Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
1 Chronicles 2:4

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Descendants of Judah and Simeon (2:1-4:43)

Having listed the children of Jacob (Israel) starting with the eldest son Reuben, the writer immediately turns his attention to the tribe of Judah, the tribe that produced the dynasty of David (2:1-17). He traces the line of David first, then goes back to deal with a number of other important people in Judah and lists their descendants (18-55). On completing this, he returns to list the family of David (3:1-9), the descendants of David who reigned after him to the captivity (10-16), and further descendants who lived during the time of the captivity and later (17-24). The section concludes with a collection of miscellaneous branches from Judah’s family tree (4:1-23).

The tribe of Simeon had no tribal territory of its own, but dwelt within the territory of Judah (Joshua 19:1,Joshua 19:9). It is therefore dealt with here, immediately after the listings for Judah. Some of the Simeonites’ conquests, which are not mentioned elsewhere, are also recorded (24-43).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. "The sons of Judah: Er, and Onan, and Shelah; which three were born unto him of Shua's daughter the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of Jehovah; and he slew him. And Tamar his daughter-in-law bare him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. "The sons of Perez: Hezron, and Hamul. And the sons of Zerah: Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara; five of them in all. And the sons of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing. And the sons of Ethan: Azariah. "The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him: Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai. And Ram begat Amminadab, and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse; and Jesse begat his first-born Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third, Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, Ozem the sixth, David the seventh; and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three. And Abigail bare Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite. "And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. And Azubah died, and Caleb took unto him Ephrath, who bare him Hur. And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezalel. "And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he took to wife when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub. And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead. And Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath, and the villages thereof, even threescore cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead. And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah, then Abijah Hezron's wife bare him Ashhur the father of Tekoa. "And the sons of Jerahmeel the first-born of Hezron were Ram the first-born, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah. And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. And the sons of Ram the first-born of Jerahmeel were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker. And the sons of Onam were Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai: Nadab, and Abishur. And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bare him Ahban, and Molid. And the sons of Nadab: Seled, and Appaim; but Seled died without children. And the sons of Appaim: Ishi. And the sons of Ishi: Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan: Ahlai. And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether, and Jonathan; and Jether died without children. And the sons of Jonathan: Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel. Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai. And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad, and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed, and Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah, and Eleasah begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum, and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama. "And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his first-born, who was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. And the sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai. And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur. And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez; and Haran begat Gazez. And the sons of Jahdai: Regem, and Jothan, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph. Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber and Tirhanah. She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. "These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur, the first-born of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader. And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. And the families of Kiriath-jearim: The Ithrites, and the Puthites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. The sons of Salma: Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. And the families of scribes that dwelt at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab."

Although there is a great deal of new material in this chapter (1 Chronicles 2:25-41), other scriptures parallel much of it:

"1 Chronicles 2:1-2 are parallel with Genesis 35:22 b-26 and Exodus 1:1-6. 1 Chronicles 2:3-4 are in Gen. 38:2-7,29f; 46:12a, and Numbers 26:18 f. 1 Chronicles 2:5 appears in Genesis 46:12 b; Numbers 26:21; Ruth 4:18. 1 Chronicles 2:6-8 are related to Joshua 7:1; 1 Kings 5:11. 1 Chronicles 2:9-17 is parallel with Ruth 4:19-22; 1 Samuel 16:8-9; 2 Sam. 2:18; 17:35."International Critical Commentary, Chronicles, p. 17.

Our purpose in this commentary does not require any extensive comment on these genealogies. In the first place, they are not completely understood as to their exact meaning by anyone living millenniums after the generations enumerated. "It is impossible now to unravel these genealogies with any certainty."New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 371. The duplication of many names, the appearance of many names that cannot be distinguished as applicable whether to persons or places, and other uncertainties greatly complicate the problem of any complete understanding of these chapters. It is also true that textual corruptions in a few places add to the problem.

Nevertheless, the great purpose of the sacred author is fully achieved in these opening nine chapters, which are, in reality, the introduction to the entire Chronicles. The very existence of such extensive records among the Jews is overwhelming evidence that the New Testament genealogies (Matthew 1 and Luke 3) were unanimously received by that whole first-century generation as absolutely accurate; nor were those records ever challenged by the enemies of Christianity. The importance of this in the proper identification of the Messiah is indeed significant.

The "Caleb" of 1 Chronicles 2:18 was identified by Francisco as "the Caleb of the exodus,"Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 310. but Payne declared: "The Caleb of the exodus came three hundred years later."Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 371. This is typical of scholarly disagreement on many such problems in this chapter. The simple truth is that many such questions cannot be dogmatically answered at the present time.

Jacob M. Meyers, writing in The Anchor Bible stated: "Such technical details need not detain us."The Anchor Bible, Chronicles, p. 12.

In the verses which are parallel with other scriptures, see my comments under the parallel passages.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

Now these are the sons of Israel ( 1 Chronicles 2:1 );

And the twelve sons of Jacob. And then we follow for a little bit the sons of Judah, and then we are now zeroing in. As I tell you, we keep coming back zeroing in on the line of Christ. And as we get to Judah, because the Messiah was to come out of Judah, we find the descendants from Judah to Jesse. He was to be a root out of the stem of Jesse. And so that's the family we're interested, and then from Jesse, of course, we want David, who was the seventh son of Jesse. His brothers are all named in verses thirteen through fifteen.

Now, you remember, as we were going through Kings that David had a general who gave him problems. He was a mighty man; his name was Joab. And yet Joab did create problems for David, along with his brother Abishai. And they actually were David's nephews. They were the sons of David's sister. Now we jump way back from David, we've come out to David, but we have left a lot of unnamed people. And so we go to another family in the tribe of Judah, the family of Caleb. He was the one who was a spy with Joshua that brought back the good report and the rest of the chapter deals with the descendants of Caleb. You're dealing still with the family of Judah. "

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah,.... Through incest; they were twins, Genesis 38:27 all the sons of Judah were five; who are before mentioned by name.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

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

      Here is, I. The family of Jacob. His twelve sons are here named, that illustrious number so often celebrated almost throughout the whole Bible, from the first to the last book of it. At every turn we meet with the twelve tribes that descended from these twelve patriarchs. The personal character of several of them was none of the best (the first four were much blemished), and yet the covenant was entailed on their seed; for it was of grace, free grace, that it was said, Jacob have I loved--not of works, lest any man should boast.

      II. The family of Judah. That tribe was most praised, most increased, and most dignified, of any of the tribes, and therefore the genealogy of it is the first and largest of them all. In the account here given of the first branches of that illustrious tree, of which Christ was to be the top branch, we meet, 1. With some that were very bad. Here is Er, Judah's eldest son, that was evil in the sight of the Lord, and was cut off, in the beginning of his days, by a stroke of divine vengeance: The Lord slew him,1 Chronicles 2:3; 1 Chronicles 2:3. His next brother, Onan, was no better, and fared no better. Here is Tamar, with whom Judah, her father-in-law, committed incest, 1 Chronicles 2:4; 1 Chronicles 2:4. And here is Achan, called Achar--a troubler, that troubled Israel by taking of the accursed thing, 1 Chronicles 2:7; 1 Chronicles 2:7. Note, The best and most honourable families may have those belonging to them that are blemishes. 2. With some that were very wise and good, as Heman and Ethan, Calcol and Dara, who were not perhaps the immediate sons of Zerah, but descendants from him, and are named because they were the glory of their father's house; for, when the Holy Ghost would magnify the wisdom of Solomon, he declares him wiser than these four men, who, though the sons of Mahol, are called Ezrahites, from Zerah, 1 Kings 4:31. That four brothers should be eminent for wisdom and grace was a rare thing. 3. With some that were very great, as Nahshon, who was prince of the tribe of Judah when the camp of Israel was formed in the wilderness, and so led the van in that glorious march, and Salman, or Salmon, who was in that post of honour when they entered into Canaan, 1 Chronicles 2:10; 1 Chronicles 2:11.

      III. The family of Jesse, of which a particularly account is kept for the sake of David, and the Son of David, who is a rod out of the stem of Jesse,Isaiah 11:1. Hence it appears that David was a seventh son, and that his three great commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were the sons of one of his sisters, and Amasa of another. Three of the four went down slain to the pit, though they were the terror of the mighty.