chain: bene Zevulun ("sons of Zebulun") — the plural noun bene ("sons of", H1121A) in construct state is bound to the proper name Zevulun ("Zebulun", H2074), producing the meaning "the sons of Zebulun." This construct relationship requires no additional word (like "of" in English) because Hebrew grammar encodes the possessive relationship directly through the noun's form.

Following the construct phrase, the three sons' names are listed in apposition: Sered ("Sered", H5624) appears first without a conjunction, functioning as the initial item in the list. The remaining two names, Elon ("Elon", H0356H) and Yachle'el ("Jahleel", H3177), are each introduced by the conjunction ve ("and", H9002), creating a paratactic (additive) list structure typical of Hebrew genealogical enumeration. The verse contains no verbs; it is a nominal sentence consisting entirely of the construct phrase and the appositional list of names.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew lists the second son as Elon (H0356H). The LXX (Swete) renders this name as Ἁσρὼν (Hasrōn), which differs from both the Hebrew Elon and from the Vulgate's Elon, the latter matching the Hebrew form. The Vulgate and modern translations (RV1909, BSB, SBLIBRE) render all three names consistently with the Hebrew text: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.