“Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.” I Chronicles 4:9-10
What is the meaning of your name? Many of us were named for different reasons. My mother named me simply because she liked a celebrity name, it’s funny how parents sometimes choose our names.
What is interesting about this passage is that it appears in the middle of the genealogy of God’s people. In the midst of a long list of names, Scripture pauses and says, “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.” We are not told how he became more honorable, nor are we given details of his deeds. The Bible does not explain it but when the Word of God declares a man honorable, then honorable he is!
What makes this even more interesting is how the Bible contrasts the way God described Jabez with the way his mother named him. His mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” At that time, naming a child based on circumstances was common. Esau was named because he was born red. Jacob was named because he grasped his brother’s heel. Many people carried names tied to the moment of their birth.
Jabez may have been given a name that meant sorrow, but heaven carried a different opinion of him. Though his name spoke of pain, God called him honorable. And that is what matters most not what circumstances name us, not what people call us, but what God says about us. God’s word over a life is greater than any label ever placed upon it.
Then Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed.” When Jabez prayed this, he didn’t focus on the name his mother had given him or on what others may have seen in him. He looked to God. Jabez understood that God was the One who could bless him and change his life. Jabez knew God’s pattern. God changed Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, and Jacob whose name meant supplanter or deceiver to Israel, meaning one who struggles with God. Every time God changed a name, He also changed a future. God didn’t just bless His people; He redefined them.
Now we understand the heart behind Jabez’s prayer, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed.” He was asking God to bless him the same way He had blessed Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob. From there, his next request makes even more sense,“and enlarge my territory.”
We know how God enlarged Abraham’s territory. Scripture tells us that “Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2), and that the Lord said to him, “Lift up now thine eyes… for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it” (Genesis 13:14–15). God’s blessing over Abraham was visible, abundant, and expansive.
Sarah’s story shows us another kind of enlargement. Though she was barren, “the LORD visited Sarah as he had said… and Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age” (Genesis 21:1–2). What was impossible in the natural became possible because God was with her.
Jacob’s life tells the same story. God promised him, “thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east” (Genesis 28:14). What began as one man fleeing his past became a nation of many sons.
Jabez stood on land God had already promised to His people. When he asked God to enlarge his territory, he wasn’t asking blindly. He knew the stories. He knew what God had done before. He was asking God to expand his life materially, spiritually, and generationally just as He had done for Abraham, Sarah, and Jacob.
Then we can understand deeper what he meant when he says, “that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil.” Jabez knew exactly what he was asking for. He was asking for the same hand Moses spoke about the hand that brought Israel out of Egypt, fought their battles, provided their daily bread, and protected them from evil.
“So it shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall say to him, ‘By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” – Exodus 13:14
“the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.” – Deuteronomy 7:19
The people of Israel had been commanded to teach their children about God’s redemption from generation to generation. God made it clear that His works were not to be forgotten, but to be told again and again.
Moses instructed the people saying:
““When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers.”
Deuteronomy 6:20-23
God commanded His people to teach their children and their children’s children that it was His hand not their strength that brought them into the Promised Land. Moses also warned Israel about what could happen once they became established and prosperous:
““Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end— then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’ “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” Deuteronomy 8:11-18
That is why, even many years later, when Gideon spoke to the angel of the LORD, his question revealed what they had been taught all along,
“Gideon said to Him, “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”” Judges 6:13
Jabez was not speaking vaguely when he prayed. He knew exactly what the hand of the LORD meant. He understood that they were standing in the Promised Land not because of their own strength or ability, but because God had gone before them. Their success had never been about their capability, it had always been about God’s presence.
The name his mother gave him was tied to pain, and that likely stayed with him as he grew up. He may have wondered if his life would always be marked by that as if he would somehow bring pain to others just by being who he was. But Jabez didn’t stay stuck there. He had heard and taught about the God who rescued Israel from slavery and led them out of suffering into a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8). He knew God wasn’t just a God of the past, He was a God who still redeems, restores, and blesses.
That is why Jabez prayed the way he did. And that is what we should be doing as well. This world may call us names and define us by our circumstances, but we are called to know God deeply. When we truly know Him, we learn that with God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
No matter what our circumstances look like, our eyes are to remain fixed on Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He is the One who can turn the tables, change the story, and transform sorrow into joy. And He is still doing it today. The same Jesus who worked then is still at work now. As it is written, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
As His word says:
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,” Psalms 30:11
““Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, Will comfort them, And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.” Jeremiah 31:13
That means the God who turned sorrow into joy, who changed names and rewrote stories, hasn’t changed. What He did for Jabez, He can still do today for you. What He did for Israel, He can still do in our lives. Circumstances may change, seasons may shift, but Jesus remains the same. He still faithful, powerful, and able to transform any story.
And He is the hope we hold onto.
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