Ispah is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Ispah was a descendant of Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob, and he is named in the tribal genealogies recorded in 1 Chronicles. These chapters trace the family lines of Benjamin in considerable detail, preserving the names of clans and households that made up the tribe. Ispah appears within this record as one of the sons of Beriah, listed alongside his brothers Michael and Joha (1 Chronicles 8:16). Through Beriah, the line reaches back to Benjamin, anchoring Ispah within the covenant people of Israel.
The setting of the passage is a genealogy, not a narrative. No event, journey, or deed is attached to Ispah’s name. Scripture does not record his occupation, his age, his character, or any word he spoke. He is simply named as a son among sons, a link in a chain of generations. The genealogy itself served a real purpose for the returning exiles: it confirmed tribal identity, inheritance rights, and standing within the community of Israel after the Babylonian captivity. In that sense, Ispah’s inclusion was not incidental. His name helped establish the legitimacy and continuity of Benjamin’s descendants.
What Scripture says of Ispah, then, is brief: he was a Benjamite, a son of Beriah, and his name was preserved in the official record of his people. He did nothing recorded for us, yet he belonged to the family through whom God’s purposes continued. The single verse that names him is the whole of his testimony in the biblical text, and it is enough to place him among those whose names are written in the story of Israel.
The Name
The Hebrew name Ispah (also rendered Ispah or Jishpah in various transliterations) is not one whose meaning is clearly established. Scholars have proposed possible connections to roots suggesting “bareness” or “smoothness,” but no meaning is confidently recoverable from the text or from standard Hebrew lexicons. Because the etymology is uncertain, it would be misleading to assign a definite translation. What can be said is that the name belonged to a Benjamite household and was preserved in the genealogical record of 1 Chronicles. Where the meaning of a name is not plainly known, the honest course is to leave it unnamed rather than invent a significance the text does not give.
A Closing Thought
Most of us will never be remembered in a genealogy. Our lives are not recorded in detail, and the great events of our days go unnoticed by history. Yet Ispah’s single verse reminds us that being known by God does not depend on being famous among people. He was a son of Beriah, a Benjamite, a member of the covenant community—and that was his place in the unfolding story of redemption. Faithfulness in obscurity is still faithfulness. The God who inspired the record of names long forgotten also knows yours, and that is no small thing.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 1 Chronicles 8:16 — And Michael, and Ispah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah;