IV. 1 Chronicles 4. comprises (1) a compilation of fragmentary notices relating to the clans of Judah, their settlements and handicrafts, at an epoch which is not determined: this section serves at once as a supplement to the account of Judah already given in 1 Chronicles 1:3, and as a first instal... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SONS OF JUDAH. — Pharez only of these five was literally a _son_ of Judah, 1 Chronicles 2:3. We have, however, seen that all these names, with the possible exception of Carmi, represent great tribal divisions or clans; and as such they are called sons of Judah. For Carmi it is proposed to read t... [ Continue Reading ]
REAIAH (_or_ Jehoraah) THE SON OF SHOBAL ... — See 1 Chronicles 2:52, which also calls Shobal “father of Kirjath-jearim.” 1 Chronicles 2:53 adds that the Zorathites (Authorised Version, _Zareathites_) came of the clans of Kirjath-jearim. The present verse supplements the data of 1 Chronicles 2, by p... [ Continue Reading ]
(2-4) Branches and settlements of the Hurites.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THESE WERE OF THE FATHER OF ETAM. — Heb., _And these_ (_were_)_ the father of Etam._ Some MSS., the LXX., and the Vulg. read “and these (were) the sons of Etam;” other MSS., with the Syriac and Arabic versions, have “the sons of the father of Etam.” Both variants look like evasions of a difficul... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PENUEL THE FATHER OF GEDOR. — Penuel occurs as a trans-Jordan town in Judges 8:8, and elsewhere. Here a Judean town or clan is meant. GEDOR. — See 1 Chronicles 2:51, and Note; Joshua 15:58. Now the ruin called Jedur. EZER THE FATHER OF HUSHAH. — Ezer occurs as a name of clans and localities, as... [ Continue Reading ]
FAMILIES THAT CAME OF ASH-HUR (1 Chronicles 4:5). (5) AND ASHUR THE FATHER OF TEKOA. — See 1 Chronicles 2:24, and Notes. If Ashur means the Hurites, the two wives, Helah and Naarah, may designate two settlements of this great clan. (6) HEPHER. — A district of southern Judah, near Tappuach (Joshua... [ Continue Reading ]
COZ BEGAT ANUB. — COZ (_thorn_) is unknown. ANUB. — LXX., Ενωβ. Comp. Anâb, (Joshua 11:21; Joshua 15:50), a town in the hill-country near Debir (Kirjathsepher). The word appears to mean “grape-town” so that “Coz begat Anub” reminds us of Matthew 7:16. Comp. Isaiah 5:6; Isaiah 7:23. ZOBEBAH. — Heb.... [ Continue Reading ]
MORE HONOURABLE THAN HIS BRETHREN. — Comp. what is said of Hamor son of Shechem in Genesis 34:19. HIS BRETHREN. — Perhaps the sons of Coz. The form of the Hebrew verb implies connection with 1 Chronicles 4:8. HIS MOTHER CALLED HIS NAME... — Comp. Genesis 29:32, and especially Genesis 35:18. WITH... [ Continue Reading ]
JABEZ CALLED ON THE GOD OF ISRAEL. — Comp. Jacob’s vow at Bethel, Genesis 28:20, and his altar, El-’elohë Israel, “El is the God of Israel,” Genesis 33:20. Some have supposed that the peculiar phrase, “God of Israel,” indicates that the original Canaanite population of Jabez proselytised. OH THAT T... [ Continue Reading ]
(11-12) A fragment relating to the “men of Rechah,” a name which occurs nowhere else, and for which Rechab appears a plausible correction. So the Vat., LXX. Ρηχάβ. Compare 1 Chronicles 2:55, where the Sopherim of Jabez are called Rechabites, and see Notes on the passage. These Rechabites united with... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SONS OF CALEB, SON OF JEPHUNNEH. — Caleb son of Jephunneh is called the Kenizzite, Joshua 14:6. He obtained “a part among the children of Judah” (Joshua 15:13), “because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel” (Joshua 14:14). If Caleb the Kenizzite and his clan were received among the He... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SONS OF JEHALELEEL. — Heb., _Yehallel-çl,_ “he praiseth God.” ZIPH is known, from Joshua 15:21; Joshua 15:24, as one of the cities of the children of Judah, “towards the border of Edom, southwards.” Perhaps, therefore, the sons of Jehallel-el also were Edomite-Kenizzites. Another Ziph, perhaps... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SONS OF EZRA. — Heb., _son,_ but some MSS. have _sons_ (see Note on 1 Chronicles 3:19; 1 Chronicles 3:21). Ezra means _help =_ Ezer, 1 Chronicles 4:4. JETHER occurred 1 Chronicles 2:32, as a Jerahmeelite. EPHER recurs 1 Chronicles 5:24, as a Manassite name. JALON AND MERED occur nowhere e... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HIS WIFE JEHUDIJAH [Margin is right, _the Jewess_] BARE JERED. — It is obvious that a contrast with the sons of some non-Jewish wife is intended, and these latter ought already to have been mentioned. Clearly, therefore, the sentence “And these are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, w... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE SONS OF HIS WIFE HODIAH. — The existing Hebrew text says, _And the sons of Hodiah_’s _wife._ Hodiah recurs as a man’s name in Nehemiah 8:7; Nehemiah 9:5; but a very slight change — the addition of three letters — in the Hebrew would give the sense: “And sons of his Jewish wife, the sister of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SONS OF SHIMON. — Nothing is said elsewhere of them, or of the sons of Ishi. Ishi (1 Chronicles 2:31) is a Jerahmeelite name; but/as throughout tho section (1 Chronicles 4:2) we have found indications that the ramifications of the house of Caleb are the principal subject, and as 1 Chronicles 4:2... [ Continue Reading ]
II. — SONS OF SHELAH, THIRD SON OF JUDAH, 1 Chronicles 4:21 (omitted by Syriac version). The Shelanite clans were not noticed in 1 Chronicles 2 (See Genesis 38:5 and 1 Chronicles 2:3.) (21) ER. — This Er who founded Lecah is, of course, distinct from Er “the firstborn of Judah.” Lecah is unknown. M... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE WERE THE POTTERS. — Viz., the clans enumerated in 1 Chronicles 4:22. AND THOSE THAT DWELT AMONG PLANTS AND HEDGES. — Rather, _and inhabitants of Net aim and Gederah._ Netaim means “plantations” (Isaiah 17:10). Solomon had pleasure-gardens near Bethlehem. See also the notice of Uzziah’s farms... [ Continue Reading ]
III. — THE TRIBE OF SIMEON: ITS CLANS, AND THEIR SETTLEMENTS AND CONQUESTS (1 Chronicles 4:24). (24) THE SONS OF SIMEON. — The Pentateuch contains three lists of sons of Simeon, viz., Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15, and Numbers 26:12. Genesis and Exodus name six sons; Numbers agrees with the Chronicles... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS BRETHREN HAD NOT MANY CHILDREN. — His brethren, i.e., his fellow-tribesmen. The other Simeonite clans (Numbers 26:12), are meant. NEITHER DID ALL THEIR FAMILY MULTIPLY. — Rather, _nor did they multiply their whole clan._ The word clan (_mishpahath_) is here used in the wider sense of tribe. Thi... [ Continue Reading ]
II. — THE SEATS OF THE SIMEONITES UNTIL THE REIGN OF DAVID (1 Chronicles 4:28). This list is parallel to Joshua 19:2. There are some variations, partly accidental. (28) BEER-SHEBA, AND MOLADAH, AND HAZAR-SHUAL. — Joshua 19:2 adds Sheba after Beer-sheba — an obviously mistaken repetition, making fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Many of the places assigned to Simeon in this list are reckoned among the towns of the extreme south of Judah in Joshua 15:26, _et seq._ Bilhah, or Balah, is, perhaps, Baalah (Joshua 15:29); Ezem (Authorised Version, Azem) and Eltolad are also mentioned there. Their sites are unknown.... [ Continue Reading ]
BETHUEL. — Called Chesil in Joshua 15:30; Joshua 19:4 has Bethûl, a contraction like Hamul for Hamuel (1 Chronicles 4:26; comp. 1 Chronicles 2:5). HORMAH. — The ancient Zephath (Judges 1:17), now _Sepata._ ZIKLAG. — Now _Kasluj,_ east of Sepata (Joshua 15:30; 1 Samuel 27:6).... [ Continue Reading ]
BETH-MARCABOTH = “house of chariots.” HAZAR - SUSIM = “village of horses;” for which Hazarsusah is an equivalent (_susah_ being used as a collective word). BETH-BIREI. — Probably a corrupt writing of Beth-lebaoth, “house of lionesses” (Joshua 19:6), for which Joshua 15:32 has the contraction Lebao... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEIR VILLAGES. — This belongs to 1 Chronicles 4:31. The verb should be cancelled. ETAM, AND AIN, RIMMON ... — Why are these five cities separated from the former thirteen? The old Jewish expositors Rashi and Kimchi assert, that whereas the thirteen were lost to the Simeonites from the time of... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO BAAL. — Called in Joshua 19:8 Baalathbeer (“lady of the well”). The same passage adds what appears to be the name of this group of villages, viz., Ramath-negeb, or Ramah of the southland. (Comp. 1 Samuel 30:27.) THESE (Heb., _this_) WERE THEIR HABITATIONS. — A conclusion of the list of towns o... [ Continue Reading ]
III. — EMIGRATION OF THE SIMEONITES: THEIR CONQUESTS (1 Chronicles 4:34). (34-37) The thirteen princes (emirs) of Simeon who headed the expedition of their tribe in the age of Hezekiah (fl. 710 B.C.). None of them are otherwise known.... [ Continue Reading ]
JAAKOBAH. — Literally, _to Jacob;_ a patronymic derived from Jacob, like the English Jacobs.... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE MENTIONED BY THEIR NAMES. — Literally, _these who have come_ (_forward_)_ with names,_ that is, have been adduced by name. WERE PRINCES IN THEIR FAMILIES. — _Ameers_ or _chieftains in their clans._ AND THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS INCREASED. — _And their father-houses had spread greatly._ Find... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY FOUND FAT PASTURE AND GOOD. — If Gerar was the right reading in 1 Chronicles 4:39, we might compare Genesis 26:17 _seq._ AND THE LAND WAS WIDE. — Genesis 34:21. Literally, _broad of both hands_ — _i.e.,_ on both sides. An open plain is meant. AND QUIET AND PEACEABLE. — Like Laish, which t... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE WHO WERE WRITTEN BY NAME. — The Ameers enumerated in 1 Chronicles 4:34. SMOTE THEIR TENTS. — These Hamites, like the men of Laish, were nomades. AND THE HABITATIONS THAT WERE FOUND THERE. — Heb. text, _the wells:_ Heb. marg., _the Maonites,_ in Hebrew a very similar word. LXX., τοὺς _Mivaíov... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT. — Or, _had gone_ (marched). The time of this expedition to mount Seir is not expressed; but for that very reason it is likely to have been nearly contemporaneous with the events just described. The band of five hundred would seem to have belonged to the clans which had already smitten the Hami... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REST OF THE AMALEKITES THAT WERE ESCAPED. — Literally, _the remnant of the survivors_ (_pelêtâh,_ an abstract collective word) _belonging to Amalek._ These Amalekites are usually supposed to have been some who had taken refuge in Seir from Saul and David’s exterminating wars (1 Samuel 14:48; 1 S... [ Continue Reading ]