Ishbah is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Ishbah is a man named only once in the King James Bible, in the genealogies of the tribe of Judah recorded in 1 Chronicles. He appears in the family record of Ezra, whose sons are listed as Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Alongside these sons, the text also names three others born to the family: Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah. The verse identifies Ishbah specifically as “the father of Eshtemoa.”
The setting of this passage is the long genealogical section of 1 Chronicles, where the chronicler traces the descendants and settlements of Judah. Within that record, the name Ishbah is tied directly to a place rather than to a deed. Eshtemoa was a town in the territory of Judah, and calling Ishbah its “father” identifies him as its founder or ancestral head—the one from whom the town’s line or settlement descended. This is a common way the genealogies link a person to a location.
Scripture says nothing else about Ishbah. No story, no action, and no word of his is recorded. He is remembered entirely through his connection to Eshtemoa: one name in a long list, one link in a chain of generations. Yet the chronicler thought him worth naming, and there he stands in the sacred record.
The Name
The Hebrew name Ishbah is not one whose meaning is clearly established. Suggested connections have been offered—some linking it to words for “praise” or “swearing,” and others treating it as a compound or place-related name—but none of these is certain enough to state as the meaning. Like many names in the genealogies, its precise sense is not recoverable with confidence. What is clear is only that it belonged to a real man in Judah’s line, remembered as the father of Eshtemoa.
A Closing Thought
Most of us will never be famous. Our lives will not fill chapters or make headlines. Ishbah’s entire legacy in Scripture is a single line: he was the father of Eshtemoa. And yet God saw fit to record it. There is quiet comfort here. Faithfulness in ordinary places—raising a family, settling a town, belonging to a people—is not forgotten by the One who keeps every name. You may never know what your steady, unseen life will build for those who come after you.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 1 Chronicles 4:17 — And the sons of Ezra were, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon: and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.