1 Chronicles 8:1-40

Benjamin’s Descendants (Continued)

8:1 Benjamin was the father of Bela, his firstborn; Ashbel was born second, Aharah ¹  third, 8:2 Nohah fourth, and Rapha fifth.

8:3 Bela’s sons were Addar, Gera, Abihud, 8:4 Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, 8:5 Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

8:6 These were the descendants of Ehud who were leaders of the families living in Geba who were forced to move to Manahath: 8:7 Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, who moved them. Gera ²  was the father of Uzzah and Ahihud.

8:8 Shaharaim fathered sons in Moab after he divorced his wives Hushim and Baara. 8:9 By his wife Hodesh he fathered Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malkam, 8:10 Jeuz, Sakia, and Mirmah. These were his sons; they were family leaders. 8:11 By Hushim he fathered Abitub and Elpaal.

8:12 The sons of Elpaal:

Eber, Misham, Shemed (who built Ono and Lod, as well as its surrounding towns), 8:13 Beriah, and Shema. They were leaders of the families living in Aijalon and chased out the inhabitants of Gath.

8:14 Ahio, Shashak, Jeremoth, 8:15 Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, 8:16 Michael, Ishpah, and Joha were the sons of Beriah.

8:17 Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, 8:18 Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal.

8:19 Jakim, Zikri, Zabdi, 8:20 Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, 8:21 Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei.

8:22 Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, 8:23 Abdon, Zikri, Hanan, 8:24 Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, 8:25 Iphdeiah, and Penuel were the sons of Shashak.

8:26 Shamsherai, Shechariah, Athaliah, 8:27 Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zikri were the sons of Jeroham. 8:28 These were the family leaders listed in the genealogical records; they lived in Jerusalem. ³ 

8:29 The father of Gibeon ⁴  lived in Gibeon; his wife’s name was Maacah. 8:30 His firstborn son was Abdon, followed by Zur, Kish, Baal, ⁵  Nadab, 8:31 Gedor, Ahio, Zeker, and Mikloth. ⁶ 

8:32 Mikloth was the father of Shimeah. They also lived near their relatives in Jerusalem. ⁷ 

8:33 Ner was the father of Kish, and Kish was the father of Saul. Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁸ 

8:34 The son of Jonathan:

Meribbaal. ⁹ 

Meribbaal was the father of Micah.

8:35 The sons of Micah:

Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz.

8:36 Ahaz was the father of Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. Zimri was the father of Moza, 8:37 and Moza was the father of Binea. His son was Raphah, whose son was Eleasah, whose son was Azel.

8:38 Azel had six sons: Azrikam his firstborn, ¹⁰  followed by Ishmael, Sheariah, ¹¹  Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

8:39 The sons of his brother Eshek:

Ulam was his firstborn, Jeush second, and Eliphelet third. 8:40 The sons of Ulam were warriors who were adept archers. ¹²  They had many sons and grandsons, a total of 150.

All these were the descendants of Benjamin.

[8:1]  ¹ sn Aharah is called “Ahiram” in Num 26:38.

[8:7]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Gera) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[8:28]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:29]  ⁴ tc Some LXX mss supply the name “Jeiel,” which is not in the MT (cf. 1 Chr 9:35). The addition of the name here is followed by many English versions (e.g., ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[8:30]  ⁵ tc Some LXX mss add “Ner” here (cf. 1 Chr 9:36 and v. 33 below, where Ner is mentioned as the father of Kish). The form וְנֵר (vÿner) could have been accidentally omitted by homoioarcton since each name in the list has the conjunction prefixed to it. Some English versions follow the LXX here and add “Ner” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NLT).

[8:31]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text omits the name “Mikloth,” but it may have fallen out accidentally by haplography. Note that the name immediately follows at the beginning of v. 32; cf. NAB.

[8:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “and also they, opposite their brothers, lived in Jerusalem with their brothers.” This redundancy has been removed in the translation.

[8:33]  ⁸ sn Eshbaal is called “Ishbosheth” in 2 Sam 2:8.

[8:34]  ⁹ sn Meribbaal is called “Mephibosheth” in 2 Sam 4:4.

[8:38]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text has בֹּכְרוּ (bokhÿru), which some understand as a name: “Bocheru” (so, e.g., NEB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). But the form should probably be revocalized בְּכֹרוֹ (bÿkhoru, “his firstborn”). A name has accidentally dropped from the list, and a scribe apparently read בֹּכְרוּ as one of the names.

[8:38]  ¹¹ tc The Lucianic recension of the LXX inserts another name here, καὶ Ἀζαριας (kai Azarias, “and Azariah”), presumably to make up the six sons mentioned at the beginning of the verse (see the previous tc note on “firstborn”). Cf. NAB.

[8:40]  ¹² tn Heb “and the sons of Ulam were men, warriors and treaders of a bow.”