1.

These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,

Israel. See notes on Genesis 32:28 ; Genesis 43:8 ; Genesis 45:26 , Genesis 45:28 .
Reuben. For the order of these names see App-45

2.

Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

3.

The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him.

Judah. Put first because of his being chief. Compare Genesis 38:1-11 .

4.

And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.

Tamar. Compare Genesis 38:18 , Genesis 38:29 , Genesis 38:30 ; and Matthew 1:3 .

5.

The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.

Pharez. Ruth 4:18 .

6.

And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.

7.

And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.

sons. Put for "son" by Figure of speech Synecdoche (of Genus), App-6 .
Achar = Achan. Compare Joshua 7:25 .
transgressed. Hebrew. ma'al. App-44 .

8.

And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.

Ethan. Not the same person as "Ethan the Ezrahite" (1 Kings 4:31 ), who was probably a Levite (see 1 Chronicles 6:27-29 ; 1 Chronicles 15:17-19 ), and not of Judah, as the Heman and Ethan here.

9.

The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.

Ram. Christ's genealogy traced through Jerahrneel. Called Aram in Matthew 1:3 , Matthew 1:4 .
Chelubai = Caleb. Compare verses: 1Ch 2:18 , 1 Chronicles 2:42 .

10.

And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;

Nahshon. He led the van of Israel at the Exodus. Compare Numbers 2:3 , Numbers 2:9 .
children = sons.

11.

And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,

Salma = Salmon, who married Rahab (Ruth 4:21 ). He led on entry into Canaan. Compare verses: 1 Chronicles 2:50 , 1 Chronicles 2:51 .

12.

And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,

13.

And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,

David. The different spelling of many of these names in the Hebrew is due to certain vowels being written out in full (" pl ene"). Where not written they are called "defective". The fact of this difference in Chronicles shows an independent origin.
the seventh. Jesse begat eight sons (1 Samuel 16:5-11 and 1 Chronicles 17:12-14 ). Here seven are numbered and named, and David is the seventh and the youngest; the eighth may have died young and left no issue. While it was proper to mention the eight in the history, it is unnecessary to do so in the genealogy.

14.

Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,

15.

Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

16.

Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.

Zeruiah. Sister of David. Nahash (2 Samuel 17:25 ) may have been the father of Jesse's wife. Otherwise, she and Abigail were half-sisters.

17.

And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmeelite.

Jether. Compare 2 Samuel 17:25 (marg). Another name was Ithra.

18.

And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.

Caleb the son of Hezron. The ancestor of "Caleb the son of Jephunneh" (Numbers 13:6 , Numbers 13:30 ; Numbers 14:6 , Numbers 14:24 ; Numbers 32:12 ; Numbers 34:19 . Joshua 14:6 , Joshua 14:14 ), who is distinguished from this Caleb in 1 Chronicles 4:15 . This shows the present genealogy to be independent.

19.

And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.

Ephrath. Called Eph 2:50 . Compare 1 Chronicles 4:4 .

20.

And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.

Bezaleel. Gifted for the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 31:2 ; Exodus 35:30 ; Exodus 36:1 , Exodus 36:2 ; Exodus 37:1 ). This proves those to be wrong who assume that the Caleb of 1 Chronicles 2:18 is the same as Caleb the son of Jephunneh (Bezaleel's greatgrandfather), thus creating their own difficulty.

21.

And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.

Machir. Compare Numbers 32:40 . Deuteronomy 3:15 .

22.

And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead.

three and twenty. Increased afterward to thirty (Judges 10:4 ).

23.

And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.

Geshur. North-east of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:14 .Joshua 12:5 . 1 Samuel 15:8 ).
them: the Manassites. Compare Numbers 32:41 .Deuteronomy 3:14 .
threescore cities. Compare Numbers 32:33 .Deuteronomy 3:4 .
belonged to. Supply the Figure of speech Ellipsis ( App-6 ) by inserting "took" instead of "belonged to".

24.

And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephratah, then Abiah Hezron's wife bare him Ashur the father of Tekoa.

dead in Caleb-ephratah. Some wrongly affirm that this grandson of Judah must have died in Egypt. True, Hezron lived in Egypt, but did no one ever leave Egypt? Had he not heard of Abraham's sepulchre and Jacob's funeral? Had he no faith and no thoughts of God's promises? The difficulty is created gratuitously. His death there gave the name to the place, afterward called Beth-lehem.

25.

And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.

Jerahmeel. See 1 Samuel 27:10 ; 1 Samuel 30:29 .
and: or, supply "of".

26.

Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.

27.

And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were, Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker.

28.

And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur.

29.

And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bare him Ahban, and Molid.

30.

And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but Seled died without children.

31.

And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.

32.

And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether and Jonathan: and Jether died without children.

33.

And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.

34.

Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.

35.

And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai.

to Jarha. So to make him his heir. The laws of Khammurabi included this, 191. See App-15 .

36.

And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad,

37.

And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,

38.

And Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah,

39.

And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,

40.

And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum,

41.

And Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.

42.

Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were, Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.

Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel and son of Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:18 ).
father. Here used in the sense of ruler. Compare 1 Chronicles 2:54 ; 1 Chronicles 4:4 .
Mareshah. The name of a city, also in Judah (Joshua 15:44 ).
Hebron. The name of a city, also in Judah. (Genesis 13:18 ; Genesis 23:2 , Genesis 23:19 ), See note on Numbers 13:22 . Given to Caleb by Joshua (1 Chronicles 14:13 ).

43.

And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema.

Tappuah. Also the name of a city (Joshua 15:34 ).
Rekem. Also a city, of Benjamin (Joshua 18:27 ).

44.

And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam: and Rekem begat Shammai.

45.

And the son of Shammai was Maon: and Maon was the father of Beth-zur.

Maori. Also the name of a city (Joshua 15:55 ). Mentioned in connection with David (1 Samuel 23:24 ).

46.

And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.

47.

And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.

48.

Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber, and Tirhanah.

49.

She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibea: and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.

the daughter of Caleb was Achsa. "Caleb the son of Jephunneh" had a daughter named Achsah, who married Othniel (Joshua 15:16 , Joshua 15:17 ). Judges 1:12 , Judges 1:13 ). Hence the "discrepancy" assumed by some. See note on 1 Chronicles 2:18 .

50.

These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim,

Caleb the son of Hur. The son of the Caleb in 1 Chronicles 2:19 , Hur giving him the name of his own father. It is possible that this Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:50 ) may have been the son of Jephunneh (Numbers 13:6 ), Jephunneh being the surname of the Hur of Exodus 17:10 ; Exodus 24:14 ; Exodus 31:2 ; Exodus 35:30 .
Kirjath-jearim. An old Gibeonite city (Joshua 9:17 ; Joshua 15:60 ), where the Ark tarried long, and whence it was brought to Zion by David (1 Samuel 6:21 . 1 Samuel 7:2 . 2 Samuel 6:2 . 1 Chronicles 13:5-6 .

51.

Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader.

Salma. A family name, repeated in Ruth 4:20 and 1 Chronicles 2:11 above.

52.

And Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim had sons; Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.

half. For the other half see 1 Chronicles 2:54 .

53.

And the families of Kirjath-jearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.

Zareathites . . . Eshtaulites = of Zerah . . . of Esh-taol, two cities of Judah (Joshua 15:33 .Judges 13:25 ; Judges 16:31 ).

54.

The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.

55.

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.

Jabez. Supposed to have been founded by Jabez. See below on 1 Chronicles 4:9 .
Kenites. These were the posterity of Jethro and Hobab. See Judges 1:16 ; and compare 1 Samuel 15:6 ; 1 Samuel 27:10 . They became an ascetic people, and, by being mentioned here in connection with "scribes, "may have been teachers. This perhaps accounts for Jehu's action in 2 Kings 10:15 , 2 Kings 10:16 .
Rechab. Compare Jeremiah 35 .