Imnah

Biblical Record

Imnah was a son of Asher, the son of Jacob. Scripture preserves his name only in genealogies and records none of his words or deeds.

• Genesis 46:17: He appears in the list of those who went down to Egypt with the household of Jacob. Here Imnah is listed first among the sons of Asher, followed by Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
• Numbers 26:44: In the second census, taken on the plains of Moab, the descendants of Asher are listed by families, and "of Jimna, the family of the Jimnites" comes first. Ishvah is absent from this list, which names only the families of Imnah, Ishvi, and Beriah.
• 1 Chronicles 7:30: He appears again in the genealogy of Asher's descendants, in the same order as in Genesis.

Other individuals bear the same name. The Imna of 1 Chronicles 7:35 is a son of Helem, a descendant of Asher, and the Imnah of 2 Chronicles 31:14 is the father of the Levite Kore. Both are distinct from the subject of this article.

Significance in Scripture

Imnah is recorded as the ancestor of one branch of the tribe of Asher. Because he always appears at the head of the genealogies, he is commonly regarded as Asher's firstborn, although the text never explicitly calls him the "firstborn." The New Testament does not mention Imnah.

Interpretation and Debate

Commentators offer various explanations for the absence of the family of Ishvah in Numbers 26. Some suggest that Ishvah's line may have died out or been absorbed into another family, but the text gives no reason. Likewise, there are several conjectures about the meaning of the name, but no settled explanation. Scripture contains no account of Imnah's life, and any details added beyond the appearance of his name in the genealogies lack textual support.

In the Korean Church

Imnah is not typically treated as a subject in his own right in sermons or Sunday school curricula. Readers mainly encounter him in the genealogies of Genesis, Numbers, and 1 Chronicles while reading through the Bible. The list of Asher's descendants is sometimes cited to illustrate that Israel was a community organized by tribes and families.