1 The sons of Judah: Pherez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.
2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begot Jahath; and Jahath begot Ahumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Zoreathites.
3 And these [were of] the father of Etam: Jizreel, and Jishma, and Jidbash; and the name of their sister was Hazlelponi;
4 and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah: these were the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, [and] father of Bethlehem.
5 -- And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
6 And Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Ahashtari: these were the sons of Naarah.
7 And the sons of Helah: Zereth, and Zohar, and Ethnan.
8 And Koz begot Anub, and Hazzobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9 And Jabez was more honoured than his brethren; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with pain.
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that thou wouldest richly bless me, and enlarge my border, and that thy hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God brought about what he had requested.
11 And Chelub the brother of Shuah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.
12 And Eshton begot Bethrapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of the city of Nahash: these were the men of Rechah.
13 -- And the sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath.
14 And Meonothai begot Ophrah: and Seraiah begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for they were craftsmen.
15 -- And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the sons of Elah, ... and Kenaz.
16 -- And the sons of Jehalleleel: Ziph and Ziphah, Tiria and Asareel.
17 -- And the sons of Ezra: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; and she conceived [and bore] Miriam, and Shammai, and Jishbah the father of Eshtemoa.
18 And his wife the Jewess bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom Mered took.
19 -- And the sons of the wife of Hodijah, the sister of Naham: the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite.
20 -- And the sons of Shimon: Amnon and Rinnah, Ben-hanan and Tilon. -- And the sons of Jishi: Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.
21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lechah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of byssus-workers, of the house of Ashbea,
22 and Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who ruled over Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And these are ancient things.
23 These were the potters, and those that abode among plantations and enclosures: there they dwelt with the king for his work.
24 The sons of Simeon: Nemuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, [and] Saul;
25 Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
26 And the sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son;
27 and Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. And his brethren had not many sons; neither did all their family multiply like to the sons of Judah.
28 And they abode at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-Shual,
29 and at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,
30 and at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag,
31 and at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David.
32 And their villages were Etam and Ain, Rimmon and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;
33 and all their villages that were round about these cities, as far as Baal. These were their habitations and their genealogical register.
34 And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah,
35 and Joel, and Jehu the son of Josibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
36 and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,
37 and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah:
38 these mentioned by name were princes in their families; and their fathers' houses increased greatly.
39 And they went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
40 And they found fat and good pasture, and a land widely extended and quiet and fertile, for they who had dwelt there formerly were of Ham.
41 And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents and the habitations that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their stead; for there was pasture there for their flocks.
42 And five hundred men of them, of the sons of Simeon, went to mount Seir, having at their head Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Jishi,
43 and they smote the rest of the Amalekites that had escaped; and they dwelt there unto this day.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 4
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
1Ch 4:1-8. Posterity of Judah by Caleb the Son of Hur.
1. the sons of Judah—that is, "the descendants," for with the exception of Pharez, none of those here mentioned were his immediate sons. Indeed, the others are mentioned solely to introduce the name of Shobal, whose genealogy the historian intended to trace (1Ch 2:52).
1Ch 4:9-20. Of Jabez, and His Prayer.
9, 10. Jabez—was, as many think, the son of Coz, or Kenaz, and is here eulogized for his sincere and fervent piety, as well, perhaps, as for some public and patriotic works which he performed. The Jewish writers affirm that he was an eminent doctor in the law, whose reputation drew so many scribes around him that a town was called by his name (1Ch 2:55); and to the piety of his character this passage bears ample testimony. The memory of the critical circumstances which marked his birth was perpetuated in his name (compare Ge 35:15); and yet, in the development of his high talents or distinguished worth in later life, his mother must have found a satisfaction and delight that amply compensated for all her early trials. His prayer which is here recorded, and which, like Jacob's, is in the form of a vow (Ge 28:20), seems to have been uttered when he was entering on an important or critical service, for the successful execution of which he placed confidence neither on his own nor his people's prowess, but looked anxiously for the aid and blessing of God. The enterprise was in all probability the expulsion of the Canaanites from the territory he occupied; and as this was a war of extermination, which God Himself had commanded, His blessing could be the more reasonably asked and expected in preserving them from all the evils to which the undertaking might expose him. In these words, "that it may not grieve me," and which might be more literally rendered, "that I may have no more sorrow," there is an allusion to the meaning of his name, Jabez, signifying "grief"; and the import of this petition is, Let me not experience the grief which my name implies, and which my sins may well produce.
10. God granted him that which he requested—Whatever was the kind of undertaking which roused his anxieties, Jabez enjoyed a remarkable degree of prosperity, and God, in this instance, proved that He was not only the hearer, but the answerer of prayer.
13. the sons of Kenaz—the grandfather of Caleb, who from that relationship is called a Kenezite (Nu 32:12).
14. Joab, the father of the valley of Carashim—literally, "the father of the inhabitants of the valley"—"the valley of craftsmen," as the word denotes. They dwelt together, according to a custom which, independently of any law, extensively prevails in Eastern countries for persons of the same trade to inhabit the same street or the same quarter, and to follow the same occupation from father to son, through many generations. Their occupation was probably that of carpenters, and the valley where they lived seems to have been in the neighborhood of Jerusalem (Ne 11:35).
17, 18. she bare Miriam—It is difficult, as the verses stand at present, to see who is meant. The following readjustment of the text clears away the obscurity: "These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took, and she bare Miriam, and his wife Jehudijah bare Jezreel," &c.
18. Jehudijah—"the Jewess," to distinguish her from his other wife, who was an Egyptian. This passage records a very interesting fact—the marriage of an Egyptian princess to a descendant of Caleb. The marriage must have taken place in the wilderness. The barriers of a different national language and national religion kept the Hebrews separate from the Egyptians; but they did not wholly prevent intimacies, and even occasional intermarriages between private individuals of the two nations. Before such unions, however, could be sanctioned, the Egyptian party must have renounced idolatry, and this daughter of Pharaoh, as appears from her name, had become a convert to the worship of the God of Israel.
1Ch 4:21-23. Posterity of Shelah.
21. Laadah … the father … of the house of them that wrought fine linen—Here, again, is another incidental evidence that in very early times certain trades were followed by particular families among the Hebrews, apparently in hereditary succession. Their knowledge of the art of linen manufacture had been, most probably, acquired in Egypt, where the duty of bringing up families to the occupations of their forefathers was a compulsory obligation, whereas in Israel, as in many parts of Asia to this day, it was optional, though common.
22, 23. had the dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem—"And these are ancient things" seems a strange rendering of a proper name; and, besides, it conveys a meaning that has no bearing on the record. The following improved translation has been suggested: "Sojourned in Moab, but returned to Beth-lehem and Adaberim-athekim. These and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gedera were potters employed by the king in his own work." Gedera or Gederoth, and Netaim, belonged to the tribe of Judah, and lay on the southeast border of the Philistines' territory (Jos 15:36; 2Ch 28:18).
1Ch 4:24-43. Of Simeon.
24. The sons of Simeon—They are classed along with those of Judah, as their possession was partly taken out of the extensive territory of the latter (Jos 19:1). The difference in several particulars of the genealogy given here from that given in other passages is occasioned by some of the persons mentioned having more than one name [compare Ge 46:10; Ex 6:15; Nu 26:12].
27. his brethren had not many children—(see Nu 1:22; 26:14).
31-43. These were their cities unto the reign of David—In consequence of the sloth or cowardice of the Simeonites, some of the cities within their allotted territory were only nominally theirs. They were never taken from the Philistines until David's time, when, the Simeonites having forfeited all claim to them, he assigned them to his own tribe of Judah (1Sa 27:6).
38, 39. increased greatly, and they went to the entrance of Gedor—Simeon having only a part of the land of Judah, they were forced to seek accommodation elsewhere; but their establishment in the new and fertile pastures of Gederah was soon broken up; for, being attacked by a band of nomad plunderers, they were driven from place to place till some of them effected by force a settlement on Mount Seir.