Text -- 1 Chronicles 2:1-14 (NET)

Israel’s Descendants

2:1 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar and Zebulun; 2:2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin; Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Judah’s Descendants

2:3 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by Bathshua, a Canaanite woman. Er, Judah’s firstborn, displeased the Lord, so the Lord killed him. 2:4 Tamar, Judah’s daughter-in-law, bore to him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all. 2:5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 2:6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Kalkol, Dara– five in all. 2:7 The son of Carmi: Achan, who brought the disaster on Israel when he stole what was devoted to God. 2:8 The son of Ethan: Azariah. 2:9 The sons born to Hezron: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.

Ram’s Descendants

2:10 Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, the tribal chief of Judah. 2:11 Nahshon was the father of Salma, and Salma was the father of Boaz. 2:12 Boaz was the father of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse. 2:13 Jesse was the father of Eliab, his firstborn; Abinadab was born second, Shimea third, 2:14 Nethanel fourth, Raddai fifth,

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 1Ch 2:3

Whom he puts first, because the best part of the right of the firstborn, namely, the dominion, was conferred upon him, Gen 49:8, and because the Messiah was to come out of his loins.

Wesley: 1Ch 2:6

If these be the same who are mentioned as the sons of Machol, 1Ki 4:31, either the same man had two names, Zerah and Machol, as was usual among the Hebrews: or, one of these was their immediate father, and the other their grand - father. These are named, because they were the glory of their father's house. When the Holy Ghost would magnify the wisdom of Solomon, he saith, he was wiser than these four men. That four brothers should be so eminent, was a rare thing.

Wesley: 1Ch 2:7

Who is here mentioned, because he was the son of Zimri, who is also called Zabdi, Jos 7:1.

Wesley: 1Ch 2:7

Called Achan, Jos 7:1, and here Achar, with a little variation for greater significancy: for Achar signifies a troubler.

Wesley: 1Ch 2:13

Called also Elihu, 1Ch 27:18, unless that was another person, and the word brother be taken more largely for a kinsman, as it is frequently.

JFB: 1Ch 2:3

His descendants are enumerated first, because the right and privileges of the primogeniture had been transferred to him (Gen 49:8), and because from his tribe the Messiah was to spring.

JFB: 1Ch 2:6

These five are here stated to be the sons of Zerah, that is, of Ezra, whence they were called Ezrahites (1Ki 4:31). In that passage they are called "the sons of Mahol," which, however, is to be taken not as a proper name, but appellatively for "sons of music, dancing," &c. The traditional fame of their great sagacity and acquirements had descended to the time of Solomon and formed a standard of comparison for showing the superior wisdom of that monarch. Jewish writers say that they were looked up to as prophets by their countrymen during the abode in Egypt.

JFB: 1Ch 2:7

He was the son of Zimri, or Zabdi, as he is called (Jos 7:1).

JFB: 1Ch 2:7

Or Achan (Jos 7:1). This variety in the form of the name is with great propriety used here, since Achar means "troubler."

Clarke: 1Ch 2:1

These are the sons of Israel - For this genealogy see the parallel places at Gen 29:32; Gen 30:5; Gen 35:18, Gen 35:22; Gen 46:8, etc.

Clarke: 1Ch 2:6

Five of them in all - "These were all chief men; and on them the spirit of prophecy rested."- T.

TSK: 1Ch 2:1

am 2252, etc. bc 1752, etc

Israel : or, Jacob, Gen 32:28, Gen 49:2

Reuben : Gen 29:32-35, 30:5-24, Gen 35:18, Gen 35:22-26, 46:8-27, 49:4-28; Exo 1:2-4; Num 1:5-15, Num 13:4-15, 26:5-65; Rev 7:5-8

TSK: 1Ch 2:2

Dan : Gen 30:6

Joseph : Gen 30:24

Benjamin : Gen 35:18

Naphtali : Gen 30:8

Gad : Gen 30:11

Asher : Gen 30:13, Gen 35:26, Gen 46:17, Gen 49:20; Num 1:40, Num 1:41; Deu 33:24; Jos 19:24-31

TSK: 1Ch 2:3

and : 1Ch 9:5; Gen 38:2-10, Gen 46:12; Num 26:19

TSK: 1Ch 2:4

Tamar : Gen. 38:13-30; Rth 4:12; Mat 1:3, Thamar

Pharez : 1Ch 9:4; Num 26:21; Rth 4:18; Neh 11:4, Perez, Mat 1:3; Luk 3:33, Phares

Zerah : 1Ch 9:6; Num 26:13, Num 26:20; Neh 11:24; Mat 1:3, Zara

TSK: 1Ch 2:5

Hezron : Gen 46:12; Num 26:21; Rth 4:18; Mat 1:3; Luk 3:33, Esrom

TSK: 1Ch 2:6

Zimri : i.e. snug; my song; my field, [Strong’ s H2174]. 1Ch 2:6, 1Ch 8:36, 1Ch 9:42; Num 25:14; 1Ki 16:9, 1Ki 16:10, 1Ki 16:12, 1Ki 16:15, 1Ki 16:16, 1Ki 16:18, 1Ki 16:20; 2Ki 9:31; Jer 25:25

	Personal Characteristics	References
1.	Captain of Elah king of Israel, whom he slew and succeeded, bc 930	1Ki 16:9, 1Ki 16:10
2.	Captain of the Simeonites	Num 25:14
3.	Descendant of Judah by Tamar	1Ch 2:4
4.	Of the stock of Saul	1Ch 8:36, 1Ch 9:42
5.	A son of Zerah, the son of Judah, called Zabdi, which is apparently here called זמרי [Strong’ s H2174], Zimri , in consequence of a ב , baith , being mistaken for a מ , mem , and a ד , daleth , for a ר , raish .	1Ch 2:6, Jos 7:1, Jos 7:17, Jos 7:18
6.	A name applied to a tribe and supposed to refer to people in Eastern Arabia	Jer 25:25
	Ethan : i.e. perennial, constant; ancient, [Strong’ s H387]. 1Ch 2:6, 1Ch 2:8, 1Ch 6:42, 1Ch 6:44, 1Ch 15:17, 1Ch 15:19; 1Ki 4:31; Psa 89:1 *title

Ethan
Personal Characteristics	References
1.	An Israelite known for his wisdom, an Ezrahite, to whom Psalm 89 is attributed in its title	1Ki 4:31
2.	A son of Zerah, the son of Judah	1Ch 2:6, 1Ch 2:8
3.	A descendant of Gershon, the son of Levi	1Ch 6:42
4.	A descendant of Merari, the son of Levi	1Ch 6:44, 1Ch 15:19
Heman : i.e. faithful, [Strong’ s H1968], 1Ch 2:6, 1Ch 6:33, 1Ch 15:17, 1Ch 15:19, 1Ch 16:41, 1Ch 16:42, 1Ch 25:1, 1Ch 25:4, 1Ch 25:5, 1Ch 25:6; 1Ki 4:31; 2Ch 5:12, 2Ch 29:14; 2Ch 35:15; Psa 88:1 *title

Heman
Personal Characteristics	References
1.	A wise man who flourished before Solomon	1Ch 2:6; 1Ki 4:31
2.	A Levite of the Kohathites, a leader of David’ s choir	1Ch 15:17, 1Ch 16:41, 1Ch 16:42; Psa 88:1. See also Homam, 1Ch 1:39

Calcol : i.e. sustenance; comprehended, [Strong’ s H3633]. 1Ki 4:31

Dara : i.e. pearl of wisdom, [Strong’ s H1873], Darda, דרדע [Strong’ s H1862], is here called Dara, דרע [Strong’ s H1873], by the elision of a ד , daleth , Darda

TSK: 1Ch 2:7

Carmi : 1Ch 4:1

Achar : Achan is probably called Achar, from the trouble he occasioned. Jos 7:1-5, Achan

accursed : Deu 7:26, Deu 13:17; Jos 6:18, Jos 7:11-15, Jos 7:25, Jos 22:20

TSK: 1Ch 2:8

Ethan : 1Ch 2:6

Azariah : 1Ch 6:36

TSK: 1Ch 2:9

Jerahmeel : 1Ch 2:25-33

Ram : Rth 4:19; Mat 1:3; Luk 3:3, Aram

Chelubai : 1Ch 2:18, 1Ch 2:19, 1Ch 2:24, 1Ch 2:42, Caleb

TSK: 1Ch 2:10

Amminadab : Rth 4:19, Rth 4:20; Mat 1:4; Luk 3:33, Aminadab

Nahshon : Num 1:7, Num 2:3, Num 7:12, Num 7:17, Num 10:14; Rth 4:20; Mat 1:4; Luk 3:32, Nassoon

TSK: 1Ch 2:11

Salma : Rth 4:21; Mat 1:4, Mat 1:5; Luk 3:32, Salmon, Booz

TSK: 1Ch 2:12

Jesse : 1Ch 10:14; Rth 4:22; 1Sa 16:1; Isa 11:1, Isa 11:10; Mat 1:5; Luk 3:32; Act 13:22; Rom 15:12

TSK: 1Ch 2:13

his firstborn : 1Sa 16:6-13, 1Sa 17:13, 1Sa 17:28

Eliab : 1Ch 27:18, Elihu

Shimma : 1Ch 20:7, Shimea, 1Sa 16:9, Shammah

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Ch 2:1

The sons of Israel - The order of the names here approximates to an order determined by legitimacy of birth. A single change - the removal of Dan to the place after Benjamin - would give the following result:

(1) The six sons of the first wife, Leah.

(2) the two sons of the second wife, Rachel.

(3) the two sons of the first concubine, Bilhah.

(4) the two sons of the second concubine, Zilpah.

Dan’ s undue prominency may, perhaps, be accounted for by his occupying the seventh place in the "blessing of Jacob"Gen 49:16.

Barnes: 1Ch 2:6

The sons of Zerah - Here, for the first time, the writer of Chronicles draws from sources not otherwise known to us, recording facts not mentioned in the earlier Scriptures. Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, sons of Zerah, are only known to us from this passage, since there are no sufficient grounds for identifying them with the "sons of Mahol"(marginal reference).

Barnes: 1Ch 2:7

"Achan"Jos 7:1 seems to have become "Achar,"in order to assimilate the word more closely to the Hebrew term for "troubler,"which was from the time of Achan’ s sin regarded as the true meaning of his name Jos 7:25-26.

Poole: 1Ch 2:3

He puts

Judah first, because the best part of the right of the first-born, to wit, the dominion, was conferred upon him, Gen 49:8 , and because the Messiah was to come out of his loins.

Poole: 1Ch 2:6

If these be the same who are mentioned as the sons of Mahol , 1Ki 4:31 , either the same man had two names, Zerah and Mahol, as was usual among the Hebrews; or one of these was their immediate father, and the other their grandfather.

Poole: 1Ch 2:7

Carmi is here mentioned, because he was the son of Zimri, who is also called Zabdi , Jos 7:1 .

Achar called Achan , Jos 7:1 , and here Achar , with a little variation for greater significancy; for Achar signifies a troubler.

Poole: 1Ch 2:13

Eliab called also Elihu . 1Ch 27:18 unless that was another person, and the word brother to be taken largely for a kinsman, as is frequently used.

Haydock: 1Ch 2:1

Israel, "seeing, or valiant with God," was before called Jacob, or "a supplanter," Genesis xxxv. (Worthington)

Haydock: 1Ch 2:2

Aser. They are not placed in the order of their birth. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ch 2:3

Her. The crime for which he was punished is not specified in Scripture. (Calmet) ---

The Rabbins say that he was so enamoured of the beauty of his wife, that he treated her in the same manner as Onan did afterwards. (Cassian viii. 11.) ---

It is supposed that he was slain by a devil, (Calmet) like the (Tirinus) impure husbands of Sarai, Tobias vi. 14. (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ch 2:6

Zamri, or Zabdi, Josue vii. 1. ---

Etham. Similar names occur [in] 3 Kings iv. 30. But they seem to have been different persons.

Haydock: 1Ch 2:7

Achar, alias Achan, (Josue vii.; Challoner) which was his real name, as the former was given him (Calmet) in consequence of his having "troubled" Israel. (Du Hamel) ---

One letter may have been mistaken. (Worthington) ---

It may seem more probable that Achar, which appears invaribly in the Vatican Septuagint and Syriac, is the proper name. (Kennicott) ---

Anathema, the thing devoted or accursed, viz., the spoils of Jericho. (Challoner)

Haydock: 1Ch 2:10

Ram. He is commonly called Aram. But it is to be observed here, once for all, that it was a common thing among the Hebrews for the same person to have different names: and that it is not impossible among so many proper names, as here occur in the first nine chapters of this book, that the transcribers of the ancient Hebrew copies may have made some slips in the orthography. (Challoner) ---

Juda. Probably the first, appointed by Moses in the desert, Numbers i. 7., and vii. 12.

Haydock: 1Ch 2:11

Salma. Septuagint have "Salmon," as it is written [in] Ruth iv. 20., and Matthew i. 4.

Gill: 1Ch 2:1-2

These are the sons of Israel,.... Or Jacob, the other son of Isaac, who had the name of Israel given him, because of his power with God, Gen 32:28, whose twelve sons are here mentioned by name; the first four according to their birth of Leah, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; then the two sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid, Issachar and Zebulun; and between Dan and Naphtali, the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, are placed Joseph and Benjamin, the sons of Rachel.

Gill: 1Ch 2:3

The sons of Judah,.... The genealogy begins with him, though the fourth son of Jacob; because, as Kimchi says, this book treats chiefly of the kings of Judah; but rather not only because Jesse and David sprang from him, but also the King Messiah:

Er, and Onan, and Shelah, which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess; see Gen 38:2,

and Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord; because he did that which was evil:

and he slew him; he died by the immediate hand of God, and so his brother Onan, being wicked also, Gen 38:7.

Gill: 1Ch 2:4

And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah,.... Through incest; they were twins, Gen 38:27 all the sons of Judah were five; who are before mentioned by name.

Gill: 1Ch 2:5

The sons of Pharez,.... One of the above twins, born to Judah:

Hezron and Hamul; see Gen 46:12.

Gill: 1Ch 2:6

And the sons of Zerah,.... The other twin of Judah:

Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all; the Targum calls them governors, and adds, on whom the spirit of prophecy dwelt; and in the Jewish chronology ⁿ they are said to prophesy in Egypt; and the four last are supposed to be the same with those in 1Ki 4:31. See Gill on 1Ki 4:31.

Gill: 1Ch 2:7

And the sons of Carmi,.... The Targum adds, this is Zimri; but in Jos 7:1 Carmi is said to be the son of Zabdi, who seems to be the same with Zimri; and some supply the word here, and read ^o the sons of Zimri, Carmi, Achar, who was the grandson of Zimri; his proper name was Achan, Jos 7:1, but called Achar here by way of reproach, as Jarchi and others observe; being, as it follows:

the troubler of Israel, as Achar signifies: "who transgressed in the thing accursed"; devoted to the Lord, by taking it away for his own use, see Jos 6:17, hence the valley in which he was put to death was called Achor, Jos 6:26.

Gill: 1Ch 2:8

And the sons of Ethan; Azariah. Including his posterity, see Gen 46:23, the posterity of the other three sons of Zerah are not mentioned, either because the writer could not find the genealogy of them, as Kimchi; or rather, as he thinks, he cuts short the genealogy of Zerah, because the kingdom did not proceed from him, and returns to the genealogy of Hezron, from whence it did, or perhaps they had no children.

Gill: 1Ch 2:9

The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him,.... The Targum adds, in Timnath; but most likely in Egypt:

Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai; afterwards called Caleb.

Gill: 1Ch 2:10-12

And Ram begat Amminadab,.... Ram is the same with Aram, Mat 1:3 the genealogy is carried down from him to Jesse in the same order as there, and in Rth 4:19 only here Nahshon the son of Amminadab is called

the prince of the children of Judah; which Kimchi and Jarchi say is written for the honour of David, who descended from him; and Salmon his son is here called Salma.

Gill: 1Ch 2:13-15

And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, Nathanael the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. But Jesse had eight sons, 1Sa 16:10, one of them therefore is not reckoned, either because he was by another woman, and the writer only mentions those that were of the same mother with David; this is the opinion of Aben Ezra and Kimchi; some say he was dead before David came to the kingdom; Kimchi mentions a Midrash, or exposition of theirs, according to which his name was Elihu, and was younger than David, who is mentioned in 1Ch 27:18, and Jarchi observes, that the writer, having found the pearl (David), reckons not the eighth son Elihu, though the Syriac and Arabic versions have inserted him in this order, "Elihu the seventh, David the eighth"; some take the eighth to be a grandson of Jesse, Jonathan the son of Shimea, 2Sa 21:21 the third son of Jesse, here called Shimma, as he is Shammah, 1Sa 16:9.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:1

¹ tn The groupings in the list that follows, as well as the conjunctions (vav-consecutives in Hebrew), reflect those of the Hebrew text.

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:3

¹ tn The name means “daughter of Shua.” Shua is identified in Gen 38:2 as a “Canaanite man.”

² tn Heb “was evil in the eyes of the Lord, so he [i.e., the Lord] killed him [i.e., Er].”

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:4

¹ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:6

¹ tc Many medieval Hebrew mss, some LXX mss, and Syriac read “Darda” (see 1 Kgs 4:31 ET = 1 Kgs 5:11 HT).

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:7

¹ tn Heb “sons.” The Hebrew text has the plural, but only one son is listed.

² tc The Hebrew text has “Achar,” which means “disaster,” but a few medieval Hebrew mss read “Achan.” See Josh 7:1.

³ tn Heb “the troubler of Israel who was unfaithful with respect to the devoted [things].”

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:8

¹ tn Heb “sons.” The Hebrew text has the plural, but only one son is listed.

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:9

¹ tn The Hebrew text has “Celubai,” but see v. 18, where Caleb is described as the son of Hezron.

NET Notes: 1Ch 2:11

¹ tc The LXX reads “Salmon” (cf. Ruth 4:21) and is followed by some English versions (e.g., NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

Geneva Bible: 1Ch 2:3

The sons of ^{( a )} Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: [which] three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him.

^{( a )} Though Judah was not Jacob's eldest son, yet he first begins with him, because he would come to the genealogy of David, of whom came Christ.

Geneva Bible: 1Ch 2:6

And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and ^{( b )} Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.

^{( b )} Of these read (1Ki 4:31).

Geneva Bible: 1Ch 2:9

The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and ^{( c )} Ram, and Chelubai.

^{( c )} Whom Matthew calls Aram, (Mat 1:3).

Geneva Bible: 1Ch 2:10

And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, ^{( d )} prince of the children of Judah;

^{( d )} That is, chief of the family.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Ch 2:1-55

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.

MHCC: 1Ch 2:1-55

We are now come to the register of the children of Israel, that distinguished people, who were to dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations. But now, in Christ, all are welcome to his salvation who come to him; all have equal privileges according to their faith in him, their love and devotedness to him. All that is truly valuable consists in the favour, peace, and image of God, and a life spent to his glory, in promoting the welfare of our fellow-creatures.

Matthew Henry: 1Ch 2:1-17

Here is, I. The family of Jacob. His twelve sons are here named, that illustrious number so often celebrated almost throughout the whole Bible, from the first to the last book of it. At every turn we meet with the twelve tribes that descended from these twelve patriarchs. The personal character of several of them was none of the best (the first four were much blemished), and yet the covenant was entailed on their seed; for it was of grace, free grace, that it was said, Jacob have I loved - not of works, lest any man should boast.

II. The family of Judah. That tribe was most praised, most increased, and most dignified, of any of the tribes, and therefore the genealogy of it is the first and largest of them all. In the account here given of the first branches of that illustrious tree, of which Christ was to be the top branch, we meet, 1. With some that were very bad. Here is Er, Judah's eldest son, that was evil in the sight of the Lord, and was cut off, in the beginning of his days, by a stroke of divine vengeance: The Lord slew him, 1Ch 2:3. His next brother, Onan, was no better, and fared no better. Here is Tamar, with whom Judah, her father-in-law, committed incest, 1Ch 2:4. And here is Achan, called Achar - a troubler, that troubled Israel by taking of the accursed thing, 1Ch 2:7. Note, The best and most honourable families may have those belonging to them that are blemishes. 2. With some that were very wise and good, as Heman and Ethan, Calcol and Dara, who were not perhaps the immediate sons of Zerah, but descendants from him, and are named because they were the glory of their father's house; for, when the Holy Ghost would magnify the wisdom of Solomon, he declares him wiser than these four men, who, though the sons of Mahol, are called Ezrahites, from Zerah, 1Ki 4:31. That four brothers should be eminent for wisdom and grace was a rare thing. 3. With some that were very great, as Nahshon, who was prince of the tribe of Judah when the camp of Israel was formed in the wilderness, and so led the van in that glorious march, and Salman, or Salmon, who was in that post of honour when they entered into Canaan, 1Ch 2:10, 1Ch 2:11.

III. The family of Jesse, of which a particularly account is kept for the sake of David, and the Son of David, who is a rod out of the stem of Jesse, Isa 11:1. Hence it appears that David was a seventh son, and that his three great commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were the sons of one of his sisters, and Amasa of another. Three of the four went down slain to the pit, though they were the terror of the mighty.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ch 2:1-2

The twelve sons of Israel, arranged as follows: first, the six sons of Leah; then Dan, the son of Rachel's handmaid; next, the sons of Rachel; and finally, the remaining sons of the handmaids. That a different place is assigned to Dan, viz., before the sons of Rachel, from that which he holds in the list in Gen 35:23., is perhaps to be accounted for by Rachel's wishing the son of her maid Bilhah to be accounted her own ( vide Gen 30:3-6).

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ch 2:3-5

The sons of Judah and of Pharez , 1Ch 2:3.f. - The five sons of Judah are given according to Gen 38, as the remark on Er which is quoted from Gen 38:7 of that chapter shows, while the names of the five sons are to be found also in Gen 46:12. The two sons of Pharez are according to Gen 46:12, cf. Num 26:21.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ch 2:6-8

Sons and descendants of Zerah. - In 1Ch 2:6, five names are grouped together as בּנים of Zerah, which are found nowhere else so united. The first, Zimri, may be strictly a son; but זמרי may perhaps be a mistake for זבדּי , for Achan, who is in 1Ch 2:7 the son of Carmi, is in Jos 7:1 called the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah. But זבדּי (Josh.) may also be an error for זמרי , or he may have been a son of Zimri, since in genealogical lists an intermediate member of the family is often passed over. Nothing certain can, however, be ascertained; both names are found elsewhere, but of persons belonging to other tribes: Zimri as prince of the Simeonites, Num 25:14; as Benjamite, 1Ch 8:36; 1Ch 9:42; and as king of Israel, 1Ki 16:9; Zabdi, 1Ch 8:19 (as Benjamite), and 1Ch 27:27, Neh 11:17. The four succeeding names, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, are met with again in 1Ki 5:11, where it is said of Solomon he was wiser than the Ezrahite Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Machol, with the unimportant variation of דרדע for דרע . On this account, Movers and Bertheau, following Clericus on 1Ki 4:31 (1Ki 5:11), hold the identity of the wise men mentioned in 1Ki 5:11 with the sons (descendants) of Zerah to be beyond doubt. But the main reason which Clericus produces in support of this supposition, the consensus quatuor nominum et quidem unius patris filiorum , and the difficulty of believing that in alia familia Hebraea there should have been quatuor fratres cognomines quatuor filiis Zerachi Judae filii , loses all its force from the fact that the supposition that the four wise men in 1Ki 5:11 are brothers by blood, is a groundless and erroneous assumption. Since Ethan is called the Ezrahite, while the last two are said to be the sons of Machol, it is clear that the four were not brothers. The mention of them as men famous for their wisdom, does not at all require that we should think the men contemporary with each other. Even the enumeration of these four along with Zimri as זרח בּני in our verse does not necessarily involve that the five names denote brothers by blood; for it is plain from 1Ch 2:7, 1Ch 2:8 that in this genealogy only single famous names of the family of Zerah the son of Judah and Tamar are grouped together. But, on the other hand, the reasons which go to disprove the identity of the persons in our verse with those named in 1Ki 5:11 are not of very great weight. The difference in the names דרע and דרדע is obviously the result of an error of transcription, and the form העזרחי (1Ki 5:11) is most probably a patronymic from זרח , notwithstanding that in Num 26:20 it appears as זרחי , for even the appellative עזרח , indigena , is formed from זרח . We therefore hold that the persons who bear the same names in our verse and in 1Ki 5:11 are most probably identical, in spite of the addition מחול בּני to Calcol and Darda (1Ki 5:11). For that this addition belongs merely to these two names, and not to Ezrah, appears from Psa 88:1 and Psa 89:1, which, according to the superscription, were composed by the Ezrahites Heman and Ethan. The authors of these psalms are unquestionably the Heman and Ethan who were famed for their wisdom (1Ki 5:11), and therefore most probably the same as those spoken of in our verse as sons of Zerah. It is true that the authors of these psalms have been held by many commentators to be Levites, nay, to be the musicians mentioned in 1Ch 15:17 and 1Ch 15:19; but sufficient support for this view, which I myself, on 1Ki 5:11, after the example of Hengstenberg , Beitrr. ii. S. 61, and on Ps 88 defended, cannot be found. The statement of the superscription of Psa 88:1 - "a psalm of the sons of Korah"- from which it is inferred that the Ezrahite Heman was of Levitic origin, does not justify such a conclusion.

(Note: The above quoted statement of the superscription of Psa 88:1 can contain no information as to the author of the psalm, for this reason, that the author is expressly mentioned in the next sentence of the superscription. The psalm can only in so far be called a song of the children of Korah, as it bears the impress peculiar to the Korahite psalms in contents and form.)

For though the musician Heman the son of Joel was Korahite of the race of Kohath (1Ch 6:18-23), yet the musician Ethan the son of Kishi, or Kushaiah, was neither Korahite nor Kohathite, but a Merarite (1Ch 6:29.). Moreover, the Levites Heman and Ethan could not be enumerated among the Ezrahites, that is, the descendants of Zerah, a man of Judah.

The passages which are quoted in support of the view that the Levites were numbered with the tribes in the midst of whom they dwelt, and that, consequently, there were Judaean and Ephraimite Levites - as, for example, 1Sa 1:1, where the father of the Levite Samuel is called an Ephrathite because he dwelt in Mount Ephraim; and Jdg 17:7, where a Levite is numbered with the family of Judah because he dwelt as sojourner ( גּר ) in Bethlehem, a city of Judah - certainly prove that the Levites were reckoned, as regards citizenship, according to the tribes or cities in which they dwelt, but certainly do not show that they were incorporated genealogically with those tribes because of their place of residence.

(Note: Not even by intermarrying with heiresses could Levites become members of another tribe; for, according to the law, Num 36:5., heiresses could marry only men of their own tribe; and the possibility of a man of Judah marrying an heiress of the tribe of Levi was out of the question, for the Levites possessed no inheritance in land.)

The Levites Heman and Ethan, therefore, cannot be brought forward in our verse "as adopted sons of Zerah, who brought more honour to their father than his proper sons"(Hengstb.). This view is completely excluded by the fact that in our verse not only Ethan and Heman, but also Zimri, Calcol, and Dara are called sons of Zerah, yet these latter were not adopted sons, but true descendants of Zerah. Besides, in 1Ch 2:8, there is an actual son or descendant of Ethan mentioned, and consequently בּני and בּן cannot possibly be understood in some cases as implying only an adoptive relationship, and in the others actual descent. But the similarity of the names is not of itself sufficient to justify us in identifying the persons. As the name Zerah again appears in 1Ch 6:26 in the genealogy of the Levite Asaph, so also the name Ethan occurs in the same genealogy, plainly showing that more than one Israelite bore this name. The author of the Chronicle, too, has sufficiently guarded against the opinion that Zerah's sons Ethan and Heman are identical with the Levitical musicians who bear the same names, by tracing back in 1 Chron 6 the family of those musicians to Levi, without calling them Ezrahites.

(Note: The supposition of Ewald and Bertheau, that these two great singers of the tribe of Judah had been admitted into their guild by the Levitic musical schools, and on that account had been received also into their family, and so had been numbered with the tribe of Levi, is thus completely refuted, even were it at all possible that members of other tribes should have been received into the tribe of Levi.)

But to hold, with Movers, S. 237, that the recurrences of the same names in various races are contradictions, which are to be explained only on the supposition of genealogical combinations by various authors, will enter into the head of no sensible critic. We therefore believe the five persons mentioned in our verse to be actual descendants of the Judaean Zerah; but whether they were sons or grandsons, or still more distant descendants, cannot be determined. It is certainly very probable that Zimri was a son, if he be identical with the Zabdi of Jos 7:1; Ethan and Heman may have been later descendants of Zerah, if they were the wise men mentioned in 1Ki 5:11; but as to Calcol and Dara no further information is to be obtained. From 1Ch 2:7 and 1Ch 2:8, where of the sons ( בּני ) of Zimri and Ethan only one man in each case is named, it is perfectly clear that in our genealogy only individuals, men who have become famous, are grouped together out of the whole posterity of Zerah. The plural בּני in 1Ch 2:7 and 1Ch 2:8, etc., even where only one son is mentioned, is used probably only in those cases where, out of a number of sons or descendants, one has gained for himself by some means a memorable name. This is true at least of Achan, 1Ch 2:7, who, by laying hands on the accursed spoils of Jericho, had become notorious (Josh 7). Because Achan had thus troubled Israel ( עכר ), he is called here at once Achar. As to Carmi, vide on 1Ch 4:1.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ch 2:9-41

The only name given here as that of a descendant of Ethan is Azariah, of whom nothing further is known, while the name recurs frequently. Nothing more is said of the remaining sons of Zerah; they are merely set down as famous men of antiquity (Berth.). There follows in

1 Chronicles 2:9-41

The family of Hezron, the first-born son of Pharez, which branches off in three lines, originating with his three sons respectively. The three sons of Hezron are Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai; but the families springing from them are enumerated in a different order. First (1Ch 2:10-17) we have the family of Ram, because King David is descended from him; then (1Ch 2:18-24) the family of Chelubai or Caleb, from whose lineage came the illustrious Bezaleel; and finally (vv. 25-41), the posterity of the first-born, Jerahmeel.

1Ch 2:9

לו נולד אשׁר , what was born to him. The passive stands impersonally instead of the more definite active, "to whom one bore,"so that the following names are subordinated to it with את . The third person singular Niph. occurs thus also in 1Ch 3:4 and 1Ch 26:6; the construction of Niph. with את frequently (Gen 4:18; Gen 21:5, and elsewhere). Ram is called, in the genealogy in Mat 1:3-4, Aram; comp. רם , Job 32:2, with ארם , Gen 22:21. כּלוּבי is called afterwards כּלב ; cf. on 1Ch 2:18.

1Ch 2:10-15

The family of Ram (1Ch 2:10-12), traced down through six members of Jesse. - This genealogy is also to be found in Ruth. 1Ch 4:19-21; but only here is Nahshon made more prominent than the others, by the addition, "prince of the sons of Judah."Nahshon was a prince of Judah at the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (Num 1:7; Num 2:3; Num 7:12). Now between him, a contemporary of Moses, and Pharez, who at the immigration of Jacob into Egypt was about fifteen years old, lies a period of 430 years, during which the Israelites remained in Egypt. For that time only three names - Hezron, Ram, and Amminidab - are mentioned, from which it is clear that several links must have been passed over. So also, from Nahshon to David, for a period of over 400 years, four generations - Salma, Boaz, Obed, and Jesse - are too few; and consequently here also the less famous ancestors of David are omitted. שׂלמא is called in Rth 4:20-21, שׁלמה and שׂלמון . In 1Ch 2:13-15, seven sons and two daughters of Jesse, with those of their sons who became famous (1Ch 2:16, 1Ch 2:17), are enumerated. According to 1Sa 17:12, Jesse had eight sons. This account, which agrees with that in 1Sa 16:8-12, may be reconciled with the enumeration in our verse, on the supposition that one of the sons died without posterity. In 1Sa 16:6. and 1Ch 17:13, the names of the eldest three - Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah - occur. Besides ישׁי , we meet with the form אשׁי (1Ch 2:13); and the name שׁמּה is only another form of שׁמעה , which is found in 2Sa 13:3 and in 1Ch 20:7, and is repeated in 2Sa 13:32 and 2Sa 21:21 in the Kethibh ( שׁמעי ). The names of the other three sons here mentioned (1Ch 2:14 and 1Ch 2:15) are met with nowhere else.

1Ch 2:16-17

The sisters of David have become known through their heroic sons. Zeruiah is the mother of the heroes of the Davidic history, Abishai, Joab, and Asahel (cf. 1Sa 26:6; 2Sa 2:18; 2Sa 3:39; 2Sa 8:16, and elsewhere). Their father is nowhere mentioned, "because their more famous mother challenged the greater attention"(Berth.). Abigail was, according to 2Sa 17:25, the daughter of Nahash, a sister of Zeruiah, and so was only a half-sister of David, and was the mother of Amasa the captain of the host, so well known on account of his share in the conspiracy of Absalom; cf. 2Sa 17:25; 2Sa 19:14, and 2Sa 20:10. His father was Jether, or Jithra, the Ishmaelite, who in the Masoretic text of 2Sa 17:25 is called, through a copyist's, error, היּשׂראלי instead of היּשׁמעאלי ; see comm. on passage.

1Ch 2:18-24

The family of Caleb. - That כּלב is merely a shortened form of כּלוּבי , or a form of that word resulting from the friction of constant use, is so clear from the context, that all exegetes recognise it. We have first (1Ch 2:18-20) a list of the descendants of Caleb by two wives, then descendants which the daughter of the Gileadite Machir bore to his father Hezron (1Ch 2:21-23), and finally the sons whom Hezron's wife bore him after his death (1Ch 2:24). The grouping of these descendants of Hezron with the family of Caleb can only be accounted for by supposing that they had, through circumstances unknown to us, come into a more intimate connection with the family of Caleb than with the families of his brothers Ram and Jerahmeel. In 1Ch 2:42-55 follow some other lists of descendants of Caleb, which will be more fully considered when we come to these verses. The first half of the 18th verse is obscure, and the text is probably corrupt. As the words stand at present, we must translate, "Caleb the son of Hezron begat with Azubah, a woman, and with Jerioth, and these are her (the one wife's) sons, Jesher,"etc. בּניה , filii ejus , suggests that only one wife of Caleb had been before mentioned; and, as appears from the "and Azubah died"of 1Ch 2:19, Azubah is certainly meant. The construction את הוליד , "he begat with,"is, it is true, unusual, but is analogous to חוליד מן , 1Ch 8:9, and is explained by the fact that הוליד may mean to cause to bear, to bring to bearing; cf. Isa 66:9 : therefore properly it is, "he brought Azubah to bearing."The difficulty of the verse lies in the ואת־יריעות אשּׁה , for, according to the usual phraseology, we would have expected אשׁתּו instead of אשּׁה . But אשּׁה may be, under the circumstances, to some extent justified by the supposition that Azubah is called indefinitely "woman,"because Caleb had several wives. ואת־וריעות gives no suitable meaning. The explanation of Kimchi, "with Azubah a woman, and with Jerioth,"cannot be accepted, for only the sons of Azubah are hereafter mentioned; and the idea that the children of the other wives are not enumerated here because the list used by the chronicler was defective, is untenable: for after two wives had been named in the enumeration of the children of one of them, the mother must necessarily have been mentioned; and so, instead of בּניה , we should have had עזוּבה בּני . Hiller and J. H. Michaelis take ואת as explicative, "with Azubah a woman, viz., with Jerioth;"but this is manifestly only the product of exegetical embarrassment. The text is plainly at fault, and the easiest conjecture is to read, with the Peschito and the Vulgate, את אשׁתּו instead of ואת אשּׁה , "he begat with Azubah his wife, Jerioth (a daughter); and these are her sons."In that case אשּׁה would be added to עזוּבה , to guard against עזוּבה being taken for acc. obj. The names of the sons of Azubah, or of her daughter Jerioth, do not occur elsewhere.

1Ch 2:19-20

When Azubah died, Caleb took Ephrath to wife, who bore him Hur. For אפרת we find in 1Ch 2:50 the lengthened feminine form אפרתה ; cf. also 1Ch 4:4. From Hur descended, by Uri, the famous Bezaleel, the skilful architect of the tabernacle (Exo 31:2; Exo 35:30).

1Ch 2:21-24

The descendants of Hezron numbered with the stock of Caleb: ( a ) those begotten by Hezron with the daughter of Machir, 1Ch 2:21-23; ( b ) those born to Hezron after his death, 1Ch 2:24.

1Ch 2:21-22

Afterwards ( אחר ), i.e., after the birth of the sons mentioned in 1Ch 2:9, whose mother is not mentioned, when he was sixty years old, Hezron took to wife the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, who bore him Segub. Machir was the first-born of Manasseh (Gen 50:23; Num 26:29). But Machir is not called in 1Ch 2:21 and 1Ch 2:23 the father of Gilead because he was the originator of the Israelite population of Gilead, but אב has here its proper signification. Machir begot a son of the name of Gilead (Num 26:29); and it is clear from the genealogy of the daughters of Zelophehad, communicated in Num 27:1, that this expression is to be understood in its literal sense. Machir is distinguished from other men of the same name (cf. 2Sa 9:4; 2Sa 17:27) by the addition, father of Gilead. Segub the son of Hezron and the daughter of Machir begat Jair. This Jair, belonging on his mother's side to the tribe of Manasseh, is set down in Num 32:40., Deu 3:14, as a descendant of Manasseh. After Moses' victory over Og king of Bashan, Jair's family conquered the district of Argob in Bashan, i.e., in the plain of Jaulan and Hauran; and to the conquered cities, when they were bestowed upon him for a possession by Moses, the name Havvoth-jair, i.e., Jair's-life, was given. Cf. Num 32:41 and Deu 3:14, where this name is explained. These are the twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead, i.e., Peräa.

1Ch 2:23

These cities named Jair's-life were taken away from the Jairites by Geshur and Aram, i.e., by the Arameans of Geshur and of other places. Geshur denotes the inhabitants of a district of Aram, or Syria, on the north-western frontier of Bashan, in the neighbourhood of Hermon, on the east side of the upper Jordan, which had still its own kings in the time of David (2Sa 3:3; 2Sa 13:37; 2Sa 14:23; 2Sa 15:8), but which had been assigned to the Manassites by Moses; cf. Jos 13:13. The following וגו את־קנת must not be taken as an explanatory apposition to יאיר את־חוּת : "Jair's-life, Kenath and her daughters, sixty cities"(Berth.). For since מאתּם refers to the collective name Jair, Geshur and Aram could not take away from Jair sixty cities, for Jair only possessed twenty-three cities. But besides this, according to Num 32:42, Kenath with her daughters had been conquered by Nobah, who gave his own name to the conquered cities; and according to Deu 3:4, the kingdom of Og in Bashan had sixty fenced cities. But this kingdom was, according to Num 32:41, and Num 32:42, conquered by two families of Manasseh, by Jair and Nobah, and was divided between them; and as appears from our passage, twenty-three cities were bestowed upon Jair, and all the rest of the land, viz., Kenath with her daughters, fell to Nobah. These two domains together included sixty fenced cities, which in Deu 3:14 are called Jair's-life; while here, in our verse, only twenty-three cities are so called, and the remaining thirty-seven are comprehended under the name of Kenath had her daughters. WE must therefore either supply a w copul. before את־קנת , or we must take את־ק in the signification "with Kenath,"and refer עיר שׁשּׁים to both Jair's-life and Kenath. Cf. herewith the discussion on Deu 3:12-14; and for Kenath, the ruins of which still exist under the name Kanuat on the western slope of the Jebel Hauran, see the remarks on Num 32:42. The time when these cities were taken away by the Arameans is not known. From Jdg 10:4 we only learn that the Jair who was judge at a later time again had possession of thirty of these cities, and renewed the name Jair's-life. כּל־אלּה is not all these sixty cities, but the before-mentioned descendants of Hezron, who are called sons, that is offspring, of Machir, because they were begotten with the daughter of Machir. Only two names, it is true, Segub and Jair, are enumerated; but from these two issue the numerous families which took Jair's-life. To these, therefore, must we refer the כּל־אלּה .

1Ch 2:24

After the death of Hezron there was born to him by his wife Abiah (the third wife, cf. 1Ch 2:9 and 1Ch 2:21) another son, Ashur, the father of Tekoa, whose descendants are enumerated in 1Ch 4:5-7. Hezron's death took place אפרתה בּכלב , "in Caleb Ephrathah."This expression is obscure. According to 1Sa 30:14, a part of the Negeb (south country) of Judah was called Negeb Caleb, as it belonged to the family of Caleb. According to this analogy, the town or village in which Caleb dwelt with his wife Ephrath may have been called Caleb of Ephrathah, if Ephrath had brought this place as a dower to Caleb, as in the case mentioned in Jos 15:18. Ephrathah, or Ephrath, was the ancient name of Bethlehem (Gen 33:19; Gen 48:1), and with it the name of Caleb's wife Ephrath (1Ch 2:19) is unquestionably connected; probably she was so called after her birthplace. If this supposition be well founded, then Caleb of Ephrathah would be the little town of Bethlehem. Ashur is called father ( אבי ) of Tekoa, i.e., lord and prince, as the chief of the inhabitants of Tekoa, now Tekua, two hours south of Bethlehem ( vide on Jos 15:59).

1 Chronicles 2 :25-41

The family of Jerahmeel , the first-born of Hezron, which inhabited a part of the Negeb of Judah called after him the south of the Jerahmeelites (1Sa 27:10; 1Sa 30:29).

1Ch 2:25

Four sons were born to Jerahmeel by his first wife. Five names indeed follow; but as the last, אחיּה , although met with elsewhere as a man's name, is not ranged with the others by ו copul., as those that precede are with each other, it appears to be the name of a woman, and probably a מ has fallen out after the immediately preceding ם . So Cler., J. H. Mich., Berth. This conjecture gains in probability from the mention in 1Ch 2:26 of another wife, whence we might expect that in 1Ch 2:25 the first wife would be named.

1Ch 2:26-27

Only one son of the second wife is given, Onam, whose posterity follows in 1Ch 2:28-33; for in 1Ch 2:27 the three sons of Ram, the first-born of Jerahmeel, are enumerated.

1Ch 2:28

Onam had two sons, Shammai and Jada; the second of these, again, two sons, Nadab and Abishur.

1Ch 2:29-31

To Abishur his wife Abihail bore likewise two sons, with whom his race terminates. - In 1Ch 2:30, 1Ch 2:31, Nadab's posterity follow, in four members, ending with Ahlai, in the fourth generation. But Ahlai cannot well have been a son, but must have been a daughter, the heiress of Sheshan; for, according to 1Ch 2:34, Sheshen had no sons, but only daughters, and gave his daughter to an Egyptian slave whom he possessed, to wife, by whom she became the mother of a numerous posterity. The שׁשׁן בּני is not irreconcilable with this, for בּני denotes in genealogies only descendants in general, and has been here correctly so explained by Hiller in Onomast. p. 736: quicquid habuit liberorum, sive nepotum, sustulit ex unica filia Achlai .

1Ch 2:32-41

The descendants of Jada, the brother of Shammai, in two generations, after which this genealogy closes with the subscription, "these were the sons of Jerahmeel."

(Note: Bertheau reckons up to "the concluding subscription in 1Ch 2:33"the following descendants of Judah: "Judah's sons = 5; Hezron and Hamul = 2; Zerah's sons = 5; Karmi, Akar, and Azariah = 3; Ram and his descendants (including the two daughters of Jesse, and Jeter the father of Amasa) = 21; Kaleb and his descendants = 10; Jerahmeel and his descendants = 24: together = 70."But this number also is obtained only by taking into account the father and mother of Amasa as two persons, contrary to the rule according to which only the father, without the mother, is to be counted, or, in case the mother be more famous than the father, or be an heiress, only the mother.)

- In 1Ch 2:34-41 there follows the family of Sheshan, which was originated by the marriage of his daughter with his Egyptian slave, and which is continued through thirteen generations. The name of this daughter is in 1Ch 2:25. not mentioned, but she is without doubt the Ahlai mentioned in 1Ch 2:31. But since this Ahlai is the tenth in descent from Judah through Pharez, she was probably born in Egypt; and the Egyptian slave Jarha was most likely a slave whom Sheshan had in Egypt, and whom he adopted as his son for the propagation of his race, by giving him his daughter and heir to wife. If this be the case, the race begotten by Jarha with the daughter of Sheshan is traced down till towards the end of the period of the judges. The Egyptian slave Jarha is not elsewhere met with; and though the names which his posterity bore are found again in various parts of the Old Testament, of none of them can it be proved that they belonged to men of this family, so as to show that one of these person shad become famous in history.

Constable: 1Ch 1:1--9:44

I. ISRAEL'S HISTORICAL ROOTS chs. 1--9

"The fact that the author of 1 and 2 Chronicles devoted nine chapters out of sixty-five to genealogies (1 Chr 1-9) makes clear that these were of great importance to him and bear significantly on his purpose in writing his work. This purpose needs to be understood by any commentator who would elucidate the nature of these volumes.

"We may define a genealogy as a written or oral expression of the descent of a person or persons from an ancestor or ancestors.'¹⁸ They may display breadth (These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,' 1 Chr 2:1) and depth (the sons of Solomon: Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son,' 1 Chr 3:10). This latter genealogy and others of its type that display depth alone are termed linear.' Biblical genealogies, like the extrabiblical ones, are normally quite limited in depth, rarely extending beyond ten or twelve generations but often from four to six. In 1 Chronicles 2-9 we have an exception. Perhaps the writer sometimes joined separate genealogies.

"If a genealogy displays breadth as well as depth, it is termed segmented,' or mixed.' In Chronicles multiple descendants of an ancestor are frequently named, but not all the lives are pursued to later generations. Genealogies may proceed from parent to child (descending, as in 1 Chr 9:39-44) or from child to parent (ascending, as in 1 Chr 9:14-16).

"The two types of genealogy, linear and segmented, serve different purposes. The linear genealogy seeks to legitimize an individual by relating him to an ancestor whose status is established. The segmented genealogy is designed to express relationships between the various branches of a family."¹⁹

"Their function, broadly speaking, is to show that the promises and purposes of God continue."²⁰

The aim of the genealogies "is to paint a portrait of the people of God in its ideal extent as a symbol of both the particularity of his election and the breadth of his grace."²¹

". . . it should be noted that a further theme of Chr., that of the Lord's willingness to start afresh with his errant people, is also tucked away almost unnoticed in the genealogies."²²

Guzik: 1Ch 2:1-55

1 Chronicles 2 - Descendents of Abraham and Judah

A. Descendents of Abraham.

1. (1-2) The descendents of Abraham through Israel.

These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

a. These were the sons of Israel: The line of the patriarchs began with Abraham, and was passed down to Isaac (and not Ishmael) and then to Jacob/Israel (and not to Esau). Yet with the sons of Israel, all the sons were chosen as inheritors of the covenant.

b. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher: These twelve sons of Israel actually became 13 tribes of Israel, because two tribes came from Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim).

i. "The order of names follows Genesis 35:23-26, with one exception. Dan is expected after Benjamin, and no convincing reason has been put forward for the change (cf. also Exodus 1:2-4). A different order is used in the following chapters." (Selman)

2. (3-17) The descendents of Judah to the family of Jesse, the father of David.

The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by the daughter of Shua, the Canaanitess. Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so He killed him. And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara; five of them in all. The son of Carmi was Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the accursed thing. The son of Ethan was Azariah. Also the sons of Hezron who were born to him were Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. Ram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, leader of the children of Judah; Nahshon begot Salma, and Salma begot Boaz; Boaz begot Obed, and Obed begot Jesse; Jesse begot Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, and David the seventh. Now their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel; three. Abigail bore Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

a. The sons of Judah: There were twelve sons of Israel, and thirteen tribes from those twelve sons. Yet the tribe of Judah received first attention from the Chronicler.

i. "Judah heads the tribal genealogies, and receives more extensive treatment than any other tribe. The reason for this special prominence is to be found in the central position of David's line (2:10-17; 3:1-24)." (Selman)

ii. "But while our Chronicler lists all twelve of the sons of Israel-Jacob, his attention quickly focuses on Judah (2:3), the description of whose tribe occupies the next two and one-half chapters." (Payne)

b. Er, the firstborn of Judah, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; so He killed him: This listing of the line of Judah also includes those with a darker testimony of life, including Er, Onan, Tamar, and Achar (also known as Achan in Joshua 7:24-26).

i. "Achan was also guilty of 'unfaithfulness', a key term in Chronicles . . . This word has the nuance of depriving God of his due, and is Chronicles' favourite explanation for the disaster of the exile." (Selman)

c. Jesse begot . . . David the seventh: This section of genealogy deals with the line of Judah to David, the founder of the Davidic dynasty that ruled over Israel and Judah.

i. Abishai, Joab, Asahel, and Amasa: "The genealogies of these four warriors, made famous under their half-uncle David (cf. 2 Samuel 2:18-19; 19:13), are not drawn from 2 Samuel 2:18 and 17:25; but apart from this later passage, we would not have known that their mothers, Zeruiah and Abigail, were step-daughters of Jesse, born to David's mother by her presumably earlier marriage to Nahash." (Payne)

B. Other descendents of the tribe of Judah.

1. (18-24) The family of Hezron, a grandson of Judah.

Caleb the son of Hezron had children by Azubah, his wife, and by Jerioth. Now these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. When Azubah died, Caleb took Ephrath as his wife, who bore him Hur. And Hur begot Uri, and Uri begot Bezalel. Now afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub. Segub begot Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. (Geshur and Syria took from them the towns of Jair, with Kenath and its towns; sixty towns.) All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead. After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Hezron's wife Abijah bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

a. Caleb the son of Hezron: This traces a side-line in the tribe of Judah, separate from the line that culminated in David.

i. "In practice, the otherwise unknown Caleb son of Hezron is probably distinct from Caleb, a Kenizzite and son of Jephunneh, who is frequently said to have 'followed the LORD wholeheartedly' (e.g. Numbers 14:24; 32:12; Joshua 14:6, 13-14)." (Selman) Caleb the Kenizzite seems to be mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:15-16.

b. Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon: These obscure names connected with the tribe of Judah are listed for an important general reason. Most of the returning exiles in the general time Chronicles was written were connected to the tribe of Judah.

i. "The land that was occupied by the Jews who had returned from the Babylonian exile consisted primarily of the tribal territories of Judah and Benjamin. Also, the people who make up Ezra's community were largely from these same two tribes (Ezra 1:5; 10:9)." (Payne)

2. (25-41) The family of Jerahmeel, a great-grandson of Judah.

The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were Ram, the firstborn, and Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel, were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. The sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai were Nadab and Abishur. And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. The sons of Nadab were Seled and Appaim; Seled died without children. The son of Appaim was Ishi, the son of Ishi was Sheshan, and Sheshan's child was Ahlai. The sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai, were Jether and Jonathan; Jether died without children. The sons of Jonathan were Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel. Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. And Sheshan had an Egyptian servant whose name was Jarha. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife, and she bore him Attai. Attai begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad; Zabad begot Ephlal, and Ephlal begot Obed; Obed begot Jehu, and Jehu begot Azariah; Azariah begot Helez, and Helez begot Eleasah; Eleasah begot Sismai, and Sismai begot Shallum; Shallum begot Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begot Elishama.

a. The sons of Jerahmeel: This traces a side-line in the tribe of Judah, separate from the line that culminated in David.

3. (42-55) The family of Caleb, a great-grandson of Judah.

The descendants of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha, his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. The sons of Hebron were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. Shema begot Raham the father of Jorkoam, and Rekem begot Shammai. And the son of Shammai was Maon, and Maon was the father of Beth Zur. Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran begot Gazez. And the sons of Jahdai were Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea. And the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. These were the descendants of Caleb: The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, were Shobal the father of Kirjath Jearim, Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth Gader. And Shobal the father of Kirjath Jearim had descendants: Haroeh, and half of the families of Manuhoth. The families of Kirjath Jearim were the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. The sons of Salma were Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half of the Manahethites, and the Zorites. And the families of the scribes who dwelt at Jabez were the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Suchathites. These were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

a. The descendants of Caleb: This traces another side-line in the tribe of Judah, separate from the line that culminated in David.

i. "Caleb's 'daughter' Acsah was only a distant descendant of Caleb the son of Hezron, though she was an immediate daughter of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the faithful spy (listed in 4:15). She is remembered as the bride of Othniel, the first of the judges (Judges 3:9-11), having been promised to him for his conquest of Debir (Joshua 15:15-19; Judges 1:11-15)." (Payne)

b. These are the Kenites: "The Kenites were originally a foreign people (Genesis 15:19), some of whom, by marriage or adoption, became incorporated into the tribe of Judah." (Payne)

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Introduction / Outline

JFB: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF CHRONICLES were also considered as one by the ancient Jews, who called them "words of days," that is, diaries or journals, being probably compiled from those registers that were kept by the king's historiographers of passing occurrences. In the Septuagint the title given them is Paraleipomenon, "of things omitted," that is, the books are supplementary because many things unnoticed in the former books are here recorded; and not only the omissions are supplied, but some narratives extended while others are added. The authorship is commonly ascribed to Ezra, whose leading object seems to have been to show the division of families, possessions, &c., before the captivity, with a view to the exact restoration of the same order after the return from Babylon. Although many things are restated and others are exact repetitions of what is contained in Kings, there is so much new and important information that, as JEROME has well said, the Chronicles furnish the means of comprehending parts of the New Testament, which must have been unintelligible without them. They are frequently referred to by Christ and the Apostles as forming part of "the Word of God" (see the genealogies in Mat. 1:1-16; Luk. 3:23-38; compare 2Ch 19:7 with 1Pe 1:17; 2Ch 24:19-21 with Mat 23:32-35).

JFB: 1 Chronicles (Outline)

• ADAM'S LINE TO NOAH. (1Ch. 1:1-23)
• SHEM'S LINE TO ABRAHAM. (1Ch 1:24-28)
• SONS OF ISHMAEL. (1Ch 1:29-31)
• SONS OF KETURAH. (1Ch 1:32-33)
• POSTERITY OF ABRAHAM BY ESAU. (1Ch 1:34-42)
• POSTERITY OF JUDAH. (1Ch 2:3-12)
• CHILDREN OF JESSE. (1Ch 2:13-17)
• POSTERITY OF CALEB. (1Ch. 2:18-55)
• SONS OF DAVID. (1Ch 3:1-9)
• HIS LINE TO ZEDEKIAH. (1Ch 3:10-16)
• SUCCESSORS OF JECONIAH. (1Ch 3:17-24)
• POSTERITY OF JUDAH BY CALEB THE SON OF HUR. (1Ch 4:1-8)
• OF JABEZ, AND HIS PRAYER. (1Ch 4:9-20)
• POSTERITY OF SHELAH. (1Ch 4:21-23)
• OF SIMEON. (1Ch. 4:24-43)
• THE LINE OF REUBEN. (1Ch 5:1-10)
• THE LINE OF GAD. (1Ch. 5:11-26)
• LINE OF THE PRIESTS. (1Ch. 6:1-48)
• OFFICE OF AARON AND HIS SONS. (1Ch. 6:49-81)
• SONS OF ISSACHAR. (1Ch 7:1-5)
• OF BENJAMIN. (1Ch 7:6-12)
• OF NAPHTALI. (1Ch 7:13)
• OF MANASSEH. (1Ch. 7:14-40)
• SONS AND CHIEF MEN OF BENJAMIN. (1Ch. 8:1-32)
• STOCK OF SAUL AND JONATHAN. (1Ch 8:33-40)
• ORIGINAL REGISTERS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH'S GENEALOGIES. (1Ch. 9:1-26)
• SAUL'S OVERTHROW AND DEATH. (1Ch 10:1-7)
• THE PHILISTINES TRIUMPH OVER HIM. (1Ch 10:8-14)
• DAVID MADE KING. (1Ch 11:1-3)
• HE WINS THE CASTLE OF ZION FROM THE JEBUSITES BY JOAB'S VALOR. (1Ch 11:4-9)
• A CATALOGUE OF HIS WORTHIES. (1Ch. 11:10-47)
• THE COMPANIES THAT CAME TO DAVID AT ZIKLAG. (1Ch. 12:1-22)
• THE ARMIES THAT CAME TO HIM AT HEBRON. (1Ch. 12:23-40)
• DAVID FETCHES THE ARK FROM KIRJATH-JEARIM. (1Ch 13:1-8)
• HIRAM'S KINDNESS TO DAVID; DAVID'S FELICITY. (1Ch 14:1-2)
• HIS WIVES. (1Ch 14:3-7)
• HIS VICTORIES OVER THE PHILISTINES. (1Ch 14:8-17)
• DAVID BRINGS THE ARK FROM OBEDEDOM. (1Ch. 15:1-24)
• DAVID'S FESTIVAL SACRIFICE AND LIBERALITY TO THE PEOPLE. (1Ch 16:1-6)
• HIS PSALM OF THANKSGIVING. (1Ch. 16:7-43)
• DAVID FORBIDDEN TO BUILD GOD A HOUSE. (1Ch 17:1-10)
• DAVID SUBDUES THE PHILISTINES AND MOABITES. (1Ch 18:1-2)
• DAVID SMITES HADADEZER AND THE SYRIANS. (1Ch 18:3-17)
• DAVID'S MESSENGERS, SENT TO COMFORT HANUN, ARE DISGRACEFULLY TREATED. (1Ch 19:1-5)
• JOAB AND ABISHAI OVERCOME THE AMMONITES. (1Ch 19:6-15)
• SHOPHACH SLAIN BY DAVID. (1Ch 19:16-19)
• RABBAH BESIEGED BY JOAB, SPOILED BY DAVID, AND THE PEOPLE TORTURED. (1Ch 20:1-3)
• THREE OVERTHROWS OF THE PHILISTINES AND THREE GIANTS SLAIN. (1Ch 20:4-8)
• DAVID SINS IN NUMBERING THE PEOPLE. (1Ch 21:1-13)
• HE BUILDS AN ALTAR. (1Ch 21:18-30)
• DAVID PREPARES FOR BUILDING THE TEMPLE. (1Ch 22:1-5)
• HE INSTRUCTS SOLOMON. (1Ch 22:6-19)
• DAVID MAKES SOLOMON KING. (1Ch 23:1)
• NUMBER AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE LEVITES. (1Ch 23:2-6)
• SONS OF GERSHON. (1Ch 23:7-11)
• OF KOHATH. (1Ch 23:12-20)
• OF MERARI. (1Ch 23:21-23)
• OFFICE OF THE LEVITES. (1Ch 23:24-32)
• DIVISION OF THE SONS OF AARON INTO FOUR AND TWENTY ORDERS. (1Ch. 24:1-19)
• NUMBER AND OFFICE OF THE SINGERS. (1Ch 25:1-7)
• THEIR DIVISION BY LOT INTO FOUR AND TWENTY ORDERS. (1Ch. 25:8-31)
• DIVISIONS OF THE PORTERS. (1Ch 26:1-12)
• THE GATES ASSIGNED BY LOT. (1Ch 26:13-19)
• LEVITES THAT HAD CHARGE OF THE TREASURES. (1Ch 26:20-28)
• OFFICERS AND JUDGES. (1Ch 26:29-32)
• TWELVE CAPTAINS FOR EVERY MONTH. (1Ch 27:1-15)
• PRINCES OF THE TWELVE TRIBES. (1Ch 27:16-24)
• DAVID EXHORTS THE PEOPLE TO FEAR GOD. (1Ch 28:1-8)
• HE ENCOURAGES SOLOMON TO BUILD THE TEMPLE. (1Ch 28:9-20)
• DAVID CAUSES THE PRINCES AND PEOPLE TO OFFER FOR THE HOUSE OF GOD. (1Ch 29:1-9)
• HIS REIGN AND DEATH. (1Ch 29:26-30)

TSK: 1 Chronicles 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Ch 2:1, The sons of Israel; 1Ch 2:3, The posterity of Judah by Tamar; 1Ch 2:13, The children of Jesse; 1Ch 2:18, The posterity of Caleb the son of Hezron; 1Ch 2:21, Hezron’s posterity by the daughter of Machir; 1Ch 2:25, Jerahmeel’s posterity; 1Ch 2:34, Sheshan’s posterity; 1Ch 2:42, Another branch of Caleb’s posterity; 1Ch 2:50, The posterity of Caleb the son of Hur.

Poole: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES

THE ARGUMENT

THESE Books of the CHRONICLES are not the same which are so called, 1Ki 14:19 , and elsewhere, (because some passages said to be there mentioned are not found here,) but other books, and written by other persons, and for other ends. Yet this same writer took out of those books such historical passages as were most useful or necessary. They were written after the Babylonish captivity, as appears from 2Ch 36:20 , &c., by Ezra; as may be gathered not only from the same words used in the place now quoted, and in the beginning of that book which goeth under the name of Ezra, but also from some other passages, which we may observe hereafter, and from the exactness and diligence here used in making catalogues of persons and families, which also is used in the Book of Ezra. If one or two passages seem to be of a later date, those were added by some other prophets; there being some few such additional passages in the Books of Moses. The chief design of these books is, to complete the history of the kings of Judah, and to gather up the fragments of sacred history which were omitted in the Books of Samuel and Kings, and to explain some passages there mentioned, and to give an exact account of the genealogies; which (though ignorant or inconsiderate persons may think trivial and useless) was a work of great necessity, to preserve the distinction of the tribes and families, that so it might appear that Christ came of that nation, and tribe, and family, of which he was to be born. And this account having been hitherto neglected, is most seasonably mentioned in these books, because this was to be in a manner the last part of the sacred and canonical history of the Old Testament, and therefore the fittest place to record those genealogies, upon which the truth and authority of the New Testament ill some sort depends. And whereas many things in these genealogies to us are obscure and doubtful, they were not so to the Hebrews; and all the persons here named were known to them by those very particular and exact genealogies, which they kept in their several families and in public registers; from whence this sacred penman, by the direction of God’ s Spirit, took those things which were of most importance.

Poole: 1 Chronicles 2 (Chapter Introduction)

CHRONICLES CHAPTER 2

The sons of Israel; of Judah by Tamar: the children of Jesse, 1Ch 2:1-17 . Of Caleb the son of Hezron; of him by the daughter of Machir, 1Ch 2:18-21 . Of Jerahmeel, 1Ch 2:25-33 . Of Sheshan, 1Ch 2:34-41 . Another branch of Caleb’ s posterity, 1Ch 2:42-49 . Of Caleb the son of Hur, 1Ch 2:50-55 .

MHCC: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

The books of Chronicles are, in a great measure, repetitions of what is in the books of Samuel and of the Kings, yet there are some excellent useful things in them which we find not elsewhere. The FIRST BOOK traces the rise of the Jewish people from Adam, and afterward gives an account of the reign of David. In the SECOND BOOK the narrative is continued, and relates the progress and end of the kingdom of Judah; also it notices the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity. Jerome says, that whoever supposes himself to have knowledge of the Scriptures without being acquainted with the books of Chronicles, deceives himself. Historical facts passed over elsewhere, names, and the connexion of passages are to be found here, and many questions concerning the gospel are explained.

MHCC: 1 Chronicles 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Genealogies.

Matthew Henry: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Book of Chronicles

In common things repetition is thought needless and nauseous; but, in sacred things, precept must be upon precept and line upon line. To me, says the apostle, to write the same things is not grievous, but for you it is safe, Phi 3:1. These books of Chronicles are in a great measure repetition; so are much of the second and third of the four evangelists: and yet there are no tautologies either here or there no vain repetitions. We may be ready to think that of all the books of holy scripture we could best spare these two books of Chronicles. Perhaps we might, and yet we could ill spare them: for there are many most excellent useful things in them, which we find not elsewhere. And as for what we find here which we have already met with, 1. It might be of great use to those who lived when these books were first published, before the canon of the Old Testament was completed and the particles of it put together; for it would remind them of what was more fully related in the other books. Abstracts, abridgments, and references, are of use in divinity as well as law. That, perhaps, may not be said in vain which yet has been said before. 2. It is still of use, that out of the mouth of two witnesses every word may be established, and, being inculcated, may be remembered. The penman of these books is supposed to be Ezra, that ready scribe in the law of the Lord, Ezr 7:6. It is a groundless story of that apocryphal writer (2 Esdr. 14:21, etc.) that, all the law being burnt, Ezra was divinely inspired to write it all over again, which yet might take rise from the books of Chronicles, where we find, though not all the same story repeated, yet the names of all those who were the subjects of that story. These books are called in the Hebrew words of days - journals or annals, because, by divine direction, collected out of some public and authentic records. The collection was made after the captivity, and yet the language of the originals, written before, it sometimes retained, as 2Ch 5:9, there it is unto this day, which must have been written before the destruction of the temple. The Septuagint calls it a book Paraleipomenōn - of things left, or overlooked, by the preceding historians; and several such things there are in it. It is the rereward, the gathering host, of this sacred camp, which gathers up what remained, that nothing might be lost. In this first book we have, I. A collection of sacred genealogies, from Adam to David: and they are none of those which the apostle calls endless genealogies, but have their use and end in Christ, ch. 1-9. Divers little passages of history are here inserted which we had not before. II. A repetition of the history of the translation of the kingdom from Saul to David, and of the triumph of David's reign, with large additions, ch. 10-21. III. An original account of the settlement David made of the ecclesiastical affairs, and the preparation he made for the building of the temple, ch. 22-29. These are words of days, of the oldest days, of the best days, of the Old Testament church. The reigns of kings and dates of kingdoms, as well as the lives of common persons, are reckoned by days; for a little time often gives a great turn, and yet all time is nothing to eternity.

Matthew Henry: 1 Chronicles 2 (Chapter Introduction)

We have now come to what was principally intended, the register of the children of Israel, that distinguished people, that were to " dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations." Here we have, I. The names of the twelve sons of Israel (1Ch 2:1, 1Ch 2:2). II. An account of the tribe of Judah, which has the precedency, not so much for the sake of David as for the sake of the Son of David, our Lord, who sprang out of Judah, Heb 7:14. 1. The first descendants from Judah, down to Jesse (1Ch 2:3-12). 2. The children of Jesse (1Ch 2:13-17). 3. The posterity of Hezron, not only through Ram, from whom David came, but through Caleb (1Ch 2:18-20), Segub (1Ch 2:21-24), Jerahmeel (1Ch 2:25-33, and so to 1Ch 2:41), and more by Caleb (1Ch 2:42-49), with the family of Caleb the son of Hur (1Ch 2:50-55). The best exposition we can have of this and the following chapters, and which will give the clearest view of them, is found in those genealogical tables which were published with some of the first impressions of the last English Bible about 100 years ago, and continued for some time; and it is a pity but they were revived in some of our later editions, for they are of great use to those who diligently search the scriptures. They are said to be drawn up by that great master in scripture-learning, Mr. Hugh Broughton. We meet with them sometimes in old Bibles.

Constable: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The earliest Hebrew title for the Books of Chronicles translates as, "The Things Left Behind." This name describes Chronicles as containing remnants of the monarchy history not recorded in the preceding Old Testament historical books. A later title that appears in most copies of the Hebrew Bible is, "The Accounts of the Days," or "Daily Matters." This title emphasizes the nature of Chronicles as official annals (cf. Esth. 2:23; 1 Kings 14:19). Chronicles contains the official records of the kings of Israel, especially those of the Southern Kingdom after the kingdom split. The English title "Chronicles" comes down to us from this later Hebrew one.

As was true of Samuel and Kings, the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Hebrew Old Testament was responsible for dividing the single Book of Chronicles into 1 and 2 Chronicles. Scribes divided these long books to make them easier for copyists, publishers, and readers to handle. We could translate the Septuagint title as, "Things Omitted." This title implies that Chronicles contains material left out of other inspired histories of Israel. This is true. Of course, it also contains much material that the former historical books included.

Writer and Date

Early Jewish tradition recorded in the Talmud ascribed the authorship of Chronicles to Ezra. Recent studies of the linguistic differences that exist between the Books of Ezra and Chronicles have led some modern scholars to reject this ancient view.¹ Internal evidence suggests that if the writer was not Ezra he was probably a contemporary of Ezra.

There is quite a bit of difference of opinion even among conservative evangelical scholars regarding the date of composition. Most of these people place it within Ezra's lifetime (ca. 450-400 B.C.).² This date would make Chronicles one of the last if not the last historical book of the Old Testament. The date of composition of Ezra was probably about 446 B.C. The Book of Nehemiah probably came into existence between 420 and 400 B.C. The date of writing of Esther was probably shortly after 473 B.C.

"It is now clear from comparison of Chronicles with the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Greek translations of the Pentateuch that the text Chronicles used was more like these texts than the MT [Masoretic Text]."³

Scholars vary greatly in their ideas concerning the date of composition. Some of them hold a date as early as the middle of the fifth century B.C. (450 B.C.) while others date Chronicles as late as 200 B.C.⁴

Scope and Purpose

Chronicles covers a broader period of history than any other Old Testament book. It begins with Adam and ends with Anani who lived eight generations after King Jehoiachin (1 Chron. 3:24). If we allow 25 years for each generation, the birth of Anani would have been between 425 and 400 B.C.

"In Near Eastern antiquity, the generation (that is the years between a man's birth and his begetting his first-born son) is ordinarily 25 years or less."⁵

Since the writer had great interest in David's family it is unlikely that any of David's descendants after Anani were alive when he wrote the book. If they had been, the writer probably would have included their names.

Other Old Testament books, especially Genesis, Samuel, and Kings, cover over half the material that Chronicles contains. There are two main reasons for this repetition. First, the writer wanted to give his readers another version of those events. In this respect Chronicles and the other historical books are similar to the Gospels in the New Testament. Each gives a unique interpretation and emphasis. Each writer selected the historical materials that would present what he wanted to emphasize. Chronicles is more similar to John's Gospel than the other Gospels. Both books are very sermonic, and each has a purpose that is easy to identify (John 20:30-31; 2 Chron. 7:14). Chronicles is also similar to Deuteronomy, the last book of the Pentateuch, which also preaches by recalling history.

Second, the writer of Chronicles explained and expounded the meaning of many events in Israel's history much as the writers of modern commentaries do. This was especially important since the original readers of Chronicles needed to remember their history and the spiritual issues that had molded and would mold their destiny. These observations would guide them as they sought to reestablish Israel in the Promised Land after the Babylonian captivity.

"The purpose of these two volumes [1 and 2 Chronicles] is to review the history of Israel from the dawn of the human race to the Babylonian captivity and Cyrus' edict of restoration. This review is composed with a very definite purpose in mind, to give to the Jews of the Second Commonwealth the true spiritual foundations of their theocracy as the covenant people of Jehovah. This historian's purpose is to show that the true glory of the Hebrew nation was found in its covenant relationship to God, as safeguarded by the prescribed forms of worship in the temple and administered by the divinely ordained priesthood under the protection of the divinely authorized dynasty of David. Always the emphasis is upon that which is sound and valid in Israel's past as furnishing a reliable basis for the task of reconstruction which lay ahead. Great stress is placed upon the rich heritage of Israel and its unbroken connection with the patriarchal beginnings (hence the prominence accorded to genealogical lists)."⁶

". . . the Chronicler' is no mere chronicler! He is a theologian, sharing with all the biblical writers the burden of interpreting God's ways to human beings."⁷

The writer saw principles operating in history. He selected unmistakable instances of them and applied them to his own times.

"If Kings, composed after the final collapse of the kingdom in 586 B.C., concentrates on how sin leads to defeat (2 Kings 17:15, 18), then Chronicles, coming after the two returns from exile in 537 and 458 B.C., recounts, from the same record, how faith is the victory' (2 Chron. 20:20, 22)."⁸

". . . the Chronicler goes even further than the Deuteronomic historian [i.e., the writer of 1 and 2 Kings] in attempting to correlate blessing with faithfulness and judgment with disobedience within each separate generation."⁹

Another statement of the purpose of Chronicles is as follows:

". . . to rally the returned remnant to hopeful temple worship . . . by demonstrating their link with the enduring Davidic promises."¹⁰

"The past is explained so that its institutions and religious principles become relevant to the present, and the ways of the present are legitimized anew by being connected to the prime source of authority--the formative period in the people's past."¹¹

Three major features of Chronicles appear when we isolate the material the writer included that is not in Samuel or Kings. First, the genealogies reflect the writer's goal of encouraging Israel's racial and religious purity. Second, the emphases on the temple, ark, and worship show his desire that the returned exiles reestablish worship according to the Mosaic Law.¹² Third, the record of David's glories and the victories God gave his successors were his way of encouraging his original readers as they sought to reestablish their nation in the Promised Land.¹³

Conservative students of Chronicles differ in their opinion concerning the amount of Messianic expectation the Chronicler held out to his readers. My belief is that he did present some hope of a coming Messiah who would fulfill the promises given to David in the Davidic Covenant. I will point this out at the appropriate places in the notes that follow.¹⁴

Passages Unique to Chronicles (In probable chronological order)15
Genealogies	The genealogical tables	1 Chron. 1-9
David	The list of the men who came to David at Ziklag	1 Chron. 12:1-7
	The list of the men who joined David on his way to Ziklag	1 Chron. 12:19-22
	Data concerning the number of warriors who made David king	1 Chron. 12:23-40
	The Gadites who "separated themselves unto David"	1 Chron. 12:8-15
	David's hymn of praise when he moved the ark	1 Chron. 16:4-36
	David's final preparations for the building of the temple	1 Chron. 22:1-19
	The national convention	1 Chron. 23:1-9:22
Solomon	The making of the altar of brass	2 Chron. 4:1
	The close of Solomon's dedicatory prayer	2 Chron. 6:40-42
Rehoboam	The adherence of the Levites in all Israel to Rehoboam	2 Chron. 11:13-14
	The immigration of other pious Israelites to Judah	2 Chron. 11:16-17
	Rehoboam's fortifications	2 Chron. 11:5-12
	Rehoboam's family	2 Chron. 11:18-23
Abijah	Abijah's family	2 Chron. 13:21
Asa	The ten years of peace under Asa	2 Chron. 14:1
	Asa's defense policy	2 Chron. 14:6-8
	Asa's victory over Zerah the Ethiopian	2 Chron. 14:9-15
	The warning of the prophet Azariah	2 Chron. 15:1-7
	The four years of peace under Asa	2 Chron. 15:19
	The renewal of the covenant	2 Chron. 15:9-15
	The warning of the prophet Hanani	2 Chron. 16:7-9
	Asa's transgression	2 Chron. 16:10
Jehoshaphat	Jehoshaphat's strengthening of his kingdom	2 Chron. 17:1-7
	The mission of the princes, Levites and priests	2 Chron. 17:7-9
	Jehoshaphat's increasing power	2 Chron. 17:10-8:1
	The prophet Jehu's judgment on Jehoshaphat	2 Chron. 19:1-3
	Jehoshaphat's further reforms in worship and law	2 Chron. 19:4-11
	The deliverance from Moab and Ammon on Mt. Seir	2 Chron. 20:1-30
Jehoram	The posthumous message of Elijah to Jehoram	2 Chron. 21:12-15
	The invasion of the Philistines and Arabians	2 Chron. 21:16-17
	Jehoram's illness	2 Chron. 21:18
Joash	Joash's matrimonial affairs	2 Chron. 24:3
	The temple worship	2 Chron. 24:14
	The death of Jehoiada	2 Chron. 24:15-16
	The sins of Joash	2 Chron. 24:17-19
	The stoning of Zechariah	2 Chron. 24:20-22
	The reverses of Judah due to Hazael's operations	2 Chron. 24:23-24
Amaziah	Amaziah's planned expedition against Edom	2 Chron. 25:5
	Amaziah's hiring of 1000 mercenaries out of Israel and dismissing them	2 Chron. 25:6-10
	The pillage of the cities of Judah by the dismissed mercenaries	2 Chron. 25:13
	Amaziah's further wickedness	2 Chron. 25:14-16
Uzziah	Uzziah's success in war	2 Chron. 26:6-8
	Uzziah's building and farming	2 Chron. 26:9-10, 15
	Uzziah's army	2 Chron. 26:11-14
	Uzziah's fame	2 Chron. 26:8, 15
Jotham	Jotham's subjugation of the Ammonites	2 Chron. 27:5-6
Ahaz	Obed the prophet's obtaining the release of the Jewish captives during Ahaz's war with Rezin and Pekah	2 Chron. 28:9-15
	The Edomite and Philistine invasions under Ahaz	2 Chron. 28:17-19
Hezekiah	The cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah	2 Chron. 29:3-19
	The consecration of the temple	2 Chron. 29:20-36
	Preparations for the Passover	2 Chron. 30:1-12
	The keeping of the Passover	2 Chron. 30:13-22
	The keeping of "other seven days"	2 Chron. 30:23-27
	Hezekiah's further religious reforms	2 Chron. 31:2-21
	Hezekiah's wealth and building	2 Chron. 32:27-30
	Sennacherib's second entry into Judah for invasion	2 Chron. 32:1
	Hezekiah's precautions in view of Sennacherib's second entry into Judah for invasion	2 Chron. 32:2-8
	Hezekiah's renewed prosperity	2 Chron. 32:23
Manasseh	Manasseh's captivity	2 Chron. 33:11
	Manasseh's repentance and restoration	2 Chron. 33:12-13
	The acts of Manasseh after his restoration	2 Chron. 33:14-16
	The spiritual condition of the people	2 Chron. 33:17
Josiah	Josiah's early reformations	2 Chron. 34:3-7
Captivity	The length of the captivity	2 Chron. 36:20-21
	Cyrus' proclamation permitting return from the captivity	2 Chron. 36:22-23

Message¹⁶

The central subject of 1 and 2 Chronicles is the temple of God. Someone evidently wrote these books at the end of the Babylonian exile to encourage the Israelites to reestablish Israel's national life in the Promised Land. In view of this purpose the northern kingdom of Israel was of little interest to the writer. Judah is the kingdom in view, and David is the king in view. The central passion in David's life is in view, namely the building of the temple. Furthermore the reason for David's passion for the temple is in view. He saw that the recognition of God is of supreme importance in national life.

This is the message of the book. The recognition of God is of supreme importance in national life formally as well as really. The writer demonstrated this fact in the genealogies, and he illustrated it in David's life in the rest of 1 Chronicles.

The genealogies demonstrate the supreme importance of recognizing God in national life.

What was the writer emphasizing by his selective genealogy? This genealogy (chs. 1-9) shows that God has chosen to bless some individuals and not others. This was His plan from Adam to Nehemiah. God also chose to bring blessing to those who obeyed Him regardless of their other personal abilities or disabilities. Obedience is key to success. We can see a heart for God in obedience to God's will. There are two reasons God blesses people: His sovereign choice to bless, and our obedience to Him. Character grows out of obedience. Likewise God chose to bring cursing on those who were disobedient to Him regardless of their other personal rights and privileges.

The reason God chose to bless some individuals was to accomplish one ultimate goal. This goal was the fulfillment of His plans for His own glorification including the fulfillment of His promises to humanity. All the details of His choices of individuals contributed to His ultimate goal.

The genealogies teach us this lesson. The way to achieve permanence and success in individual life, and the way to achieve stability and success in national life, is to recognize God in life. Throughout history people and nations have succeeded or failed as they recognized God. This is a major point the writer was demonstrating in the genealogies. God has been selecting, changing, interrupting, and moving through history inexorably toward His ultimate goal.

The life of David, as narrated here, illustrates the supreme importance of recognizing God in national life (chs. 10-29).

The writer presented David as a strong model king. He selected four pictures from David's life. The first of these was his crowning that shows God's choice of him. The second was his capture of Jerusalem that was the victory that led to the temple. The third picture was his mighty men. It shows his influence on personal character and his true power. The fourth was the gathering of multitudes behind his leadership that shows his influence on the masses. All of these pictures are in a sense background for what follows concerning David.

What made David the great king he was? The writer showed that it was his attitude toward God that expressed itself in his attitude toward the temple. David's care for the ark (a symbol of God's grace) and his desire to build the temple (a symbol of worship that responds to God's grace) reveal his deepest passion in life. His master passion was that Israel should never forget the God who had chosen her for special blessing in the world. We can see that his great desire was not simply to build the temple. When God told him through Nathan not to build it, David accepted this. He was content to gather materials and to make plans because he saw the temple as a way of helping Israel remember her God.

The writer of 1 Chronicles wanted to show the importance of what the temple symbolized, namely Israel's national recognition of God. David's great desire was that Israel recognize God and express that recognition publicly.

As king, David ruled under the authority of God. As warrior, he executed the will of God. As poet, he constantly extolled the reign of God. He glorified God in every aspect of his life. He also appreciated the importance of recognizing God nationally.

The message of this book is still a timeless one for us today. The recognition of God is still extremely important in life nationally and individually. Just as God governs all individuals, He also governs all nations, not just Israel. Amos made the point that God governs all nations, not just Israel. All nations are accountable to Him (cf. Deut. 32). Even today one of the Jews' favorite names for God is "king of the universe."

It is important that we recognize God because of His selective activity that the genealogies highlight. Throughout all of history God has been choosing, selecting, lifting up, and casting down. He selects new people in every generation. If they fail, He selects others and keeps moving ahead. If the person we would normally expect God to use is not ready or is unqualified, God will choose another (cf. Saul and David). If the person with privilege does not respond to his opportunity, God will pass him by, find some other perhaps obscure person, and move on. How foolish it is for nations and individuals not to recognize Him in view of God's sovereign progress.

It is also important that we recognize God because of the effect recognizing Him has on life. Take God out of the life of nations and individuals and what happens? There is no moral standard. An English politician once said, "If there is no Bible, where is your textbook of morals? There is the supreme difficulty. We must teach morals, and there is no textbook or standard in the world if we take the Bible away."¹⁷

When we lose our moral standard we lose individual character. When we lose individual character we lose the basis for civilized society. These things build on each other. Awareness of the throne of God and the government of God is foundational for any social order.

It is extremely important for every nation to build the temple of God, to recognize God in its life. This creates an opportunity for people to deal with God. Movements that advocate removing recognition of God from national life are pernicious. The person who points people to God is the true patriot. David wrote, "Zeal for your house has eaten me up." What is God's temple today? It is the church (Matt. 16:18). As the church we must point people to God. This was the "point" of church steeples in the past, to point people to God.

Constable: 1 Chronicles (Outline)

Outline

I. Israel's historical roots chs. 1-9

A. The lineage of David chs. 1-3

B. The house of Israel chs. 4-7

1. The family of Judah 4:1-23

2. The family of Simeon 4:24-43

3. The families of Transjordan ch. 5

4. The family of Levi ch. 6

5. The remaining families of Israel ch. 7

C. The lineage of Saul chs. 8-9

II. The reign of David chs. 10-29

A. The death of Saul ch. 10

B. David's coronation and capital 11:1-9

C. David's mighty men 11:10-12:40

D. David and the ark chs. 13-16

1. The removal of the ark from Kiriath-jearim ch. 13

2. Restoring fellowship with Yahweh ch. 14

3. The importance of the priests and Levites 15:1-15

4. The joy produced by God's presence 15:16-16:6

5. David's concern for the universal worship of Yahweh 16:7-43

E. God's covenant promises to David chs. 17-29

1. The first account of God's promises to David chs. 17-21

2. The second account of God's promises to David chs. 22-27

3. The third account of God's promises to David chs. 28-29

(Continued in notes on 2 Chronicles)

Constable: 1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON.

INTRODUCTION.

These Books are called by the Greek Interpreters, Paralipomenon; ( Greek: Paraleipomenon, ) that is, of things left out, or omitted; because they are a kind of supplement of such things as were passed over in the Books of Kings. The Hebrews call them, Dibre Hajamim; that is, The words of the days, or The Chronicles. Not that they are the books which are so often quoted in the Kings, under the title of, The Words of the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda; for the Books of Paralipomenon were written after the Books of Kings; but because, in all probability, they have been abridged from those ancient words of the days, by Esdras, or some other sacred author. (Challoner) --- The author of this compilation refers to the same works, 2 Paralipomenon xvi. 11., &c. These journals were principally composed by prophets, though there were other people appointed to write the most important occurrences, 2 Kings viii. 16., and 4 Kings xviii. 18. The genealogies of families, particularly of the Levites, and the interests of piety and religion, are kept most in view. (Calmet) --- The variations which appear between this work and the other parts of Scripture, are owing to the faults of transcribers; and, though they could not be satisfactorily explained, it would be rashness to condemn the author of inaccuracy, at this distance of time, when we know so little of those transactions. (Haydock) --- Who calls in question the history of Alexander, though the different authors of it scarcely agree in one calculation of the number of troops, nations conquered, &c.?" Yet the work before us is of far higher authority, as it was dictated by the Holy Ghost. (Calmet) --- "Without it, a person would in vain pretend to understand the Scriptures." It is "an epitome of the Old Testament," and "explains many difficulties of the gospels." (St. Jerome) --- The author does not, however, seem to have designed to draw up an exact epitome, or to supply the deficiencies of the other works. (Calmet) --- The first nine chapters contain various genealogical histories. In the 10th, we have the election and death of Saul; and in the remainder of the first book, the transactions of David, (Worthington) till the year [of the world] 2990, where the second book commences with the reign of Solomon, and brings us to the end of the captivity. (The year of the world 3468.; Calmet)

Gill: 1 Chronicles (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES

This and the following book were reckoned by the Jews as one book, as appears by the Masoretic note at the end of the second book, and as is affirmed by Origen ^a and Jerom ^b; and they were by the ancients ^c called Chronicles, as they are by us; but they are different from the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah, so often mentioned in the preceding books, seeing several things there referred to, as in them, are not to be found here; though no doubt many things here recorded were taken from thence under a divine direction. In the Greek version, and so in the Vulgate Latin version after that, they are called "Paralipomena", that is, things passed over or omitted, because they contain several anecdotes which are not to be found in the books of Samuel and Kings. The Hebrew title of them is, "Dibre Hayamim", words of days, day books or diaries, and what the Greeks call "Ephemerides"; though, as "yamim" sometimes signifies years, they may be named "annals"; and so the Arabic inscription is,

"the Books of Annals;''

and because they chiefly respect the kings of Judah, the Syriac inscription is,

"the Book of the Things that were done in the Times of the Kings of Judah.''

The Targum is,

"the Book of Genealogies, the Words of Days, which were from the Days of the World;''

because the first ten chapters consist of genealogies beginning from Adam. The inspired penman of these books must live after the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, since he carries down the genealogy of the kings and princes of Judah beyond that time, 1Ch 3:17. It is generally thought by the Jews and Christians that Ezra was the writer of them, with which agrees the age in which he lived; and as it may seem, from the last of these books ending with the same words with which that under his name begins: so the Talmudists ^d say, that Ezra wrote his own book, and the genealogy of the chronicles unto his own, or unto Velo, "and he had brethren", 2Ch 21:2 and Jarchi affirms that he wrote them by the hand or means of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, inspired prophets; though some Jewish writers ^e suppose they were written partly by him, and partly by Nehemiah; that all to 2Ch 21:2 were written by Ezra, and the rest by Nehemiah. Kimchi thinks that Ezra was not the first author and writer of these books, but that the books of Chronicles and Annals of the kings of Judah, and of the kings of Israel, were separately written before him; but that he only revised them, and with the men of the great synagogue added the genealogies, and put them into the canon of the Scriptures ^f. Spinosa ^g fancies they were written after Judas Maccabaeus had restored the temple, since the historian tells what families dwelt in Jerusalem in the times of Ezra, 1Ch 9:1 and speaks of the porters, 1Ch 9:17 two of which are mentioned, Neh 11:19 as if Ezra could not describe the families that lived when he did, or name the porters of the temple, since it was finished and dedicated in his time, Ezr 6:15, but however there is no doubt to be made of the authenticity of these books, since not only they have always been acknowledged by the Jews as a part of the canonical Scripture, and by ancient Christians, as appears by the catalogues of Melito ^h and Origen ⁱ; but there are plain references to them in the New Testament. The genealogy of Christ, by the evangelists, is formed out of them; the doxology in Rev 5:12 as some have observed, comes very near to what is used by David, 1Ch 29:11 and the passages in Act 7:48 contain the sense of what is expressed in 2Ch 2:5. The use and design of these books are chiefly to give a larger account of the kingdom of Judah, especially after the division of it from the ten tribes, and of the kings thereof, than what is given in the preceding books, as in the last of these books; and particularly they ascertain the genealogy of Christ, that it might be clear and plain of what tribe and family the Messiah came, that he descended from the tribe of Judah, and from the kings of the house of David, as in this first book. They both contain an history from Adam, to the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity in Babylon. The first of these books reaches, according to Hottinger ^k, to A. M. 2985, and the latter is an history of four hundred and seventy two years. According to Bishop Usher ^l the former contains a course of 2990 years, and the latter of four hundred and seventy eight.

Gill: 1 Chronicles 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 2

This chapter begins with the twelve sons of Israel or Jacob, 1Ch 2:1, then reckons the sons of Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, 1Ch 2:3, then the posterity of Pharez and Zerah, sons of Judah, 1Ch 2:5, next the sons of Hezron, a son of Pharez, 1Ch 2:9, particularly the posterity of Ram, a son of Hezron, from whom sprung Jesse and his family, 1Ch 2:10, then of Caleb: another son of Hezron, 1Ch 2:18, and next of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, 1Ch 1:25 and particularly the posterity of Sheshan, a descendant of his, 1Ch 1:34 and then other sons of Caleb, with their posterity, are reckoned, 1Ch 1:42 and the chapter is closed with the families of the Scribes in Jabesh, the same with the Kenites, 1Ch 2:55.