I had such a difficult time giving birth to my son that I named him “Pain”. He later prayed to God that he wouldn’t be someone who would cause pain. What did I name my son?
Your Answer: Helah
The correct answer was Jabez.
Just two verses of the Bible are devoted to Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). They describe him as being more honorable than his brothers, which should be quite a compliment (unless his brothers were really evil!). Jabez’s mother obviously had such a difficult time giving birth to him that she resented him and decided to call him Jabez which sounds like the Hebrew for pain. Jabez must have put up with this name for years until one day he prayed to God the heartfelt prayer given in verse 10. “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” (New International Version) And the wonderful thing is that it says that God granted his request. After all those years the pain was gone!
Helah, Shuhah and Kenaz are all other men mentioned in the genealogy in 1 Chronicles 4 in the verses surrounding the story of Jabez.
