THE FIVE SONS OF JUDAH, FROM Genesis 38.
(3) The daughter of Shua the Canaanitess.—Shua was the father of Judah’s wife.
Er, the firstborn of Judah, was (became, proved) evil.—Word for word from Genesis 38:7. Suppressing other details relating to the sons of Judah, the chronicler copies this statement intact from Genesis, because it thoroughly harmonises with the moral he wishes to be drawn from the entire history of his people.

(4) Tamar.—Wife of Er. The story of her incest with Judah, the fruit of which was the twins Pharez (Heb., Perez) and Zerah (called Zarah, Genesis 38:30; and Zara, Matthew 1:3), is told in Genesis 38:8-30.

(5) The sons of Pharez.—From Gen. xlvi 12, which also names the five sons of Judah. Numbers 26:21 mentions the clans (mishpahath) of the Hezronites and Hamulites, as registered in a census held by Moses.

(6) Zimri.—This name is probably a merely accidental variant of Zabdi. Both are genuine Hebrew names occurring elsewhere. But the fact that Zimri here, and Zabdi at Joshua 7:1, are both called sons of Zerah, seems to prove their identity; especially as m is often confused with b, and d with r.
Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara.—It is stated (1 Kings 4:31) that Solomon was “wiser than all men; than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol.” It will be seen that the first three names coincide with those of our text, and that Dara is only one letter different from Darda. Further, many MSS. of Chronicles, as well as the Svriac and Arabic versions and the Targum, actually have Darda. The Yatic. LXX. reads Darad. There is thus a virtual repetition of these four names in the passage of Kings, and it is difficult to suppose that the persons intended are not the same there and here. Ethan is called an Ezrahite in Kings, but Ezrah and Zerah are equivalent forms in Hebrew; and the Yatic. LXX. actually calls Ethan a Zarhite—i.e., a descendant of Zerah (Numbers 26:13). The designation of the four as “sons of Mahol” presents no difficulty. Mahol is a usual word for the sacred dance (Psalms 149:3; Psalms 150:4), and the four Zarhites are thus described as “sons of dancing”—that is, sacred musicians. It is likely, therefore, that these famous minstrels of Judah were adopted into the Levitical clans in which sacred music was the hereditary profession. (See Psalms 88, 89., titles.) Whether Ethan and Heman are the persons mentioned in 1 Chronicles 6:33; 1 Chronicles 6:44; 1 Chronicles 15:17; 1 Chronicles 15:19 as the recognised heads of two of the great guilds of temple musicians is not clear. The Levitical ancestry ascribed to them in 1 Chronicles 6 would not be opposed to this assumption, as adoption would involve it.

(7) The sons of Carmi.—See Note on 1 Chronicles 1:41.
Achar, the troubler of Israel.—See Joshua 7:1, where the man is called “Achan, son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah.” The family of Carmi, therefore, were Zarhites. Joshua 7:24 calls him “Achan, the son of Zerah,” an expression which shows, if other proof were wanting, that we must be cautious of interpreting such phrases literally in all instances.
Achar . . . troubler of Israel.—There is a play on the man’s name in the Hebrew, which is, “Achar ’ocher Yisrael.” So in Joshua 7:25 Joshua asks, “Why hast thou troubled us?” (‘achartânu), and in 1 Chronicles 2:26 the place of Achar’s doom is called “the valley of Achor” (trouble). Probably Achan is an old error for Achar.

(8) The sons of Ethan.—Nothing is known of this Ethanite Azariah. It seems plain that the writer wished to name only the historically famous members of the Zarhite branch of Judah—in 1 Chronicles 2:6, the four proverbial sages; in 1 Chronicles 2:7, Achar who brought woe upon Israel by taking of the devoted spoils of Jericho.

(9) Jerahmeel.—Godpitieth.
Ram.—Called Aram in our Lord’s genealogy (Matthew 1) The two names are synonyms, both meaning high, and are used interchangeably in Job 32:2 (Ram) and Genesis 22:21 (Aram).
Chelubai.—Strictly, the Chelubite or Calebite, a gentilic term formed from Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:18). This seems to show that we are concerned here not so much with individual sons of Hezron as with families or clans of Hezronites.

(18) And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife.—The Heb. text, as it stands, does not say this. The primâ facie rendering is, “And Caleb son of Hezron begat Azubah a woman, and Jerioth: and these (are) her sons; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.” But 1 Chronicles 2:19 continues: “And Azubah died, and Caleb took to himself (as wife) Ephrath,” which of course suggests that Azubah was not daughter but a former wife of Caleb. 1 Chronicles 2:18 has also been translated, “And Caleb son of Hezron caused Azubah a wife and Jerioth to bear children.” (Comp. Isaiah 66:9.) It seems best to read, “his wife, daughter of Jerioth (’ishtô -bath.Ierioth), instead of the text (ishshah ve’eth Ierioth); and to render: And Caleb son of Hezron begat sons with Azubah daughter of Jerioth” (eth, the particle before Azubah, is ambiguous, and might be either the mere sign of the accusative, or the prep. “with,” cum, μετὰ). The Syriac partly supports this version, for it reads: “And Caleb begat of Azubah, his wife, Jerioth,” making Jerioth Azubah’s daughter. The LXX. has, “And Caleb took Azubah a wife and Jerioth,” which only shows that the corruption of the text is ancient.

(19) Ephrath.—In 1 Chronicles 2:50 Ephratah; so also 4:4. The town of Bethlehem was so called (Micah 5:1).

(20) Hur begat Uri . . . Bezaleel.—See Exodus 31:2, which states that: “ Bezaleel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,” was divinely qualified for building the Tent of Meeting. Bezaleel is no doubt a person, but Hur is probably a Calebite clan, established at “Ephrath, which is Beth-lehem” (Genesis 35:19).

(21) And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir.—This appears to mean, after the birth of the three sons mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:9.
Machir.—The firstborn of Manasseh (Genesis 1:23), to whom Moses gave the land of Gilead (Numbers 32:40; Deuteronomy 3:15). This explains the term “father of Gilead.” The great clan of Machir was the ruling clan in Gilead. Comp. Numbers 26:28, which mentions the clan of the Machirites, and adds that “Machir begat Gilead,” which perhaps means to say that the Israelite settlers in Gilead were of the clan Machir.
Whom he married when he was threescore.—It is possible to see here a metaphorical statement of the fact that a branch of Hezronites amalgamated with the Machirites of Gilead. The “daughter of Machir” would then mean the clan so named. Comp. the expressions, “daughter of Zion” (Isaiah 37:22), “daughter of Judah” (Lamentations 1:15), “daughter of Babylon” (Isaiah 47:1).

(22) And Segub begat Jair . . .—The Havothjair (tent-villages of Jair) are several times mentioned in the Pentateuch. In the passage Numbers 32:39-42 it is related—(1) That the Manassite clan of the sons of Machir took Gilead from the Amorites; (2) That Moses then formally assigned Giiead “to Machir son of Manasseh,” and the clan accordingly settled there; (3) That Jair son of Manasseh had taken their (i.e., the Amorite) tent-villages, and called them Havoth-jair. Comp. Deuteronomy 3:14-15 : “Jair son of Manasseh had taken all the region of Argob unto the bounds of the Geshurite and the Maacnathite; and he called them (that is, Bashan) after his own name, Havoth-jair, unto this day. And to Machir I gave Gilead.”
1 Chronicles 2:21-23 show a connection between Jair and the two tribes of Judah and Manasseh thus:—
Judah
|

Manasseh
|

Pharez

Hezron married the daughter of Machir, chief of Gilead

Segub
|

Jair

Jair is of course the name of a group of kindred families or clans, settled in the twenty-three cities.

(23) And he took . . . of Gilead.—Rather, And Geshur and Aram took the Havoth-jair from them—Kenath and her daughters, sixty cities: all these (were) sons of Machir, chief of Gilead.
Geshur, and Aram.—That is, the Aramean state of Geshur, north-west of Bashan, near Hermon and the Jordan, which was an independent kingdom in the age of David (2 Samuel 3:3). The Geshurites “took the tent-villages of Jair from them”—i.e., from the sons of Jair, or the Jairites, at what date is unknown. Comp. Deuteronomy 3:14-15, above cited.
With Kenath.—The Hebrew particle before “Kenath” may be either the sign of the object of the verb, or the preposition “with.” In the latter case, the statement of the verse will be that the twenty-three villages of Jair, together with the (thirty-seven) places called Kenath and her daughters, amounting in all to sixty towns, were taken by the Geshurites. See Numbers 32:41-42, where it is said that Jair occupied the Havoth-jair, and “Nobah went and took Kenath and her daughters, and called it Nobah after his own name.” Kenath is the modern Kanwat, on the western slope of Jebel Hauran.
It is difficult to reconcile all the different statements about the Havoth-jair. Judges 10:3-4, for example, speaks of Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty -two years, and “had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts,” and, moreover, possessed “thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day.” Joshua 13:30 seems to make the Havoth-jair sixty towns. Comp. 1 Kings 4:13; also 1 Chronicles 2:21, where Hezron is sixty when he marries the Gileadite daughter of Machir.
Of course the number of places included in the “camps of Jair” may have varied at different epochs.
All these belonged to the sons of Machir.—Or, all these were sons of Machir—i.e., the clans and families that came of the union of Hezron with the daughter of ‘Machir. (See Note on 1 Chronicles 2:21; and Joshua 19:34.)

(24) And after that Hezron was dead . . .—Or, “And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephratah—and the wife of Hezron was Abiah—and she bare him Ashur . . .” The text is evidently corrupt. The best suggestion is based on the reading of the LXX.: καὶ μετὰ τὸ�; “And after Hezron’s death Caleb went to Ephrath.” Some very slight changes in the Hebrew, affecting only three letters of the entire sentence, will give the sense, “And after Hezron’s death Caleb went in to Ephrath, the wife of his father Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:19); and she bare him Ash-hur, father (founder, or chief) of Tekoa.” (Comp. Genesis 35:22.)
Ashur (Heb., Ash-hur) means “man of Hur”—that is, the chief of the clan of the Hurites, settled at Ephrath or Bethlehem (1 Chronicles 2:19). Comp. Ashbel “man of Bel.” (Ash is the elder form of Ish “man”; as appears from the Phenician inscriptions.)
That “Caleb” in this verse means the house of Caleb is evident if we consider that the genealogy makes him great grandson of Judah, whereas the individual Caleb son of Jephunneh took part in the conquest of Canaan, more than four centuries after Judah went down to Egypt.
III.—The Jerahmeelites (1 Chronicles 2:25-41). Comp. 1 Samuel 27:10, “the south (land) of the Jerahmeelites,” in the territory of Judah.

(25) Ram the firstborn.—Not the same as the Ram, brother of Jerahmeel, of 1 Chronicles 2:9. (See Note at end of section.)
And Ahijah.—This is probably a mistake, as the conjunction is wanting in the Hebrew. The LXX. has, “his brother” the Hebrew for which might easily be misread Ahijah. So the Syriac and Arabic read, “and Ozem their sister.” But the statement of 1 Chronicles 2:26, “Jerahmeel had also another wife,” &c., makes it likely that the first wife was mentioned here; and, therefore, it is conjectured that Ahijah—usually a man’s name—is the former wife; and that the right reading is “from Ahijah,” which requires merely the restoration of the prefix m (me-Ahiyah), which has fallen out, as in other instances, after the m of Ozem immediately preceding.

(26) Atarah.—The word means corona, here and in 1 Chronicles 2:54; probably, the ring-fence or fortifications round a city. So στέφανος was used in Greek (Pindar, Olymp. viii. 42, of the wall of Troy). The plural Ataroth occurs as the name of a town in Numbers 32:3; Joshua 16:5.
The mother of Onam.—See 1 Chronicles 2:28-34 for the ramifications of this clan.

(30) Seled died without children.—That is, the clan Seled did not multiply, and subdivide into new groups. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 2:32.)

(31) The children of Sheshan; Ahlai.—See Note on 1 Chronicles 1:41, “Dishon.” Ahlai is the name of a clan, not of an individual. Others would explain such phrases by assuming that “sons of so-and-so” is a conventional expression, used even where only one person has to be registered; or that the chronicler has in such cases abbreviated the contents of his source, by omitting all the names but one. Both assumptions are antiquated.

(33) These were the sons of Jerahmeel.—Subscription of the list contained in 1 Chronicles 2:25-33. It is noteworthy that the total of the names from Judah to Zaza again amounts to about seventy. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 1; see also Genesis 46:27.)

(34) Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters.—Comp. 1 Chronicles 2:31 above, “And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.” Those who insist upon a literal understanding of these lists reconcile the two statements by making Ahlai a daughter; others suppose that the chronicler has preserved for us in the present section fragments of at least two independent accounts.