Mered

Biblical Record

Mered appears only in the genealogy of the descendants of Judah in 1 Chronicles 4. First Chronicles 4:17 introduces him as a son of Ezrah and names his brothers as Jether, Epher, and Jalon. This Ezrah is a different person from Ezra the scribe of the postexilic return.

According to 1 Chronicles 4:17-18, Mered took as his wife Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh. Bithiah bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. This Miriam is regarded as a different person from the sister of Moses, sharing only her name. Mered's other wife, Jehudijah, bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. Scripture records nothing further about Mered's life or deeds.

Significance in the Bible

The record of Mered forms part of the genealogy of the tribe of Judah. The names Gedor, Socho, Zanoah, and Eshtemoa are identical to the names of places in the land of Judah. The expression "the father of…" is therefore understood to refer to the man who founded the town in question or who became the ancestor of its inhabitants. This genealogy is a rare instance of a woman of the Egyptian royal house being recorded as entering a family of Judah. Mered is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• Arrangement of the text: In the Hebrew text, the sentences of verses 17 and 18 do not follow a smooth order. For this reason, some translations and commentaries move the closing words of verse 18, "And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took," into verse 17.
• Jehudijah: In Hebrew this name can also be read as meaning "the Jewess" or "the woman of Judah." Accordingly, some translations render it not as a proper name but as Mered's "Judahite wife." Read this way, she stands in contrast to his Egyptian wife, Bithiah.
• Jewish tradition: Jewish rabbinic tradition preserves an interpretation that identifies Mered with Caleb. The same tradition also identifies Bithiah with the daughter of Pharaoh who drew the infant Moses out of the water. These are later interpretations not stated in the biblical text.
• Period: The text does not state when Mered lived or how he came to marry the daughter of Pharaoh, and scholars have reached no settled view on these questions.

In the Korean Church

Mered is rarely treated on his own in sermons or Sunday school lessons. Readers usually encounter him in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles in the course of reading through the Bible.