1 Chronicles
1 Chronicles 4
1The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2Reaiah the son of Shobal became the father of Jahath; and Jahath became the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites. 3These were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. The name of their sister was Hazzelelponi. 4Penuel was the father of Gedor and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. 5Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. 7The sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan. 8Hakkoz became the father of Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him with sorrow.”
10Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border! May your hand be with me, and may you keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!”
God granted him that which he requested. 11Chelub the brother of Shuhah became the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12Eshton became the father of Beth Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir Nahash. These are the men of Recah. 13The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath. 14Meonothai became the father of Ophrah: and Seraiah became the father of Joab the father of Ge Harashim; for they were craftsmen. 15The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz. 16The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon; and she bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 18His wife the Jewess bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took. 19The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. 20The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben Hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth, and Ben Zoheth. 21The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of those who worked fine linen, of the house of Ashbea; 22and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubilehem. These records are ancient. 23These were the potters, and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah: they lived there with the king for his work. 24The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul; 25Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son. 26The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. 27Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers didn’t have many children, and all their family didn’t multiply like the children of Judah. 28They lived at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazarshual, 29at Bilhah, at Ezem, at Tolad, 30at Bethuel, at Hormah, at Ziklag, 31at Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susim, at Beth Biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until David’s reign. 32Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities; 33and all their villages that were around the same cities, to Baal. These were their settlements, and they have their genealogy. 34Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, 36Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, 37and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah— 38these mentioned by name were princes in their families. Their fathers’ houses increased greatly.
39They went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40They found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceful; for those who lived there before were descended from Ham. 41These written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and struck their tents. The Meunim who were found there, and they destroyed them utterly to this day, and lived in their place; because there was pasture there for their flocks. 42Some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. 43They struck the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and have lived there to this day.
Commentary
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What others are saying
5 commentators · 103 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry3
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
One reason, no doubt, why Ezra is here most particular in the register of the tribe of Judah is because it was that tribe which, with its appendages, Simeon, Benjamin, and Levi, made up the kingdom of Judah, which not only long survived the other tribes in…
We may observe in these verses, 1. That here is a whole family of craftsmen, handicraft tradesmen, that applied themselves to all sorts of manufactures, in which they were ingenious and industrious above their neighbours, Ch1 4:14. There was a valley where…
We have here some of the genealogies of the tribe of Simeon (though it was not a tribe of great note), especially the princes of that tribe, Ch1 4:38. Of this tribe it is said that they increased greatly, but not like the children of Judah, Ch1 4:27. Those…
John Gill37
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
The sons of Judah: Pharez,.... The posterity of Judah in the line of Pharez, for he only is mentioned: Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. Hezron was the son of Pharez, and Carmi is supposed to be Chelubai, or Caleb, the son of Hezron; and Hur the son of…
And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath,.... Reaiah is the same with Haroeh, 1 Chronicles 2:52 the names are of the same signification: and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites; who inhabited Zoreah, as the Targum, at…
And these were of the father of Etam,.... Or of the prince of Etam: or, as the Targum, these are princes that dwelt in Etam, a place not far from Zorah, Judges 15:8 and is mentioned with Bethlehem and Tekoa in the tribe of Judah, 2 Chronicles 11:6, namely…
Adam Clarke16
The linguist of this set. Expect Hebrew and Greek word study, oriental custom, and geography — and an Arminian reading of grace and free will where Gill or Henry would read election. Note one real divergence: Clarke denied the eternal sonship of Christ, a position most of the tradition rejects, so read him closely on the person of Christ.
Why this voice is here: Where you want to know what a word actually says, Clarke is the one who will tell you — with the caveat above on Christ’s sonship.
The sons of Judah - A genealogy of this tribe has already been given in the second chapter. It is here introduced again, with some variations. Probably there were different copies in the public registers; and the writer of this book, finding that this second…
These were of the father of Etam - "And these are the rabbins (doctors) living at Etam, Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash." - T.
And Ethnan - After this word we should, with the Targum, read Coz, whose posterity is mentioned in the next verse. Coz was probably the same as Kenaz.
Keil & Delitzsch35
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The sons of Judah: Pharez,.... The posterity of Judah in the line of Pharez, for he only is mentioned: Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. Hezron was the son of Pharez, and Carmi is supposed to be Chelubai, or Caleb, the son of Hezron; and Hur the son of…
And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath,.... Reaiah is the same with Haroeh, Ch1 2:52 the names are of the same signification: and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites; who inhabited Zoreah, as the Targum, at least part…
And these were of the father of Etam,.... Or of the prince of Etam: or, as the Targum, these are princes that dwelt in Etam, a place not far from Zorah, Jdg 15:8 and is mentioned with Bethlehem and Tekoa in the tribe of Judah, Ch2 11:6, namely, which follow…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown12
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
OF JABEZ, AND HIS PRAYER. (Ch1 4:9-20) Jabez--was, as many think, the son of Coz, or Kenaz, and is here eulogized for his sincere and fervent piety, as well, perhaps, as for some public and patriotic works which he performed. The Jewish writers affirm that he…
God granted him that which he requested--Whatever was the kind of undertaking which roused his anxieties, Jabez enjoyed a remarkable degree of prosperity, and God, in this instance, proved that He was not only the hearer, but the answerer of prayer.
the sons of Kenaz--the grandfather of Caleb, who from that relationship is called a Kenezite (Num 32:12).
World English Bible — Public domain