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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Chronicles 2 Pulpit Commentary</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_chronicles/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/1_chronicles/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">Pulpit Commentary</a> > 1 Chronicles 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_chronicles/1.htm" title="1 Chronicles 1">◄</a> 1 Chronicles 2 <a href="../1_chronicles/3.htm" title="1 Chronicles 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Pulpit Commentary</div><div class="chap"><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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1, 2.</span> - 1. TABLE OF ISRAEL'S TWELVE SONS. The twelve sons of <span class="cmt_word">Israel</span>, not in the order of age (cf. <a href="/genesis/29-31.htm">Genesis 29:31-30:24</a>; <a href="/genesis/35-16.htm">Genesis 35:16-19</a>), nor exactly in the order of children of wives as against those of handmaids (<a href="/genesis/25-23.htm">Genesis 25:23-26</a>), nor in that of the aged father's dying blessing (<a href="/genesis/49.htm">Genesis 49</a>.), nor in that of <a href="/exodus/1-2.htm">Exodus 1:2-4</a>. It is the place of <span class="cmt_word">Dan</span> 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 - <span class="accented">lest</span>, the six sons of the first wife Leah; <span class="accented">secondly</span>, the elder son of Rachel's handmaid Bilhah; <span class="accented">thirdly</span>, the two sons of the loved wife Rachel; <span class="accented">fourthly</span>, the other son of Rachel's handmaid Billah; <span class="accented">lastly</span>, 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-2.htm">1 Chronicles 2:2</a></div><div class="verse">Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.</div><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 3-9.</span> - 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, <span class="cmt_word">Er, Onan, Shelah</span>, by a Canaanitess, the daughter of <span class="cmt_word">Shad</span>; and two, <span class="cmt_word">Pharez</span> and <span class="cmt_word">Zerah</span>, by <span class="cmt_word">Tamar</span>, his own daughter-in-law, under the circumstances described (<a href="/genesis/38-6.htm">Genesis 38:6-30</a>). 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 (<a href="/genesis/38-2.htm">Genesis 38:2</a>), by an evident inaccuracy of translation, gives Shua as the name, not of the father, but of the daughter, <span class="greek">ῇ ὄνομα Σαυά</span>. Parallel passages are also found (<a href="/genesis/46-12.htm">Genesis 46:12</a>; <a href="/numbers/26-19.htm">Numbers 26:19-22</a>). Er and Onan died without issue, and the descendants of <span class="accented">Shelah</span> are not mentioned till we reach <a href="/1_chronicles/4-21.htm">1 Chronicles 4:21-23</a>. The line is now carried on by the twin sons of <span class="accented">Tamar</span> (vers. 5, 6). <span class="accented">Pharez</span>, with two sons, <span class="cmt_word">Hezron</span> and <span class="cmt_word">Hamul</span> (<a href="/genesis/46-12.htm">Genesis 46:12</a>; <a href="/ruth/4-18.htm">Ruth 4:18</a>), and <span class="cmt_word">Zerah</span>, with five sons, <span class="cmt_word">Zimri</span> (or Zabdi, <a href="/joshua/7-1.htm">Joshua 7:1</a>), <span class="cmt_word">Ethan, Heman, Calcol, Dara</span> (or with many manuscripts, followed by the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions, Darda). If these last four names are not identical with those in <a href="/1_kings/4-31.htm">1 Kings 4:31</a>, 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 <span class="accented">sons</span>, does not necessarily involve their being five <span class="accented">brothers</span>, although in this case it looks the more as though they were so, as it is said <span class="cmt_word">five of them in all</span> </div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - 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 <span class="cmt_word">Achar</span> - later form of Achau - <span class="cmt_word">the troubler of Israel</span>. <a href="/joshua/7-1.htm">Joshua 7:1-18</a> 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 (<a href="/joshua/7-24.htm">Joshua 7:24, 25</a>), it may be presumed that the line of Judah through him became extinct. </div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - The line through <span class="cmt_word">Ethan</span>, another of the seven grandsons, seems to stop with <span class="cmt_word">Azariah</span>, a name found nowhere else. </div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span>-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 <span class="cmt_word">Hezron</span>, the most important by far of the seven grandsons. His three sons are annou</div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 10-15.</span> - (B) <span class="cmt_word">Ram</span> (the Aram of the Septuagint and of <a href="/matthew/1-3.htm">Matthew 1:3</a>; <a href="/luke/3-33.htm">Luke 3:33</a>) 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 (<a href="/ruth/4-19.htm">Ruth 4:19-22</a>; <a href="/matthew/1-3.htm">Matthew 1:3-5</a>; <a href="/luke/3-31.htm">Luke 3:31-33</a>), his name being ranked last of seven brothers only, sons of Jesse. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-11.htm">1 Chronicles 2:11</a></div><div class="verse">And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Salma</span>, Hebrew <span class="hebrew">שַׂלְמָא</span>; but <a href="/ruth/4-20.htm">Ruth 4:20</a>, <span class="hebrew">שַׂלְמָה</span> and in following verse <span class="hebrew">שׂלְמון</span>. The variation of the first two of these forms has many parallels, as between Chronicles and the earlier Old Testament Scriptures. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-12.htm">1 Chronicles 2:12</a></div><div class="verse">And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-13.htm">1 Chronicles 2:13</a></div><div class="verse">And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 13-15</span> give us what we have not elsewhere, the names of the fourth, fifth, and sixth sons of Jesse, viz. <span class="cmt_word">Nathaneel, Raddai</span> (but see <a href="/1_kings/1-8.htm">1 Kings 1:8</a>), and <span class="cmt_word">Ozem</span>. But, on the other hand, they make it appear that David was the seventh of seven, instead of (<a href="/1_samuel/14-10.htm">1 Samuel 14:10, 11</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/17-12.htm">1 Samuel 17:12</a>) 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 <a href="/1_chronicles/27-18.htm">1 Chronicles 27:18</a>, 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. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-14.htm">1 Chronicles 2:14</a></div><div class="verse">Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-15.htm">1 Chronicles 2:15</a></div><div class="verse">Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-16.htm">1 Chronicles 2:16</a></div><div class="verse">Whose sisters <i>were</i> Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 16, 17.</span> - These verses do not say that David "begat" <span class="cmt_word">Zeruiah</span> and <span class="cmt_word">Abigail</span>, but that these two were sisters of the foregoing seven brethren. Light is thrown upon this by <a href="/2_samuel/17-25.htm">2 Samuel 17:25</a>, 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 (<a href="/2_samuel/10-2.htm">2 Samuel 10:2</a>) - 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, <span class="cmt_word">Abishai</span>, 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, here called <span class="cmt_word">Jether the Ishmeelite</span>, is, in the passage already referred to (<a href="/2_samuel/17-25.htm">2 Samuel 17:25</a>), called Ithra (which is a slightly altered form of the name), an <span class="accented">Israelite</span>, with little doubt an error for <span class="accented">Ishmaelite.</span> In the same passage also her own name appears as <span class="hebrew">אֲבִיגַל</span>, instead of <span class="hebrew">אֲבִיגַיִל</span>, though many manuscripts have this latter. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-17.htm">1 Chronicles 2:17</a></div><div class="verse">And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa <i>was</i> Jether the Ishmeelite.</div><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 18-20.</span> - (C) Chelubai. The descendants of <span class="cmt_word">Caleb</span> (Chelubai), placed third of Hezron's sons, are next dealt with; but the subject is almost immediately interrupted by resumed reference to <span class="cmt_word">Hezron</span> (vers. 21-24), and by the table of Jemh-meel and his descendants (vers. 25-41); after which the table of Caleb, apparently the same Caleb, is carried on (vers. 42-49). Taking these broken portions, however, just as they come, we are immediately met by a series of uncertainties and surprises. Ver. 18 is obscure in that it says Caleb had children by <span class="cmt_word">Azubah</span> (the Hebrew construction also unusual), a <span class="cmt_word">wife</span>, or indeed strictly a <span class="accented">woman</span> (not even using the ordinary formula "his wife"), and by <span class="cmt_word">Jerioth</span>, 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 <span class="accented">children -</span> possibly a daughter - of Caleb and Azubah, and this view is supported by Kennicott and Houbigant (Barrington's 'Genealogies,' 1:210). The tone of ver. 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 <span class="cmt_word">Ephrath</span> 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 <span class="hebrew">אֶפְרָתָה</span>, 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 <span class="accented">aleph</span> for the above final <span class="accented">he.</span> In <a href="/micah/5-1.htm">Micah 5:1</a>, Bethlehem is found united with Ephratah in one compound word. The mother Ephrath is here interesting for her descendants given, her son <span class="cmt_word">Hur</span>, grandson <span class="cmt_word">Uri</span>, and great-grandson <span class="cmt_word">Bezaleel</span>. Further reference to these is made in ver. 50. </div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 21-24.</span> - The first interruption to the record of Caleb's posterity is now occasioned by a resumed reference to <span class="cmt_word">Hezron</span>, who at the age of threescore took to wife (as it seems from ver. 24) <span class="cmt_word">Abiah</span>, sister to Gilead, daughter of the eminent man <span class="cmt_word">Machir</span>, who was Manasseh's oldest son by an Aramitess concubine (<a href="/1_chronicles/7-14.htm">1 Chronicles 7:14</a>). Two sons of Hezron by Abiah are given (the latter of them a posthumous child), but the elder having a son called <span class="cmt_word">Jair</span> 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 <a href="/judges/10-3.htm">Judges 10:3</a>, with his "thirty sons, thirty ass colts, and thirty cities." And <span class="hebrew">יָאִיר</span> (<span class="greek">Ἰάειζος</span>, <a href="/mark/5-22.htm">Mark 5:22</a>) is not <span class="hebrew">יָעִיד</span> of <a href="/2_samuel/21-19.htm">2 Samuel 21:19</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/20-5.htm">1 Chronicles 20:5</a>. Evident stress is laid on his maternal descent. Thus (<a href="/numbers/32-41.htm">Numbers 32:41</a>) he is styled son of Manasseh, and hence also the explanation of the last clause of ver. 23, <span class="accented">infra</span>, all these belonged to <span class="cmt_word">the sons of Machir the father of Gilead</span>. Some of the cities alluded to are the Havoth-Jair (<a href="/numbers/32-41.htm">Numbers 32:41</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/3-14.htm">Deuteronomy 3:14</a>; <a href="/joshua/13-30.htm">Joshua 13:30</a>), Englished as the "groups of <span class="accented">dwellings</span> of Jair," on which see interesting note in Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine' (edit. 1866), 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 ver. 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. </div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Geshur</span> was a small district between Argob and Bashan; and <span class="cmt_word">Aram</span>, commonly translated Syria, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the ancient Syria, viz. the territory of Damascus. <span class="cmt_word">Kenath</span>, rechristened by its subduer Nobah (<a href="/numbers/32-42.htm">Numbers 32:42</a>), and retaining this name at the time of Gideon, and Zeba and Sahnunnah subsequently vindicated the life of its old name, and regained it, replaced in the present day by Kenawat. <span class="cmt_word">And the towns thereof</span>; Hebrew literally, <span class="accented">her daughters</span>; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> the small, subordinate groups of people (<a href="/numbers/21-25.htm">Numbers 21:25</a>, "All the villages thereof," literally, <span class="accented">daughters</span>)<span class="accented">. <span class="cmt_word"></span>All these</span> belonged to the <span class="cmt_word">sons of Machir, the father of Gilead</span>, might perhaps be open to the translation, "All these were the possessions of Machir, the possessor of Gilead." </div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - The remaining verse of this section brings another point of difficulty unsolved yet. No place <span class="cmt_word">Caleb-ephratah</span> is known, and no sort of accounting for Hezron dying anywhere but in Egypt, whither he went with Jacob (<a href="/genesis/46-12.htm">Genesis 46:12</a>), is producible. The Vulgate has <span class="accented">Ingressus est Caleb ad Ephratam</span>, but our Hebrew text cannot be made to justify it, if for nothing else, for want of a preposition <span class="hebrew">אֶל</span> before "Ephrata." This reading of the Vulgate has suggested to others that by a slight but still gratuitous alteration of our Hebrew text <span class="hebrew">בָא</span> might be substituted for the preposition <span class="hebrew">בְּ</span> prefixed to the name of Caleb; but upon <span class="accented">that</span> showing we have to <span class="accented">suppose</span> that Caleb did leave Egypt on his own account and travel to Ephratah, and then there fails any strong connection (but see Septuagint, in <span class="accented">loc.</span>) between that fact and what is said about <span class="cmt_word">Abiah</span>. Still, the explanation might receive some countenance from the fact that it is said that Abiah's son became the father - or <span class="accented">founder - <span class="cmt_word"></span>of</span> <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>Tekoa</span>, a place near Bethlehem, in South Judah (<a href="/1_samuel/30-14.htm">1 Samuel 30:14</a>). Bertheau has at this point suggested that Caleb-ephratah, instead of being included in Neger-Caleb, may rather, in <span class="accented">distinction</span> from it, designate the northern portion of the territory of Caleb. The solution of the problem will probably not yield to anything but a justly restored text. </div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 25-41.</span> - We reach here the second interruption in the account of Caleb's posterity. (A) <span class="cmt_word">Jerahmeel</span>, though the eldest Hezronite son, has as yet been passed by in favour of Ram and in favour of Caleb, so far as regards part of his descendants. Jerahmeel himself is mentioned nowhere else, but his people collectively are (<a href="/1_samuel/27-10.htm">1 Samuel 27:10</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/30-29.htm">1 Samuel 30:29</a>). On the other hand, this place <span class="accented">alone</span> supplies the lists of names, and we have not the aid of any collation. Ver. 25 purports in the Authorized Version to give five sons of Jerahmeel by his first wife, of name not given. The absence of the conjunction "and," however, in the Hebrew text before the last name, <span class="cmt_word">Ahijah</span>, suggests that this may be the name of the first wife the presence of which seems greatly required by the contents of the next verse. Some particle being required, Le Clerc, accepting the suggestion of Junins and Tremellius, proposes to supply <span class="hebrew">מֵאֵת</span>, and Bertheau the same preposition, but in a simpler form, prefixed to the name Ahijah (see Barrington's 'Genealogies,' 1:180). </div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - For <span class="hebrew">עְטָרָה</span>, one manuscript has <span class="hebrew">אָטֶר</span>, and another <span class="hebrew">קְטוּרָה</span>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-27.htm">1 Chronicles 2:27</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were, Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-28.htm">1 Chronicles 2:28</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span> - One manuscript makes <span class="cmt_word">Nadab</span> and <span class="cmt_word">Abishur</span> two additional sons of <span class="cmt_word">Onam</span>, by omitting the words <span class="cmt_word">and the sons of Shammai</span>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-29.htm">1 Chronicles 2:29</a></div><div class="verse">And the name of the wife of Abishur <i>was</i> Abihail, and she bare him Ahban, and Molid.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 29.</span> - <span class="hebrew">אֲבִיגַיִל אֲבִיחַיִל אֲבִיהַיִל</span>, are the readings of various manuscripts in this verse. </div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-32.htm">1 Chronicles 2:32</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children.</div><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-36.htm">1 Chronicles 2:36</a></div><div class="verse">And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 36.</span> - The name <span class="cmt_word">Zabad</span> throws considerable doubt on the opinion that no one of Jerahmeel's descendants given in this genealogy can be found elsewhere in the Old Testament; for compare again <a href="/1_chronicles/11-41.htm">1 Chronicles 11:41</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-37.htm">1 Chronicles 2:37</a></div><div class="verse">And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-38.htm">1 Chronicles 2:38</a></div><div class="verse">And Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah,</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 38.</span> - So also compare <span class="cmt_word">Azariah</span> with <a href="/2_chronicles/23-1.htm">2 Chronicles 23:1</a>. These two names are abundantly interesting here. Zabad, the tenth from Jerahmeel, or fourteenth from the patriarch Judah himself, brings us to the time of David, by exactly the same interval as seven other perfect genealogies, four of these having the very same number of steps, viz. fourteen, two having fifteen, and that of David himself having eleven steps. An analogous and equally interesting correspondence can be traced with the name Azariah. See the important art. "Zabad," Smith's 'Bible Dictionary;' and its further remarks as to the evidence of the genealogy in the fact of its twenty-fourth and last name tallying well with the time of Hezekiah, the sixth king after Athaliah (<a href="/1_chronicles/4-41.htm">1 Chronicles 4:41</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-39.htm">1 Chronicles 2:39</a></div><div class="verse">And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-40.htm">1 Chronicles 2:40</a></div><div class="verse">And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum,</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-41.htm">1 Chronicles 2:41</a></div><div class="verse">And Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.</div><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 42-49.</span> - These verses are occupied with the resumption of descendants of Caleb - the Caleb apparently of vers. 9 and 18, though, this being so, the last clause in ver. 49, <span class="cmt_word">the daughter of Caleb, Achsa</span>, will require accounting for. This statement would lead us to suppose that we were assuredly reading of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; but it cannot be so. The name of Caleb, with the questions gathering round it, will be best considered here. Of the nine times in which it occurs in this chapter, the mere duplicates (of vers. 20, 46, 48) may be at once counted off. The compound "Caleb-ephratah" of ver. 24 has been already dealt with. Nor need we for the present suppose ver. 50 to have any real meaning inconsistent with its apparent meaning, viz. that Caleb is the name of a grandson (son of Hut) as well as of the grandfather. There remain the occasions of the occurring of the word in vers. 9, 18, 42, 49. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">1.</span> The first appearance, then, of the name in this chapter (ver. 9) exhibits it in a form different from that in which it appears the other times in this chapter or elsewhere, viz. as <span class="hebrew">כְלוּבַי</span>, instead of <span class="hebrew">כָלֵב</span> (or once as a patronymic, <a href="/1_samuel/25-3.htm">1 Samuel 25:3</a>, <span class="hebrew">כּלִֹבִּי</span>). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew, but the Septuagint has at once substituted Caleb. The Syriac Version has Salchi, and the Arabic Sachli, both of them, no doubt, mere transcribers' errors through the mistake of a letter. This form "Chelubai" is, then, an <span class="greek">ἅπαξ λεγόμενον</span>, and no different account has yet been given of the name appearing thus on this one occasion. It may be described, with Lange ('Comm. Old Testament,' <span class="accented">in loc.</span>), as "adjectivus gentilis" to <span class="hebrew">כְלוּב</span>, which word, however, occur where it will, is never treated as a synonym with Caleb except by the Septuagint, and then but once (<a href="/1_chronicles/4-11.htm">1 Chronicles 4:11</a>), making Lange's further claim of <span class="accented">three</span> forms for the name of Caleb wrong. The name might be translated the "Cheluban" or "Chelubite." <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">2.</span> The Caleb called here first "Chelubai," again" Caleb the son of Hezron," and now "Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel," some, and Keil among them, have endeavoured to identify with Caleb the son of Jephunneh. This latter is a well-known figure in history. He, together with Joshua, was among those who, departing from Egypt, were pursued of Pharaoh, and of all the host these two alone lived to enter into the promised land. This is enough to give him distinction and a prominent place before the eye. To this Caleb unmistakable reference is made in twenty-eight passages, in sixteen of which he is called "son of Jephunneh," and in three of those sixteen "son of Jephunneh the Kenazite." Now, he tells us himself (<a href="/joshua/14-7.htm">Joshua 14:7</a>) that he was forty years old in the seceded year after the Exodus. But it seems (<a href="/genesis/46-12.htm">Genesis 46:12, 26</a>) that Hezron, grandson of Judah, and the father of the Caleb of this chapter, was, however young, one of those who went down into Egypt with Jacob, at a date, according to any chronology, which must render it impossible for any son of his to have been alive and only forty years of age at the time of the Exodus. This being so, either the statement already referred to, found at the close of ver. 49, that "the daughter of Caleb was Achsa," must be an interpolation from some ignorant transcriber's marginal annotation, or, unlikely as it is, Caleb the son of Hezron and Caleb the son of Jephunneh both named a daughter Achsa. It is, moreover, likely enough that the frequent describing of Caleb the son of Jephuuneli in this style was occasioned by the desire to distinguish him from some other Caleb, <span class="accented">not</span> a contemporary, indeed, but already well known m a generation preceding but not too remote. Other considerations decidedly concur with this view: <span class="accented">e.g.</span> Ram is <span class="accented">brother</span> of Caleb the son of Hezron; he has a grandson, Nahshon, of great distinction," a prince of the children of Judah," whose sister Aaron married; he was the elect of the Judah tribe to assist Moses and Aaron in the first numbering of the people (<a href="/numbers/1-7.htm">Numbers 1:7</a>). Great prominence is given to him (<a href="/numbers/7-12.htm">Numbers 7:12</a>; <a href="/numbers/10-14.htm">Numbers 10:14</a>). He was clearly (<a href="/matthew/1-4.htm">Matthew 1:4</a>; <a href="/luke/3-32.htm">Luke 3:32</a>) fifth in descent from Judah, in perfect agreement with the table of this chapter. Now, it was this <span class="accented">grandson</span> of the <span class="accented">elder</span> brother of Caleb who was contemporary with Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Similarly, the Bezaleel of this chapter (ver. 20), a great-grandson of Caleb the Hezronite, is spoken of (<a href="/exodus/31-1.htm">Exodus 31:1</a>; <a href="/exodus/35-30.htm">Exodus 35:30</a>) at the same date exactly at which Caleb the son of Jephunneh says he was still but forty years of age l <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">3.</span> The identity of the Caleb of ver. 50, son of Hut, with Caleb the son of Jephuuneh is supposed by some, but is not clear. It appears to be asserted, without explanation, in the arts. "Caleb" and "Ephrath," signed A. C. H., Smith's 'Bible Dictionary,' though in the second part of the latter article it is alluded to as only possible. On the other hand, it may rather be that Caleb the son of Jephunneh, instead of being identical with this Caleb the son of Hur, is so called in order to distinguish him from this latter as a contemporary. Again, it has been happily conjectured ('Speaker's Commentary,' <span class="accented">in loc.</span>) that just as ver. 33 closes the table of Jerahmeel with "<span class="cmt_word">These were the sons of Jerahmeel</span>," so ver. 49 should close the table of Caleb (ver. 42) with the words, These were the Boris of Caleb. With a slight alteration, ver. 50 would then begin <span class="cmt_word">The sons of Hur</span>, etc. This is, however, only conjecture. Ver. 42, then, must be considered to give us another family of Caleb, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> a family by another wife, of name not given, just possibly the Jerioth unaccounted for in ver. 18. The first statement lauds us in perplexity. <span class="cmt_word">Mesha</span> (<span class="hebrew">מֵישַׁע</span>) is the <span class="cmt_word">firstborn</span> (<span class="accented">i.e.</span> by the wife or woman in question), and the <span class="cmt_word">founder of Ziph</span>. And amid some omission or corruption of text, we are then confronted with the words, <span class="cmt_word">and the sons of Marsehah</span> (<span class="hebrew">מָרֵישָׁה</span>) <span class="cmt_word">the father</span> (or again, perhaps <span class="accented">founder</span>) <span class="accented"><span class="cmt_word"></span>of Hebron</span>. The reading of the Septuagint gives Mareshah in <span class="accented">both</span> of these passages, and may come from a Hebrew text that we have not. The substitution could, however, scarcely be accounted for as a <span class="accented">mere</span> clerical error, considering both the omission of a <span class="accented">resh</span> and the replacing of an <span class="accented">he</span> with an <span class="accented">ayin.</span> The sentence refuses at present any treatment except the unsatisfactory one of pure conjecture. But employing this, it may be noted that the omitting of the words, "the sons of," before Mareshah would most help to clear the verse of confusion. In this and following verses, <span class="cmt_word">Ziph, Hebron, Tappuah, Jorkoam,</span> and <span class="cmt_word">Beth-zur,</span> are all names of places certainly, whether or not they are all of persons. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-43.htm">1 Chronicles 2:43</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-44.htm">1 Chronicles 2:44</a></div><div class="verse">And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam: and Rekem begat Shammai.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-45.htm">1 Chronicles 2:45</a></div><div class="verse">And the son of Shammai <i>was</i> Maon: and Maon <i>was</i> the father of Bethzur.</div><div class="comm"></div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 46-49</span> give the names (the first of which appears as that of a man also, next verse and <a href="/1_chronicles/1-33.htm">1 Chronicles 1:33</a>) of two additional concubines of Caleb, and of their descendants. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-47.htm">1 Chronicles 2:47</a></div><div class="verse">And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 47</span> offers us another name, Jahdai, not to be accounted for with any certainty. It is not linked to the context, and nothing is known of the six sons assigned to the person owning it. That Gazez occurs twice in the previous verse is remarkable, and suggestive, possibly, of mistake. The Septuagint omits altogether the clause in which it is found the second time. Houbigant translates, "Porro Haran genuit Jahdai," and so summarily removes the difficulty from his way (Barrington's 'Genealogies,' 1:210). Hiller ('Onomasticon,' S.) would make it the same name as Moza, but without any pretence of argument. A more reasonable suggestion than this might be that Jahdai is the name of yet another concubine of Caleb (Lange, 'O.T. Comm.,' <span class="accented">in loc</span>.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-48.htm">1 Chronicles 2:48</a></div><div class="verse">Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber, and Tirhanah.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-49.htm">1 Chronicles 2:49</a></div><div class="verse">She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibea: and the daughter of Caleb <i>was</i> Achsah.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 49.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Machbenah</span> is an <span class="greek">ἅπαξ</span> <span class="greek">λεγόμενον</span> (for <span class="cmt_word">Madmannah</span> and <span class="cmt_word">Gibea</span>, <a href="/joshua/15-31.htm">Joshua 15:31, 57</a>). The last sentence of this verse is treated above. </div> <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><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 50-55.</span> - The opening sentence of these verses has also been already discussed. It may be now added (see Keil, 'Commentary,' <span class="accented">in loc</span>.) that some would understand the words as though they meant, These <span class="cmt_word">were the sons of Caleb</span>, <span class="accented">in the descending line of</span> Hur, <span class="cmt_word">Ephratah's firstborn</span>. This rendering is got at by altering "the son of Hut" into "the sons of Hur," which seems to have been the reading of the Septuagint manuscripts, and which, at all events, their rendering has. The remainder of ver. 50, with the following four, give three sons of Caleb: <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">1.</span> <span class="cmt_word">Shobal</span>, prince of <span class="cmt_word">Kirjath-jearim</span> (city of woods; <a href="/joshua/9-17.htm">Joshua 9:17</a>; <a href="/joshua/18-15.htm">Joshua 18:15</a>; <a href="/joshua/15-9.htm">Joshua 15:9, 60</a>; cf. 18:14), on the border-hind of Judah and Benjamin, and about ten miles from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus (<span class="accented">Nicopolis</span>). It is to be identified, almost with certainty, with the modern Kuriet-el-Enab. Other references of exceeding interest are <a href="/1_samuel/6-21.htm">1 Samuel 6:21</a>; <a href="/1_samuel/7-2.htm">1 Samuel 7:2</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/6-5.htm">2 Samuel 6:5</a>; <a href="/ezra/2-25.htm">Ezra 2:25</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/7-29.htm">Nehemiah 7:29</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/13-6.htm">1 Chronicles 13:6</a>; <a href="/2_chronicles/1-4.htm">2 Chronicles 1:4</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/26-20.htm">Jeremiah 26:20</a>; <a href="/psalms/132-6.htm">Psalm 132:6</a>. This Shobal (ver. 52) had two sons, <span class="cmt_word">Haroeh</span>, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> Reaiah (<a href="/1_chronicles/4-5.htm">1 Chronicles 4:5</a>), and the progenitor, whatever his name, of half of the people called <span class="cmt_word">Manahethites</span> (Authorized Version) - a form probably suggested by the Masoretic pointing of ver. 54 - or <span class="accented">Chatsi-hammenon-choth</span> (Hebrew text), which Gesenius treats as a proper name, and which means "the midst of quiet places" (<a href="/psalms/23-2.htm">Psalm 23:2</a>), from which comes the patronymic of the next verse but one (Barrington, 'Genealogies,' 1:213). From the Kirjath-jearim family were derived (ver. 53), the <span class="cmt_word">Ithrites, Puhites, Shumathites</span>, and <span class="cmt_word">Mishraites</span>, of none of whom, except probably the Ithrites (<a href="/2_samuel/23-38.htm">2 Samuel 23:38</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/11-40.htm">1 Chronicles 11:40</a>), do we find other mention; and from the Mishraites again were derived two offshoots, the Zareathites and Eshtaulites, the towns of both of whom are with great probability to be tracked (<a href="/joshua/15-33.htm">Joshua 15:33</a>; <a href="/joshua/19-41.htm">Joshua 19:41</a>; <a href="/judges/13-25.htm">Judges 13:25</a>; <a href="/judges/18-2.htm">Judges 18:2</a>). They were situated in that part of Judah called the "low" country, or the Shefelah, stretching from Joppa to Gaza on the Mediterranean. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">2.</span> <span class="cmt_word">Salma</span>, prince of Bethlehem. The so-called "sons" here attributed to him, six in number, including Bethlehem, evidently betoken families rather than the names of individuals. The town Netophah (<a href="/ezra/2-21.htm">Ezra 2:21</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/7-26.htm">Nehemiah 7:26</a>) gave the gentile noun <span class="cmt_word">Netophathites</span> (<a href="/2_samuel/23-28.htm">2 Samuel 23:28</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/40-8.htm">Jeremiah 40:8</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Ataroth, the house of Joab</span> (<span class="accented">i.e.</span> "crowns" of the house of Joab), is not mentioned elsewhere; but the reason of its being distinguished thus may be due to the fact that there was another Ataroth <span class="accented">of Gad</span> (<a href="/numbers/32-3.htm">Numbers 32:3, 34</a>), and yet another <span class="accented">of Ephraim</span> (<a href="/joshua/14-5.htm">Joshua 14:5</a>; <a href="/joshua/18-13.htm">Joshua 18:13</a>). <span class="cmt_word">The Zorites</span> (<span class="hebrew">צִרְעִי</span>) Gesenius thinks to be another gentile form from <span class="hebrew">צָרְעה</span> with <span class="hebrew">צִרְעָתִי</span>, but of them we do not read elsewhere. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-51.htm">1 Chronicles 2:51</a></div><div class="verse">Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Bethgader.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-52.htm">1 Chronicles 2:52</a></div><div class="verse">And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh, <i>and</i> half of the Manahethites.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-53.htm">1 Chronicles 2:53</a></div><div class="verse">And the families of Kirjathjearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-54.htm">1 Chronicles 2:54</a></div><div class="verse">The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.</div><div class="comm"></div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/1_chronicles/2-55.htm">1 Chronicles 2:55</a></div><div class="verse">And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, <i>and</i> Suchathites. These <i>are</i> the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 55</span> should not have been separated from the last word of the previous verse. <span class="cmt_word">The families of the scribes</span> is linked on by the conjunction and (which has coupled the former sons of Salma also two and two) with "the Zorites." This sixth set of descendants from Salma is exhibited to us in the shape of a trio of scribe families, the heads of which will have been, presumably, <span class="cmt_word">Tira,</span> Shimea, and <span class="cmt_word">Suchah</span>. They are said to have <span class="cmt_word">dwelt at Jabez</span>, a place not ascertained; and scarcely to be put into connection with the Jabez of <a href="/1_chronicles/4-9.htm">1 Chronicles 4:9</a>. The Vulgate has <span class="accented">translated</span> the names of these three families: <span class="accented">Canentes et resonantes et in tabernaculis commorantes</span>;" and Bertheau advocates the interpretation. These families, it appears, were not purely of Judah; but very interesting it is that, though of the people whose land and possessions were to yield to the descendants of Abraham (<a href="/genesis/15-18.htm">Genesis 15:18-21</a>), yet friendship and intermarriage had found them apparently a lasting place in Judah (<a href="/judges/1-16.htm">Judges 1:16</a>), while Saul was careful to urge them to save themselves when he was about to smite the Amalekites (<a href="/1_samuel/15-6.htm">1 Samuel 15:6</a>). Though nothing is known of the link of connection given here in the name Hemath (of which the Vulgate gives the rendering, <span class="accented">Qui venerunt de celose patris</span>), yet the house of the <span class="cmt_word">Rechabites</span> is well known (<a href="/2_kings/10-15.htm">2 Kings 10:15, 23</a>; <a href="/jeremiah/35-2.htm">Jeremiah 35:2, 5, 18</a>; and cf. <a href="/2_samuel/4-2.htm">2 Samuel 4:2</a>, particularly 3). <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="Text_Heading">3.</span> In ver. 51 <span class="cmt_word">Hareph</span> (<span class="hebrew">חָרֵפ</span>) only here; though <span class="hebrew">הָריִפ</span>, found <a href="/nehemiah/7-24.htm">Nehemiah 7:24</a>; <a href="/nehemiah/10-20.htm">Nehemiah 10:20</a>; <a href="/ezra/2-18.htm">Ezra 2:18</a>, may possibly he connected with it. There is nothing further said of any people derived from him except that he was <span class="cmt_word">father of Beth-gader</span>. The identification of this place is not certain. Gesenius thinks it perhaps the same with Gederah (<a href="/joshua/15-36.htm">Joshua 15:36</a>), but it is more probably the Gedor of same chapter (fifty-eighth verse), on the road between Hebron and Jerusalem. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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