Chapter II

=1, 2= (compare Genesis xxxv. 22b‒26).
THE SONS OF ISRAEL.

¹These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Issachar and Zebulun; ²Dan, Joseph and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad
and Asher.

=II. 3‒IV. 23.=
GENEALOGIES OF JUDAH.

=3‒17.=
DESCENDANTS OF JUDAH TO THE SONS OF JESSE.

³The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three
were born unto him of Bath-shua the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah’s
firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him.
⁴And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Perez and Zerah. All the
sons of Judah were five. ⁵The sons of Perez; Hezron and Hamul.

=5.= _The sons of Perez; Hezron and Hamul_] So Genesis xlvi. 12. The only reference in the Old Testament to Hamulites is Numbers xxvi. 21. On the other hand Hezron, a south Judean tribe (Joshua xv. 3), is a clan of the first importance in the genealogies. From Hezron are descended not only the family of David (verse 15), but also the great Calebite and Jerahmeelite clans (verses 18‒24, 25‒33, etc.). The name _Hezron_ might bear the significance “an enclosed place” as opposed to movable encampments, and _Atarah_ (verse 26) who is said to be the mother of certain Jerahmeelite families has much the same meaning. Both names therefore may not be eponymous either of individuals or places, but may originate in the desire to preserve the fact that the families named as their sons were nomads who had abandoned wandering for settled life. If so, it might help to explain the fact that Hezron (compare _Carmi_, ii. 7, iv. 1, v. 3) is also mentioned as a son of Reuben (v. 3; Genesis xlvi. 9, etc.).

⁶And the sons of Zerah; Zimri¹, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol,
and Dara²: five of them in all.

¹ In Joshua vii. 1, _Zabdi_.

² Many ancient authorities read, _Darda_. See 1 Kings iv. 31.

=6.= _the sons of Zerah_] This genealogy appears only in Chronicles.

_Zimri_] LXX. (B) Ζαμβρεί (β being merely euphonic) here and also Joshua vii. 1 where Hebrew has “Zabdi.” LXX. is probably right in identifying the two. Either form might arise from the other by easy textual corruption.

_Ethan ... Dara_] Read, =Darda= with Vulgate, Targum, Peshitṭa The same four names in the same order occur 1 Kings iv. 31 as the names of wise men whom Solomon surpassed in wisdom. They are there called sons of “Mahol” who may have been either a nearer or remoter ancestor than Zerah. Ethan however is there called the Ezrahite (= probably “son of Zerah”). [Psalms lxxxviii., lxxxix. bear respectively the names “Heman the Ezrahite,” “Ethan the Ezrahite,” but these (it seems) were _Levites_ (compare xv. 17, 19, where see note).]

⁷And the sons of Carmi; Achar¹, the troubler of Israel, who
committed a trespass in the devoted thing. ⁸And the sons of
Ethan; Azariah.

¹ In Joshua vii. 1, _Achan_.

=7.= _the sons of Carmi_] Carmi is probably to be taken as the son of Zimri (= Zabdi, Joshua vii. 1). Targum however has “Carmi who is Zimri.” See note on _Zimri_, verse 6.

_Achar_] This form of the name (instead of “Achan,” Joshua vii. 1) is used by the Chronicler to bring out better the play on the Hebrew word for “troubler.” The Hebrew runs, “Achar ocher Israel.”

⁹The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel,
and Ram, and Chelubai.

=9.= _Jerahmeel_] For his descendants see verses 25‒41. The descendants of his younger brother Ram are given first. They purport to be the ancestry of David and his family.

_Chelubai_] Another form of “Caleb”; see note on verse 42.

¹⁰And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince
of the children of Judah; ¹¹and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma
begat Boaz; ¹²and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse;

=10.= _Ram_] The descent of David from Judah is given also in Ruth iv. 18‒22 and Matthew i. 3‒6. _Ram_ as a clan parallel with the great clans of Caleb and Jerahmeel is strange; for it is not known otherwise in the Old Testament Further, as the descendants of Ram given in verses 10‒12 are the family tree of David (contrast the clans and cities in the lines of Caleb and Jerahmeel) it may be supposed that Ram owes his position here simply to the Chronicler’s desire to incorporate Ruth iv. 19, where also this pedigree of David is given. Note also that in verse 25 a _Ram_ is mentioned as a son of Jerahmeel and grandson of Hezron.

_Nahshon, prince_, etc.] See Numbers i. 4, 7, ii. 3.

¹³and Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second,
and Shimea the third;

=13.= _Shimea_] so also xx. 7; but “Shammah” 1 Samuel xvi. 9.

¹⁴Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth;

=14.= _Nethanel_] the same name as Nathanael (John i. 45). The fourth, fifth and sixth brothers are not elsewhere named.

¹⁵Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

=15.= _David the seventh_] Jesse had eight sons (1 Samuel xvii. 12; compare xvi. 10, 11). Here one seems deliberately passed over, perhaps because he had no children. (The Elihu “one of David’s brethren” of 1 Chronicles xxvii. 18 is probably to be identified with Eliab and not to be regarded as an eighth brother.)

¹⁶and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of
Zeruiah; Abishai¹, and Joab, and Asahel, three.

¹ Hebrew _Abshai_.

=16.= _sons of Zeruiah_] Joab and his brothers are always thus named after their mother; perhaps their father died while they were young, or we may have a relic here of the ancient method of tracing kinship through the mother.

¹⁷And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the
Ishmaelite.

=17.= _the Ishmaelite_] 2 Samuel xvii. 25, “the Israelite,” an error yielding no satisfactory sense.

=18‒24= (compare verses 42‒55.)
DESCENDANTS OF CALEB.

¹⁸And Caleb the son of Hezron begat _children_ of Azubah _his_
wife, and of Jerioth: and these were her sons; Jesher, and
Shobab, and Ardon. ¹⁹And Azubah died, and Caleb took unto him
Ephrath, which bare him Hur.

=18.= _Caleb_] a clan dwelling in southern Judea, and probably distinct from Judah in the time of David (1 Samuel xxv. 3, xxx. 14). Other references to them or rather their reputed founder Caleb ben Jephunneh the Kenizzite (Numbers xxxii. 12; Joshua xiv. 6, 14; 1 Chronicles i. 36, where see note on _Kenaz_) point to an original connection with the Edomites. Their importance in these lists is explained by the fact that they were incorporated in Judah, and, after the exile, occupied townships close to Jerusalem (verses 50‒55) “forming possibly the bulk of the tribe in post-exilic Judah, since the Chronicler knows so few other families” (Curtis, _Chronicles_ p. 89). See also W. R. Smith, _Old Testament in the Jewish Church_, p. 279 _ad fin._

_begat_ children _of Azubah_ his _wife, and of Jerioth_] the Hebrew seems to be corrupt. Read perhaps =begat children of Azubah, his wife, daughter of Jerioth=; or =took Azubah the wife of Jerioth=. The name _Azubah_ = _forsaken_ is significant: see the note on verse 42, _Caleb_, _ad fin._

²⁰And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezalel.

=20.= _Bezalel_] the Chronicler is naturally pleased to give prominence in his list to Bezalel, who in Exodus xxx. (P) is mentioned as the artificer of the Tabernacle.

²¹And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the
father of Gilead; whom he took _to wife_ when he was threescore
years old; and she bare him Segub.

=21.= The table of Caleb is broken off at this point to introduce verses 21‒23 a statement of further descendants of Hezron (verse 9) by another wife, the daughter of Machir. The interruption is not unnatural, for it is convenient to refer to Hezron’s “son of old age” immediately before the notice of his death (verse 24).

_Machir_] the most important clan of Manasseh (compare Numbers xxvi. 29; Judges v. 14). The affinity of Judean Hezronites with members of the tribe of Manasseh, implied by this verse, is surprising. Whether the tradition has a basis in fact, or arose through some genealogical confusion, cannot as yet be determined. There is however considerable evidence in favour of the view that the relationship between Machir and Caleb is at least “no isolated detail, still less is it the invention of the Chronicler’s age,” and there may be real historical ground for a tradition that besides the northern movement of the Hezronites upwards to Judah there was also at some time a movement across the northern end of Edom into the lands east of Jordan, ending in the settlements of Machir and Jair in Gilead here recorded; compare Numbers xxxii. 39, and for discussion of the problem see Cook, _Notes on Old Testament History_, pp. 92, 93, etc.

²²And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the
land of Gilead.

=22.= _Jair_] one of the Judges (Judges x. 3, 4 where thirty cities, not twenty-three, are assigned him).

_the land of Gilead_] This name is sometimes restricted to that part of the land east of Jordan which lies south of the wady Yarmuk. Here, as often, it is applied to all the land east of Jordan occupied by Israel.

²³And Geshur and Aram took the towns¹ of Jair from them, with
Kenath, and the villages² thereof, even threescore cities. All
these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.

¹ Or, _Havvoth-jair_.

² Hebrew _daughters_.

=23.= _And Geshur and Aram_] Geshur was an Aramean kingdom east of Jordan on the north-east border of Manasseh. Aram, commonly translated “Syria” or “the Syrians,” probably here signifies the kingdom of which Damascus was the capital. The conquest of Manassite territory by the Arameans (“Syrians”) here described probably took place before the days of Ahab, for in his reign they were already established as far south as Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings xxii. 3).

_the towns of Jair_] note margin _Havvoth-jair_, compare Deuteronomy iii. 14; Judges x. 4. The name perhaps means “the tent-villages of Jair” (Arabic _Ḥĭvâ_ = “a collection of tents near together”).

²⁴And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah, then Abijah
Hezron’s wife bare him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

=24.= _And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah_] The Hebrew is certainly corrupt, but can easily be emended with the help of the LXX. Read =And after Hezron was dead Caleb went in to Ephrath= (verse 19) =his father Hezron’s wife and she bare him=, etc. Ephrath (= Ephrathah, verse 50, iv. 4) is a name of Bethlehem (Ruth iv. 11; Micah v. 2). “The taking of a father’s wife signified a claim to inherit the father’s possessions (compare 2 Samuel xvi. 22), and the phrase here expresses the legitimacy of Caleb’s residence in northern Judea” (see note on verse 42).

_Ashhur_] compare iv. 4, 5. Ashhur might be a younger brother of Hur (verses 19, 50); but quite possibly they are one and the same (compare the contraction of Jehoahaz into Ahaz); see also iv. 5.

_the father of Tekoa_] i.e. the founder of the town or the eponymous ancestor of its inhabitants. For _Tekoa_ see 2 Chronicles xx. 20, note.

=25‒41.=
THE GENEALOGY OF THE JERAHMEELITES.

²⁵And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the
firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah.

=25.= _Jerahmeel_] In David’s time they were, like Caleb, a semi-nomadic clan in the south of Judah; compare 1 Samuel xxvii. 10; xxx. 29. They shared in the northern movements of Caleb (see note on verse 42), and eventually formed part of the post-exilic Jewish community; hence their records do not appear in earlier parts of the Old Testament, but are known to the Chronicler.

_Ozem, Ahijah_] By a slight change in the Hebrew we get =Ozem his brother= (so LXX.); compare xxvi. 20 for a similar confusion of reading.

²⁶And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she
was the mother of Onam. ²⁷And the sons of Ram the firstborn
of Jerahmeel were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker. ²⁸And the sons of
Onam were Shammai, and Jada: and the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and
Abishur. ²⁹And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and
she bare him Ahban, and Molid. ³⁰And the sons of Nadab; Seled,
and Appaim: but Seled died without children¹.

¹ Or, _sons_.

=26.= _Atarah_] see note on Hezron, verse 5.

³¹And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan.
And the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai. ³²And the sons of Jada the
brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died
without children¹. ³³And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza.
These were the sons of Jerahmeel.

¹ Or, _sons_.

=31.= _the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai_] Ahlai is perhaps a gentilic name, not the name of an individual, since in verse 34 Sheshan is said to have had “no sons, but daughters.” More probably however the Chronicler is using a different source for verses 34‒41.

³⁴Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a
servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.

=34.= _an Egyptian_] Hebrew Miṣri. Render probably =a Muṣrite=, i.e. inhabitant of the north Arabian district to the south of Palestine, known as Muṣri and apparently confused at times with Miṣraim (Egypt). For some suggestive conjectures regarding this table of Jarha’s descendants see S. A. Cook, _Encyclopedia Biblica_ II. 2364.

³⁵And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife;
and she bare him Attai. ³⁶And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan
begat Zabad; ³⁷and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed;
³⁸and Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah; ³⁹and Azariah
begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah; ⁴⁰and Eleasah begat Sismai,
and Sismai begat Shallum; ⁴¹and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and
Jekamiah begat Elishama.

=35.= _Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha_] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir. Thus Abraham at first (Genesis xv. 2, 3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. The list of thirteen descendants of Jarha ending with Elishama (verse 41) is perhaps a proper genealogy: at least the names may be those of individuals, although it is impossible to say why this pedigree of Elishama should have been so carefully preserved (so Curtis). On the other hand Cook (see previous note) regards _Jarha_ as perhaps an eponym of _Jerahmeel_, and, connecting _Sheshan_ with the Hebronite _Sheshai_, thinks the genealogy may signify a northward movement of Jerahmeel from Muṣri to the district of Hebron.

=42‒49= (compare verses 18‒24).
THE DESCENDANTS OF CALEB.

⁴²And 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. ⁴³And the sons of Hebron; Korah,
and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. ⁴⁴And Shema begat Raham, the
father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai.

=42.= _Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel_] Called _Chelubai_ (verse 9) and _Caleb the son of Hezron_ (verse 18). As eponym of the tribe Caleb is described as “son” of Hezron “son” of Judah, and of course is not to be distinguished from the Caleb son of Jephunneh who is classed as a Kenizzite in various passages (iv. 15; Numbers xiii. 6; Joshua xiv. 6).

Important features of the fortunes of the Caleb clan can be discerned from the lists in this chapter, verses 18‒24, 42‒50. It appears that at first their seats were in the southern parts of Judah――witness verses 42‒49, in which several of the names, viz. Ziph (Joshua xv. 24 or 25), Mareshah (2 Chronicles xi. 8), Hebron, Tappuah (Joshua xv. 34), Maon (Joshua xv. 55), and Beth-zur (Joshua xv. 58) are names of towns in the south or south-west of Judah. From these, their pre-exilic homes, they were driven northwards, and during the exilic period and afterwards they occupied many of the townships not far from Jerusalem, e.g. Bethlehem (see verses 50‒55). Apart from the names in verses 50‒55, we have a testimony to this northward movement in verse 24 (where see note), and probably also in verse 18, where the names _Jerioth_ (_tents_) and _Azubah_ (_forsaken_) hint at the abandonment first of nomadic life and then of the south Judean settlements. This movement was largely no doubt compulsory, under pressure from the Edomites to the south (compare above i. 43, note) who in their turn were being forced north by a strong and fairly constant encroachment of Arab tribes (see Wellhausen, _De Gentibus_, and more recently Hölscher, _Palästina_, pp. 22, 30, on the importance of such evidence as this notice in Chronicles for determining the composition and conditions of Palestine in the post-exilic period).

_Mesha_] The Moabite king whose deeds are recorded on the Moabite Stone bore this name. LXX. reads _Mareshah_ (Μαρεισά) as in the latter part of the verse.

⁴⁵And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of
Beth-zur. ⁴⁶And Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bare Haran, and Moza,
and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez. ⁴⁷And the sons of Jahdai;
Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.
⁴⁸Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bare Sheber and Tirhanah.

=45.= _Maon_] Nabal who was a Calebite lived at the town of Maon (1 Samuel xxv. 2, 3). It is improbable that _Maon_ was ever used as the name of a person; compare Buchanan Gray, _Hebrew Proper Names_, pp. 127 f. See note on verse 42.

⁴⁹She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father
of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb
was Achsah.

=49.= _the daughter of Caleb was Achsah_] Compare Judges i. 12.

=50‒55.= These verses give the post-exilic settlements of the Calebites in the townships of northern Judea, not far from Jerusalem: see verse 42, note.

⁵⁰These were the sons of Caleb; the son¹ of Hur, the firstborn
of Ephrathah, Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim; ⁵¹Salma the
father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader.

¹ The Septuagint has, _sons_.

=50.= _the son of Hur_] Read with the LXX., =the sons of Hur=. Hur was the son of Caleb (verse 19).

_the firstborn of Ephrathah_] see note verse 24.

⁵²And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons; Haroeh, half
of the Menuhoth.

=52.= _Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth_] The Hebrew is quite obscure, but may perhaps be rendered, =who provided for half the resting-places=, the description applying to Shobal, i.e. his work was to supervise some of the halting stations of the caravans which passed through the territory of Judah. Compare similar details in iv. 21‒23, and the title _Prince of the resting-places_ (margin _quarter-master_) given to Seraiah in Jeremiah li. 59. Almost certainly, however, the text in the present passage is corrupt, and, following iv. 2 and verse 54, we may read =Reaiah and half of the Manahathites=. For the latter see below, verse 54.

⁵³And the families of Kiriath-jearim; the Ithrites, and the
Puthites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came
the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.

=53.= _Zorathites, Eshtaolites_] for Zorah (_modern_ Surah) and Eshtaol (_modern_ Eshua), compare Judges xiii. 25.

⁵⁴The sons of Salma; Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites,
Atrothbeth-Joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.

=54.= _Manahathites, the Zorites_] The Manahathites of Zorah must be associated with _Manoah_, the father of Samson, according to the tradition of Judges xiii. 2, 25, and an inhabitant of Zorah (see Cooke, _Judges_, pp. 131, 138, in this series).

⁵⁵And the families of scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the
Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the
Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

=55.= _families of scribes_] an indication of post-exilic date.

_the Kenites that came of Hammath_] or perhaps, =the Kenites who came in= (i.e. who attached themselves to Israel), =who were from Hammath=.

_father of the house of Rechab_] The verse is somewhat obscure, but it is most probable that the Chronicler preserves a correct tradition in the connection here alleged between the Rechabites and the Kenites. On the ancient zeal for Jehovah displayed by the Rechabites, see 2 Kings x. 15 ff.; and for their distinctive standpoint, Jeremiah xxxv.