1These, the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah. These three were born to him by the daughter of Shua, the Canaanitess. Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, so He killed him. 4And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah: five. 5The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 6The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara; five. 7The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who had transgressed in the devoted thing. 8The son of Ethan: Azariah. 9The sons of Hezron who were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. 10Ram begot Amminadab, and Amminadab begot Nahshon, chief of the sons of Judah; 11Nahshon begot Salma, and Salma begot Boaz; 12Boaz begot Obed, and Obed begot Jesse; 13Jesse begot Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, 14Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15Ozem the sixth, and David the seventh. 16Their sisters: Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel; three. 17Abigail bore Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite. 18Caleb the son of Hezron had sons by Azubah, his wife, and by Jerioth. Now these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19When Azubah died, Caleb took Ephrath as his wife, who bore him Hur. 20And Hur begot Uri, and Uri begot Bezalel. 21And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he had taken when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub. 22Segub begot Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. 23(Geshur and Syria took from them the towns of Jair, with Kenath and its daughter-villages; sixty cities.) All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead. 24After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Hezron's wife Abiah bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa. 25The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, the firstborn, and Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. 27The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. 28The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. 29The name of the wife of Abishur: Abihail; and she bore him Ahban and Molid. 30The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; Seled died without children. 31The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan; and Sheshan's son: Ahlai. 32The sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan; Jether died without children. 33The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These, the sons of Jerahmeel. 34Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. And Sheshan had an Egyptian servant whose name was Jarha. 35Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife, and she bore him Attai. 36Attai begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad; 37Zabad begot Ephlal, and Ephlal begot Obed; 38Obed begot Jehu, and Jehu begot Azariah; 39Azariah begot Helez, and Helez begot Eleasah; 40Eleasah begot Sismai, and Sismai begot Shallum; 41Shallum begot Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begot Elishama. 42The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mesha, his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph; and his son: Mareshah, the father of Hebron. 43The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. 44Shema begot Raham the father of Jorkoam, and Rekem begot Shammai. 45And the son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth Zur. 46Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran begot Gazez. 47The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. 48Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea. And the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. 50These, the sons of Caleb the son of Hur; the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kirjath Jearim, 51Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth Gader. 52And Shobal the father of Kirjath Jearim had sons: Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites. 53The families of Kirjath Jearim were the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. 54The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half of the Manahethites, and the Zorites. 55The families of the scribes who dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Suchathites. These, the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 3 POSTERITY OF JUDAH. (
1Chr 2:3-12)
The sons of Judah--His descendants are enumerated first, because the right and privileges of the primogeniture had been transferred to him (
Gen 49:8), and because from his tribe the Messiah was to spring.
6 Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara--These five are here stated to be the sons of Zerah, that is, of Ezra, whence they were called Ezrahites (
1Kgs 4:31). In that passage they are called "the sons of Mahol," which, however, is to be taken not as a proper name, but appellatively for "sons of music, dancing," &c. The traditional fame of their great sagacity and acquirements had descended to the time of Solomon and formed a standard of comparison for showing the superior wisdom of that monarch. Jewish writers say that they were looked up to as prophets by their countrymen during the abode in Egypt.
7 the sons of Carmi--He was the son of Zimri, or Zabdi, as he is called (
Josh 7:1).
Achar--or Achan (
Josh 7:1). This variety in the form of the name is with great propriety used here, since Achar means "troubler."
15 CHILDREN OF JESSE. (
1Chr 2:13-17)
David the seventh--As it appears (
1Sam 16:10;
1Sam 17:12) that Jesse had eight sons, the presumption is from David being mentioned here as the seventh son of his father, that one of them had died at an early age, without leaving issue.
17 Jether the Ishmaelite--(compare
2Sam 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.
18 POSTERITY OF CALEB. (1Ch. 2:18-55)
Caleb the son of Hezron--The notices concerning this person appear confused in our version. In
1Chr 2:19 he is said to be the father of Hur, whereas in
1Chr 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 [
1Chr 2:19].
21 Hezron . . . daughter of Machir the father of Gilead--that is, chief of that town, which with the lands adjacent was no doubt the property of Machir, who was so desirous of a male heir. He was grandson of Joseph. The wife of Machir was of the tribe of Manasseh (
Num 26:29).
22 Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead--As the son of Segub and the grandson of Hezron, he was of the tribe of Judah; but from his maternal descent he is called (
Num 32:41;
Deut 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-
Num 36:13), by which it was enacted that heiresses were to marry in their own tribe. But this instance of Jair shows that in the case of a man obtaining an inheritance in another tribe it required him to become thoroughly incorporated with it as a representative of the family through which the inheritance was received. He had been adopted into Manasseh, and it would never have been imagined that he was other than "a son of Manasseh" naturally, had not this passage given information supplementary to that of the passage in Numbers.
23 he took--rather "he had taken." This statement is accounting for his acquisition of so large a territory; he got it by right of conquest from the former possessors.
Kenath--This place, along with its group of surrounding villages, was gained by Nobah, one of Jair's officers sent by him to capture it (
Num 32:1-
Num 32:2).
All these belonged to the sons of Machir--In their number Jair is included as having completely identified himself by his marriage and residence in Gilead with the tribe of Manasseh.
24 Caleb-ephratah--so called from uniting the names of husband and wife (
1Chr 2:19), and supposed to be the same as was afterwards called Beth-lehem-ephratah.
Ashur, the father of Tekoa-- (
2Sam 14:2-4). He is called the father, either from his being the first founder, or perhaps the ruler, of the city.
34 Sheshan had no sons, but daughters--either he had no sons alive at his death, or his family consisted wholly of daughters, of whom Ahlai (
1Chr 2:31) was one, she being specially mentioned on account of the domestic relations about to be noted.
35 Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife--The adoption and marriage of a foreign slave in the family where he is serving, is far from being a rare or extraordinary occurrence in Eastern countries. It is thought, however, by some to have been a connection not sanctioned by the law of Moses [MICHAELIS]. But this is not a well-founded objection, as the history of the Jews furnishes not a few examples of foreign proselytes in the same manner obtaining an inheritance in Israel; and doubtless Jarha had previously embraced the Jewish faith in place of the grovelling idolatries of his native Egypt. In such a case, therefore, there could be no legal difficulty. Being a foreign slave, he had no inheritance in a different tribe to injure by this connection; while his marriage with Sheshan's daughter led to his adoption into the tribe of Judah, as well as his becoming heir of the family property.
42 the sons of Caleb--(compare
1Chr 2:18,
1Chr 2:25). The sons here noticed were the fruit of his union with a third wife.
55 the families of the scribes--either civil or ecclesiastical officers of the Kenite origin, who are here classed with the tribe of Judah, not as being descended from it, but as dwelling within its territory, and in a measure incorporated with its people.
Jabez--a place in Judah (
1Chr 4:9).
Kenites that came of Hemath--who settled in Judah, and were thus distinguished from another division of the Kenite clan which dwelt in Manasseh (
Judg 4:11).
