Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
1 Chronicles 8:29

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 1 Chronicles 8:29. And at Gibeon — This passage to the end of the 38th verse is found with a little variety in the names, 1 Chronicles 9:35-44.

The rabbins say that Ezra, having found two books that had these passages with a variety in the names, as they agreed in general, he thought best to insert them both, not being able to discern which was the best.

His general plan was to collate all the copies he had, and to follow the greater number when he found them to agree; those which disagreed from the majority were thrown aside as spurious; and yet, in many cases, probably the rejected copies contained the true text.

If Ezra proceeded as R. Sol. Jarchi says, he had a very imperfect notion of the rules of true criticism; and it is no wonder that he has left so many faults in his text.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Genealogies of the remaining tribes (7:1-8:40)

Although the lists here are incomplete and in places difficult to follow, it seems that the tribes dealt with are Issachar (7:1-5), parts of Benjamin and Dan (6-12), Naphtali (13), the portion of Manasseh not listed earlier (14-19; cf. 5:23-24), Ephraim (20-29) and Asher (30-40).
Benjamin is given in greater detail, possibly because it included Jerusalem in its tribal territory. Also this was the only tribe that joined Judah in the southern kingdom, the kingdom that remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty (8:1-28). Benjamin also produced Israel’s first king, Saul, whose family details are given (29-40).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"And in Gibeon there dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife's name was Maacah; and his first-born son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab; and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zecher. And Mikloth begat Shimeah. And they dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against their brethren. And Ner begat Kish, and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malcashua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal. And the son of Jonahtan was Meribbaal; and Meribbaal begat Micah. And the sons of Micah: Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz. And Ahaz begat Jehoaddah; and Jehoaddah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri, and Zimri begat Moza. And Moza begat Binea; and Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. And Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. And the sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his first-born, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, a hundred and fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin."

"The very full details given here as contrasted with most of the other tribes should not be put down as due to the availability of more information, but should be regarded as a tribute to Benjamin's loyalty to David and his dynasty."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 374. Also it appears that special attention was given to the line of David's friend Jonathan.

It is impossible to harmonize this with the parallel list in 1 Chronicles 7:6-12; and some scholars have believed that list to be a "corrupted genealogy of Zebulun and Dan."Ibid., p. 375.

All of the names given thus far in Chronicles belonged to persons of pre-exilic Israel, "The first verse of the following chapter (1 Chronicles 9:1) states that what has gone before pertains only to the official register of the families… when they were exiled. This clause separates the foregoing from what follows."The Anchor Bible, Chronicles, p. 62. Payne did not agree with this interpretation. See further comment under 1 Chronicles 9:1.

"Ono and Lod" These cities were not mentioned in Joshua as part of Palestine originally assigned to Benjamin; but, "These places were built later. There is little doubt that Lod is the Lydda of Acts 9:22."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 6a, p. 109.

Curtis and Madsen disagreed with Myers (quoted above) by affirming the lists of this chapter as post-exilic;International Critical Commentary, Chronicles, p. 156. but the disagreement of scholars regarding such questions can be of little interest, since it really makes no difference at all exactly when the people of any of these lists actually lived.

Elmslie in The Interpreter's Bible devoted only sixteen lines to this whole chapter.The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 3, p. 376.

There are many things in this chapter and in the entire O.T. that must forever remain in the realm of the mysterious and the unknown as far as modern men are concerned. For example, "Nothing is known about the exile mentioned in 1 Chronicles 8:6. We do not know who exiled whom."Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 3, p. 321. It is appropriate to remember in this connection that "The hidden things belong to God."

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 8

In chapter eight, we come back to the tribe of Benjamin. And in the tribe of Benjamin, we come down to the family of Kish from which, of course, Saul was born, who became the first king over Israel, verse thirty-three,

Ner begat Kish, Kish begat Saul, Saul begat Jonathan ( 1 Chronicles 8:33 ),

And so you have Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. "

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon,.... The builder of the city, and prince of the inhabitants of it, which was in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:25 whose name was Jehiel, 1 Chronicles 9:35,

(whose wife's name was Maachah;) of which name were many, see 1 Chronicles 2:48.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Now Benjamin begat Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, and Aharah the third,   2 Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.   3 And the sons of Bela were, Addar, and Gera, and Abihud,   4 And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,   5 And Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram.   6 And these are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Geba, and they removed them to Manahath:   7 And Naaman, and Ahiah, and Gera, he removed them, and begat Uzza, and Ahihud.   8 And Shaharaim begat children in the country of Moab, after he had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives.   9 And he begat of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcham,   10 And Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirma. These were his sons, heads of the fathers.   11 And of Hushim he begat Abitub, and Elpaal.   12 The sons of Elpaal; Eber, and Misham, and Shamed, who built Ono, and Lod, with the towns thereof:   13 Beriah also, and Shema, who were heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who drove away the inhabitants of Gath:   14 And Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth,   15 And Zebadiah, and Arad, and Ader,   16 And Michael, and Ispah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah;   17 And Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hezeki, and Heber,   18 Ishmerai also, and Jezliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal;   19 And Jakim, and Zichri, and Zabdi,   20 And Elienai, and Zilthai, and Eliel,   21 And Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimhi;   22 And Ishpan, and Heber, and Eliel,   23 And Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan,   24 And Hananiah, and Elam, and Antothijah,   25 And Iphedeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak;   26 And Shamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah,   27 And Jaresiah, and Eliah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.   28 These were heads of the fathers, by their generations, chief men. These dwelt in Jerusalem.   29 And at Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon; whose wife's name was Maachah:   30 And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab,   31 And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher.   32 And Mikloth begat Shimeah. And these also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against them.

      There is little or nothing of history in all these verses; we have not therefore much to observe. 1. As to the difficulties that occur in this and the foregoing genealogies we need not perplex ourselves. I presume Ezra took them as he found them in the books of the kings of Israel and Judah (1 Chronicles 9:1; 1 Chronicles 9:1), according as they were given in by the several tribes, each observing what method they thought fit. Hence some ascend, others desecnd; some have numbers affixed, others places; some have historical remarks intermixed, others have not; some are shorter, others longer; some agree with other records, others differ; some, it is likely, were torn, erased, and blotted, others more legible. Those of Dan and Reuben were entirely lost. This holy man wrote as he was moved by the Holy Ghost; but there was no necessity for the making up of the defects, no, nor for the rectifying of the mistakes, of these genealogies by inspiration. It was sufficient that he copied them out as they came into his hand, or so much of them as was requisite to the present purpose, which was the directing of the returned captives to settle as nearly as they could with those of their own family, and in the places of their former residence. We may suppose that many things in these genealogies which to us seem intricate, abrupt, and perplexed, were plain and easy to them then (who knew how to fill up the deficiencies) and abundantly answered the intention of the publishing of them. 2. Many great and mighty nations there were now in being upon earth, and many illustrious men in them, whose names are buried in perpetual oblivion, while the names of multitudes of the Israel of God are here carefully preserved in everlasting remembrance. They are Jasher, Jeshurun--just ones, and the memory of the just is blessed. Many of these we have reason to fear, came short of everlasting honour (for even the wicked kings of Judah come into the genealogy), yet the perpetuating of their names here was a figure of the writing of the names of all God's spiritual Israel in the Lamb's book of life. 3. This tribe of Benjamin was once brought to a very low ebb, in the time of the judges, upon the occasion of the iniquity of Gibeah, when only 600 men escaped the sword of justice; and yet, in these genealogies, it makes as good a figure as almost any of the tribes: for it is the honour of God to help the weakest and raise up those that are most diminished and abased. 4. Here is mention of one Ehud (1 Chronicles 8:6; 1 Chronicles 8:6), in the preceding verse of one Gera (1 Chronicles 8:5; 1 Chronicles 8:5) and (1 Chronicles 8:8; 1 Chronicles 8:8) of one that descended from him, that begat children in the country of Moab, which inclines me to think it was that Ehud who was the second of the judges of Israel; for he is said to be the son of Gera and a Benjamite (Judges 3:15), and he delivered Israel from the oppression of the Moabites by killing the king of Moab, which might give him a greater sway in the country of Moab than we find evidence of in his history and might occasion some of his posterity to settle there. 5. Here is mention of some of the Benjamites that drove away the inhabitants of Gath (1 Chronicles 8:13; 1 Chronicles 8:13), perhaps those that had slain the Ephraimites (1 Chronicles 7:21; 1 Chronicles 7:21) or their posterity, by way of reprisal: and one of those that did this piece of justice was named Beriah too, that name in which the memorial of that injury was preserved. 6. Particular notice is taken of those that dwelt in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 8:28; 1 Chronicles 8:28 and again 1 Chronicles 8:32; 1 Chronicles 8:32), that those whose ancestors had had their residence there might thereby be induced, at their return from captivity, to settle there too, which, for aught that appears, few were willing to do, because it was the post of danger: and therefore we find (Nehemiah 11:2) the people blessed those that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem, the greater part being inclined to prefer the cities of Judah. Those whose godly parents had their conversation in the new Jerusalem should thereby be engaged to set their faces thitherward and pursue the way thither, whatever it cost them.