Ishuah

Biblical Record

Ishuah was a son of Asher, the son of Jacob. He is mentioned twice in Scripture, both times by name only within genealogies.

• Genesis 46:17: He is listed among the members of the family who went down with Jacob into Egypt, together with his brothers Jimnah, Isui, and Beriah, and his sister Serah. Genesis 46:18 states that these were descendants of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid.
• 1 Chronicles 7:30: He appears again, with the same brothers, in the genealogy of the descendants of Asher (the King James Version spells his name Isuah here).

Apart from these two verses, Scripture records nothing of his life or deeds.

Significance in the Bible

Ishuah's significance lies in his place within the genealogies that record the migration of Jacob's family to Egypt and the origins of the tribe of Asher. He is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

Numbers 26:44, which records the census taken in the wilderness after the Exodus, lists only Jimnah, Isui (Jesui in the King James Version), and Beriah as families (clans) of the descendants of Asher; no family of Ishuah appears. Some interpreters hold that Ishuah had no descendants or that his descendants were absorbed into another family. Others suggest that, because the names Ishuah and Isui are similar, a single person came to be recorded twice in the course of scribal transmission. Neither view can be settled from the text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons or Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Ishuah are rare. Church members usually encounter the name when reading the genealogies of Genesis and 1 Chronicles in through-the-Bible reading programs.