Righteous Old Testament

Righteous Hezron

Also known as Esrom

A descendant of Judah named in the biblical genealogies and an ancestor of David and of Christ according to the flesh.

Feast Day

December 14

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Life

Righteous Hezron is an Old Testament figure known only from the biblical genealogies. He was a son of Perez (Pharez) and a grandson of the patriarch Judah, son of Jacob, and is named among the descendants of Judah who form the lineage of King David and, ultimately, of Christ according to the flesh.

Scripture preserves no narrative of his life. He appears solely within genealogical lists, where his significance lies in his place in the line of descent from Judah to David. The Orthodox Church honors him among the Holy Forefathers, the ancestors of Christ commemorated in the weeks before the Nativity.

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Place in the Genealogies

Hezron is listed as a son of Perez, the son of Judah, among the seventy who came with Jacob into Egypt (Genesis 46:12). His descendants are recorded in the genealogies of the tribe of Judah; according to 1 Chronicles 2:5 and 2:9, his sons included Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb (Chelubai).

Through his son Ram, the line continues to Boaz, Jesse, and King David (Ruth 4:18-19; 1 Chronicles 2). Hezron is named again in the genealogy of Jesus Christ given by the Evangelists, as the father of Ram in Matthew 1:3 and in the ancestry recorded in Luke 3:33.

Commemoration Among the Forefathers

Hezron is not honored by an individual biography but as one of the righteous ancestors of Christ. The Orthodox Church commemorates the Old Testament forefathers, patriarchs, and righteous of the genealogical line on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers, observed in the period before the Nativity of Christ, when the genealogy of Christ is read.

This commemoration emphasizes the connection of the Incarnation to the lineage of Israel, honoring those who, by their place in salvation history, belong to the ancestry through which Christ was born according to the flesh.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints