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1 Chronicles 2

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The Twelve Sons of Israel 1–2

1
These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, ​
2
Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

The Sons of Judah 3–8

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. ​
4
And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.
5
The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.
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. ​
8
And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.

The Line of Pharez Leading to David 9–17

9
The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.
10
And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; ​
11
And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,
12
And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,
13
And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,
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. ​
17
And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmeelite.

Descendants of Caleb, Son of Hezron 18–24

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. ​
19
And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.
20
And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel. ​
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.
22
And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead. ​
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.
24
And after that Hezron was dead in Calebephratah, then Abiah Hezron's wife bare him Ashur the father of Tekoa.

The Line of Jerahmeel 25–41

25
And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.
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.
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.

Further Descendants of Caleb 42–55

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. ​
43
And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema.
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 Bethzur.
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.
50
These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim,
51
Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Bethgader. ​
52
And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.
53
And the families of Kirjathjearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.
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. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Chronicles 2

Verse 1

the sons of Israel — The name was given to Jacob at Peniel (Gen 32:28). Leah's six stand in the order of Gen 35:23, and v.2 follows with Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Judah's line begins at once in v.3 and runs through David (v.15) to the exile, with a record of Jehoiachin's sons in 3:17–18.

Verse 3

Er, the firstborn of Judah — The verse sums up Gen 38. Judah's three sons were born to the daughter of Shuah the Canaanite (Gen 38:2). Er 'was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him' (Gen 38:7), and Onan after him (Gen 38:10). Tamar then bore Pharez and Zerah (v.4), and Pharez stands in Christ's line (Matt 1:3).

Verse 7

Achar, the troubler of Israel — Achar means 'troublesome', from akar, to trouble; Josh 7:1 writes the name Achan. Joshua said at his judgment, 'Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day' (Josh 7:25). Hosea calls the valley of Achor, where it happened, 'a door of hope' (Hos 2:15).

Verse 10

Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah — The Hebrew nasi is a tribal chief. Nahshon son of Amminadab was 'captain of the children of Judah' in the camp (Num 2:3) and the first to bring his offering at the dedication of the altar (Num 7:12). He stands in the line of David (Ruth 4:20) and of Christ (Matt 1:4).

Verse 15

David the seventh — David is the last of Jesse's sons named here. When Samuel asked for him, Jesse said 'There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep' (1 Sam 16:11). Matthew gives the line the same turn: 'Jesse begat David the king' (Matt 1:6).

Verse 16

Zeruiah, and Abigail — They were the sisters of Jesse's sons. Zeruiah's three sons, Abishai, Joab and Asahel, are named after their mother (2 Sam 2:18), and David said of them, 'these men the sons of Zeruiah be too hard for me' (2 Sam 3:39). Abigail's son was Amasa (v.17).

Verse 18

Caleb the son of Hezron — Hezron's sons in v.9 are Jerahmeel, Ram and Chelubai, and v.42 calls Caleb 'the brother of Jerahmeel', so he is evidently the Chelubai of v.9. He is another man than Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the spy 'of the tribe of Judah' (Num 13:6; 1 Chr 4:15). After Azubah died he took Ephrath, who bore Hur (v.19).

Verse 20

Bezaleel — Hur's grandson. The LORD 'called by name' Bezaleel and 'filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship' to work the tabernacle in gold, silver and brass (Ex 31:2–5). The brasen altar he made was before the tabernacle in Solomon's day (2 Chr 1:5).

Verse 22

Segub begat Jair — Jair is Judah's through his father, and Manasseh's through his grandmother: v.21 says Segub's mother was 'the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead'. So Num 32:41 and Deut 3:14 call him 'Jair the son of Manasseh'. He took small towns and 'called them Havothjair'; v.23 counts 'threescore cities' belonging to the sons of Machir.

Verse 34

an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha — Sheshan had daughters only, so he gave one 'to Jarha his servant to wife' (v.35), and his line runs through their son Attai to Elishama (vv.35–41). The law told Israel, 'thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land' (Deut 23:7).

Verse 42

the father of Ziph… the father of Hebron — Ziph and Hebron are towns of Judah (Josh 15:24, 54), and Hebron is also called Kirjatharba. 'Father of' names the man whose family settled or led a place, as with Maon, 'the father of Bethzur' (v.45), and Salma, 'the father of Bethlehem' (v.51).

Verse 51

Salma the father of Bethlehem — Salma, son of Nahshon and father of Boaz (v.11), is Salmon in Ruth 4:21. Boaz 'came from Bethlehem' (Ruth 2:4). The town is the 'Bethlehem Ephratah' of Mic 5:2, 'out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel', which Matthew applies to Christ's birth (Matt 2:6).

Verse 55

the Kenites that came of Hemath — The Kenites were Moses' father-in-law's people, who went up 'with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah' (Judg 1:16). Hemath is 'the father of the house of Rechab', whose descendants told Jeremiah 'We will drink no wine' (Jer 35:6); the LORD promised that Jonadab 'shall not want a man to stand before me for ever' (Jer 35:19).