1 These `are' sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,
2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
3 Sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah, three have been born to him of a daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, first-born of Judah, is evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and He putteth him to death.
4 And Tamar his daughter-in-law hath borne to him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah `are' five.
5 Sons of Pharez: Hezron, and Hamul.
6 And sons of Zerah: Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara; all of them five.
7 And sons of Carmi: Achar, troubler of Israel, who trespassed in the devoted thing.
8 And sons of Ethan: Azariah.
9 And sons of Hezron who were born to him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.
10 And Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah;
11 and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,
12 and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse;
13 and Jesse begat his first-born Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third,
14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh,
16 and their sisters Zeruiah and Abigail. And sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, and Joab, and Asah-El -- three.
17 And Abigail hath borne Amasa, and the father of Amasa `is' Jether the Ishmeelite.
18 And Caleb son of Hezron hath begotten Azubah, Isshah, and Jerioth; and these `are' her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.
19 And Azubah dieth, and Caleb taketh to him Ephrath, and she beareth to him Hur.
20 And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.
21 And afterwards hath Hezron gone in unto a daughter of Machir father of Gilead, and he hath taken her, and he `is' a son of sixty years, and she beareth to him Segub.
22 And Segub begat Jair, and he hath twenty and three cities in the land of Gilead,
23 and he taketh Geshur and Aram, the small villages of Jair, from them, with Kenath and its small towns, sixty cities -- all these `belonged to' the sons of Machir father of Gilead.
24 And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-Ephratah, then the wife of Hezron, Abijah, even beareth to him Asshur, father of Tekoa.
25 And sons of Jerahmeel, first-born of Hezron, are: the first-born Ram, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah.
26 And Jerahmeel hath another wife, and her name `is' Atarah, she `is' mother of Onam.
27 And sons of Ram, first-born of Jerahmeel, are Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker.
28 And sons of Onam are Shammai and Jada. And sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
29 And the name of the wife of Abishur `is' Abihail, and she beareth to him Ahban and Molid.
30 And sons of Nadab: Seled, and Appaim; and Seled dieth without sons.
31 And sons of Appaim: Ishi. And sons of Ishi: Sheshan. And sons of Sheshan: Ahlai.
32 And sons of Jada, brother of Shammai: Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether dieth without sons.
33 And sons of Jonathan: Peleth, and Zaza. These were sons of Jerahmeel.
34 And Sheshan had no sons, but daughters, and Sheshan hath a servant, an Egyptian, and his name `is' Jarha,
35 and Sheshan giveth his daughter to Jarha his servant for a wife, and she beareth to him Attai;
36 and Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad,
37 and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,
38 and Obed begat Jehu,
39 and Jehu begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,
40 and Eleasah begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum,
41 and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.
42 And sons of Caleb brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha his first-born, he `is' father of Ziph; and sons of Mareshah: Abi-Hebron.
43 And sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema.
44 And Shema begat Raham father of Jorkoam, and Rekem begat Shammai.
45 And a son of Shammai `is' Maon, and Maon `is' father of Beth-Zur.
46 And Ephah concubine of Caleb bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez; and Haran begat Gazez.
47 And sons of Jahdai: Regem, and Jotham, and Geshem, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 The concubine of Caleb, Maachah, bare Sheber and Tirhanah;
49 and she beareth Shaaph father of Madmannah, Sheva father of Machbenah, and father of Gibea; and a daughter of Caleb `is' Achsa.
50 These were sons of Caleb son of Hur, first-born of Ephrathah: Shobal father of Kirjath-Jearim,
51 Salma father of Beth-Lehem, Hareph father of Beth-Gader.
52 And there are sons to Shobal father of Kirjath-Jearim: Haroeh, half of the Menuhothite;
53 and the families of Kirjath-Jearim: the Ithrite, and the Puhite, and the Shumathite, and the Mishraite: from these went out the Zareathite, and the Eshtaulite.
54 Sons of Salma: Beth-Lehem, and the Netophathite, Atroth, Beth-Joab, and half of the Menuhothite, the Zorite;
55 and the families of the scribes the inhabitants of Jabez: Tirathites, Shimeathites, Suchathites. They `are' the Kenites, those coming of Hammath father of the house of Rechab.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 2
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
1Ch 2:1, 2. Sons of Israel.
1Ch 2:3-12. Posterity of Judah.
3. The sons of Judah—His descendants are enumerated first, because the right and privileges of the primogeniture had been transferred to him (Ge 49:8), and because from his tribe the Messiah was to spring.
6. Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara—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.
7. the sons of Carmi—He was the son of Zimri, or Zabdi, as he is called (Jos 7:1).
Achar—or Achan (Jos 7:1). This variety in the form of the name is with great propriety used here, since Achar means "troubler."
1Ch 2:13-17. Children of Jesse.
15. David the seventh—As it appears (1Sa 16:10; 17:12) that Jesse had eight sons, the presumption is from David being mentioned here as the seventh son of his father, that one of them had died at an early age, without leaving issue.
17. Jether the Ishmaelite—(compare 2Sa 17:25). In that passage he is called Ithra an Israelite; and there seems no reason why, in the early days of David, anyone should be specially distinguished as an Israelite. The presumption is in favor of the reading followed by the Septuagint, which calls him "Jetra the Jezreelite." The circumstance of his settling in another tribe, or of a woman marrying out of her own tribe, was sufficiently rare and singular to call for the statement that Abigail was married to a man of Jezreel.
1Ch 2:18-55. Posterity of Caleb.
18. Caleb the son of Hezron—The notices concerning this person appear confused in our version. In 1Ch 2:19 he is said to be the father of Hur, whereas in 1Ch 2:50 he is called "the son of Hur." The words in this latter passage have been transposed in the copying, and should be read thus, "Hur the son of Caleb."
begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth—The former was his spouse, while Jerioth seems to have been a secondary wife, and the mother of the children whose names are here given. On the death of his principal wife, he married Ephrath, and by her had Hur [1Ch 2:19].
21. Hezron … daughter of Machir the father of Gilead—that is, chief of that town, which with the lands adjacent was no doubt the property of Machir, who was so desirous of a male heir. He was grandson of Joseph. The wife of Machir was of the tribe of Manasseh (Nu 26:29).
22. Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead—As the son of Segub and the grandson of Hezron, he was of the tribe of Judah; but from his maternal descent he is called (Nu 32:41; De 3:14) "the son of Manasseh." This designation implies that his inheritance lay in that tribe in right of his grandmother; in other words, his maternal and adopting great-grandfather was Machir the son of Manasseh. Jair, inheriting his property, was his lineal representative; and accordingly this is expressly stated to be the case; for the village group of "Havoth-Jair" was awarded to him in that tribe, in consequence of his valiant and patriotic exploits. This arrangement, however, took place previous to the law (Nu 36:1-13), by which it was enacted that heiresses were to marry in their own tribe. But this instance of Jair shows that in the case of a man obtaining an inheritance in another tribe it required him to become thoroughly incorporated with it as a representative of the family through which the inheritance was received. He had been adopted into Manasseh, and it would never have been imagined that he was other than "a son of Manasseh" naturally, had not this passage given information supplementary to that of the passage in Numbers.
23. he took—rather "he had taken." This statement is accounting for his acquisition of so large a territory; he got it by right of conquest from the former possessors.
Kenath—This place, along with its group of surrounding villages, was gained by Nobah, one of Jair's officers sent by him to capture it (Nu 32:1, 2).
All these belonged to the sons of Machir—In their number Jair is included as having completely identified himself by his marriage and residence in Gilead with the tribe of Manasseh.
24. Caleb-ephratah—so called from uniting the names of husband and wife (1Ch 2:19), and supposed to be the same as was afterwards called Beth-lehem-ephratah.
Ashur, the father of Tekoa—(2Sa 14:2-4). He is called the father, either from his being the first founder, or perhaps the ruler, of the city.
34. Sheshan had no sons, but daughters—either he had no sons alive at his death, or his family consisted wholly of daughters, of whom Ahlai (1Ch 2:31) was one, she being specially mentioned on account of the domestic relations about to be noted.
35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife—The adoption and marriage of a foreign slave in the family where he is serving, is far from being a rare or extraordinary occurrence in Eastern countries. It is thought, however, by some to have been a connection not sanctioned by the law of Moses [Michaelis]. But this is not a well-founded objection, as the history of the Jews furnishes not a few examples of foreign proselytes in the same manner obtaining an inheritance in Israel; and doubtless Jarha had previously embraced the Jewish faith in place of the grovelling idolatries of his native Egypt. In such a case, therefore, there could be no legal difficulty. Being a foreign slave, he had no inheritance in a different tribe to injure by this connection; while his marriage with Sheshan's daughter led to his adoption into the tribe of Judah, as well as his becoming heir of the family property.
42. the sons of Caleb—(compare 1Ch 2:18, 25). The sons here noticed were the fruit of his union with a third wife.
55. the families of the scribes—either civil or ecclesiastical officers of the Kenite origin, who are here classed with the tribe of Judah, not as being descended from it, but as dwelling within its territory, and in a measure incorporated with its people.
Jabez—a place in Judah (1Ch 4:9).
Kenites that came of Hemath—who settled in Judah, and were thus distinguished from another division of the Kenite clan which dwelt in Manasseh (Jud 4:11).