1 These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun;
2 Dan, Joseph and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
3 The sons of Judah: Er and Onan and Shelah; these three were his sons by Bathshua, the Canaanite woman. And Er, Judah's oldest son, did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and he put him to death.
4 And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, had Perez and Zerah by him. All the sons of Judah were five.
5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
6 And the sons of Zerah: Zimri and Ethan and Heman and Calcol and Dara; five of them.
7 And the sons of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who did wrong about the cursed thing.
8 And the son of Ethan: Azariah.
9 And the sons of Hezron, the offspring of his body: Jerahmeel and Ram and Chelubai.
10 And Ram was the father of Amminadab; and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, chief of the children of Judah;
11 And Nahshon was the father of Salma, and Salma was the father of Boaz,
12 And Boaz was the father of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse,
13 And Jesse was the father of Eliab, his oldest son, and Abinadab, the second, and Shimea, the third,
14 Nethanel, the fourth, Raddai, the fifth,
15 Ozem, the sixth, David, the seventh;
16 And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And Zeruiah had three sons: Abishai and Joab and Asahel.
17 And Abigail was the mother of Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
18 And Caleb, the son of Hezron, had children by Azubah his wife, the daughter of Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher and Shobab and Ardon.
19 And after the death of Azubah, Caleb took as his wife Ephrath, who was the mother of Hur.
20 And Hur was the father of Uri; and Uri was the father of Bezalel.
21 And after that, Hezron had connection with the daughter of Machir, the father of Gilead, whom he took as his wife when he was sixty years old; and she had Segub by him.
22 And Segub was the father of Jair, who had twenty-three towns in the land of Gilead.
23 And Geshur and Aram took the tent-towns of Jair from them, with Kenath and the small places round it, even sixty towns. All these were the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead.
24 And after the death of Hezron, Caleb had connection with Ephrath, his father Hezron's wife, and she gave birth to his son Asshur, the father of Tekoa.
25 And the sons of Jerahmeel, the oldest son of Hezron, were Ram, the oldest, and Bunah and Oren and Ozem and Ahijah.
26 And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah: she was the mother of Onam.
27 And the sons of Ram, the oldest son of Jerahmeel, were Maaz and Jamin and Eker.
28 And the sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada; and the sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur.
29 And the name of Abishur's wife was Abihail; and she had Ahban and Molid by him.
30 And the sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; but Seled came to his end without sons.
31 And the sons of Appaim: Ishi. And the sons of Ishi: Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan: Ahlai.
32 And the sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether came to his end without sons.
33 And the sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.
34 Now Sheshan had no sons, but only daughters. And Sheshan had an Egyptian servant, whose name was Jarha.
35 And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha, his servant, as a wife; and she had Attai by him.
36 And Attai was the father of Nathan, and Nathan was the father of Zabad,
37 And Zabad was the father of Ephlal, and Ephlal was the father of Obed,
38 And Obed was the father of Jehu, and Jehu was the father of Azariah,
39 And Azariah was the father of Helez, and Helez was the father of Eleasah,
40 And Eleasah was the father of Sismai, and Sismai was the father of Shallum,
41 And Shallum was the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah was the father of Elishama.
42 And the sons of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel, were Mareshah, his oldest son, who was the father of Ziph and Hebron.
43 And the sons of Hebron: Korah and Tappuah and Rekem and Shema.
44 And Shema was the father of Raham, the father of Jorkeam, and Rekem was the father of Shammai.
45 And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur.
46 And Ephah, Caleb's servant-wife, had Haran and Moza and Gazez; and Haran was the father of Gazez.
47 And the sons of Jahdai: Regem and Jotham and Geshan and Pelet and Ephah and Shaaph.
48 Maacah, Caleb's servant-wife, was the mother of Sheber and Tirhanah,
49 And Shaaph, the father of Madmannah, Sheva, the father of Machbena and the father of Gibea; and Caleb's daughter was Achsah. These were the sons of Caleb.
50 The sons of Hur, the oldest son of Ephrathah; Shobal, the father of Kiriath-jearim,
51 Salma, the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph, the father of Beth-gader.
52 And Shobal, the father of Kiriath-jearim, had sons: Haroeh, half of the Manahathites.
53 And the families of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites and the Puthites and the Shumathites and the Mishraites; from them came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.
54 The sons of Salma: Beth-lehem and the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-Joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.
55 And the families of scribes who were living at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites, the offspring of Hammath, the father of the family 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).