John Wesley (NT Notes)

“The great promise of the Messiah was transmitted from Adam to Seth, from him to Shem, from him to Eber, and so to the Jewish nation, who were intrusted above all nations with that sacred treasure, 'till the promise was performed, and the Messiah was come: and …”

“Timna - There is another Timna, the concubine of Eliphaz, Gen. xxxvi, 12, but this was one of his sons, though called by the same name; there being some names common both to men and women in the Hebrew and in other languages.”

“Seir - One of another nation, prince of the Horims; whose genealogy is here described, because of that affinity which was contracted between his and Esau's posterity; and those who were not united and incorporated with them, were destroyed by them.”

“All these and all theirs had their day; many of them made a mighty noise in the world; until their day came to fall, and their place knew them no more. The paths of death are trodden paths. How soon are we to tread them?”

“Judah - Whom he puts first, because the best part of the right of the firstborn, namely, the dominion, was conferred upon him, Gen. xlix, 8, and because the Messiah was to come out of his loins.”

“Dara - If these be the same who are mentioned as the sons of Machol, 1 Kings iv, 31, either the same man had two names, Zerah and Machol, as was usual among the Hebrew: or, one of these was their immediate father, and the other their grand-father. These are na…”

“Carmi - Who is here mentioned, because he was the son of Zimri, who is also called Zabdi, Josh. vii, 1. Achar - Called Achan, Josh. vii, 1, and here Achar, with a little variation for greater significancy: for Achar signifies a troubler.”

“Eliab - Called also Elihu, chap. xxvii, 18, unless that was another person, and the word brother be taken more largely for a kinsman, as it is frequently.”

“Sons of Machir - Partly to his own sons, and partly to his son- in-law Jair, who by reason of that dear affection which was betwixt them, and his forsaking his own tribe and kindred to fight for them and to dwell with them, is here reckoned as his own son.”

“Tekoa - A known place whose father he is called, because he was either the progenitor of the people inhabiting there: or, their prince and ruler: or, the builder of the city.”

“Scribes - Either civil, who were public notaries, that wrote and signed legal instruments: or ecclesiastical. And these were either Levites, or Simeonites, or rather Kenites, and are here mentioned not as if they were of the tribe of Judah, but because they dw…”

“His wife - Possibly so called because she was his first, and therefore most proper wife, though her son was born after all the rest before mentioned, and therefore she and her son are put in the sixth place, the wive being here named only for the sons sake.”

“Four - All David's children by her, as the text positively affirms: and therefore Solomon is called her, only son, Prov. iv, 3, because she loved him as if he had been so.”

“Eliphelet - And he had two other sons called by the same names, ver. 8, probably they were by different wives: and probably they were then distinguished by some additional clause or title, which is here omitted, because the two first were dead before the two s…”

“Nine - There are but seven mentioned, 2 Sam. v, 14. Two of them are omitted there, because they died very early, and here we have all the sons of David, which clause is not added 2 Sam. v,”

“How seldom has a crown gone in a direct line, from father to son, as it did here, for seventeen generations! This was the recompense of David's piety. About the captivity the lineal descent was interrupted, and the crown went from a nephew to an uncle, a presa…”

“Pedaiah - The sentence seems to be short and imperfect, as is frequent in the Hebrew language, and something is here understood, as, the sons also of Salathiel were Malchiram and Pedaiah, &c. as they gather from hence that the same Zerubbabel is called the son…”

“Their sister - Sister to the two last named sons of Zerubbabel, namely, by both parents; and therefore named before the other five, ver. 20, who were her brethren by the father, but not by the mother.”

“Six - Including the father. But the Hebrew word, Shisha, which is rendered six, may be the proper name of one of the sons of Shemaiah.”

“Called - When he was undertaking some great and dangerous service. Enlarge - Drive out these Canaanites, whom thou hast commanded us to root out. Grieve - That it may not oppress and overcome me: more is understood than is expressed.”

“Had dominion - Which they ruled in the name and for the use of the kings of Judah, to whom Moab was subject from David's time. Ancient things - The sense is those blessed times are long since past.”

“There are - He seems to oppose their present servitude to their former glory, and to shew their mean spirits that had rather tarry among the Heathen to do their drudgery, than return to Jerusalem to serve God and enjoy their freedom.”

“Of Judah - The tribe of Simeon did not increase proportionably to the tribe of Judah in which they dwelt; as appears by those two catalogues, Num. i, 22; xxvi, 14, which is to be ascribed to God's curse upon them, delivered by the mouth of holy Jacob, Gen. xli…”

“For it is evident concerning Ziklag, one of them, that it was in the Philistines hands in David's time, and by them given to him, and by him annexed to the tribe of Judah, 1 Sam. xxvii, 6.”

“Fat pasture, &c. - Those who thus dwelt (as we do) in a fruitful country, and whose land is wide and quiet and peaceable, have reason to own themselves indebted to that God, who appoints the bounds of our habitation.”