I chronicles 2 commentary

I CHRONICLES 2 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Israel’s Sons
1 These were the sons of Israel:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,
BARNES, "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.
CLARKE, "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.
GILL, "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
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Dan and Naphtali, the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid, are placed Joseph
and Benjamin, the sons of Rachel.
HENRY 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.
K&D, "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).
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ELLICOTT, "Dismissing the sons of Esau-Edom, the narrative proceeds with the
sons of Israel, who are named in order, by way of introduction to their genealogies,
which occupy 1 Chronicles 1-8.
The rest of 1 Chronicles 2 treats of [the leading tribe of Judah, and its sub-divisions,
under the heads of Zerah and Perez (3-41), and Caleb (42-55); while 1 Chronicles 3,
4 complete the account of this tribe, so far as the fragmentary materials at the
writer’s disposal permitted.
Verse 1-2
(1, 2) The sons of Israel.—The list is apparently taken from Genesis 35:23-26, where
the heading is, “Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.” The chronicler omits the
mothers, and puts Dan before instead of after Joseph and Benjamin, as if to hint
that Dan was considered Rachel’s elder son. (See Genesis 30:6.) In the list at Genesis
46:9-23, Gad and Asher follow Zebulun, and Dan follows Joseph and Benjamin. Of
course accident may have caused the transposition of Dan with Joseph and
Benjamin in our list, especially as it otherwise agrees with Genesis 35:3-4.
COFFMAN, “"These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Issachar, and Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
"The sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah; which three were born unto him of
Shua's daughter the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the
sight of Jehovah; and he slew him. And Tamar his daughter-in-law bare him Perez
and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.
"The sons of Perez: Hezron, and Hamul. And the sons of Zerah: Zimri, and Ethan,
and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara; five of them in all. And the sons of Carmi:
Achar, the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing. And
the sons of Ethan: Azariah.
"The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him: Jerahmeel, and Ram, and
Chelubai. And Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of
the children of Judah; and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz, and Boaz
begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat his first-born Eliab, and
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Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third, Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
Ozem the sixth, David the seventh; and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And
the sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three. And Abigail bare Amasa;
and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
"And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth;
and these were her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. And Azubah died, and
Caleb took unto him Ephrath, who bare him Hur. And Hur begat Uri, and Uri
begat Bezalel.
"And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead,
whom he took to wife when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.
And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead. And
Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath, and the villages
thereof, even threescore cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of
Gilead. And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah, then Abijah Hezron's
wife bare him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.
"And the sons of Jerahmeel the first-born of Hezron were Ram the first-born, and
Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah. And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name
was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. And the sons of Ram the first-born of
Jerahmeel were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker. And the sons of Onam were Shammai,
and Jada. And the sons of Shammai: Nadab, and Abishur. And the name of the wife
of Abishur was Abihail; and she bare him Ahban, and Molid. And the sons of
Nadab: Seled, and Appaim; but Seled died without children. And the sons of
Appaim: Ishi. And the sons of Ishi: Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan: Ahlai. And
the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether, and Jonathan; and Jether died
without children. And the sons of Jonathan: Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons
of Jerahmeel. Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant,
an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his
servant to wife; and she bare him Attai. And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat
Zabad, and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed, and Obed begat Jehu, and
Jehu begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah, and Eleasah
begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum, and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and
Jekamiah begat Elishama.
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"And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his first-born, who
was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. And the
sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. And Shema begat
Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai. And the son of
Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur. And Ephah, Caleb's
concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez; and Haran begat Gazez. And the
sons of Jahdai: Regem, and Jothan, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and
Shaaph. Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber and Tirhanah. She bare also
Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of
Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.
"These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur, the first-born of Ephrathah: Shobal
the father of Kiriath-jearim, Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of
Beth-gader. And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons: Haroeh, half of the
Menuhoth. And the families of Kiriath-jearim: The Ithrites, and the Puthites, and
the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zorathites and the
Eshtaolites. The sons of Salma: Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-
joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. And the families of scribes that
dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the
Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab."
Although there is a great deal of new material in this chapter (1 Chronicles 2:25-41),
other scriptures parallel much of it:
"1 Chronicles 2:1-2 are parallel with Genesis 35:22b-26 and Exodus 1:1-6. 1
Chronicles 2:3-4 are in Genesis 38:2-7,29f; 46:12a, and Numbers 26:18f. 1
Chronicles 2:5 appears in Genesis 46:12b; Numbers 26:21; Ruth 4:18. 1 Chronicles
2:6-8 are related to Joshua 7:1; 1 Kings 5:11. 1 Chronicles 2:9-17 is parallel with
Ruth 4:19-22; 1 Samuel 16:8-9; 2 Samuel 2:18; 17:35."[1]
Our purpose in this commentary does not require any extensive comment on these
genealogies. In the first place, they are not completely understood as to their exact
meaning by anyone living millenniums after the generations enumerated. "It is
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impossible now to unravel these genealogies with any certainty."[2] The duplication
of many names, the appearance of many names that cannot be distinguished as
applicable whether to persons or places, and other uncertainties greatly complicate
the problem of any complete understanding of these chapters. It is also true that
textual corruptions in a few places add to the problem.
Nevertheless, the great purpose of the sacred author is fully achieved in these
opening nine chapters, which are, in reality, the introduction to the entire
Chronicles. The very existence of such extensive records among the Jews is
overwhelming evidence that the New Testament genealogies (Matthew 1 and Luke
3) were unanimously received by that whole first-century generation as absolutely
accurate; nor were those records ever challenged by the enemies of Christianity.
The importance of this in the proper identification of the Messiah is indeed
significant.
The "Caleb" of 1 Chronicles 2:18 was identified by Francisco as "the Caleb of the
exodus,"[3] but Payne declared: "The Caleb of the exodus came three hundred
years later."[4] This is typical of scholarly disagreement on many such problems in
this chapter. The simple truth is that many such questions cannot be dogmatically
answered at the present time.
Jacob M. Meyers, writing in The Anchor Bible stated: "Such technical details need
not detain us."[5]
In the verses which are parallel with other scriptures, see my comments under the
parallel passages.
PARKER, “ The Sons of Israel: Their Genealogy—Typical Sinners
1 Chronicles 2
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All this elaborate tracing of family lines shows that the historian is about to conduct
his enquiries upon a complete and exact basis. We acquire confidence in the man by
the minuteness of the very details, which at first taxes both our patience and our
memory. The names may be so read as to constitute only an elaborate catalogue, in
which case the spirit of unity would be lost, and the whole process would end in
nothingness and disappointment; on the other hand, the list may be so read as to
impress the mind with the mystery of unity, suggesting not only a compactness of an
individual family or race, but the solidarity of human nature itself.
With the sons of Esau, Edom, and the sons of Israel, in their mere personality we
have nothing to do, but if it can be shown that they are part and parcel of a great
continuity ending in our own existence and action, they become important in that
degree. As a point of immediate criticism it is interesting to note, that the chronicler
so far confirms the records which are given in Genesis , as to quote them without
doubt or question. It is something to know that by so much the most ancient history
of the Bible is confirmed. We have seen that the list given in the former chapter, and
occupying something like eighteen verses, is an abridgment of the tenth chapter of
Genesis. The importance of this may be seen from the fact that the old Jewish
interpreters make out of this very list a total of seventy nations. The list has been
well described as a classified summary of the ethnical and geographical knowledge
of Hebrew antiquity. With a zeal which cannot but excite admiration, we observe
that the chronicler is seized with the determination to write a history which shall
begin at the first Prayer of Manasseh , Adam, and go through, as it were, every
family and tribe descendant from the head of the race. It is interesting to see that
what may be called the spirit of universality, is already beginning to disclose itself in
the very structure of the Bible.
We may compare the chronicler to an economist, who is determined that nothing
human shall be lost, but that every Prayer of Manasseh , woman, and child shall be
scheduled and accounted for, the meanest having a line as well as the greatest.
Animated by this determination, the historian passes from Adam to the sons of
Japheth the Fair, on to the sons of Ham, the dark-skinned or swarthy men of
Ethiopia, then on to the ten races of Canaan, including Heth or the hittite race, the
Amorite or the hill-men of trans-Jordan, the Hivite dwelling on the slopes of
Lebanon, the Arkite, and the Sinite dwelling to the west of northern Lebanon, and
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the rest of the ten races; then he passes to the sons of Shem inhabiting Elam, Asshur,
Arphaxad, Lud, Aram, and other places; then he sketches the ten generations from
Shem to Abraham, with a particularity that would give a human family register of
all who came and went in that marvellous period, and so he passes on, showing
familiar acquaintance with all the names and places which constituted the
foundations and earliest courses of patriarchal and Jewish history.
In this chapter the narrative takes up the lines connected with the sons of Israel,
naming them in order, and forming an introduction to their genealogies, which
occupy chapters2-8. All we can attempt to do with a mass of names so strange and
bewildering is to fasten upon a point here and there, which may set forth certain
definite aspects of human character. Mark , for example, the inevitable line upon
which we come, so early as the third verse of this chapter (2). Whatever infirmities
or sins may have marked the history of all the men and tribes given in the first
verse, they are passed over by this chronicler in significant silence. It must not be
forgotten, however, that all their infirmities and iniquities are written with most
graphic vividness in the Book of Genesis. But in the third verse we have this
line—"and Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord."—This
character is taken word for word from Genesis 38:7. It would seem as if a certain
ineradicable stigma specially attached to certain sins, rendering necessary that they
should be recalled from time to time, to illustrate the most modern phases of
wickedness. There have been, so to say, many typical sinners in the history of the
world; for example, no name can take the place of Cain, when the sin of fratricide
shocks the sentiment of society; Achan will always be a leading name in connection
with religious felonies; Joab will always be associated with the vilest forms of
treachery and cruelty; and Judas Iscariot can have no rival so long as the world
endureth. Take, as another instance, the happy references made to the Calebite
stock in 1 Chronicles 2:18-24. It is needful to remember that not only are these
names particularly associated with evil, there are also names which God has been
pleased to set on high, as marking his encouragement and reward of virtue. This
manifestation of justice is to be carefully noted throughout the whole development
of biblical history. We cannot think of the wickedness of Cain without being
reminded of the purity of Abel; if we are shocked by the felony of Achan, we cannot
but be profoundly impressed with the virtue and conduct of Joshua , and so on
throughout the whole of the impartial and fearless record. The instances of both
kinds which we find in Holy Scripture are mere examples or specimens of the
records which are kept on high. It is impossible for any human historian to put
down all the iniquities of his race, but here, we may say, with man this is impossible,
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but with God all things are possible. We shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ.
Other parts of the list remind us of how possible it is to exist in useful and happy
relations without the family history being marked by any characteristic which
invests it with peculiar fame. We read in verse thirty-four, "Now Sheshan had no
sons, but daughters." It has been pointed out that the line of Sheshan-Jarha is
pursued for thirteen generations of direct descent, but nothing is known of any of its
members from any other source. The last-named member of the family, Elishama, is
the twenty-fourth generation specified from Judah. Sometimes all that can be found
of a family, is but the reappearance of the family name. Even in the case of princes,
this has been illustrated. Several of the names which occur in this line recur in the
house of David, as for example, Nathan, Obed, Azariah (a by-name of King Uzziah),
Shallum, Jehamiah, and Elishama. We see how one nation may become actually
absorbed in another, and thus all original characteristics may be relatively lost.
Deuteronomy rules ( Deuteronomy 23:7-8) that, in the third generation, persons of
Egyptian blood are to be treated as full Israelites. [Compare Exodus 12:38 with
Numbers 11:4.] We shall see that the Egyptian element was recognised in Judah.
Even the name Jarha has an Egyptian cast, some commentators suppose that it is
derived from a root which signifies "great river," and that river has been identified
as the Nile. But all this is simply illustrative of the great and glorious truth disclosed
by the personality and ministry of the Son of man. All Song of Solomon -called
absorptions of one nation by another, were but relative and suggestive. It is not until
we come to Jesus Christ the Second Adam, the Lord from heaven, that we come to
the glorious truth that God hath made of one blood all nations of men, and that in
Christ Jesus there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. If any man be in
Christ Jesus he is a new creature, old things have passed away, and all things have
become new. The reconciliation of race, the unification of the world, is the miracle
of the cross of Christ. The careful reading of all such histories, as are given in the
Old Testament, cannot but prepare the mind to receive the doctrine that Jesus
Christ was more than a man: more than a mere Jew. Account for it as we may, he
stretched himself across the whole human race, and at last offered himself to redeem
every living soul. He made no ethnic difficulties. Language was never accounted a
stumblingblock. He looked beneath all superficial, local, and personal differences
and divisions, and saw the common heart beating in the human breast. He puzzled
the world with no metaphysics that could be understood by one type of men only; he
preached a gospel of which even little children could comprehend somewhat, and
made an appeal to sentiments acknowledged the world over. Had he been a pedant,
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he would have prided himself upon special knowledge of out-of-the-way peoples and
kindreds and tongues; had he been a self-seeker, he would have received honour by
whomsoever it was offered; had he been a Jew only, he would have flattered the
people over whom he claimed supremacy, and have poured contempt upon all alien
lands, but because he was the Son of God, the Son of Prayer of Manasseh , Alpha
and Omega, he made himself of no reputation, but took upon him the form of a
servant, and became obedient unto death, that he might work out for the whole
human race a Redemption, simple, beneficent, infinite in meaning, before which
reason bows down in homage, and conscience stands at once in consent and
adoration.
PULPIT, "The interest of this chapter owes something to the several unsatisfied
questions which it suggests, to difficult and knotty points which nevertheless do not
altogether counsel despair, and to occasional significant indications of sources
drawn upon by the compiler, certainly quite additional to the contents of the
existing books of the Old Testament.
We know something of what we have to expect when the name of Israel, or Jacob, is
announced in the first verse, with his twelve sons—those "patriarchs," some of
whom (certainly not as many as eleven, for Reuben was absent, and, with scarcely a
doubt, Benjamin), "moved with envy, sold into Egypt Joseph," the twelfth (Acts
7:9). We here enter, in fact, upon the genealogies and tables and enumeratious of
collateral lines of "all Israel," to which the whole of the following seven chapters are
devoted (1 Chronicles 9:1). This second chapter leads off with the most important
line of descent of the twelve—that of Judah. And the contents of this chapter do not
exhaust the one line, which, on the contrary, stretches as far as to 1 Chronicles 4:23.
Within these limits there are just that amount of repetition (1 Chronicles 2:3; 1
Chronicles 4:1, etc.) and appearance of confusion which betoken the recourse of the
compiler to various records and sources of in-formation—themselves sometimes but
fragmentary, and probably to mere memory and the tradition that depends upon it.
The contents of this chapter are best mastered by noticing that they consist of:
1. The table of Israel's twelve sons (1 Chronicles 4:1, 1 Chronicles 4:2).
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2. The line of Judah to the stage where it branches into three great-grandsons (1
Chronicles 4:3-9).
3. The line of Judah pursued through those three branches to a point manifestly
significant in one, and presumably so in the others (1 Chronicles 4:10 -55).
1 Chronicles 2:1, 1 Chronicles 2:2
1. TABLE OF ISRAEL'S TWELVE SONS. The twelve sons of Israel, not in the
order of age (cf. Ge 29:31-30:24; Genesis 35:16-19), nor exactly in the order of
children of wives as against those of handmaids (Genesis 25:23-26), nor in that of
the aged father's dying blessing (Genesis 49:1-33.), nor in that of Exodus 1:2-4. It is
the place of Dan which disturbs the fittest order, and Keil suggests that his place in
this text is accounted for by Rachel's desire that her handmaid's child should be
accounted her own; but surely this was not exceptional, but applied to all or most of
such cases, and should have been far rather taken into consideration in any of the
other lists than in this. However accounted for, the order is—lest, the six sons of the
first wife Leah; secondly, the elder son of Rachel's handmaid Bilhah; thirdly, the
two sons of the loved wife Rachel; fourthly, the other son of Rachel's handmaid
Billah; lastly, the two sons of Zilpah, handmaid of Leah. As this order corresponds
with nothing in our Old Testament, it may serve as one slight indication that the
compiler of Chronicles was not dependent on these records alone. The Hebrew text
and the Septuagint accord exactly with the Authorized Version here.
2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and
Asher.
Judah
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To Hezron’s Sons
3 The sons of Judah:
Er, Onan and Shelah. These three were born to
him by a Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua.
Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s
sight; so the Lord put him to death.
GILL, "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.
JAMISON, "1Ch_2:3-12. Posterity of Judah.
The sons of Judah — His descendants are enumerated first, because the
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right and privileges of the primogeniture had been transferred to him
(Gen_49:8), and because from his tribe the Messiah was to spring.
K&D 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.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 2:3. The sons of Judah — He puts Judah first, because the
best part of the right of the firstborn, namely, the dominion, was conferred on him,
Genesis 49:8; in consequence of which, his tribe obtained a pre- eminence among,
and a kind of superiority over the rest, even before the time of David. And from
David’s time, it is without doubt, that till the Babylonish captivity a kingly power
continued in this tribe; Zerubbabel, also, who was their leader, when they returned
to their own land, was of the same tribe. The chief reason, however, why the
genealogy of Judah is set down first, is because the Messiah was to descend from
him.
COKE, “1 Chronicles 2:3. The sons of Judah— Judah is here placed first, for nearly
the same reasons as those assigned in the note on the first verse of the former
chapter. The Saviour of the world, the seed of the woman, was ordained to descend
from him.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 3
THE FIVE SONS OF JUDAH, FROM Genesis 38.
(3) The daughter of Shua the Canaanitess.—Shua was the father of Judah’s wife.
Er, the firstborn of Judah, was (became, proved) evil.—Word for word from
Genesis 38:7. Suppressing other details relating to the sons of Judah, the chronicler
copies this statement intact from Genesis, because it thoroughly harmonises with the
moral he wishes to be drawn from the entire history of his people.
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TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 2:3 The sons of 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.
Ver. 3. The sons of Judah.] These are first set down, (1.) For the royal dignity; (2.)
For the descent of the Messiah.
Was evil in the sight of the Lord.] Quem nihil latet , Who seeth and punisheth secret
sins.
PULPIT, "1 Chronicles 2:3-9
2. THE LINE OF JUDAH, TO HIS THREE GREAT-GRANDSONS. The line of
Judah is, with a well-known object, the first to be taken up, although Judah stands
fourth of Israel's sons. Judah has five sons: three, Er, Onan, Shelah, by a
Canaanitess, the daughter of Shad; and two, Pharez and Zerah, by Tamar, his own
daughter-in-law, under the circumstances described (Genesis 38:6-30). There all
these names are found in exact accord in the Authorized Version, in the Hebrew
text, and in the Septuagint. The Septuagint Version, however (Genesis 38:2), by an
evident inaccuracy of translation, gives Shua as the name, not of the father, but of
the daughter, ᾗ ὄνομα σαυά. Parallel passages are also found (Genesis 46:12;
Numbers 26:19-22). Er and Onan died without issue, and the descendants of Shelah
are not mentioned till we reach 1 Chronicles 4:21-23. The line is now carried on by
the twin sons of Tamar (1 Chronicles 4:5, 1 Chronicles 4:6). Pharez, with two sons,
Hezron and Hamul (Genesis 46:12; Ruth 4:18), and Zerah, with five sons, Zimri (or
Zabdi, Joshua 7:1), Ethan, Heman, Calcol, Dara (or with many manuscripts,
followed by the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions, Darda). If these last four
names are not identical with those in 1 Kings 4:31, they are not to be found in any
available connection elsewhere, and the last two not at all. Upon this supposition, it
is held by some that this very passage proves that the compiler drew on resources
not possessed by us. The weight of evidence seems, however, largely in favour of the
persons being the same. (See Gilbert Barrington's 'Old Testament Genealogies,'
1:206-208, well summarized in art. "Darda," Smith's 'Bible Dictionary,' for as
competent a discussion of the question as the present data will allow.) It needs to be
constantly remembered that an enumeration like the above, of five so-called sons,
does not necessarily involve their being five brothers, although in this case it looks
the more as though they were so, as it is said five of them in all
14

4 Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and
Zerah to Judah. He had five sons in all.
GILL, "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.
ELLICOTT, " (4) Tamar.—Wife of Er. The story of her incest with Judah, the fruit
of which was the twins Pharez (Heb., Perez) and Zerah (called Zarah, Genesis
38:30; and Zara, Matthew 1:3), is told in Genesis 38:8-30.
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 2:4 And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and
Zerah. All the sons of Judah [were] five. Ver. 4. And Tamar.] {See Trapp on
"Matthew 1:3"}
5 The sons of Perez:
Hezron and Hamul.
GILL, "The sons of Pharez,.... One of the above twins, born to Judah:
Hezron and Hamul; see Gen_46:12.
JAMISON, "
15

K&D, "
ELLICOTT, "(5) The sons of Pharez.—From Gen. xlvi 12, which also names the
five sons of Judah. Numbers 26:21 mentions the clans (mishpahath) of the
Hezronites and Hamulites, as registered in a census held by Moses.
6 The sons of Zerah:
Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Kalkol and Darda[a]—five
in all.
BARNES, "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).
CLARKE, "Five of them in all - “These were all chief men; and on them the
spirit of prophecy rested.” - T.
GILL, "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.
JAMISON, "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
16

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,” etc. 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.
K&D 6-8, "Sons and descendants of Zerah. - In 1Ch_2:6, five names are
grouped together as ‫ים‬ִ‫נ‬ ָ‫בּ‬ of Zerah, which are found nowhere else so united.
The first, Zimri, may be strictly a son; but ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫מ‬ִ‫ז‬ may perhaps be a mistake for
‫י‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ְ‫ַב‬‫ז‬, 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 ‫י‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ְ‫ַב‬‫ז‬ (Josh.) may also be
an error for ‫י‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫מ‬ִ‫,ז‬ 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 ‫ח‬ ַ‫ֶר‬‫ז‬ ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ 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 ‫י‬ ִ‫ח‬ ָ‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬ֶ‫ע‬ ָ‫ה‬ (1Ki_5:11) is
most probably a patronymic from ‫ח‬ ַ‫ֶר‬‫ז‬, notwithstanding that in Num_26:20
17

it appears as ‫י‬ ִ‫ח‬ ְ‫ַר‬‫ז‬, for even the appellative ‫ח‬ ַ‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬ֶ‫,ע‬ indigena, is formed from
‫ח‬ ַ‫ֶר‬‫ז‬. 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
‫ל‬ ‫ח‬ ָ‫מ‬ ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ 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 (‫ָר‬‫גּ‬) 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,
18

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 ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ and ‫ן‬ ֵ‫בּ‬ 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 (‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫)בּ‬ 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 ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫בּ‬ 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 (‫ר‬ ַ‫כ‬ָ‫,)ע‬ he is
called here at once Achar. As to Carmi, vide on 1Ch_4:1.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 2:6. And Dara — If these be the same who are mentioned
as the sons of Mahol, (1 Kings 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. These are named, because they were the
glory of their father’s house. When the Holy Ghost would magnify the wisdom of
19

Solomon, he saith, he was wiser than these four men. That four brothers should be
so eminent, was a rare thing.
ELLICOTT, " (6) Zimri.—This name is probably a merely accidental variant of
Zabdi. Both are genuine Hebrew names occurring elsewhere. But the fact that Zimri
here, and Zabdi at Joshua 7:1, are both called sons of Zerah, seems to prove their
identity; especially as m is often confused with b, and d with r.
Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara.—It is stated (1 Kings 4:31) that Solomon
was “wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and
Darda, the sons of Mahol.” It will be seen that the first three names coincide with
those of our text, and that Dara is only one letter different from Darda. Further,
many MSS. of Chronicles, as well as the Svriac and Arabic versions and the
Targum, actually have Darda. The Yatic. LXX. reads Darad. There is thus a virtual
repetition of these four names in the passage of Kings, and it is difficult to suppose
that the persons intended are not the same there and here. Ethan is called an
Ezrahite in Kings, but Ezrah and Zerah are equivalent forms in Hebrew; and the
Yatic. LXX. actually calls Ethan a Zarhite—i.e., a descendant of Zerah (Numbers
26:13). The designation of the four as “sons of Mahol” presents no difficulty. Mahol
is a usual word for the sacred dance (Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4), and the four
Zarhites are thus described as “sons of dancing”—that is, sacred musicians. It is
likely, therefore, that these famous minstrels of Judah were adopted into the
Levitical clans in which sacred music was the hereditary profession. (See Psalms 88,
89., titles.) Whether Ethan and Heman are the persons mentioned in 1 Chronicles
6:33; 1 Chronicles 6:44; 1 Chronicles 15:17; 1 Chronicles 15:19 as the recognised
heads of two of the great guilds of temple musicians is not clear. The Levitical
ancestry ascribed to them in 1 Chronicles 6 would not be opposed to this
assumption, as adoption would involve it.
(6-8) The sons of Zerah.—From this point our narrative ceases to depend entirely
upon the data of Genesis.
TRAPP, “1 Chronicles 2:6 And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman,
and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
Ver. 6. And Ethan, and Heman, &c.] Of these, see on 1 Kings 4:31.
20

POOLE, “If these be the same who are mentioned as the sons of Mahol, 1 Kings
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.
7 The son of Karmi:
Achar,[b] who brought trouble on Israel by
violating the ban on taking devoted things.[c]
BARNES, "“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.
GILL, "“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.
JAMISON, "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.”
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 2:7. The sons of Carmi — This man is here mentioned,
because he was the son of Zimri, who was also called Zabdi, Joshua 7:18. Achar, the
troubler of Israel — He who in Joshua 7. is called Achan, is here, by a small
variation, elegantly and significantly called Achar, which means troubler: because
21

he had brought Israel into great danger and distress, by the sin he committed.
ELLICOTT, " (7) The sons of Carmi.—See Note on 1 Chronicles 1:41.
Achar, the troubler of Israel.—See Joshua 7:1, where the man is called “Achan, son
of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.” The family of Carmi,
therefore, were Zarhites. Joshua 7:24 calls him “Achan, the son of Zerah,” an
expression which shows, if other proof were wanting, that we must be cautious of
interpreting such phrases literally in all instances.
Achar . . . troubler of Israel.—There is a play on the man’s name in the Hebrew,
which is, “Achar ’ocher Yisrael.” So in Joshua 7:25 Joshua asks, “Why hast thou
troubled us?” (‘achartânu), and in 1 Chronicles 2:26 the place of Achar’s doom is
called “the valley of Achor” (trouble). Probably Achan is an old error for Achar.
COKE, “1 Chronicles 2:7. And the sons of Carmi; Achar— The sons of Zimri;
Carmi. The sons of Carmi, Achar, &c. Houbigant. See Joshua 7:1.
TRAPP, “1 Chronicles 2:7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel,
who transgressed in the thing accursed.
Ver. 7. Achar.] Alias Achan, [Joshua 6:1-27; Joshua 7:1-26] per paranomasiam.
POOLE, “ Carmi is here mentioned, because he was the son of Zimri, who is also
called Zabdi, Joshua 7:1.
Achar; called Achan, Joshua 7:1, and here Achar, with a little variation for greater
significancy; for Achar signifies a troubler.
BI, "Achar, the troubler of Israel.
The troubler of Israel
I have read many biographies, but never met with any which hit off a man’s
character in a line as this word of inspiration does. The noble and the great
used frequently to suspend the “achievement” over the tomb of their
departed ancestor in memorial of his renown, bearing a motto, which
described the leading characteristic of the ancient founder of the family.
Here is the tomb of Achar, or Achan, and here is the motto for his
22

achievement. The tomb consists of a large heap of stones, which am injured
people by God’s command piled upon his ashes after they had stoned him to
death, and burned his dead body with fire. What is the motto? “The troubler
of Israel.” What a finale to a man’s life! What a record to paint on his
escutcheon!
I. What made Achan a troubler of Israel? Sin. All trouble may be traced to
this. It led Achan to commit the threefold crime of disobedience, defiance of
God’s scrutiny, and sacrilege. His one sin brought trouble into all the camp.
This is all the mere remarkable when you remember how insignificant his
position was among the tribes. We die all alone, but we cannot all sin alone.
Even our secret sins are public calamities, and no transgression is without
its malign influence upon the common weal.
II. The troubles Achan brought upon his people.
1. Defeat before a less powerful foe.
2. Depression of spirit, which unremedied, would he fatal to the very
existence of the nation.
3. Anger from God, which would not be appeased even by the
intercession of Joshua.
4. The threat of abandonment by God if they did not root out the evil
from among them. (George Venables.)
Achan, the troubler of Israel
Why was the punishment of Achan so severe?
1. His was a terrible sin; it was a wilful disobedience; it was high treason
against God; it was sacrilege; it was stealing, lying, coveting, and
practically murder.
2. This sin struck at the very life of the nation. If the people could disobey
God with impunity, the nation would soon be ruined, and the hope of the
world be put out.
3. The course Achan took would have degraded God in the eyes of Israel
and of the Gentiles. The people and cities of Canaan were rich; the
Israelites were poor. Canaan had the resources of a somewhat high
civilisation—gold, silver, vessels of brass and of iron; goodly Babyionish
garments. Now, suppose the Lord had given them free license to
plunder, to steal and hide, and appropriate all they could lay hands on?
This movement for the conquest of Canaan would have become a savage,
plundering, marauding expedition.
4. These fascinating spoils—these glittering prizes of gold and silver, and
these ornaments of the cultured Canaanites—were linked in on every
hand with idolatry. Art and wealth in Canaan, as in every other heathen
nation, lent their power to augment the attractions towards idol-
worship.
23

5. But another consideration must have great weight. The Israelites had
before them the task of conquering Palestine, a task which required the
utmost discipline in the army. God was the Captain, directing, through
Joshua, all the campaign. It was absolutely necessary, in the interests of
military discipline, to check the first buddings of that cupidity which so
often characterised ancient warfare. (Christian Age.)
PULPIT, "1 Chronicles 2:7
We have then so far seven grandsons to Judah, when a new name,
unmentioned before, is introduced—Carmi. He is neither described as
one of the seven grandsons nor as descended from any one of them, but
unenviably enough is marked as the father of Achar—later form of
Achau—the troubler of Israel. Joshua 7:1-18 supplies the missing link,
and states that Carmi is son of Zimri (Zabdi), one of the aforesaid seven
grandsons. By the punishment of death, visited upon this Achar, with his
sons and daughters (Joshua 7:24, Joshua 7:25), it may be presumed that
the line of Judah through him became extinct.
8 The son of Ethan:
Azariah.
GILL, "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.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 8
(8) The sons of Ethan.—Nothing is known of this Ethanite Azariah. It seems plain
that the writer wished to name only the historically famous members of the Zarhite
branch of Judah—in 1 Chronicles 2:6, the four proverbial sages; in 1 Chronicles
2:7, Achar who brought woe upon Israel by taking of the devoted spoils of Jericho.
24

TRAPP, “1 Chronicles 2:8 And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.
Ver. 8. And the sons of Ethan.] Sons, that is, son: synecdoche.
9 The sons born to Hezron were:
Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb.[d]
From Ram Son of Hezron
GILL, "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.
K&D, "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
‫ל‬ ‫ד‬ ַ‫ל‬ ‫נ‬ ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬, 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 ‫ת‬ ֵ‫.א‬ The third person singular
Niph. occurs thus also in 1Ch_3:4 and 1Ch_26:6; the construction of Niph.
25

with ‫ת‬ ֵ‫א‬ frequently (Gen_4:18; Gen_21:5, and elsewhere). Ram is called, in
the genealogy in Mat_1:3-4, Aram; comp. ‫ם‬ ָ‫,ר‬ Job_32:2, with ‫ם‬ ָ‫ֲר‬‫א‬, Gen_
22:21. ‫י‬ ַ‫לוּב‬ ְ‫כּ‬ is called afterwards ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ל‬ָ‫;כּ‬ cf. on 1Ch_2:18.
BENSON, "Verse 9-10
1 Chronicles 2:9-10. And Ram — Who is mentioned in the genealogy of our Saviour,
(Matthew 1:3-4,) and called Aram. Nashon, prince of the children of Judah —
Namely, when, being come out of Egypt, they pitched under their several standards,
Numbers 2:3.
ELLICOTT, " (9) Jerahmeel.—Godpitieth.
Ram.—Called Aram in our Lord’s genealogy (Matthew 1) The two names are
synonyms, both meaning high, and are used interchangeably in Job 32:2 (Ram) and
Genesis 22:21 (Aram).
Chelubai.—Strictly, the Chelubite or Calebite, a gentilic term formed from Caleb (1
Chronicles 2:18). This seems to show that we are concerned here not so much with
individual sons of Hezron as with families or clans of Hezronites.
Verses (9-41) The Hezronites, who were sons of Pharez (1 Chronicles 2:5), and their
three lines of descent, Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.
PULPIT, "1 Chronicles 2:9
3. THE LINE OF JUDAH PURSUED THROUGH THE THREE BRANCHES OF
HEZRON'S SONS. The track of genealogy then returns upon Pharez, and to the
name of Hezron, the most important by far of the seven grandsons. His three sons
are announced, and, as beginning with the firstborn, so presumably in order of
seniority. They are: (A), Jerahmeel; (B), Ram; (C), Chelubai.
26

10 Ram was the father of
Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of
Nahshon, the leader of the people of Judah.
GILL 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.
K&D, "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. ‫א‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫שׂ‬ is called in Rth_4:20-21, ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ and
‫ן‬ ‫מ‬ ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫.שׂ‬ 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 ‫י‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ִ‫,י‬ we meet with the form ‫י‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ (1Ch_2:13);
and the name ‫ה‬ ָ‫מּ‬ַ‫שׁ‬ is only another form of ‫ה‬ָ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ִ‫,שׁ‬ 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
27

(‫.)שׁמעי‬ The names of the other three sons here mentioned (1Ch_2:14 and
1Ch_2:15) are met with nowhere else.
ELLICOTT, "Verses 10-17
I.—(10-17) The descent of David from Amminadab, of the house of Ram. The royal
line naturally takes precedence of the other two. Ruth 4:18-22 gives this line from
Pharez to David. (Compare the genealogies of Christ, Matthew 1 and Luke 3)
Nahshon is called chief of Judah in Num. ii 3 (comp. 1 Chronicles 1:7; 1 Chronicles
7:12), at the time of the Exodus.
TRAPP, “Verses 10-12
1 Chronicles 2:10 And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon,
prince of the children of Judah;
1 Chronicles 2:11 And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,
1 Chronicles 2:12 And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,
Ver. 10-12. {See Trapp on "Matthew 1:3"} {See Trapp on "Matthew 1:4"} {See
Trapp on "Matthew 1:5"}
(B) Ram is taken first in order, at once to push on the lineage of Judah to the great
landmark DAVID, who is reached at the seventh generation from Ram (Ruth
4:19-22; Matthew 1:3-5; Luke 3:31-33), his name being ranked last of seven
brothers only, sons of Jesse.
11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon,[e] Salmon
the father of Boaz,
ELLICOTT, “(11) Salma.—So in Ruth 4:20; but in 1 Chronicles 2:21, Matthew 1:4,
28

and Luke 3:32, Salmon.
PULPIT, "Salma, Hebrew ‫א‬ ָ‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫שׂ‬ ; but Ruth 4:20, ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ְ‫ל‬ ַ‫שׂ‬ and in following verse ‫מוֹן‬ְ‫.שׂל‬
The variation of the first two of these forms has many parallels, as between
Chronicles and the earlier Old Testament Scriptures.
12 Boaz the father of Obed and Obed the father of
Jesse.
13 Jesse was the father of
Eliab his firstborn; the second son was Abinadab,
the third Shimea,
GILL 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
29

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.
JAMISON, "1Ch_2:13-17. Children of Jesse.
BENSON, "Verses 13-15
1 Chronicles 2:13-15. Eliab — Called also Elihu, 1 Chronicles 27:18, unless that was
another son of Jesse, as some think, not mentioned elsewhere; which would make
the number to be eight, according to 1 Samuel 16:10; 1 Samuel 17:12. Or that Elihu,
although there called the brother of David, might perhaps only be his kinsman,
according to the usual language of Scripture. David the seventh — David was
certainly the youngest son of Jesse, 1 Samuel 16:11. And if, as seems probable, one
of them died soon after the time when they were said to he eight, he would of course
be reckoned as the seventh.
ELLICOTT, “(13-17) The family of Jesse (Heb., Yishai in 1 Chronicles 2:12, but
‘Ishai in 1 Chronicles 2:13).
Seven sons are here named. 1 Samuel 17:12-13 states that Jesse had eight sons; and
from 1 Samuel 16:6-10 (Heb.) it appears that he had that number. In both passages,
Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimma (Heb., Shim‘â, here and at 1 Chronicles 20:7) occur,
the last under the form Shammah. He is called Shimei (2 Samuel 21:21); but
Shimeah == Shim’ah (2 Samuel 13:3; 2 Samuel 13:32); and this appears to have
been his real name.
POOLE, “Eliab, called also Elihu. 1 Chronicles 27:18 unless that was another
person, and the word brother to be taken largely for a kinsman, as is frequently
used.
Give us what we have not elsewhere, the names of the fourth, fifth, and sixth sons of
30

Jesse, viz. Nathaneel, Raddai (but see 1 Kings 1:8), and Ozem. But, on the other
hand, they make it appear that David was the seventh of seven, instead of (1 Samuel
14:10, 1 Samuel 14:11; 1 Samuel 17:12) the eighth of eight sons. The missing son,
any way, belongs to the seventh place. The Syriac and Arabic versions have taken
the Elihu of 1 Chronicles 27:18, and put him in this place. Others, following the
Septuagint, suppose this Elihu, if strictly a brother of David, to be Eliab, the oldest.
The explanation of the absence of the name here may be that he died early and
without issue, and would accordingly be the less wanted in a genealogical register.
14 the fourth Nethanel, the fifth Raddai,
ELLICOTT, “(14, 15) Nethaneel . . . Raddai . . . Ozem.—Not named elsewhere in
the Scriptures. The son of Jesse, omitted in our present Heb. text, is called Elihu in
the Syriac version, which makes him seventh and David the eighth. The name Elihu
occurs in 1 Chronicles 27:18 for Eliab.
15 the sixth Ozem and the seventh David.
BARNES, "David the seventh - Jesse had eight sons, of whom David was
the youngest 1Sa_16:10-11; 1Sa_17:12. Probably one of the sons shown to
Samuel at Bethlehem did not grow up.
JAMISON, "David the seventh — As it appears (1Sa_16:10; 1Sa_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.
31

TRAPP, “1 Chronicles 2:15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:
Ver. 15. David the seventh.] Jesse is said to have eight sons, [1 Samuel 17:12] but one
might be his son by adoption.
COKE, “1 Chronicles 2:15. Ozem the sixth, David the seventh— Ozem the sixth,
Elihu the seventh, David the eighth. Houbigant. Comp. 1 Samuel 16:11; 1 Samuel
17:12 from which it will appear that Jesse had eight sons, and that David was the
youngest of them. Houbigant follows the Syriac and Arabic.
REFLECTIONS.—We have here the illustrious family of Jacob; and of them,
Judah, as most distinguished, has the pre-eminence in his genealogy. Of him we
have the largest account, not only because he was of the royal tribe, but for the
Messiah's sake, who sprung from him. The names of many of his descendants, Er,
Onan, Achan, and Tamar, his incestuous daughter-in-law, are marked with infamy
in Scripture: yet to these was the friend of sinners allied, and from her descended.
Let not the greatest criminals despair!
The family of Jesse is particularly taken notice of, for David's sake, of whom, as
concerning the flesh, Christ came. He is called the seventh son of Jesse; though in 1
Samuel 16:10. Jesse had eight, and he was the youngest. Perhaps one of them died
before he came to the crown, or one of the eight might be by another wife.
POOLE, “ For though he had eight sons, 1 Samuel 16:10, one of them either died
presently after that time, or is neglected for some reason now unknown, as others
are. See Poole "Matthew 1:8", See Poole "Matthew 1:9".
16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail.
Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab and
Asahel.
32

BARNES, "Sisters - i. e. half-sisters. Abigail and Zeruiah were daughters
not of Jesse, but of a certain Nahash, whose widow Jesse took to wife 2Sa_
17:25.
From the present passage, and from the fact that Abishai joined David as a
comrade in arms before Joab 1Sa_26:6, it would seem that, although Joab
was pre-eminent among the three 2Sa_2:13, 2Sa_2:16, Abishai was the
eldest.
GILL, "Whose sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail..... That is, sisters of David:
and the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three; all valiant
men and captains in David's army; their father's name is nowhere
mentioned.
K&D, "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,
‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ְ‫ר‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ ִ‫יּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ instead of ‫י‬ ִ‫אל‬ֵ‫ע‬ ְ‫מ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫יּ‬ ַ‫;ה‬ see comm. on passage.
ELLICOTT, “(16) Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail.—Literally, And their
sisters, &c. If the reading in 2 Samuel 17:25 be correct, these two women were
daughters of Nahash, who must therefore have been a wife of Jesse. Abigail (there
called Abigal) was mother of the warrior Amasa, who became Absalom’s general (2
Samuel 19:13), and was afterwards assassinated by Joab (2 Samuel 20:10).
Abishai.—Abshai, here and elsewhere in the chronicle.
Joab, the famous commander-in-chief of David’s forces (see 1 Chronicles 11:6-8);
and for Joab and Abishai, who, like Asahel, was one of David’s heroes (1 Chronicles
11:20; 1 Chronicles 11:26), comp. 1 Chronicles 18:12; 1 Chronicles 18:15; 1
Chronicles 19:10 seq., 1 Chronicles 21:2 et seq., 1 Chronicles 27:24. David’s
33

champions were thus his immediate kin, just as Abner was to Saul.
TRAPP, “1 Chronicles 2:16 Whose sisters [were] Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons
of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.
Ver. 16. Abishai.] Elder brother to Joab, who yet got the start of him.
PULPIT, "1 Chronicles 2:16, 1 Chronicles 2:17
These verses do not say that David "begat" Zeruiah and Abigail, but that these two
were sisters of the foregoing seven brethren. Light is thrown upon this by 2 Samuel
17:25, which says that Abigail was the daughter of one Nahash, and that Zeruiah
was her sister. But it is to leave us in greater darkness as to who Nahath was:
whether Nahath was another name for Jesse, or the name of Jesse's wife, or the
name of a former husband of Jesse's wife, to whom she bore these two daughters
before she became wife to Jesse, and that former husband possibly none other than
the Ammonite king (2 Samuel 10:2)—or whether none of these conjectures be near
the truth, some of which on the face of them seem unlikely enough, is as yet
unsettled. Meantime it is worth remembering that Zeruiah named one of her
celebrated sons, and probably the eldest of them, Abishai, after Jesse, Ishai being
the same as our Jesse; yet from the above premises it is taken that she was strictly
sister of Abigail, and therefore was not really related to Jesse. The subject is treated
interestingly under the various names in Smith's 'Bible Dictionary.' The husband of
Zeruiah is given nowhere, while the husband of Abigail, hero called Jether the
Ishmeelite, is, in the passage already referred to (2 Samuel 17:25), called Ithra
(which is a slightly altered form of the name), an Israelite, with little doubt an error
for Ishmaelite. In the same passage also her own name appears as ‫ַל‬‫ג‬‫י‬ ִ‫ב‬ֲ‫,א‬ instead of
‫ל‬ִ‫ַי‬‫ג‬‫י‬ ִ‫ב‬ֲ‫,א‬ though many manuscripts have this latter.
17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa, whose father
34

was Jether the Ishmaelite.
Caleb Son of Hezron
BARNES, "Jether the Ishmeelite - See the marginal note and reference.
CLARKE, "Jether the Ishmeelite - “They called him Jether, because he
girded himself with his sword, that he might assist David with the Arabians,
when Abner was endeavoring to destroy David and the whole race of Jesse,
as being unfit to enter into the congregation of the Lord, on account of Ruth
the Moabitess.” - T.
GILL, "And Abigail bare Amasa,.... Who was Absalom's general, afterwards
reconciled to David, and designed to be made general of his army, but was
slain by Joab, see 2Sa_17:25,
and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite; he is called an Israelite,
2Sa_17:25, and so in the Targum here, he being either a proselyte, or else he
was an Israelite by birth, but called an Ishmaelite, because he had dwelt
among the Ishmaelites some time, as Obededom is called the Gittite for the
like reason; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it.
JAMISON, "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.
BENSON, "Verse 17-18
1 Chronicles 2:17-18. Jether the Ishmaelite — By birth or habitation, but by
profession an Israelite, 2 Samuel 17:25. And her sons — The sons of Azubah, who is
35

by way of distinction called his wife, when Jerioth probably was only his concubine,
and, it may seem, barren: therefore, upon Azubah’s death he married another wife,
1 Chronicles 2:19. And those other sons of this Caleb, mentioned 1 Chronicles 2:42,
are his sons by some other wife distinct from all these.
ELLICOTT, “(17) Jether the Ishmeelite.—Incorrectly called “Ithra an Israelite” in
2 Samuel 17:25. The later abhorrence of alien marriages seems to have been
unknown in the age of David. The name of Zeruiah’s husband is unknown.
TRAPP, “1 Chronicles 2:17 And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa
[was] Jether the Ishmeelite.
Ver. 17. Jether the Ishmeelite.] See on 2 Samuel 17:25.
POOLE, “The Ishmeelite, by birth or habitation, but by profession an Israelite, 2
Samuel 17:25, See Poole "2 Samuel 17:25".
18 Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife
Azubah (and by Jerioth). These were her sons:
Jesher, Shobab and Ardon.
BARNES, "In the remainder of this chapter the writer obtains scarcely any
assistance from the earlier Scriptures, and must have drawn almost entirely
from genealogical sources, accessible to him, which have since perished.
Azubah was Caleb’s wife; Jerioth his concubine. He had children by both;
but those of Azubah are alone recorded.
36

CLARKE, "Azubah - “And why was she called Azubah? Because she was
barren and despised. But her injury was manifested before the Lord; and
she was comforted, and adorned with wisdom; and she span, skilfully,
goats’ hair for the court of the tabernacle.” - T.
GILL, "And Caleb the son of Hezron,.... The same that is called Chelubai,
1Ch_2:9 but not the same with Caleb the son of Jephunneh, made mention
of in the books of Numbers, Joshua, and Judges:
he begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth; who were both his
wives; or it may be rather, since Azubah is so particularly called his wife,
Jerioth might be a concubine: or of Azubah he begat Jerioth; so the Vulgate
Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; though it seems best with Hillerus (p) to
interpret these names of the same person, and render the last clause, "that
is, of Jerioth", of her whose name also was Jerioth, Azubah having two
names; and the rather, since only the children of one are mentioned, as
follows:
her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon of whom we read
nowhere else; the Targum says, Azubah was so called, because she was
barren and despised, which this clause contradicts.
HENRY 18-55, "The persons mentioned in the former paragraph are most
of them such as we read of, and most of them such as we read much of, in
other scriptures; but very few of those to whom this paragraph relates are
mentioned any where else. It should seem, the tribe of Judah were more full
and exact in their genealogies than any other of the tribes, in which we must
acknowledge a special providence, for the clearing of the genealogy of
Christ. 1. Here we find Bezaleel, who was head-workman in building the
tabernacle, Exo_31:2. 2. Hezron, who was the son of Pharez (1Ch_2:5), was
the father of all this progeny, his sons, Caleb and Jerahmeel, being very
fruitful, and he himself likewise, even in his old age, for he left his wife
pregnant when he died, 1Ch_2:24. This Hezron was one of the seventy that
went down with Jacob into Egypt, Gen_46:12. There his family thus
increased, as other oppressed families there did. We cannot but suppose
that he died during the Israelites' bondage in Egypt; and yet it is here said
he died in Caleb-Ephratah (that is, Bethlehem), in the land of Canaan, 1Ch_
2:24. Perhaps, though the body of the people continued in Egypt, yet some
that were more active than the rest, at least before their bondage came to be
extreme, visited Canaan sometimes and got footing there, though
afterwards they lost it. The achievements of Jair, here mentioned (1Ch_
2:22, 1Ch_2:23), we had an account of in Num_32:41; and, it is supposed,
they were long after the conquest of Canaan. The Jews say, Hezron married
his third wife when he was sixty years old (1Ch_2:21), and another
afterwards (1Ch_2:24), because he had a great desire of posterity in the
37

family of Pharez, from whom the Messiah was to descend. 3. Here is
mention of one that died without children (1Ch_2:30), and another (1Ch_
2:32), and of one that had no sons, but daughters, 1Ch_2:34. Let those that
are in any of these ways afflicted not think their case new or singular.
Providence orders these affairs of families by an incontestable sovereignty,
as pleaseth him, giving children, or withholding them, or giving all of one
sex. He is not bound to please us, but we are bound to acquiesce in his good
pleasure. To those that love him he will himself be better than ten sons, and
give them in his house a place and a name better than of sons and
daughters. Let not those therefore that are written childless envy the
families that are built up and replenished. Shall our eye be evil because
God's is good? 4. Here is mention of one who had an only daughter, and
married her to his servant an Egyptian, 1Ch_2:34, 1Ch_2:35. If it be
mentioned to his praise, we must suppose that this Egyptian was proselyted
to the Jewish religion and that he was very eminent for wisdom and virtue,
otherwise it would not have become a true-born Israelite to match a
daughter to him, especially an only daughter. If Egyptians become converts,
and servants do worthily, neither their parentage nor their servitude should
be a bar to their preferment. Such a one this Egyptian servant might be that
she who married him might live as happily with him as if she had married
one of the rulers of her tribe. 5. The pedigree of several of these terminates,
not in a person, but in a place or country, as one is said to be the father of
Kirjath-jearim (1Ch_2:50), another of Bethlehem (1Ch_2:51), which was
afterwards David's city, because these places fell to their lot in the division
of the land. 6. here are some that are said to be families of scribes (1Ch_
2:55), such as kept up learning in their family, especially scripture-learning,
and taught the people the good knowledge of God. Among all these great
families we are glad to find some that were families of scribes. Would to
God that all the Lord's people were prophets - all the families of Israel
families of scribes, well instructed to the kingdom of heaven, and able to
bring out of their treasury things new and old!
JAMISON, "1Ch_2:18-55. Posterity of Caleb.
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].
K&D, "1Ch_2:18-24
38

The family of Caleb. - That ‫ב‬ ֵ‫ל‬ָ‫כּ‬ is merely a shortened form of ‫י‬ ַ‫לוּב‬ ְ‫,כּ‬ 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. ָ‫ֶיה‬‫נ‬ ָ‫,בּ‬ 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 ‫ת‬ ֵ‫א‬ ‫יד‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫,ה‬ “he begat
with,” is, it is true, unusual, but is analogous to ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫יד‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫,ח‬ 1Ch_8:9, and is
explained by the fact that ‫יד‬ ִ‫ל‬ ‫ה‬ 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 ‫ת‬ ‫יע‬ ִ‫ר‬ְ‫ת־י‬ ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫שּׁ‬ ִ‫,א‬ for, according
to the usual phraseology, we would have expected ‫תּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ instead of ‫ה‬ ָ‫שּׁ‬ ִ‫.א‬ But
‫ה‬ ָ‫שּׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ may be, under the circumstances, to some extent justified by the
supposition that Azubah is called indefinitely “woman,” because Caleb had
several wives. ‫ת‬ ‫יע‬ ִ‫ר‬ ְ‫ת־ו‬ ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ 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 ָ‫ֶיה‬‫נ‬ ָ‫,בּ‬ we should have
had ‫ה‬ ָ‫ֲזוּב‬‫ע‬ ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫.בּ‬ Hiller and J. H. Michaelis take ‫ת‬ ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ 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, ‫ת‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫תּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ instead of
‫ת‬ ֶ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫שּׁ‬ ִ‫,א‬ “he begat with Azubah his wife, Jerioth (a daughter); and these are
her sons.” In that case ‫ה‬ ָ‫שּׁ‬ ִ‫א‬ would be added to ‫ה‬ ָ‫ֲזוּב‬‫ע‬, to guard against ‫ה‬ ָ‫ֲזוּב‬‫ע‬
being taken for acc. obj. The names of the sons of Azubah, or of her
daughter Jerioth, do not occur elsewhere.
ELLICOTT, "(18) And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his
wife.—The Heb. text, as it stands, does not say this. The primâ facie rendering is,
39

“And Caleb son of Hezron begat Azubah a woman, and Jerioth: and these (are) her
sons; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.” But 1 Chronicles 2:19 continues: “And
Azubah died, and Caleb took to himself (as wife) Ephrath,” which of course
suggests that Azubah was not daughter but a former wife of Caleb. 1 Chronicles
2:18 has also been translated, “And Caleb son of Hezron caused Azubah a wife and
Jerioth to bear children.” (Comp. Isaiah 66:9.) It seems best to read, “his wife,
daughter of Jerioth (’ishtô -bath.Ierioth), instead of the text (ishshah ve’eth Ierioth);
and to render: And Caleb son of Hezron begat sons with Azubah daughter of
Jerioth” (eth, the particle before Azubah, is ambiguous, and might be either the
mere sign of the accusative, or the prep. “with,” cum, μετὰ). The Syriac partly
supports this version, for it reads: “And Caleb begat of Azubah, his wife, Jerioth,”
making Jerioth Azubah’s daughter. The LXX. has, “And Caleb took Azubah a wife
and Jerioth,” which only shows that the corruption of the text is ancient.
ELLICOTT, “II.—The Calebite stock (1 Chronicles 2:18-24).
COKE, “1 Chronicles 2:18. Begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth—
Begat children of Azubah his wife; and her sons were these, Jerioth, Jesher, &c.
Houbigant.
POOLE, “ Not that Caleb, Numbers 13:6, for he was the son of Jephunneh, of whom
he speaks, 1 Chronicles 4:15; but another Caleb.
Her sons, i.e. the sons, either,
1. Of Jerioth, she being last mentioned; or rather,
2. Of Azubah, who is by way of distinction called his wife, when Jerioth probably
was only his concubine, and, as it may seem, barren; and therefore upon Azubah’s
death he married another wife, 1 Chronicles 2:19. And those other sons of this
Caleb, mentioned below, 1 Chronicles 2:42, are his sons by some other wife distinct
from all these.
(C) Chelubai. The descendants of Caleb (Chelubai), placed third of Hezron's sons,
40

are next dealt with; but the subject is almost immediately interrupted by resumed
reference to Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:21-24), and by the table of Jemh-meel and his
descendants (1 Chronicles 2:25-41); after which the table of Caleb, apparently the
same Caleb, is carried on (1 Chronicles 2:42-49). Taking these broken portions,
however, just as they come, we are immediately met by a series of uncertainties and
surprises. 1 Chronicles 2:18 is obscure in that it says Caleb had children by Azubah
(the Hebrew construction also unusual), a wife, or indeed strictly a woman (not even
using the ordinary formula "his wife"), and by Jerioth, of whom nothing is said;
and the verse adds obscurity by saying, her sons are these, without plainly
indicating to which woman reference is made. It may be safely presumed, however,
from what follows, that Azubah is intended, though no other part of Scripture helps
us By so much as a mention of the sons' names to determine it certainly. Meantime
one Hebrew manuscript and the Chaldee Paraphrase are found to omit the words
"and by Jerioth." The Vulgate, and the Syriac and Arabic versions, make Jerioth
one of the children—possibly a daughter—of Caleb and Azubah, and this view is
supported by Kennicott and Houbigant (Barrington's 'Genealogies,' 1:210). The
tone of 1 Chronicles 2:19 may certainly he held to offer some countenance to the
assumption that either Jerioth's name ought to appear as that of a child or not at all.
The name Ephrath in this verse abounds with interest. The ancient name of the
town of Bethlehem, and also apparently of a district round it, is the same word
which is found here as the name of a woman. In either case it is more generally
written ‫ה‬ ָ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫פ‬ ֶ‫,א‬ as even in the two other appearances of it in this very chapter. Two
manuscripts, followed by two ancient editions, and apparently by the Vulgate,
substitute aleph for the above final he. In Micah 5:1, Bethlehem is found united with
Ephratah in one compound word. The mother Ephrath is here interesting for her
descendants given, her son Hur, grandson Uri, and great-grandson Bezaleel .
Further reference to these is made in verse 50.
19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath,
who bore him Hur.
GILL, "And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath,.... The
Targum is, "Miriam, who was called Ephrath"; but, according to Josephus
41

(q), it was his son Hur that was the husband of Miriam the sister of Moses:
which bare him Hur; See Gill on Exo_17:10.
K&D, "1Ch_2:19-20
When Azubah died, Caleb took Ephrath to wife, who bore him Hur. For
‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫פ‬ ֶ‫א‬ we find in 1Ch_2:50 the lengthened feminine form ‫ה‬ ָ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫פ‬ ֶ‫;א‬ 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).
ELLICOTT, "(19) Ephrath.—In 1 Chronicles 2:50 Ephratah; so also 4:4. The town
of Bethlehem was so called (Micah 5:1).
20 Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri the father of
Bezalel.
CLARKE, "Uri begat Bezaleel - This was probably the famous artist
mentioned Exo_31:2 (note), etc., where see the notes.
GILL, "And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel. Who yet is not thought to
be the same Bezaleel we read of in Exo_31:2 though the fathers and
grandfathers of both have the same names, and were of the same tribe.
ELLICOTT, "Verse 20
(20) Hur begat Uri . . . Bezaleel.—See Exodus 31:2, which states that: “ Bezaleel, son
of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,” was divinely qualified for building the
Tent of Meeting. Bezaleel is no doubt a person, but Hur is probably a Calebite clan,
42

established at “Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem” (Genesis 35:19).
21 Later, Hezron, when he was sixty years old,
married the daughter of Makir the father of
Gilead. He made love to her, and she bore him
Segub.
GILL, "And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father
of Gilead,.... Which Machir was the son of Manasseh, and Gilead was his
grandson, Num_26:29 the Targum is,"but he enticed a virgin, the daughter
of Machir;''which suggests, that he committed fornication with her, though
he afterwards married her; her name is not mentioned; to me it seems to be
Abiah, 1Ch_2:24 and whom the Targum there calls the daughter of Machir:
whom he married when he was sixty years old; the Targum is sixty six; this
seems to be his last wife:
and she bare him Segub; the same name with the youngest son of Hiel, who
rebuilt Jericho, 1Ki_16:34.
JAMISON, "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 (Num_26:29).
K&D, "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.
43

BENSON, "1 Chronicles 2:21. The father of Gilead — It is doubtful whether the
word Gilead is here the name of a man, or of the country so called: if it be the latter,
the expression means, the prince of Gilead, as the word father often signifies: if the
former, the Gilead intended must have been a person of noted valour, probably the
great champion in those parts.
ELLICOTT, " (21) And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir.—
This appears to mean, after the birth of the three sons mentioned in 1 Chronicles
2:9.
Machir.—The firstborn of Manasseh (Genesis 1:23), to whom Moses gave the land
of Gilead (Numbers 32:40; Deuteronomy 3:15). This explains the term “father of
Gilead.” The great clan of Machir was the ruling clan in Gilead. Comp. Numbers
26:28, which mentions the clan of the Machirites, and adds that “Machir begat
Gilead,” which perhaps means to say that the Israelite settlers in Gilead were of the
clan Machir.
Whom he married when he was threescore.—It is possible to see here a
metaphorical statement of the fact that a branch of Hezronites amalgamated with
the Machirites of Gilead. The “daughter of Machir” would then mean the clan so
named. Comp. the expressions, “daughter of Zion” (Isaiah 37:22), “daughter of
Judah” (Lamentations 1:15), “daughter of Babylon” (Isaiah 47:1).
Verses 21-24, "This short section, concerning other Hezronites than those of the
house of Caleb, is a parenthesis relating to a Hezronite element in Manassite Gilead.
POOLE, “ Went in, i.e. lay with her, as that phrase is commonly used, as Genesis
4:1 6:4.
The father of Gilead; of a man so called. Or if Gilead be the name of that known
country, father is put for head or governor, as it is used 1 Samuel 24:11 2 Kings 5:13
16:7 Isaiah 22:21; or for protector or curator, as father is used Job 29:16 Jeremiah
2:27 Lamentations 5:3; this man being a man of noted valour, and the great
champion in those parts.
Whom, he married, Heb. and he took her, to wit, to wife. Or, after he had taken her;
for so the particle vau is used, as hath been formerly noted.
44

When he was threescore years old, Heb. and he was, to wit, when he went in unto
her, or when he married her.
The first interruption to the record of Caleb's posterity is now occasioned by a
resumed reference to Hezron, who at the age of threescore took to wife (as it seems
from 1 Chronicles 2:24) Abiah, sister to Gilead, daughter of the eminent man
Machir, who was Manasseh's oldest son by an Aramitess concubine (1 Chronicles
7:14). Two sons of Hezron by Abiah are given (the latter of them a posthumous
child), but the elder having a son called Jair tracked, no doubt as one who became
famous by the number of cities he took. He was thus connected on the father's side
with a great family of Judah, and on the mother's with a great family of Manasseh.
He is probably not the Jair of 10:3, with his "thirty sons, thirty ass colts, and thirty
cities." And ‫יר‬ ִ‫ָא‬‫י‬ is not ‫יד‬ ִ‫ָﬠ‬‫י‬ of 2 Samuel 21:19; 1 Chronicles 20:5. Evident stress is
laid on his maternal descent. Thus (Numbers 32:41) he is styled son of Manasseh,
and hence also the explanation of the last clause of verse 23, infra, all these belonged
to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead. Some of the cities alluded to are the
Havoth-Jair (Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30), Englished as the
"groups of dwellings of Jair," on which see interesting note in Stanley's 'Sinai and
Palestine', vocabulary, pp. 526, 527. They lay in the trans-Jordanic district
Trachonitis, the modern El-leyah and Jebel-Hauran. It is not possible to harmonize
exactly the numbers of the cities given here with those in passages quoted above; nor
is the translation of verse 23, Authorized Version, very certainly the correct one. E.
Bertheau, in his 'Die Bucher der Chronik erklart; 15. Kurzgef. exegetisches
Handbuch. z. A.T.,' translates, "And Geshur and Aram took the Havvoth-Jair from
them with Kenath and her daughter-towns, sixty cities." "Took" is supposed to
mean here "retook," or "recovered." Though this suits the Hebrew syntax better, it
does not suit so well our immediate context; nor have we any other information of
such re, covering of them.
The Authorized Version is not justified in substituting children for the Hebrew
45

"sons;" the object evidently being to make this statement reconcilable with 1
Chronicles 2:34, which says that Sheshan had only daughters. The difficulty can be
removed, possibly, by supposing that Ahlai died (yet see 1 Chronicles 11:41), or that,
at the time to which 1 Chronicles 2:34 refers, only daughters were in question.
Wall's conjecture, that Ahlai of 1 Chronicles 2:31 is the same with Attai of 1
Chronicles 2:35, would have more probability if aleph were not the initial letter of
the one, and ayin of the other. Still, as all the other "sons" of this passage mean sons
strictly, it would be unlikely that sons of Sheshan only should mean "grandsons."
The genealogy now proceeds through Sheshan's daughter, name not given (unless
possibly Ahlai), married to his Egyptian servant Jarha, down to (1 Chronicles 2:41)
Elishama, at the twentieth generation from Jerahmeel. To this, however, the
Septuagint, adds one generation more, καὶ ἐλισμὰ ἐγέννησε τὸν ἰσμαήλ. The
Egyptian servant Jarha is not heard of elsewhere; that he was enfranchised before
his marriage with Sheshan's daughter is likely enough (Deuteronomy 23:8; 1
Samuel 30:11). The language of the end of 1 Chronicles 2:33, These were the sons of
Jerahmeel, would seem to exclude the following thirteen descendants of Jarha and
Sheshan's daughter from the genealogy. Yet this is scarcely likely to be the
intention, which perhaps was satisfied with simply marking a distinction by the
pause.
22 Segub was the father of Jair, who controlled
twenty-three towns in Gilead.
BARNES, "Jair, who had three and twenty cities - The places called
“Havoth-Jair” in the earlier Scriptures (see Num_32:41 note), which appear
to have been a number of “small towns,” or villages, in the Ledjah, the
Classical “Trachonitis.”
GILL, "And Segub begat Jair, who had twenty three cities in the land of
Gilead. Which, according to Kimchi, he inherited in right of his wife, which,
he says, he took out of the land of Gilead; but they seem to be rather what he
46

took by force of arms from the former inhabitants; see Num_32:41.
JAMISON, "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 (Num_32:41; Deu_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 (Num_
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.
K&D, "1Ch_2:21-22
Afterwards (‫ר‬ ַ‫ח‬ ַ‫,)א‬ 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 ‫ב‬ ָ‫א‬ 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.
ELLICOTT, " (22) And Segub begat Jair . . .—The Havothjair (tent-villages of Jair)
47

are several times mentioned in the Pentateuch. In the passage Numbers 32:39-42 it is
related—(1) That the Manassite clan of the sons of Machir took Gilead from the
Amorites; (2) That Moses then formally assigned Giiead “to Machir son of
Manasseh,” and the clan accordingly settled there; (3) That Jair son of Manasseh
had taken their (i.e., the Amorite) tent-villages, and called them Havoth-jair. Comp.
Deuteronomy 3:14-15 : “Jair son of Manasseh had taken all the region of Argob
unto the bounds of the Geshurite and the Maacnathite; and he called them (that is,
Bashan) after his own name, Havoth-jair, unto this day. And to Machir I gave
Gilead.”
1 Chronicles 2:21-23 show a connection between Jair and the two tribes of Judah
and Manasseh thus:—
Judah
|
Manasseh
|
Pharez
Hezron married the daughter of Machir, chief of Gilead
Segub
|
48

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