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. ... [ Continue Reading ]
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 f... [ Continue Reading ]
“Achan” Joshua 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 Joshua 7:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
DAVID THE SEVENTH - Jesse had eight sons, of whom David was the youngest 1 Samuel 16:10; 1 Samuel 17:12. Probably one of the sons shown to Samuel at Bethlehem did not grow up.... [ Continue Reading ]
SISTERS - i. e. half-sisters. Abigail and Zeruiah were daughters not of Jesse, but of a certain Nahash, whose widow Jesse took to wife 2 Samuel 17:25. From the present passage, and from the fact that Abishai joined David as a comrade in arms before Joab 1 Samuel 26:6, it would seem that, although J... [ Continue Reading ]
JETHER THE ISHMEELITE - See the marginal note and reference.... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
JAIR, WHO HAD THREE AND TWENTY CITIES - The places called “Havoth-Jair” in the earlier Scriptures (see Numbers 32:41 note), which appear to have been a number of “small towns,” or villages, in the Ledjah, the Classical “Trachonitis.”... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, “And Geshur and Aram (i. e. the Geshurites Deuteronomy 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 J... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AHIJAH - There is no “and” in the original. Hence, some would read: “the sons” were born “of” or “from Ahijah,” the first wife of Jerahmeel (see the next verse).... [ Continue Reading ]
A third line of descent from Caleb, the son of Hezron, the issue probably of a different mother, perhaps Jerioth 1 Chronicles 2:18. The supposed omissions in this verse have been supplied as follows: (1) “Mesha, the father of Ziph; and the sons of Ziph, Mareshah, the father of Hebron;” or (2) “Mar... [ Continue Reading ]
CALEB THE SON OF HUR - Hur was the son, not the father, of Caleb 1 Chronicles 2:19. The text should perhaps be read: “These (the list in 1 Chronicles 2:42) were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc.”... [ Continue Reading ]
ATAROTH, THE HOUSE OF JOAB - Rather, “Ataroth-beth-Joab,” probably so called, to distinguish it from Ataroth-Adar, a city of Benjamin Joshua 18:13. It is uncertain from what Joab it derived its distinctive appellation.... [ Continue Reading ]
KENITES - It is remarkable that Kenites - people of a race quite distinct from the Israelites Genesis 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... [ Continue Reading ]