The First Book of the Chronicles
1 Chronicles 2
Chapter II · Vol. II, pp. 808–809
1 The sons of Israel. 3 The posterity of Judah by Tamar. 13 The children of Jesse. 18 The posterity of Caleb the son of Hezron. 21 Hezron's posterity by the daughter of Machir. 25 Jerahmeel's posterity. 34 Sheshan's posterity. 42 Another branch of Caleb's posterity. 50 The posterity of Caleb the son of Hur.
1 These are the sons of 1Israel; aReuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,
B.C. 1751.
1 Or, Jacob.
a Ge.29.32-35; 30.5-24; 35.18-22; 46.8-26; xlix. Ex.1.1-5. Nu.i.ii.x.xiii.xxvi.xxxiv. Jos.xiii.-xxi. ch.ii.-ix.; 12.23-40; 27.16-22. Eze.xlviii.
2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
3 The sons of bJudah;2 Er,3 and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shuah the Canaanitess. And Er, the first-born of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD, and he slew him.4
b Ge.38.1-10; 46.12. Nu.26.19-21.
2 Reuben was the first-born in point of time, Judah in respect of dignity. The title of first-born being transferable.—C.
3 B.C. 1735.
4 The renewed in heart are sometimes taken away early, that God may deliver them from temptation, sorrow, and 'the evil to come,' Is. 57. 1; the wicked are also cut off early in judgment, so that they do not live 'half their days,' Ps. 55.23.—C.
4 And cTamar, his daughter-in-law, bare him Pharez, and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.
c Ge.38.11-30. Mat.1.3. Nu.26.20.
6 And the sons of Zerah; eZimri,5 and Ethan, and Heman, and fCalcol, and Dara:6 five of them in all.
7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar,7 the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing gaccursed.8
7 Or, Achan. [Here called Achar, i.e. the troubler, from the trouble he caused to Israel in the accursed thing. Carmi is in Jos. 7. 17 called the son of Zabdi, which, by the change of b to m, and d to r (letters which resemble each other, the former in sound, the latter in form), is converted here into Zimri.—I.]
8 B.C. 1490.
10 And Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon,1 prince of the children of Judah;
1 B.C. 1630.
13 Andm Jesse begat his first-born nEliab,3 and Abinadab4 the second, and oShimma the third,
A.M. 2806. B.C. 1198.
m 1 Sa.16.6-11; 17.12.
n Or, Elihu, ch.27.18.
3 B.C. 1198.
4 B.C. 1086.
o Or Shammah, 1 Sa.16.9, or Shimea, ch.20.7.
14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:5
5 He had eight sons, 1 Sa. 16. 10, but one must have died, and so, like Abel, ch. 1. 1, have had his name expunged from the genealogy.—C.
16 Whose sisters were, Zeruiah and Abigail. Andp the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.6
17 And qAbigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.7
q 2 Sa.17.25; 19.13; 20.4-10. 1 Ki.2.5,32. Jether was an Ishmaelite by birth, and an Israelite by religion.
7 He was, say some, an Ishmaelite by birth, and an Israelite by religion; but the reading of 'Israelite' in Samuel must be corrected from the text here.—I.
18 And rCaleb8 the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah9 his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher,1 and Shobab, and Ardon.
r ver.9.
8 Not that Caleb mentioned Nu. 13. 6, for he was the son of Jephunneh, who is referred to ch. 4. 15. This Caleb must have lived some time before the exodus, as Bezaleel, who was a principal artist in constructing the tabernacle, was his grandson.—C.
9 The text is here corrupt. It would seem from the next verse that Jerioth was not a wife of Caleb. Houbigant and Dathe put the name as the first of his sons; and Geddes and Boothroyd consider Jerioth a daughter, and that the names which follow are those of her sons, and not Caleb's; but it is not likely that in a condensed genealogy like this, the children of daughters would be mentioned.—I.
1 B.C. 1650.
21 And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of uMachir, the father of Gilead, whom he married3 when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.
u Nu.27.1.
3 Heb. took.
23 And xhe took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities: all these belonged to the sons of Machir, the yfather of Gilead.5
x Nu.32.41,42. De.3.14,15. Jos.13.30,31. Ju.10.4.
y ver.21,24,42,49-52; ch.4.4,11,12,14, &c. To be father of a city or country, is to be the father of its inhabitants, or the founder or chief ruler of it.
5 See notes on Nu. 32. 41 and De. 3. 14.—P.
24 And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephratah, then Abiah, Hezron's wife, bare him Ashur the father of zTekoa.
25 And the sons of aJerahmeel6 the first-born of Hezron were, Ram the first-born, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.
a ver.9,26,27,33,42. 1 Sa.27.10; 30.29.
6 Of all the persons mentioned from ver. 25 to 33, nothing more is known than the names. What then is the use of the record? Amongst other uses, one is very important, to teach men humility. The proud may leave nothing but a name; nay, their very names may be expunged from all but the records of him, who, while he is no respecter of the persons of the living, is ready to judge the dead, 'both small and great,' Re.20.12.—C.
26 Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.
28 And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur.
29 And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bare him Ahban, and Molid.
31 And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the children of Sheshan;c Ahlai.
c ver.34,35.
32 And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children.
33 And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.
34 Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters: and Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.
35 And Sheshan dgave his daughter to Jarha8 his servant9 to wife; and she bare him Attai.
d Ge.21.21. De.7.3. Ju.14.2. 1 Co.7.38.
8 B.C. 1500.
9 He may have been a proselyte, and consequently there was no breach of law in the marriage. The name servant is no certain index of his rank; for such was Eliezer of Damascus, whom, nevertheless, Abraham contemplated as his heir. The record is given, not merely as a genealogical fact, but also as an historical remedy against national prejudices. A lesson which none ever needed more frequently than Israel. C.——The object doubtless was to preserve the inheritance in the family. This is no uncommon circumstance in the East. 'Among the attendants of the Cambay nabob, as also at Surat and other places, are several Abyssinian and Caffre slaves, called, by way of courtesy, seddees or master. They are often promoted to great honour, richly apparelled, and furnished with horses, arms, and servants. This is customary among the Moguls, Turks, Persians, and Arabians, and especially the Mamelukes of Egypt, most of whom have ascended to their eminence from such an origin. The slaves who conduct themselves well find their chains light, are treated like near relatives, and are admitted to great confidence. They often obtain their freedom, and marry their masters' daughters' (Forbes's Oriental Memoirs).—I.
37 And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,
38 And Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah,
39 And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,
40 And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum,
41 And Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.
42 Now the sons of fCaleb the brother of Jerahmeel were, Mesha1 his first-born, which was the father2 of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.
f ver.9,18,19,24. Ge.49.3. Ex.4.22,23. Ro.8.29. He.12.23.
1 B.C. 1630.
2 Men are in this and the following chapters called fathers of cities, because their posterity peopled them. [Dathe translates 'founder,' saying that Ziph was a town, as were Hebron and other names here given. But may they not have been first names of men before they were given to towns?—I.]
43 And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema.
44 And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam: and Rekem begat Shammai.
45 And the son of Shammai was Maon: and Maon was the father of gBeth-zur.
g ver.23,24,45,49; ch.8.29. Ezr.2.21-35. Ne.7.25-38.
46 And Ephah, hCaleb's concubine,3 bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.
h Jos.15.58. ver.18,19,48.
3 Heb. pelegest, that is, a half-wife, or divided, or secondary wife, Ge. 22. 24; 25. 1,5. 2 Sa.5.13. 1 Ki.11.3. ch.1.32.
47 And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber, and Tirhanah.
49 She bare also Shaaph4 the father of Madmannah, Shevah, the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibeah: and the daughter of Caleb was iAchsa.5
4 B.C. 1540
i Not Jos.15.17.
5 Caleb the son of Jephunneh had a daughter called Achsa, who was married to Othniel at the time when Joshua completed the division of the land. But Caleb, the son of Hezron, lived some ages before, and his daughter Achsa was a different person.—I.
50 These were the sons of Caleb6 the son of Hur, the first-born of kEphratah; Shobal the father of 7Kirjath-jearim,8
6 The Caleb here spoken of was the grandson of him before-mentioned, and brother to Uri the father of Bezaleel; the same who erected the tabernacle.—I.
k Or, Ephrath, ver.19.
7 B.C. 1536.
8 Kirjath-jearim is the name, not of a person, but of a town—but as his descendants planted the district, Shobal is called its common father.—C.
52 And Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim had sons; mHaroeh, and half of the Manahethites.9
m Or, Reaiah, ch.4.2.
9 Or, half of the Menuchites, or Harsiham-menucheth.
53 And the families of nKirjath-jearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.
n ver.52. Jos.9.17.
Notes
Reflections.—Great were the blemishes of the first four fathers of the Hebrew tribes: and yet two of these tribes are chosen to the distinguished honours of priesthood and royalty; and the last of these to produce an incarnate God.—Not of works, lest any man should boast! The most distinguished sinners are often rendered the most remarkable monuments of his saving grace, or of usefulness in the church! And often the families which God intends for uncommon honours are first dishonoured with the vilest characters, and marked with distinguished vice and sin. How rare is it to find four brothers in a family all famed for wisdom and grace!—But frequent enough to find families almost desolated by the sword. God takes peculiar pleasure to exalt the low, and abase that which is high. David, the youngest son of Jesse, is raised to the throne.—Even so, Father, because so it seemed good in thy sight! By what incontestable wisdom God orders the condition of families, giving or withholding children, or of this or that sex, as it pleaseth him! Let all therefore learn, in whatever state he places them, to be therewith content. Let parents learn rather to marry their children to pious servants than to the ungodly rich. And let those who, like the Kenites, join God's people in their warfare, expect to dwell with them in their Canaan above.