Dara is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Dara was a descendant of Judah, appearing in the genealogies recorded in the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles. He is listed among the sons of Zerah, who was himself a son of Judah by Tamar. The Chronicler names Zerah’s sons as Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, noting that there were “five of them in all” (1 Chronicles 2:6). This places Dara within the broader tribal record of Judah, the tribe from which David would later come and through which the messianic line would run.
The setting of this passage is a genealogy—a structured record of names and family lines rather than a narrative of events. Dara does not appear in any story, speech, or action in Scripture. He is remembered only as a name within a lineage, one link in a chain stretching from Judah forward through the generations. The source note accompanying this entry identifies him as known for his wisdom, a detail associated with his inclusion in this record.
What Scripture says of Dara is limited to this single verse. He is counted among the sons of Zerah, and his name appears once in the entire King James Bible. No deed, fault, or accomplishment of his own is recorded. Yet the Chronicler’s careful preservation of his name shows that he was regarded as part of the covenant people and the ancestral heritage of Israel.
The Name
The name Dara is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is not clearly recoverable from the text itself. Some have suggested a connection to a root relating to “pearl” or to an assembly, but these proposals are not firmly established, and the name’s precise sense remains uncertain. What can be said confidently is only what the text provides: it is the name borne by one of the five sons of Zerah in the genealogy of Judah. No inspired interpretation of the name is given in Scripture, so its meaning should not be asserted as certain.
A Closing Thought
Dara’s life is summed up in a single line of a long list of names. He built no monument, won no battle, and spoke no recorded word—yet God saw fit to preserve his name in Scripture. This is a quiet comfort for ordinary believers. Most of us will never be widely known or remembered by the world, but we are never unknown to God. He numbers His people and calls them by name, and being written into His family record is a greater honor than any earthly fame.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 1 Chronicles 2:6 — And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.