Resheph is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Resheph was a descendant of Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph, and he appears in the tribal genealogy recorded in 1 Chronicles 7. The Chronicler, writing after the return from exile, traced the family lines of Israel’s tribes to establish identity and inheritance for the restored community. In this record, Resheph is listed among the generations of Ephraim, the tribe that would give its name to the northern kingdom and whose territory would later include the region of Samaria.
The single verse that names him, 1 Chronicles 7:25, reads: “And Rephah was his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son.” From this we learn that Resheph was a son of Rephah and the father of Telah, who in turn fathered Tahan. He stands in a chain of generations linking Ephraim’s line forward through the period of Israel’s settlement and growth. The genealogy also includes Ephraim’s sons who were killed in a raid by the men of Gath, a tragedy noted earlier in the chapter, which gives context to the family line Resheph belonged to.
Scripture says nothing more about Resheph than his name and his place in this lineage. He is not credited with any deed, word, or notable event. His significance lies entirely in being part of the family of Ephraim and in the fact that his name was preserved in the sacred record of Israel’s tribes.
The Name
The name Resheph is well attested in the ancient Near East. In Hebrew, the word *resheph* commonly means “flame,” “fire,” or “lightning,” and it is also used in the Old Testament to describe burning arrows or plague (for example, in Deuteronomy 32:24 and Psalm 76:3). The same word served as the name of a Canaanite deity associated with plague and war, though it is unlikely that an Ephraimite family would have named a son after a foreign god. More probably, the name carried the sense of “flame” or “lightning” as a poetic or descriptive term. The meaning is therefore recoverable, but its precise nuance in this personal name remains uncertain.
A Closing Thought
Most of us will never be remembered by name in a record that outlasts us. Resheph is a single line in a long list, a man whose life Scripture passes over in silence. Yet he belonged to a family, a tribe, and a promise far larger than himself. His name, meaning “flame,” is a quiet reminder that even a brief life can be a small light carried forward in God’s faithful purposes. We do not need to be great in the world’s eyes to be held in the genealogy of grace.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 1 Chronicles 7:25 — And Rephah was his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son.