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1 Chronicles 2 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
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while 1 Chronicles 3, 4 complete the account of this tribe, so far as the fragmentary materials at the writer’s disposal permitted.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-1.htm">1 Chronicles 2:1</a></div><div class="verse">These <i>are</i> the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,</div>(1, 2) <span class= "bld">The sons of Israel.</span>—The list is apparently taken from <a href="/context/genesis/35-23.htm" title="The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun:">Genesis 35:23-26</a>, 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 <a href="/genesis/30-6.htm" title="And Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.">Genesis 30:6</a>.) In the list at <a href="/context/genesis/46-9.htm" title="And the sons of Reuben; Hanoch, and Phallu, and Hezron, and Carmi.">Genesis 46:9-23</a>, 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 <a href="/context/genesis/35-3.htm" title="And let us arise, and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.">Genesis 35:3-4</a>.<p><span class= "bld"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-3.htm">1 Chronicles 2:3</a></div><div class="verse">The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: <i>which</i> 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.</div>THE FIVE SONS OF JUDAH, FROM Genesis 38.</span><p>(3) <span class= "bld">The daughter of Shua the Canaanitess.</span>—Shua was the father of Judah’s wife.<p><span class= "bld">Er, the firstborn of Judah, was</span> (<span class= "ital">became, proved</span>) <span class= "bld">evil.</span>—Word for word from <a href="/genesis/38-7.htm" title="And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.">Genesis 38:7</a>. 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.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-4.htm">1 Chronicles 2:4</a></div><div class="verse">And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah <i>were</i> five.</div>(4) <span class= "bld">Tamar.</span>—Wife of Er. The story of her incest with Judah, the fruit of which was the twins Pharez (Heb., <span class= "ital">Perez</span>) and Zerah (called Zarah, <a href="/genesis/38-30.htm" title="And afterward came out his brother, that had the scarlet thread on his hand: and his name was called Zarah.">Genesis 38:30</a>; and Zara, <a href="/matthew/1-3.htm" title="And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;">Matthew 1:3</a>), is told in <a href="/context/genesis/38-8.htm" title="And Judah said to Onan, Go in to your brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to your brother.">Genesis 38:8-30</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-5.htm">1 Chronicles 2:5</a></div><div class="verse">The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.</div>(5) <span class= "bld">The sons of Pharez.</span>—From Gen. xlvi 12, which also names the five sons of Judah. <a href="/numbers/26-21.htm" title="And the sons of Pharez were; of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites: of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.">Numbers 26:21</a> mentions the clans (<span class= "ital">mishpahath</span>) of the Hezronites and Hamulites, as registered in a census held by Moses.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-6.htm">1 Chronicles 2:6</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.</div>(6-8) <span class= "bld">The sons of Zerah.</span>—From this point our narrative ceases to depend entirely upon the data of Genesis.<p>(6) <span class= "bld">Zimri.</span>—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 <a href="/joshua/7-1.htm" title="But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.">Joshua 7:1</a>, are both called sons of Zerah, seems to prove their identity; especially as m is often confused with <span class= "ital">b</span>, and <span class= "ital">d</span> with <span class= "ital">r.</span><p><span class= "bld">Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara.</span>—It is stated (<a href="/1_kings/4-31.htm" title="For he was wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: and his fame was in all nations round about.">1Kings 4:31</a>) 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—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> a descendant of Zerah (<a href="/numbers/26-13.htm" title="Of Zerah, the family of the Zarhites: of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.">Numbers 26:13</a>). The designation of the four as “sons of Mahol” presents no difficulty. <span class= "ital">Mahol</span> is a usual word for the sacred dance (<a href="/psalms/149-3.htm" title="Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises to him with the tambourine and harp.">Psalm 149:3</a>; <a href="/psalms/150-4.htm" title="Praise him with the tambourine and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.">Psalm 150:4</a>), 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 <a href="/1_chronicles/6-33.htm" title="And these are they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel,">1Chronicles 6:33</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/6-44.htm" title="And their brothers the sons of Merari stood on the left hand: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,">1Chronicles 6:44</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/15-17.htm" title="So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;">1Chronicles 15:17</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/15-19.htm" title="So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass;">1Chronicles 15:19</a> 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.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-7.htm">1 Chronicles 2:7</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.</div>(7) <span class= "bld">The sons of Carmi.</span>—See Note on <a href="/1_chronicles/1-41.htm" title="The sons of Anah; Dishon. And the sons of Dishon; Amram, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.">1Chronicles 1:41</a>.<span class= "bld"><p>Achar, the troubler of Israel.</span>—See <a href="/joshua/7-1.htm" title="But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.">Joshua 7:1</a>, 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. <a href="/joshua/7-24.htm" title="And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them to the valley of Achor.">Joshua 7:24</a> 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.<p><span class= "bld">Achar . . . troubler of Israel.</span>—There is a play on the man’s name in the Hebrew, which is, “<span class= "ital">Achar ’ocher Yisrael.”</span> So in <a href="/joshua/7-25.htm" title="And Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? the LORD shall trouble you this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.">Joshua 7:25</a> Joshua asks, “Why hast thou troubled us?” (<span class= "ital">‘achartânu</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> and in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-26.htm" title="Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.">1Chronicles 2:26</a> the place of Achar’s doom is called “the valley of Achor” (trouble). Probably Achan is an old error for Achar.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-8.htm">1 Chronicles 2:8</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.</div>(8) <span class= "bld">The sons of Ethan.</span>—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 <a href="/1_chronicles/2-6.htm" title="And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.">1Chronicles 2:6</a>, the four proverbial sages; in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-7.htm" title="And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.">1Chronicles 2:7</a>, Achar who brought woe upon Israel by taking of the devoted spoils of Jericho.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-9.htm">1 Chronicles 2:9</a></div><div class="verse">The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.</div>(9-41) The Hezronites, who were sons of Pharez (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-5.htm" title="The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.">1Chronicles 2:5</a>), and their three lines of descent, Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.<p>(9) <span class= "bld">Jerahmeel.</span>—<span class= "ital">Godpitieth.</span><p><span class= "bld">Ram.</span>—Called <span class= "ital">Aram</span> in our Lord’s genealogy (Matthew 1) The two names are synonyms, both meaning <span class= "ital">high,</span> and are used interchangeably in <a href="/job/32-2.htm" title="Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.">Job 32:2</a> (Ram) and <a href="/genesis/22-21.htm" title="Huz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel the father of Aram,">Genesis 22:21</a> (Aram).<p><span class= "bld">Chelubai.</span>—Strictly, <span class= "ital">the Chelubite</span> or <span class= "ital">Calebite,</span> a gentilic term formed from Caleb (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-18.htm" title="And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.">1Chronicles 2:18</a>). This seems to show that we are concerned here not so much with individual sons of Hezron as with families or clans of Hezronites.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-10.htm">1 Chronicles 2:10</a></div><div class="verse">And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;</div><span class= "bld">I.—(</span>10-17) The descent of David from Amminadab, of the house of Ram. The royal line naturally takes precedence of the other two. <a href="/context/ruth/4-18.htm" title="Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron,">Ruth 4:18-22</a> 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. <a href="/1_chronicles/1-7.htm" title="And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.">1Chronicles 1:7</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/7-12.htm" title="Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir, and Hushim, the sons of Aher.">1Chronicles 7:12</a>), at the time of the Exodus.<p>(11) <span class= "bld">Salma.</span>—So in <a href="/ruth/4-20.htm" title="And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon,">Ruth 4:20</a>; but in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-21.htm" title="And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was three score years old; and she bore him Segub.">1Chronicles 2:21</a>, <a href="/matthew/1-4.htm" title="And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;">Matthew 1:4</a>, and <a href="/luke/3-32.htm" title="Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson,">Luke 3:32</a>, Salmon.<p>(13-17) The family of Jesse (Heb., <span class= "ital">Yishai</span> in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-12.htm" title="And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,">1Chronicles 2:12</a>, but <span class= "ital">‘Ishai</span> in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-13.htm" title="And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,">1Chronicles 2:13</a>).<p>Seven sons are here named. <a href="/context/1_samuel/17-12.htm" title="Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.">1Samuel 17:12-13</a> states that Jesse had eight sons; and from <a href="/context/1_samuel/16-6.htm" title="And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.">1Samuel 16:6-10</a> (Heb.) it appears that he had that number. In both passages, Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimma (Heb., <span class= "ital">Shim‘â,</span> here and at <a href="/1_chronicles/20-7.htm" title="But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him.">1Chronicles 20:7</a>) occur, the last under the form Shammah. He is called Shimei (<a href="/2_samuel/21-21.htm" title="And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him.">2Samuel 21:21</a>); but Shimeah == Shim’ah (<a href="/2_samuel/13-3.htm" title="But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother: and Jonadab was a very subtle man.">2Samuel 13:3</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/13-32.htm" title="And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David's brother, answered and said, Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead: for by the appointment of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.">2Samuel 13:32</a>); and this appears to have been his real name.<p>(14, 15) <span class= "bld">Nethaneel . . . Raddai . . . Ozem.</span>—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 <a href="/1_chronicles/27-18.htm" title="Of Judah, Elihu, one of the brothers of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael:">1Chronicles 27:18</a> for Eliab.<p>(16) <span class= "bld">Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">And their sisters,</span> &c. If the reading in <a href="/2_samuel/17-25.htm" title="And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.">2Samuel 17:25</a> 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 (<a href="/2_samuel/19-13.htm" title="And say you to Amasa, Are you not of my bone, and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if you be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.">2Samuel 19:13</a>), and was afterwards assassinated by Joab (<a href="/2_samuel/20-10.htm" title="But Amasa took no heed to the sword that was in Joab's hand: so he smote him therewith in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and struck him not again; and he died. So Joab and Abishai his brother pursued after Sheba the son of Bichri.">2Samuel 20:10</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Abishai.</span>—<span class= "ital">Abshai,</span> here and elsewhere in the chronicle.<p><span class= "bld">Joab,</span> the famous commander-in-chief of David’s forces (see <a href="/context/1_chronicles/11-6.htm" title="And David said, Whoever smites the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.">1Chronicles 11:6-8</a>); and for Joab and Abishai, who, like Asahel, was one of David’s heroes (<a href="/1_chronicles/11-20.htm" title="And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew them, and had a name among the three.">1Chronicles 11:20</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/11-26.htm" title="Also the valiant men of the armies were, Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,">1Chronicles 11:26</a>), comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/18-12.htm" title="Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.">1Chronicles 18:12</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/18-15.htm" title="And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder.">1Chronicles 18:15</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/19-10.htm" title="Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.">1Chronicles 19:10</a> <span class= "ital">seq.,</span> <a href="/1_chronicles/21-2.htm" title="And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.">1Chronicles 21:2</a> <span class= "ital">et seq.,</span> <a href="/1_chronicles/27-24.htm" title="Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number, but he finished not, because there fell wrath for it against Israel; neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of king David.">1Chronicles 27:24</a>. David’s champions were thus his immediate kin, just as Abner was to Saul.<p>(17) <span class= "bld">Jether the Ishmeelite.</span>—Incorrectly called “Ithra an Israelite” in <a href="/2_samuel/17-25.htm" title="And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man's son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab's mother.">2Samuel 17:25</a>. The later abhorrence of alien marriages seems to have been unknown in the age of David. The name of Zeruiah’s husband is unknown.<p><span class= "bld">II.—The Calebite stock</span> (<a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-18.htm" title="And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.">1Chronicles 2:18-24</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-18.htm">1 Chronicles 2:18</a></div><div class="verse">And Caleb the son of Hezron begat <i>children</i> of Azubah <i>his</i> wife, and of Jerioth: her sons <i>are</i> these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife.</span>—The Heb. text, as it stands, does not say this. The <span class= "ital">primâ facie</span> rendering is, “And Caleb son of Hezron begat Azubah a woman, and Jerioth: and these (are) her sons; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.” But <a href="/1_chronicles/2-19.htm" title="And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took to him Ephrath, which bore him Hur.">1Chronicles 2:19</a> 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. <a href="/1_chronicles/2-18.htm" title="And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.">1Chronicles 2:18</a> has also been translated, “And Caleb son of Hezron caused Azubah a wife and Jerioth to bear children.” (Comp. <a href="/isaiah/66-9.htm" title="Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? said the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? said your God.">Isaiah 66:9</a>.) It seems best to read, “his wife, daughter of Jerioth (’i<span class= "ital">shtô -bath.Ierioth</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> instead of the text (<span class= "ital">ishshah ve’eth Ierioth</span>)<span class= "ital">;</span> and to render: And Caleb son of Hezron begat sons with Azubah daughter of Jerioth” (<span class= "ital">eth,</span> the particle before Azubah, is ambiguous, and might be either the mere sign of the accusative, or the prep. “with,” <span class= "ital">cum, </span><span class= "greekheb">μετὰ</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span> 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.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-19.htm">1 Chronicles 2:19</a></div><div class="verse">And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">Ephrath.</span>—In <a href="/1_chronicles/2-50.htm" title="These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim.">1Chronicles 2:50</a> Ephratah; so also 4:4. The town of Bethlehem was so called (<a href="/micah/5-1.htm" title="Now gather yourself in troops, O daughter of troops: he has laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.">Micah 5:1</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-20.htm">1 Chronicles 2:20</a></div><div class="verse">And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.</div>(20) <span class= "bld">Hur begat Uri . . . Bezaleel.</span>—See <a href="/exodus/31-2.htm" title="See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:">Exodus 31:2</a>, 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, established at “Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem” (<a href="/genesis/35-19.htm" title="And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.">Genesis 35:19</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-21.htm">1 Chronicles 2:21</a></div><div class="verse">And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he <i>was</i> threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.</div>(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.<p>(21) <span class= "bld">And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir.</span>—This appears to mean, after the birth of the three sons mentioned in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-9.htm" title="The sons also of Hezron, that were born to him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.">1Chronicles 2:9</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Machir.</span>—The firstborn of Manasseh (<a href="/genesis/1-23.htm" title="And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.">Genesis 1:23</a>), to whom Moses gave the land of Gilead (<a href="/numbers/32-40.htm" title="And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelled therein.">Numbers 32:40</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/3-15.htm" title="And I gave Gilead to Machir.">Deuteronomy 3:15</a>). This explains the term “father of Gilead.” The great clan of Machir was the ruling clan in Gilead. Comp. <a href="/numbers/26-28.htm" title="The sons of Joseph after their families were Manasseh and Ephraim.">Numbers 26:28</a>, 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.<p><span class= "bld">Whom he married when he was threescore.</span>—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” (<a href="/isaiah/37-22.htm" title="This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.">Isaiah 37:22</a>), “daughter of Judah” (<a href="/lamentations/1-15.htm" title="The LORD has trodden under foot all my mighty men in the middle of me: he has called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the LORD has trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a wine press.">Lamentations 1:15</a>), “daughter of Babylon” (<a href="/isaiah/47-1.htm" title="Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate.">Isaiah 47:1</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-22.htm">1 Chronicles 2:22</a></div><div class="verse">And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead.</div>(22) <span class= "bld">And Segub begat Jair</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—The Havothjair (tent-villages of Jair) are several times mentioned in the Pentateuch. In the passage <a href="/context/numbers/32-39.htm" title="And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it.">Numbers 32:39-42</a> 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 (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the Amorite) tent-villages, and called them Havoth-jair. Comp. <a href="/context/deuteronomy/3-14.htm" title="Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob to the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, to this day.">Deuteronomy 3:14-15</a> : “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.”<p><a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-21.htm" title="And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was three score years old; and she bore him Segub.">1Chronicles 2:21-23</a> show a connection between Jair and the two tribes of Judah and Manasseh thus:—<p>Judah<p>"<p>Manasseh<p>"<p>Pharez<p>Hezron married the daughter of Machir, chief of Gilead<p>Segub<p>"<p>Jair<p>Jair is of course the name of <span class= "bld">a</span> group of kindred families or clans, settled in the twenty-three cities.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-23.htm">1 Chronicles 2:23</a></div><div class="verse">And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, <i>even</i> threescore cities. All these <i>belonged to</i> the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.</div>(23) <span class= "bld">And he took . . . of Gilead.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">And</span> <span class= "ital">Geshur and Aram took the Havoth-jair from them</span>—<span class= "ital">Kenath and her daughters, sixty cities: all these </span>(<span class= "ital">were</span>)<span class= "ital"> sons of Machir, chief of Gilead.</span><p><span class= "bld">Geshur, and Aram.</span>—That is, the Aramean state of Geshur, north-west of Bashan, near Hermon and the Jordan, which was an independent kingdom in the age of David (<a href="/2_samuel/3-3.htm" title="And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;">2Samuel 3:3</a>). The Geshurites “took the tent-villages of Jair <span class= "ital">from them”</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> from the sons of Jair, or the Jairites, at what date is unknown. Comp. <a href="/context/deuteronomy/3-14.htm" title="Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob to the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, to this day.">Deuteronomy 3:14-15</a>, above cited.<p><span class= "bld">With Kenath.</span>—The Hebrew particle before “Kenath” may be either the sign of the object of the verb, or the preposition “with.” In the latter case, the statement of the verse will be that the twenty-three villages of Jair, together with the (thirty-seven) places called Kenath and her daughters, amounting in all to sixty towns, were taken by the Geshurites. See <a href="/context/numbers/32-41.htm" title="And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havothjair.">Numbers 32:41-42</a>, where it is said that Jair occupied the Havoth-jair, and “Nobah went and took Kenath and her daughters, and called it Nobah after his own name.” Kenath is the modern <span class= "ital">Kanwat,</span> on the western slope of <span class= "ital">Jebel</span> <span class= "ital">Hauran.</span><p>It is difficult to reconcile all the different statements about the Havoth-jair. <a href="/context/judges/10-3.htm" title="And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.">Judges 10:3-4</a>, for example, speaks of Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty -two years, and “had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts,” and, moreover, possessed “thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day.” <a href="/joshua/13-30.htm" title="And their coast was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair, which are in Bashan, three score cities:">Joshua 13:30</a> seems to make the Havoth-jair sixty towns. Comp. <a href="/1_kings/4-13.htm" title="The son of Geber, in Ramothgilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, three score great cities with walls and brazen bars:">1Kings 4:13</a>; also <a href="/1_chronicles/2-21.htm" title="And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was three score years old; and she bore him Segub.">1Chronicles 2:21</a>, where Hezron is sixty when he marries the Gileadite daughter of Machir.<p>Of course the number of places included in the “camps of Jair” may have varied at different epochs.<p><span class= "bld">All these belonged to the sons of Machir.</span>—Or, <span class= "ital">all these were sons of Machir</span>—<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the clans and families that came of the union of Hezron with the daughter of ‘Machir. (See Note on <a href="/1_chronicles/2-21.htm" title="And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was three score years old; and she bore him Segub.">1Chronicles 2:21</a>; and <a href="/joshua/19-34.htm" title="And then the coast turns westward to Aznothtabor, and goes out from there to Hukkok, and reaches to Zebulun on the south side, and reaches to Asher on the west side, and to Judah on Jordan toward the sun rise.">Joshua 19:34</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-24.htm">1 Chronicles 2:24</a></div><div class="verse">And after that Hezron was dead in Calebephratah, then Abiah Hezron's wife bare him Ashur the father of Tekoa.</div>(24) <span class= "bld">And after that Hezron was dead</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—Or, “And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephratah—and the wife of Hezron was Abiah—and she bare him Ashur . . .” The text is evidently corrupt. The best suggestion is based on the reading of the LXX.: <span class= "greekheb">καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν Εσερων ἦλθεν Χαλεβ εἰς Εφραθα</span>; “And after Hezron’s death Caleb went to Ephrath.” Some very slight changes in the Hebrew, affecting only three letters of the entire sentence, will give the sense, “And after Hezron’s death Caleb went in to Ephrath, the wife of his father Hezron (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-19.htm" title="And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took to him Ephrath, which bore him Hur.">1Chronicles 2:19</a>); and she bare him Ash-hur, father (founder, or chief) of Tekoa.” (Comp. <a href="/genesis/35-22.htm" title="And it came to pass, when Israel dwelled in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:">Genesis 35:22</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Ashur</span> (Heb., <span class= "ital">Ash-hur</span>) means “man of Hur”—that is, the chief of the clan of the Hurites, settled at Ephrath or Bethlehem (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-19.htm" title="And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took to him Ephrath, which bore him Hur.">1Chronicles 2:19</a>). Comp. Ashbel “man of Bel.” (<span class= "ital">Ash</span> is the elder form of <span class= "ital">Ish</span> “man”; as appears from the Phenician inscriptions.)<p>That “Caleb” in this verse means the house of Caleb is evident if we consider that the genealogy makes <span class= "ital">him</span> great grandson of Judah, whereas the individual Caleb son of Jephunneh took part in the conquest of Canaan, more than four centuries after Judah went down to Egypt.<p><span class= "bld">III.—The Jerahmeelites</span> (<a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-25.htm" title="And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.">1Chronicles 2:25-41</a>). Comp. <a href="/1_samuel/27-10.htm" title="And Achish said, Where have you made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.">1Samuel 27:10</a>, “the south (land) of the Jerahmeelites,” in the territory of Judah.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-25.htm">1 Chronicles 2:25</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, <i>and</i> Ahijah.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">Ram the firstborn.</span>—Not the same as the Ram, brother of Jerahmeel, of <a href="/1_chronicles/2-9.htm" title="The sons also of Hezron, that were born to him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.">1Chronicles 2:9</a>. (See Note at end of section.)<p><span class= "bld">And Ahijah.</span>—This is probably a mistake, as the conjunction is wanting in the Hebrew. The LXX. has, “his brother” the Hebrew for which might easily be misread Ahijah. So the Syriac and Arabic read, “and Ozem their sister.” But the statement of <a href="/1_chronicles/2-26.htm" title="Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.">1Chronicles 2:26</a>, “Jerahmeel had also another wife,” &c., makes it likely that the first wife was mentioned here; and, therefore, it is conjectured that Ahijah—usually a man’s name—is the former wife; and that the right reading is “from Ahijah,” which requires merely the restoration of the prefix <span class= "ital">m </span>(<span class= "ital">me-Ahiyah</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> which has fallen out, as in other instances, after the m of Ozem immediately preceding.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-26.htm">1 Chronicles 2:26</a></div><div class="verse">Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name <i>was</i> Atarah; she <i>was</i> the mother of Onam.</div>(26) <span class= "bld">Atarah.</span>—The word means <span class= "ital">corona,</span> here and in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-54.htm" title="The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.">1Chronicles 2:54</a>; probably, the ring-fence or fortifications round a city. So <span class= "greekheb">στέφανος</span> was used in Greek (Pindar, <span class= "ital">Olymp. viii.</span> 42, of the wall of Troy). The plural Ataroth occurs as the name of a town in <a href="/numbers/32-3.htm" title="Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,">Numbers 32:3</a>; <a href="/joshua/16-5.htm" title="And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance on the east side was Atarothaddar, to Bethhoron the upper;">Joshua 16:5</a>.<p><span class= "bld">The mother of Onam.</span>—See <a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-28.htm" title="And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab and Abishur.">1Chronicles 2:28-34</a> for the ramifications of this clan.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-30.htm">1 Chronicles 2:30</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but Seled died without children.</div>(30) <span class= "bld">Seled died without children.</span>—That is, the clan <span class= "ital">Seled</span> did not multiply, and subdivide into new groups. (Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/2-32.htm" title="And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children.">1Chronicles 2:32</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-31.htm">1 Chronicles 2:31</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.</div>(31) <span class= "bld">The children of Sheshan; Ahlai.</span>—See Note on <a href="/1_chronicles/1-41.htm" title="The sons of Anah; Dishon. And the sons of Dishon; Amram, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.">1Chronicles 1:41</a>, “Dishon.” Ahlai is the name of a clan, not of an individual. Others would explain such phrases by assuming that “sons of so-and-so” is a conventional expression, used even where only one person has to be registered; or that the chronicler has in such cases abbreviated the contents of his source, by omitting all the names but one. Both assumptions are antiquated.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-33.htm">1 Chronicles 2:33</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.</div>(33) <span class= "bld">These were the sons of Jerahmeel.</span>—Subscription of the list contained in <a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-25.htm" title="And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.">1Chronicles 2:25-33</a>. It is noteworthy that the total of the names from Judah to Zaza again amounts to about seventy. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 1; see also <a href="/genesis/46-27.htm" title="And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were three score and ten.">Genesis 46:27</a>.)<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-34.htm">1 Chronicles 2:34</a></div><div class="verse">Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name <i>was</i> Jarha.</div>(34) <span class= "bld">Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters.</span>—Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/2-31.htm" title="And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.">1Chronicles 2:31</a> above, “And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.” Those who insist upon a literal understanding of these lists reconcile the two statements by making Ahlai a daughter; others suppose that the chronicler has preserved for us in the present section fragments of at least two independent accounts.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-35.htm">1 Chronicles 2:35</a></div><div class="verse">And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai.</div>(35-41) 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. Elishama, the last name (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-41.htm" title="And Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.">1Chronicles 2:41</a>), is the twenty-fourth generation specified from Judah. The list thus extends over a period of at least 720 years; and if we reckon from the Exodus (circ. 1330 B.C.), we get B.C. 610 as an approximate date for Elishama. Now an Elishama was living about that time, who is mentioned (<a href="/jeremiah/36-12.htm" title="Then he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's chamber: and, see, all the princes sat there, even Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes.">Jeremiah 36:12</a>) as one of the princes of Jehoiakim, king of Judah; <a href="/jeremiah/41-1.htm" title="Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah; and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah.">Jeremiah 41:1</a> perhaps mentions the same person again, calling him “of the seed of the kingdom.” It is at least a coincidence that several of the names recur in the house of David: Nathan (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-36.htm" title="And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad,">1Chronicles 2:36</a>) in <a href="/1_chronicles/3-5.htm" title="And these were born to him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel:">1Chronicles 3:5</a>; Obed, as David’s grandfather in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-12.htm" title="And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,">1Chronicles 2:12</a>; Azariah, as a byname of King Uzziah, in <a href="/1_chronicles/3-12.htm" title="Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,">1Chronicles 3:12</a>; Shallum, as a son of Josiah, in <a href="/1_chronicles/3-15.htm" title="And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.">1Chronicles 3:15</a>; Jekamiah, as a brother of Salathiel (Shealtiel), in <a href="/1_chronicles/3-18.htm" title="Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.">1Chronicles 3:18</a>; and Elishama, as a son of David, in <a href="/1_chronicles/3-8.htm" title="And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.">1Chronicles 3:8</a>—a coincidence of six out of thirteen names. The passage Deut. Xxiii. 7, 8 rules that in the third generation persons of Egyptian blood are to be treated as full Israelites. This whole section proves that an Egyptian element was recognised in Judah. (Compare <a href="/exodus/12-38.htm" title="And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.">Exodus 12:38</a>; <a href="/numbers/11-4.htm" title="And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?">Numbers 11:4</a>.) Even the name Jarha has an Egyptian cast (comp. <span class= "ital">larō,</span> the Memphitic name of the Nile, with the Vulg. spelling of the word Jeraa); perhaps it is <span class= "ital">Iar-aa,</span> great river, (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the Nile).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-42.htm">1 Chronicles 2:42</a></div><div class="verse">Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel <i>were</i>, Mesha his firstborn, which <i>was</i> the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.</div>(42-55) These verses revert to the Calebite stocks. Interpreted as merely bearing upon the extraction of individuals about whom, for the most part, nothing whatever is known beyond what these brief notices reveal, the section presents great difficulties. The key to it appears to be the assumption that it is an ancient record of the relations between certain great branches of the tribe of Judah, and their various settlements; in other words, these lists are tribal and topographical, rather than genealogical.<p><span class= "bld">I.—</span><a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-42.htm" title="Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were, Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.">1Chronicles 2:42-45</a> : Caleb brother of Jerahmeel = Caleb son of Hezron (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-18.htm" title="And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.">1Chronicles 2:18</a>) = Chelubai (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-9.htm" title="The sons also of Hezron, that were born to him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.">1Chronicles 2:9</a>).<p>(42) <span class= "bld">Mesha.</span>—The name of a king of Moab (<a href="/2_kings/3-4.htm" title="And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master, and rendered to the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.">2Kings 3:4</a>), whose monument of victory, the famous Moabite stone, was found in 1868 at Dibou. Here the name is probably that of a principal Calebite clan, settled at Ziph, near Hebron (<a href="/context/joshua/15-54.htm" title="And Humtah, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, and Zior; nine cities with their villages:">Joshua 15:54-55</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/23-14.htm" title="And David stayed in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.">1Samuel 23:14</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Father of Ziph.</span>—Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/2-21.htm" title="And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was three score years old; and she bore him Segub.">1Chronicles 2:21</a>, “father of Gilead,” and 24.<p><span class= "bld">And the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.</span>—The statement of the verse is, “the sons of Mareshah were sons of Caleb,” that is, the Mareshathites, or people of Mareshah (<a href="/joshua/15-44.htm" title="And Keilah, and Achzib, and Mareshah; nine cities with their villages:">Joshua 15:44</a>), a town in the Shephelah, were a Calebite clan. This branch of Caleb is called “father of Hebron,” because it had the chief part in colonising that old Canaanite city.<p>(43) <span class= "bld">Korah.</span>—Elsewhere the name of a subdivision of the Kohathite Levites; in <a href="/1_chronicles/1-35.htm" title="The sons of Esau; Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.">1Chronicles 1:35</a> it was a tribe of Edomites. In this place, therefore, it may be a clan of Hebronites.<p><span class= "bld">Tappuah.</span>—A town in the Shephelah (<a href="/joshua/15-34.htm" title="And Zanoah, and Engannim, Tappuah, and Enam,">Joshua 15:34</a>; <a href="/joshua/16-8.htm" title="The border went out from Tappuah westward to the river Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.">Joshua 16:8</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Rekem.</span>—A Benjamite city (<a href="/joshua/18-27.htm" title="And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,">Joshua 18:27</a>); in <a href="/1_chronicles/7-16.htm" title="And Maachah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.">1Chronicles 7:16</a>, a Machirite chieftain or clan.<p><span class= "bld">Shema.</span>—Occurs several times in the chronicle. In <a href="/1_chronicles/5-8.htm" title="And Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelled in Aroer, even to Nebo and Baalmeon:">1Chronicles 5:8</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/8-13.htm" title="Beriah also, and Shema, who were heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove away the inhabitants of Gath:">1Chronicles 8:13</a> it appears to be the name of a clan; in <a href="/1_chronicles/11-44.htm" title="Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite,">1Chronicles 11:44</a> and <a href="/nehemiah/8-4.htm" title="And Ezra the scribe stood on a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.">Nehemiah 8:4</a> a person is meant.<p>(44) <span class= "bld">Jorkoam.</span>—Occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. The LXX. (Alex.) has <span class= "greekheb">Ἰεκλάν</span>, Jeklan. Probably, therefore, the correct reading is Jokdeam. (For the change of Hebrew <span class= "ital">d</span> to Greek <span class= "ital">l</span> see <a href="/1_kings/5-11.htm" title="And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.">1Kings 5:11</a>, where Hebrew <span class= "ital">Darda</span> is represented by <span class= "greekheb">Δαραλά</span>.) Jokdeam was a town in the hill-country of Judah (<a href="/joshua/15-56.htm" title="And Jezreel, and Jokdeam, and Zanoah,">Joshua 15:56</a>). The chief or clan Raham is here called its father or founder.<p><span class= "bld">Rekem.</span>—The LXX. (Alex.) again has Jeklan (Jokdeam), which is as likely to be right as Rekem.<p><span class= "bld">Shammai.</span>—See <a href="/1_chronicles/2-28.htm" title="And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab and Abishur.">1Chronicles 2:28</a>.<p>(45) <span class= "bld">Maon</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span> <span class= "bld">Beth-zur.</span>—Towns in the hill-country of Judah (<a href="/joshua/15-55.htm" title="Maon, Carmel, and Ziph, and Juttah,">Joshua 15:55</a>; <a href="/joshua/15-58.htm" title="Halhul, Bethzur, and Gedor,">Joshua 15:58</a>). Maon, now <span class= "ital">Main,</span> south of Hebron. Beth-zur (<a href="/2_chronicles/11-7.htm" title="And Bethzur, and Shoco, and Adullam,">2Chronicles 11:7</a>), now <span class= "ital">Beit-sûr.</span> In <a href="/judges/10-12.htm" title="The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.">Judges 10:12</a> Midianites, not Maonites, is the better reading.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-46.htm">1 Chronicles 2:46</a></div><div class="verse">And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.</div><span class= "bld">II.—</span><a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-46.htm" title="And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.">1Chronicles 2:46-49</a> : The sons of Ephah and Maachah, two concubines of Caleb.<p>(46) <span class= "bld">Ephah, Caleb’s concubine</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—These sons of concubines appear to represent mixed populations or tribal groups considered to be of less pure descent than the chief houses of Caleb. The same title of inferiority might cover a relation of dependence, something like that of the clients of the great Roman houses. The name Ephah occurred in <a href="/1_chronicles/1-33.htm" title="And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah.">1Chronicles 1:33</a> as a tribe of the Midianites. It is likely, therefore, that we have before us a record of the admixture of a Midianite element with the southern Judeans.<p><span class= "bld">Haran.</span>—Abraham’s brother (<a href="/genesis/11-26.htm" title="And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.">Genesis 11:26</a>); a place in Mesopotamia where Abraham settled (<a href="/genesis/11-31.htm" title="And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and dwelled there.">Genesis 11:31</a>). It is the Assyrian <span class= "ital">harranu</span> (high-road). The Midianites claimed descent from Abraham (<a href="/1_chronicles/1-33.htm" title="And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah.">1Chronicles 1:33</a>), this name therefore might well be borne by a semi-Midianite clan.<p><span class= "bld">Moza.</span>—Occurs in <a href="/joshua/18-26.htm" title="And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,">Joshua 18:26</a> as a town in Benjamin.<p><span class= "bld">Haran</span> <span class= "bld">begat Gazez.</span>—Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/2-24.htm" title="And after that Hezron was dead in Calebephratah, then Abiah Hezron's wife bore him Ashur the father of Tekoa.">1Chronicles 2:24</a>, Note. Gazez was probably a branch of the clan Haran. The LXX. (Vat.) omits the clause.<p>(47) <span class= "bld">The sons</span> <span class= "bld">of Jahdai.</span>—Heb., <span class= "ital">Yohdai,</span> or <span class= "ital">Yehdai.</span> The connection of these tribal groups with the foregoing is not clear; but from <a href="/1_chronicles/2-46.htm" title="And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bore Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.">1Chronicles 2:46</a> it appears that they were Calebites with a foreign admixture. It is curious to find the Midianite name Ephah recurring among them.<p>(48) <span class= "bld">Maachah, Caleb’s concubine, bare</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—The Heb. is peculiar, “Caleb’s concubine Maachah—he bare Sheber,” &c. There is another reading, “she bare.” Maachah was a well-known Syrian state (<a href="/deuteronomy/3-14.htm" title="Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob to the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, to this day.">Deuteronomy 3:14</a>). (Comp. <a href="/2_samuel/3-3.htm" title="And his second, Chileab, of Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite; and the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur;">2Samuel 3:3</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/11-43.htm" title="Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,">1Chronicles 11:43</a>; <a href="/context/1_chronicles/19-6.htm" title="And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.">1Chronicles 19:6-7</a>; and <a href="/2_kings/25-23.htm" title="And when all the captains of the armies, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah governor, there came to Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Careah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and their men.">2Kings 25:23</a>.) These Calebites, it would seem, were of partly Aramean origin. The masculine verb “he bare” is intelligible if Maachah means not a woman, but a race. (Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/19-15.htm" title="And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.">1Chronicles 19:15</a>, “Aram hath fled” = the Syrians have fled; 16, “Aram saw,” &c.)<p>(49) <span class= "bld">Madmannah.</span>—A town of southern Judah, mentioned along with Ziklag in <a href="/joshua/15-31.htm" title="And Ziklag, and Madmannah, and Sansannah,">Joshua 15:31</a>. The Shaaf who settled here are different from those mentioned in <a href="/1_chronicles/2-47.htm" title="And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Gesham, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.">1Chronicles 2:47</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Machbenah,</span> an unknown place in Judah, and Gibeah in the hill-country (<a href="/joshua/15-57.htm" title="Cain, Gibeah, and Timnah; ten cities with their villages:">Joshua 15:57</a>) were settlements of the mixed Calebites called Sheva.<p><span class= "bld">The daughter of Caleb was Achsa.</span>—In <a href="/context/joshua/15-13.htm" title="And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the LORD to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.">Joshua 15:13-19</a> the father of Achsah is called Caleb son of Jephunneh. This Caleb son of Jephunneh is associated with Joshua in the Pentateuch (<a href="/numbers/12-6.htm" title="And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.">Numbers 12:6</a>; <a href="/numbers/12-8.htm" title="With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?">Numbers 12:8</a>), and took a prominent part in the conquest of Canaan.<p>As he represents Judah (<a href="/numbers/12-6.htm" title="And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.">Numbers 12:6</a>; comp. <a href="/context/judges/1-10.htm" title="And Judah went against the Canaanites that dwelled in Hebron: (now the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba:) and they slew Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai.">Judges 1:10-12</a>), it is reasonable to see in Caleb son of Jephunneh the chief of the tribal division of Hezron-Caleb in the time of Joshua.<p>Already in these curious lists we have met with special memorials of remarkable members of clans (comp. <a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-6.htm" title="And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.">1Chronicles 2:6-7</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/2-20.htm" title="And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.">1Chronicles 2:20</a>), and we may see in the brief clause “and Achsah, daughter of Caleb” a similar notice that this famous person was a Calebite.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-50.htm">1 Chronicles 2:50</a></div><div class="verse">These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim,</div><span class= "bld">III.—</span><a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-50.htm" title="These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim.">1Chronicles 2:50-55</a> : A third register of Calebite clans and settlements.<p>(50) <span class= "bld">The sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah.</span>—See <a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-19.htm" title="And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took to him Ephrath, which bore him Hur.">1Chronicles 2:19-20</a> and Notes. The statement “These were the sons of Caleb” should be connected with <a href="/1_chronicles/2-49.htm" title="She bore also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibea: and the daughter of Caleb was Achsa.">1Chronicles 2:49</a>, as a subscription or concluding remark to the list, <a href="/context/1_chronicles/2-42.htm" title="Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were, Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.">1Chronicles 2:42-49</a>. (Comp. <a href="/1_chronicles/2-33.htm" title="And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.">1Chronicles 2:33</a>.) A fresh start is then made with “the sons (so the LXX.) of Hur, firstborn of Ephratah,” reverting to the Caleb of <a href="/1_chronicles/2-19.htm" title="And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took to him Ephrath, which bore him Hur.">1Chronicles 2:19</a> <span class= "ital">seq.,</span> just as <a href="/1_chronicles/2-34.htm" title="Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.">1Chronicles 2:34</a> returns to Jerahmeel in the Sheshanite branch.<p><span class= "bld">Shobal the father</span> <span class= "bld">of Kirjath-jearim.</span>—Shobal is named at <a href="/1_chronicles/4-1.htm" title="The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.">1Chronicles 4:1</a> as a chief clan or sub-tribe of Judah, along with Hur.<p><span class= "bld">Kirjath-jearim.</span>—“City of woods,” one of the four cities of the Gibeonites (<a href="/joshua/9-17.htm" title="And the children of Israel journeyed, and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, and Chephirah, and Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim.">Joshua 9:17</a>), also called Kirjath-Baal and Baalah (<a href="/joshua/15-9.htm" title="And the border was drawn from the top of the hill to the fountain of the water of Nephtoah, and went out to the cities of mount Ephron; and the border was drawn to Baalah, which is Kirjathjearim:">Joshua 15:9</a>; <a href="/joshua/15-60.htm" title="Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, and Rabbah; two cities with their villages:">Joshua 15:60</a>), in the hill-country of Judah.<p>(51) <span class= "bld">Salma the father of Beth-lehem.</span>—See <a href="/1_chronicles/2-11.htm" title="And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,">1Chronicles 2:11</a>, where <span class= "ital">Salma</span> may be the feather-house (clan) of which Boaz was a member. The present Salma, however, is a Calebite, whereas the Salma of <a href="/1_chronicles/2-11.htm" title="And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,">1Chronicles 2:11</a> is a Ramite.<p><span class= "bld">Beth-gader</span> (<span class= "ital">géder</span>)<span class= "ital">.—</span><a href="/joshua/12-13.htm" title="The king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one;">Joshua 12:13</a>, Geder; <a href="/joshua/15-36.htm" title="And Sharaim, and Adithaim, and Gederah, and Gederothaim; fourteen cities with their villages:">Joshua 15:36</a>, Gederah; or perhaps Gedor (<a href="/joshua/15-58.htm" title="Halhul, Bethzur, and Gedor,">Joshua 15:58</a>).<p>(52) <span class= "bld">Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.</span>—Haroeh is probably a relic of Jehoraah (LXX., <span class= "greekheb">Ἀραά</span>) =Reaiah (see 1chron iv 2) and perhaps <span class= "ital">hatsi-hammenuhoth</span> should be altered to <span class= "ital">hatsi-hammanahti</span> (see <a href="/1_chronicles/2-54.htm" title="The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.">1Chronicles 2:54</a>), which would give the sense of the Authorised Version. As the Hebrew stands, the Vulg. is a literal rendering of it: <span class= "ital">qui videbat dimidium requietionum</span> (!). The Manahathites were the people of Manahath (<a href="/1_chronicles/8-6.htm" title="And these are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Geba, and they removed them to Manahath:">1Chronicles 8:6</a>). a town near the frontier of Dan and Judah (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-54.htm" title="The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.">1Chronicles 2:54</a>).<p>(53) This verse is really a continuation of the last, and a comma would be better than a full stop after the word Manahathites. The “families” (clans or groups of families, <span class= "ital">mishpehôth</span>) dwelling in the canton of Kirjath-jearim, viz., the Ithrites, Puhites (Heb., <span class= "ital">Puthites</span>)<span class= "ital">, &c,</span> were also sons of Shobâl. Two of David’s heroes, Ira and Gareb (<a href="/1_chronicles/11-40.htm" title="Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,">1Chronicles 11:40</a>), were Ithrites. The three other clans are nowhere else mentioned.<p><span class= "bld">Of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">from these went forth the Zorathites,</span> &c. The men of Zorah and Eshtaôl were subdivisions of the clans of Kirjath-jearim. Zorah (<a href="/judges/13-2.htm" title="And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bore not.">Judges 13:2</a>), a Danite town, the home of Samson, now <span class= "ital">Sura.</span> Eshtaôl, also a Danite town, near Zorah (<a href="/judges/16-31.htm" title="Then his brothers and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burial plot of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.">Judges 16:31</a>; <a href="/context/judges/18-11.htm" title="And there went from there of the family of the Danites, out of Zorah and out of Eshtaol, six hundred men appointed with weapons of war.">Judges 18:11-12</a>), the present <span class= "ital">Um-Eshteiyeh.</span> Both were on the western border of Judah, a few miles west of Kirjath-jearim.<p>(54) <span class= "bld">The sons of Salma; Beth-lehem.</span>—In <a href="/1_chronicles/2-51.htm" title="Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Bethgader.">1Chronicles 2:51</a> Salma is called “father of Bethlehem,” and according to <a href="/1_chronicles/2-50.htm" title="These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim.">1Chronicles 2:50</a>, Salma is a son of Hur and a grandson of Ephratah, <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> Beth-lehem (see <a href="/1_chronicles/2-19.htm" title="And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took to him Ephrath, which bore him Hur.">1Chronicles 2:19</a>, Note). The recognition of the ethnographical and geographical significance of these expressions at once removes all difficulty. Salma was the principal clan established in Bethlehem-Ephratah; branches of which were settled at Netophah, a neighbouring township (<a href="/1_chronicles/9-16.htm" title="And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelled in the villages of the Netophathites.">1Chronicles 9:16</a>; <a href="/context/2_samuel/23-28.htm" title="Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,">2Samuel 23:28-29</a>), important after the return (<a href="/ezra/2-22.htm" title="The men of Netophah, fifty and six.">Ezra 2:22</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/7-26.htm" title="The men of Bethlehem and Netophah, an hundred fourscore and eight.">Nehemiah 7:26</a>).<p><span class= "bld">Ataroth, the house of Joab.</span>—Rather, <span class= "ital">Atroth-beth-Joab</span> (comp. Abel-beth-Maachah); an unknown town, whose name means “ramparts of the house of Joab,” <span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> “Joab’s castle,” perhaps a strong city where Joab’s family was settled. (See <a href="/1_chronicles/2-26.htm" title="Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.">1Chronicles 2:26</a>.)<p><span class= "bld">Half of the Manahethites</span> were sons of Salma, the other half sons of Shobal (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-52.htm" title="And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.">1Chronicles 2:52</a>).<p><span class= "bld">The Zorites.</span>—A by-form of Zorathites (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-53.htm" title="And the families of Kirjathjearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites,">1Chronicles 2:53</a>). The word really belongs to the next verse, as the sons of Salma are arranged in pairs.<p>(55) <span class= "bld">The families</span> (<span class= "ital">mishpehôth=</span>clans) <span class= "bld">of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez.</span>—Among the clans calling themselves sons of Salma were three groups of Sopherim (Authorised version, “scribes”) settled at Jabez (Heb., <span class= "ital">Ia‘bêç</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> a town of northern Judah, near to Zorah. (See <a href="/1_chronicles/4-9.htm" title="And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore him with sorrow.">1Chronicles 4:9</a>, Note.) The three clans were known as those of Tir‘ah, Shimeah, and Suchah. The Vulg. treats these names as appellatives, and renders <span class= "ital">canentes atque resonantes et in tabernaculis commorantes,</span> that is, “singing and resounding, and dwelling in tents.” This translation is assumed to be due to Jerome’s Rabbinical teachers, and is justified by reference to the words <span class= "ital">terû‘āh,</span> “trumpet-blare;” <span class= "ital">shim‘āh,</span> “report;” or the Aramaic <span class= "ital">Shema‘tâ</span> “legal tradition” and <span class= "ital">sûkāh</span> (= <span class= "ital">sukkah</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> “a booth.” Hence the conclusion has been drawn that the Sopherim of Jabez were, in fact, ministers of religion, discharging functions precisely like those of the Levites. So Wellhausen, who refers to <a href="/jeremiah/35-19.htm" title="Therefore thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.">Jeremiah 35:19</a>, and the title of Psalms 70 in the LXX., and to one or two late fragmentary notices of the Rechabites. On the face of it the supposition is unlikely; nor does it derive any real support from the Kenite origin of these Sopherim, for it is a mere fancy that the house of Jethro, the Kenite priest of Midian, became temple-ministers in Israel. Besides, the etymologies of the names are hardly cogent; and if we try to extract history from etymology here, we might as well do so in the case of the clans of Kirjath-jearim (<a href="/1_chronicles/2-53.htm" title="And the families of Kirjathjearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites,">1Chronicles 2:53</a>), and make the Ithrites a guild of ropers (<span class= "ital">yether,</span> “cord, bowstring”), the Puthites hinge-makers (<span class= "ital">pôthôth</span>—<a href="/1_kings/1-50.htm" title="And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.">1Kings 1:50</a>—“hinges”), and the Shumathithes garlic-eaters (<span class= "ital">shûm,</span> “garlic,” <a href="/numbers/11-5.htm" title="We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic:">Numbers 11:5</a>). The Vulg. often makes the blunder of translating proper names. (See <a href="/1_chronicles/2-52.htm" title="And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.">1Chronicles 2:52</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/2-54.htm" title="The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.">1Chronicles 2:54</a>).<p><span class= "bld">These are the Kenites that came of Hemath</span> (Heb., <span class= "ital">Hammath</span>)<span class= "ital">,</span> <span class= "bld">the father of the house of</span> (Beth-) <span class= "bld">Rechab.</span>—The three clans of Sopherim were originally Kenites, and traced their descent from Hammath, the traditional founder of the Rechabite stock. 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