1 Chronicleschapter 2
55 verses · Ezra, by tradition · 450 to 400 BC · History
Key verse
And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.
It stands in Caleb's clans and the families of scribes, verses 42 to 55.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The twelve sons of Israel are named, and then Judah takes the floor for the rest of the chapter, the tribe that matters to this book. Through Perez and Hezron the roll marches straight to the point: Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz, Obed, Jesse: 'and Jesse begat his first-born Eliab,' down to the seventh, and David. Around that spine cluster the wider clans: Jerahmeel's house, Caleb's house, the families of scribes at Jabez, the Kenites. Achar is remembered by his epitaph, 'the troubler of Israel.' The genealogy that Matthew and Luke will later carry to Bethlehem is already laid out here in plain columns.
Context
History · Ezra · 1 Chronicles overview
The world behind this chapter
1 Chronicles 2The history
The chapter is Judah's, and Judah is the tribe that came home. The list runs through the clans that actually held ground, Hezron's house, Caleb's house around Hebron, Jerahmeel's people in the southern desert, and the line that ends at Jesse of Bethlehem.
The names belong to the long span from the patriarchs to David, and the compiling belongs to the Persian period, the same archive work that produced chapter 1.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The phrase the father of does double duty here. Sometimes it names a parent, and from verse 42 onward it regularly names the founder or head of a settlement, as when a man is called the father of Bethlehem or the father of Kiriath-jearim. A clan and a place carried the same name, because a clan was a place.
Two men in the list carry more weight than their entries suggest. Achar, who brought trouble upon Israel, is the man who took from Jericho's spoil, and his shame is written into the family record. Bezalel, the craftsman God filled with skill to build the tabernacle, is placed in Caleb's branch five generations down from Judah.
A first hearer also knew what the village names meant. Tekoa, Ziph, Hebron, Bethlehem and Kiriath-jearim were working towns with fields and boundary stones, and a name in this list was the paperwork behind a claim to them.
What it meant to them
This was the property map of the people listening. Their fathers had been carried off, their fields had been held by others for two generations, and a claim to a village in the Judean hills rested on lines exactly like these.
It settled a quieter question as well. The man who built the first place of worship for God came from their own tribe, so craftsmanship for the house of God stood in Judah's record before the temple was imagined.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Chronicles , 1872
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
Where the chapter sits
1 Chronicles 2 falls in Genealogies from Adam to Saul (chapters 1–9). The longest single genealogical block in Scripture; the Davidic-line focus; the Levitical emphasis; the post-exilic returnee list (ch. 9).
After it: David's reign: temple-framed, chapters 10–29.
The whole shape of 1 Chronicles→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. The twelve sons of Israel namedvv. 1-2
These are the sons of Israel: The chapter opens with Jacob's twelve sons in the order Genesis itself uses for the maidservants' sons, Leah's line first, then Rachel's two, with Dan set out of strict birth order beside Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Judah stands fourth in this plain list, yet Judah is where the Chronicler now turns and stays for three chapters, because the kingdom and the Messiah both run through that tribe.
1 Chronicles 2:1
“The sons of Israel - The order of the names here approximates to an order determined by legitimacy of birth. A single change - the removal of Dan to the place after Benjamin - would give the following result: (1) The six sons of the first wife, Leah. (2) the two sons of the second wife, Rachel. (3) the two sons of the first concubine, Bilhah. (4) the two sons of the second concubine, Zilpah. Dan’s undue prominency may, perhaps, be accounted for by his occupying the seventh place in the “blessing of Jacob” Gen 49:16.”
B. Judah's line traced down to David
1. (vv. 3-4)
1 Chronicles 2:3
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Chronicles 2:4
“And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah,.... Through incest; they were twins, Gen 38:27 all the sons of Judah were five; who are before mentioned by name.”
was evil in the sight of the Lord: Er's wickedness is stated without explanation, a moral note the compressed list keeps rather than smooths over from Genesis 38. The royal tribe's own record does not run through Er or Onan but through the twins Tamar bore by Judah himself, Pharez and Zerah, so Judah's line remembers a scandal it never hid.
2. (vv. 5-7)
1 Chronicles 2:5
“The sons of Pharez,.... One of the above twins, born to Judah: Hezron and Hamul; see Gen 46:12.”
1 Chronicles 2:6
“And the sons of Zerah,.... The other twin of Judah: Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all; the Targum calls them governors, and adds, on whom the spirit of prophecy dwelt; and in the Jewish chronology (n) they are said to prophesy in Egypt; and the four last are supposed to be the same with those in 1Ki 4:31. See Gill on 1Ki 4:31. (n) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. p. 52.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:6
“Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara--These five are here stated to be the sons of Zerah, that is, of Ezra, whence they were called Ezrahites (1Ki 4:31). In that passage they are called "the sons of Mahol," which, however, is to be taken not as a proper name, but appellatively for "sons of music, dancing," &c.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 2:6
“The sons of Zerah - Here, for the first time, the writer of Chronicles draws from sources not otherwise known to us, recording facts not mentioned in the earlier Scriptures. Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, sons of Zerah, are only known to us from this passage, since there are no sufficient grounds for identifying them with the “sons of Mahol” (marginal reference).”
1 Chronicles 2:7
“Achan” Jos 7:1 seems to have become “Achar,” in order to assimilate the word more closely to the Hebrew term for “troubler,” which was from the time of Achan’s sin regarded as the true meaning of his name Jos 7:25-26.
The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul: Zerah's five sons include Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara, the men Solomon's wisdom is measured against in 1 Kings 4:31, though that earlier passage calls them sons of Mahol rather than Zerah; the bench generally reads the two lists as naming the same men from different sides of the family. The list breaks its own rhythm at Carmi's son, spelling him Achar rather than the Achan of Joshua 7 so the name itself preaches: he is called the troubler of Israel, the very charge Ahab later throws at Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17.
3. (vv. 8-9)
1 Chronicles 2:8
“And the sons of Ethan; Azariah. Including his posterity, see Gen 46:23, the posterity of the other three sons of Zerah are not mentioned, either because the writer could not find the genealogy of them, as Kimchi; or rather, as he thinks, he cuts short the genealogy of Zerah, because the kingdom did not proceed from him, and returns to the genealogy of Hezron, from whence it did, or perhaps they had no children.”
1 Chronicles 2:9
“The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him,.... The Targum adds, in Timnath; but most likely in Egypt: Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai; afterwards called Caleb.”
the sons of Ethan; Azariah: Ethan's son Azariah closes out Zerah's short branch, and the record does not carry it further, since the kingdom did not come from that line. Hezron's three sons, Jerahmeel, Ram and Chelubai, are named next, and each opens a branch the chapter traces in turn: Jerahmeel's at length, Ram's to David, and Chelubai's, better known as Caleb, twice over.
4. (vv. 10-17)
1 Chronicles 2:10
“And Ram begat Amminadab,.... Ram is the same with Aram, Mat 1:3 the genealogy is carried down from him to Jesse in the same order as there, and in Rth 4:19 only here Nahshon the son of Amminadab is called the prince of the children of Judah; which Kimchi and Jarchi say is written for the honour of David, who descended from him; and Salmon his son is here called Salma.”
1 Chronicles 2:13
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Chronicles 2:15
“David the seventh - Jesse had eight sons, of whom David was the youngest 1Sa 16:10-11; 1Sa 17:12. Probably one of the sons shown to Samuel at Bethlehem did not grow up.”
1 Chronicles 2:17
“And Abigail bare Amasa,.... Who was Absalom's general, afterwards reconciled to David, and designed to be made general of his army, but was slain by Joab, see 2Sa 17:25, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite; he is called an Israelite, 2Sa 17:25, and so in the Targum here, he being either a proselyte, or else he was an Israelite by birth, but called an Ishmaelite, because he had dwelt among the Ishmaelites some time, as Obededom is called the Gittite for the like reason; so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:17
“The presumption is in favor of the reading followed by the Septuagint, which calls him "Jetra the Jezreelite." The circumstance of his settling in another tribe, or of a woman marrying out of her own tribe, was sufficiently rare and singular to call for the statement that Abigail was married to a man of Jezreel.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
prince of the children of Judah: Ram's line runs through Amminadab and Nahshon, prince of Judah in the wilderness camp, to Boaz and Jesse and David, the same succession Ruth 4:19-22 gives and Matthew 1:3-6 carries into the genealogy of Christ. David is numbered seventh of Jesse's sons here, while 1 Samuel 17:12 counts eight; the readings, that one brother died without issue, or that the Chronicler names only the seven whose lines mattered to his purpose, are held without a verdict. Zeruiah and Abigail appear as David's sisters, and Zeruiah's sons Abishai, Joab and Asahel become his commanders, while Abigail's son Amasa, born to an Ishmeelite father, later commands Absalom's army against his own kinsmen.
C. Caleb son of Hezron and his householdsvv. 18-24
begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: Caleb's line through Hezron runs to Hur and then to Uri and Bezaleel, the same three-generation descent Exodus 31:2 gives for the craftsman the LORD filled with skill to raise the tabernacle, so the tribe that produces the king also produces the man who first built the pattern David will later hand to Solomon. Hezron himself fathered a son in old age, Ashur the father of Tekoa, after the text has already recorded his death in Caleb-ephratah, an order the record leaves standing rather than explains.
1 Chronicles 2:18
“Her sons - The sons of Azubah, who is by way of distinction called his wife, when Jerioth probably was only his concubine, and, it may seem, barren: therefore upon Azubah's death he married another wife. And those other sons of this Caleb mentioned, ver. 42, are his sons by some other wife distinct from all these.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:18
“In the remainder of this chapter the writer obtains scarcely any assistance from the earlier Scriptures, and must have drawn almost entirely from genealogical sources, accessible to him, which have since perished. Azubah was Caleb’s wife; Jerioth his concubine. He had children by both; but those of Azubah are alone recorded.”
1 Chronicles 2:18
“And Caleb the son of Hezron,....”
1 Chronicles 2:18
“Azubah - “And why was she called Azubah? Because she was barren and despised. But her injury was manifested before the Lord; and she was comforted, and adorned with wisdom; and she span, skilfully, goats’ hair for the court of the tabernacle.” - T.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 2:19
“And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath,.... The Targum is, "Miriam, who was called Ephrath"; but, according to Josephus (q), it was his son Hur that was the husband of Miriam the sister of Moses: which bare him Hur; See Gill on Exo 17:10. (q) Antiqu. l. 3. c. 2.”
1 Chronicles 2:20
“And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel. Who yet is not thought to be the same Bezaleel we read of in Exo 31:2 though the fathers and grandfathers of both have the same names, and were of the same tribe.”
1 Chronicles 2:22
“And Segub begat Jair, who had twenty three cities in the land of Gilead. Which, according to Kimchi, he inherited in right of his wife, which, he says, he took out of the land of Gilead; but they seem to be rather what he took by force of arms from the former inhabitants; see Num 32:41.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:22
Jair, who had three and twenty cities - The places called “Havoth-Jair” in the earlier Scriptures (see Num 32:41 note), which appear to have been a number of “small towns,” or villages, in the Ledjah, the Classical “Trachonitis.”
1 Chronicles 2:22
“Jair, inheriting his property, was his lineal representative; and accordingly this is expressly stated to be the case; for the village group of "Havoth-Jair" was awarded to him in that tribe, in consequence of his valiant and patriotic exploits.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 2:23
“Rather, “And Geshur and Aram (i. e. the Geshurites Deu 3:14 and Syrians) took the villages of Jair from them:” recovered, that is, from the new settlers the places which Jair had conquered. All these belonged to the sons of Machir - Rather, “All these were sons of Machir,” i. e. Segub and Jair, with their descendants, were reckoned sons of Machir, rather than sons of Hezron, although only descended from Machir on the mother’s side.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:23
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Chronicles 2:24
“Caleb-ephratah--so called from uniting the names of husband and wife (1Ch 2:19), and supposed to be the same as was afterwards called Beth-lehem-ephratah. Ashur, the father of Tekoa-- (2Sa 14:2-4). He is called the father, either from his being the first founder, or perhaps the ruler, of the city.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:24
“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.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
D. The long branch of Jerahmeelvv. 25-41
the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah: Jerahmeel's branch runs eleven generations in bare names, several closing with the notice that a son died without children, the record's own way of marking a line that goes no further. It ends in Sheshan, who had no sons, so he gave his daughter to Jarha, his Egyptian servant, and their marriage carries the family six more generations to Elishama, an Egyptian proselyte grafted into Judah much as the Moabite woman Ruth is grafted into Ram's own line earlier in this chapter.
1 Chronicles 2:25
“And the sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were Ram the firstborn,.... So called by his father after the name of his brother, see 1Ch 2:9. and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah; or "of Ahijah", as some (r) render it, this being the name of his wife, who bare him the sons before named, since mention is made of another wife in the next verse. (r) Junius, Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.”
1 Chronicles 2:26
“Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah,.... Distinct from his wife before named; or "another woman", which is a phrase for an harlot or concubine, Jdg 11:2 which she might be, as Kimchi observes; though the former seems best: she was the mother of Onam; and perhaps was the only son she bore to Jerahmeel, of whose sons see 1Ch 2:28.”
1 Chronicles 2:27
“And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel,.... By his first wife: were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker; of whom no other notice is taken; perhaps they left no children.”
1 Chronicles 2:28
“And the sons of Onam,.... The son of Jerahmeel by his other wife: were Shammai and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur; whose posterity are mentioned in the two following verses.”
1 Chronicles 2:29
“And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail,.... Of the same name was a wife of Rehoboam, a daughter of his grandfather David's eldest brother, Eliab, 2Ch 11:18. and she bare him Ahban, and Molid; which are no more mentioned, they perhaps leaving no posterity.”
1 Chronicles 2:30
“And the sons of Nadab,.... The eldest son of Shammai, 1Ch 2:28, Seled and Appaim; but Seled died without children; and therefore we hear no more of him.”
1 Chronicles 2:31
“And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi: Sheshan,.... Though they had each of them but one son, yet the plural number is used, their posterity being included, as in 1Ch 2:8 and so in the next clause: and the children of Sheshan; Ahlai; who, from 1Ch 2:34 appears to be a daughter.”
1 Chronicles 2:32
“And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai,.... 1Ch 2:28, Jether and Jonathan: and Jether died without children; the posterity of Jonathan are given the next verse.”
1 Chronicles 2:33
“And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth and Zaza,.... Of whom no mention is made elsewhere: these were the sons of Jerahmeel; not only his immediate sons, but their posterity, called from him Jerahmeelites, 1Sa 27:10.”
1 Chronicles 2:34
“Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters,.... And but one of that sort, whose name was Ahlai, 1Ch 2:31 the plural being put here for the singular; or, if that is the name of a son, as some think, he died in his father's lifetime, and left no issue; so that there only remained daughters, and it seems but one by the next verse: and Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha; one born in his house, and brought up by him, and a proselyte, such an one as Eliezer in Abraham's family.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:34
“If it be mentioned to his praise, we must suppose that this Egyptian was proselyted to the Jewish religion and that he was very eminent for wisdom and virtue, otherwise it would not have become a true-born Israelite to match a daughter to him, especially an only daughter.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Chronicles 2:35
“Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife--The adoption and marriage of a foreign slave in the family where he is serving, is far from being a rare or extraordinary occurrence in Eastern countries. It is thought, however, by some to have been a connection not sanctioned by the law of Moses [MICHAELIS].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
E. Caleb's clans and the families of scribes
1. (vv. 42-50)
1 Chronicles 2:42
“Now the sons of Caleb - This was not Caleb the son of Jephunneh, but Caleb the son of Hezron, 1Ch 2:18, 1Ch 2:50. But some think that Caleb the son of Hezron was the grandson of Caleb, son of Jephunneh; but this is probably fanciful. The father of Ziph - “The prince of the Ziphites.” - T.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 2:43
“And the sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. One of these, Tappuah, is the name of a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:34 and there is also Bethtappuah in the same tribe, 1Ch 2:53 which one, or both, might have their name from this man; and Shema also, 1Ch 2:26.”
1 Chronicles 2:44
“And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam,.... Which Hillerus (s) takes to be the name of a city in the tribe of Judah; and Jarchi's note is, that wherever the word "father" is here used, it is to be understood of the prince of a city that follows: and Rekem begat Shammai; there is a descendant of Jerahmeel, the brother of Caleb, of this name, 1Ch 2:28. (s) Onomast. Sacr. p. 329.”
1 Chronicles 2:45
“And the son of Shammai was Maon,.... Who gave name to a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:55 see 1Sa 23:24. and Maon was the father of Bethzur; prince of a very strong fortified city of this name in the same tribe, Jos 15:58, unless this was a son of Maon's, from whom the city had its name.”
1 Chronicles 2:46
“And Ephah Caleb's concubine bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez,.... An half-wife, or secondary wife; for though this man seems not to have had more wives than one at a time, yet he had concubines with them; we read of another after this, if not a third: and Haran begat Gazez; whom he so named after his brother.”
1 Chronicles 2:47
“And the sons of Jahdai,.... Who is not mentioned by this name before; perhaps the same with Moza, who might have two names, though, according to Hillerus (t), he was the son of Moza; some take it to be the name of another of Caleb's concubines, by whom he had the six following sons: Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph; one of these, Pelet perhaps, gave name to Bethpalet in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:27. (t) Onomast. Sacr. p. 841.”
1 Chronicles 2:49
“She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah,.... Prince of a place so called, in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:31. Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibeah; prince of two cities of those names in the same tribe; of the latter see Jos 15:57, and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah; Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, had a daughter of this name, but neither he nor she are here meant, Jos 15:16 but by whom Caleb, the son of Hezron, had this daughter, is not said; perhaps by Maachah his concubine last mentioned.”
1 Chronicles 2:50
“These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah,.... This is another Caleb, the grandson of Caleb the son of Hezron, called after his name; he was the son of Hur, the firstborn of his wife Ephratah, 1Ch 2:19. Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim: of the inhabitants of that place; they sprung from him; or, as the Targum, he was prince of Kirjathjearim, a city in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:60.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:50
Caleb the son of Hur - Hur was the son, not the father, of Caleb 1Ch 2:19. The text should perhaps be read: “These (the list in 1Ch 2:42-49) were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc.”
the brother of Jerahmeel were, Mesha his firstborn: A second Caleb, grandson of the Caleb who fathered Hur, opens his own list of descendants called fathers of Ziph, Hebron and other towns in Judah's hill country, a formula the bench reads as founder or prince of each place rather than literal begetting. The name Caleb belongs to two distinct men here, one the son of Hezron and one his own grandson, and the text leaves the repetition standing without comment.
2. (vv. 51-55)
1 Chronicles 2:51
“Salma the father of Bethlehem,.... Or prince of Bethlehem, as the Targum; not the same as in 1Ch 2:11 he was the son of Nahshon, this of the younger Caleb: Hareph, the father of Bethgader; prince of a place of that name called Gedor, 1Ch 4:4, and where this man's name is Penuel; Gedor was in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:58.”
1 Chronicles 2:52
“And Shobal, the father of Kirjathjearim had sons,.... Which shows that Kirjathjearim is not the name of a man, or of any of Shobal's sons, who are next mentioned, but of a place of which he was prince: the first is Haroeh, who is called Reaiah, 1Ch 4:2 a word of the same signification: and half of the Manahethites; which Kimchi takes to be the proper name of a man called Chatzihamanaheth, another son of Shobal's; but Jarchi interprets it of the name of a place or province called Manahath, 1Ch 8:6 over half of which Haroeh was governor.”
1 Chronicles 2:53
“And the families of Kirjathjearim,.... That dwelt there, of which Shobal was prince, and who sprung from him, are as follow: the Ithrite, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; who had their names from Jether, Putha, Shumath, and Mishra, descendants of Shobal: of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites; that is, from the Mishraites sprung the inhabitants of Zeroth and Eshtaol, places in the tribe of Judah, Jos 15:33.”
1 Chronicles 2:54
“The sons of Salma - “The righteous Bethlehemites, who had a good name, as the Netophathites, who removed the guards which Jeroboam had placed in the way lest the people should carry the first-fruits to Jerusalem: for the sons of Salma carried baskets full of first-fruits privately to Jerusalem; and having cloven wood, they made ladders, and brought them to Jerusalem to be laid up in Beth-mokad for oblations.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:54
“The sons of Salma,....”
1 Chronicles 2:54
“Ataroth, the house of Joab - Rather, “Ataroth-beth-Joab,” probably so called, to distinguish it from Ataroth-Adar, a city of Benjamin Jos 18:13. It is uncertain from what Joab it derived its distinctive appellation.”
1 Chronicles 2:55
“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 dwelt among them, and probably were allied to them by marriages, and so in a manner incorporated with them.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 2:55
“Kenites - It is remarkable that Kenites - people of a race quite distinct from the Israelites Gen 15:19 - should be attached to, and, as it were, included in the descendants of Judah. It seems, however, that the friendly feeling between the two tribes - based on the conduct of the Kenites at the time of the Exodus Exo 18:10-19; Num 10:29-32; 1Sa 15:6 - led to their intermixture and almost amalgamation with the Israelites, Kenite families not only dwelling among them but being actually regarded as of one blood with them.”
Salma the father of Beth–lehem: Salma's sons found Bethlehem itself along with Netophah and other towns, closing Judah's genealogy where the royal line already led earlier in the chapter. The last verse names the scribes of Jabez as Kenites of the house of Rechab, the same clan Jeremiah 35 later holds up as an example of obedience, a people not of Israelite blood so bound to Judah by loyalty that Chronicles counts them within the tribe's own record.
This page carries no textual note on 1 Chronicles 2. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Jamieson Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.