Chapter One

1–23. Ten antediluvian patriarchs from Adam to Noah, three sons of Noah and 70 nations that came from them. 24–42. Ten descendants of Shem to Abraham, sons of the latter from Hagar, Keturah, and Sarah. 43–54. Kings of Edom.

1 Chronicles 1:1. Adam, Seth, Enosh, 1 Chronicles 1:2. Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 1 Chronicles 1:3. Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, 1 Chronicles 1:4. Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The enumeration of the ten antediluvian patriarchs with an indication of the years of life of each is found in the fifth chapter of Genesis. The author of Chronicles cites only the names without any connection, probably because he considered the descent of the patriarchs and the length of their lives to be known to his readers from Genesis.

1 Chronicles 1:5. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, [Elishah,] Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 1 Chronicles 1:6. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 1 Chronicles 1:7. The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 1 Chronicles 1:8. The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 1 Chronicles 1:9. The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 1 Chronicles 1:10. And Cush fathered Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 1 Chronicles 1:11. And Mizraim fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 1 Chronicles 1:12. Pathrusim, Casluhim, from whom the Philistines came forth, and Caphtorim. 1 Chronicles 1:13. And Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, Heth, 1 Chronicles 1:14. The Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, 1 Chronicles 1:15. The Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, 1 Chronicles 1:16. The Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. 1 Chronicles 1:17. The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. [The sons of Aram:] Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 1 Chronicles 1:18. And Arphaxad [fathered Cainan, and Cainan] fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 1 Chronicles 1:19. Two sons were born to Eber: one was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 1 Chronicles 1:20. And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 1 Chronicles 1:21. Hadoram, Uzal, Dikla, 1 Chronicles 1:22. Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, 1 Chronicles 1:23. Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. The descendants of the sons of Noah are also listed in the tenth chapter of Genesis. But in the Book of Chronicles the introductory and concluding remark is omitted (Gen 10:1), as well as the historical notes in Genesis about Nimrod’s founding of the kingdom in Nineveh (Gen 10:10) and the settling of the Japhethites and Hamites in their places of dwelling (Gen 10:5). Besides this difference, and also the insignificant peculiarities in the pronunciation of names and the omission of some words in verse 17 (see below), both lists resemble each other in both the names listed and in form. Thus in verses 5–9, as in (Gen 10:2-7), the members of the list are joined through the expression “sons”; from verse 10, as in the Genesis account, – through “fathered”; in (1 Chr 17) again through “sons”, as in verse 22, and in verse 18 again through “fathered”, as in verses 24 and 25 of Genesis. In view of this, the list of the descendants of Noah in Chronicles can be considered as taken from Genesis.

1 Chronicles 1:6. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The reading “Riphath” instead of the Hebrew “Diphath” has behind it, besides the authority of the Septuagint and the Vulgate, ethnographic names: the Riphateans, the Paphlagonian people, in Josephus (Antiquities 1,6). The transformation of Riphath to Diphath took place under the influence of the similarity of the Hebrew letters resh (ר) and daleth (ד).

1 Chronicles 1:7. The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. Instead of the name “Rodanim” in the Hebrew text (Gen 10:4), the reading is Dodanim; in the Septuagint in both cases “Rhodian”, in the Vulgate in both “Dodanim”. The Greek reading and the Hebrew text of Chronicles should be recognized as more correct, since it finds its explanation in the name of the island of Rhodes, whose inhabitants were descendants of Javan.

1 Chronicles 1:8. The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 1 Chronicles 1:9. The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 1 Chronicles 1:10. And Cush fathered Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 1 Chronicles 1:11. And Mizraim fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 1 Chronicles 1:12. Pathrusim, Casluhim, from whom the Philistines came forth, and Caphtorim. 1 Chronicles 1:13. And Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, Heth, 1 Chronicles 1:14. The Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, 1 Chronicles 1:15. The Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, 1 Chronicles 1:16. The Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. The names of 30 descendants of Ham – 4 sons, 24 grandsons, and 2 great-grandsons (Sheba and Dedan – v. 3). Nimrod is not included in the number of grandsons, since he is considered not as a founding ancestor of a separate generation, but only as a hero. The remark: “he began to be a mighty one on the earth,” provides his sufficient characterization, so that there is no need to repeat further information about him from Genesis (Gen 10:9-12).

1 Chronicles 1:17. The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. [The sons of Aram:] Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 1 Chronicles 1:18. And Arphaxad [fathered Cainan, and Cainan] fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 1 Chronicles 1:19. Two sons were born to Eber: one was named Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 1 Chronicles 1:20. And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 1 Chronicles 1:21. Hadoram, Uzal, Dikla, 1 Chronicles 1:22. Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, 1 Chronicles 1:23. Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 26 descendants of Shem, not including Hebrews: five sons, five grandsons, and sixteen further descendants. In verse 17, before the name Uz, the expression (Gen 10:23): “sons of Aram,” is absent, because of which he, and likewise the further persons – Hul, Gether, and Meshech – are presented in Chronicles as sons of Shem, whereas according to Genesis they are children of Aram, that is, grandsons of Shem. But this difference is explained by the fact that here too, as in the list of the first four verses, the author of Chronicles omitted the words “sons of Aram,” being confident that the relationship of Uz, Hul, and so on to Aram was known to his readers from Genesis. Given the author’s familiarity with it, Knobel’s supposition that he considered Uz a son of Shem is inadmissible. Instead of Meshech in the Hebrew text (Gen 10:23) stands Mash. Which reading is more correct is difficult to say. But since the name Meshech is applied to a son of Japheth (Gen 10:2; 1 Chr 1:5), it is more natural to suppose that the people descended from Shem bore a different name – “Mash,” that is, to recognize the reading of Genesis as correct.

1 Chronicles 1:18. And Arphaxad [fathered Cainan, and Cainan] fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. The Greek text in both the first book of Chronicles and in (Gen 10:24) inserts Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah, whereas in the Hebrew text neither in this nor in the other place is there this mediating name, which the evangelist Luke puts among the ancestors of the Savior (Luke 3:36). The question of the predominant correctness of one or the other text is resolved on the basis of the consideration that neither the earliest Greek translators nor Christians of the first centuries had any reason to introduce into the genealogical lists of Hebrew patriarchs such a person as never existed. It is more natural to suppose an omission in the Hebrew text precisely in Genesis, where the error of a scribe could have been caused by the identical number of years (130) of Cainan and Shelah before the birth of their firstborn (Gen 11:12). The implausibility of the Hebrew reckoning is evident from the fact that with the omission of Cainan, Shem must have lived until the confounding of languages and the scattering of peoples.

1 Chronicles 1:24. [And the sons] of Shem: Arphaxad, [Cainan,] Shelah, 1 Chronicles 1:25. Eber, Peleg, Ragau, 1 Chronicles 1:26. Serug, Nahor, Terah, 1 Chronicles 1:27. Abram, that is, Abraham. The descendants of Shem to Abraham, also enumerated in (Gen 11:10-26). The author of Chronicles again cites only the names, whereas in Genesis the descent of one patriarch from another and the number of years of life of each is indicated. It is very probable that this list too is taken from Genesis.

1 Chronicles 1:28. The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. 1 Chronicles 1:29. Here is their genealogy: the firstborn of the Ishmaelites was Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 1 Chronicles 1:30. Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 1 Chronicles 1:31. Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. 1 Chronicles 1:32. The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. [The sons of Dedan: Raguel, Navdiel, Assurim, Astusim, and Asomin.] 1 Chronicles 1:33. The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. 1 Chronicles 1:34. And Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. 1 Chronicles 1:35. The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jeglom, and Korah. 1 Chronicles 1:36. The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz; [and Timna, Eliphaz’s concubine, bore to him] Amalek. 1 Chronicles 1:37. The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. 1 Chronicles 1:38. The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 1 Chronicles 1:39. The sons of Lotan: Hori and Hemam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister. 1 Chronicles 1:40. The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. 1 Chronicles 1:41. The children of Anah: Dishon [and Oholibamah daughter of Anah]. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 1 Chronicles 1:42. The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. 1 Chronicles 1:43. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned a king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinhabah; 1 Chronicles 1:44. And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:45. And Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:46. And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad reigned in his place, and he struck down the Midianites in the field of Moab; and the name of his city was Avith. 1 Chronicles 1:47. And Hadad died, and Samla from Masrekah reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:48. And Samla died, and Saul from Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:49. And Saul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:50. And Baal-hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. 1 Chronicles 1:51. And Hadad died. And the chiefs of Edom were: Chief Timna, Chief Aliah, Chief Jetheth, 1 Chronicles 1:52. Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 1 Chronicles 1:53. Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 1 Chronicles 1:54. Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom. The descendants of Abraham are divided into three groups: from Hagar (Ishmael), Keturah, and Sarah. The first two groups are enumerated before the last, apparently so that subsequently one could move to the genealogy of the God-chosen people without disrupting its connected exposition by reference to other peoples descended from Abraham.

1 Chronicles 1:29. Here is their genealogy: the firstborn of the Ishmaelites was Nebaioth, then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 1 Chronicles 1:30. Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, 1 Chronicles 1:31. Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. The names of the 12 sons of Ishmael and the order of their enumeration are the same as in (Gen 25:12-16). Similarly, the introductory remark: “here is their genealogy,” the phrase: “the firstborn of the Ishmaelites was Nebaioth,” and the concluding formula: “these are the sons of Ishmael,” leave no doubt that the author again repeats Genesis (Gen 25:12).

1 Chronicles 1:32. The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. [The sons of Dedan: Raguel, Navdiel, Assurim, Astusim, and Asomin.] 1 Chronicles 1:33. The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. The descendants of Abraham from Keturah – 6 sons and 7 grandsons, are enumerated not quite in agreement with the indication in (Gen 25:1-4). Namely, the author of Chronicles omits the peoples descended from Dedan, the grandson of Abraham (Gen 25:3), according to the explanation of some exegetes (Keil), because he wished to indicate only sons and grandsons, according to others, because the descendants of Dedan were not listed in the Genesis text that the author had before him.

1 Chronicles 1:34. And Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. Isaac is called the son of Abraham already in verse 28; but here before the exposition of his genealogy a remark is made about his birth from Abraham in analogy with (Gen 25:19), where the genealogy of Isaac is preceded by exactly the same phrase: “Abraham fathered Isaac.”

1 Chronicles 1:35. The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jeglom, and Korah. 1 Chronicles 1:36. The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz; [and Timna, Eliphaz’s concubine, bore to him] Amalek. 1 Chronicles 1:37. The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. The list of Esau’s descendants from (Gen 36:10) differs by the absence of mention of his wives and insignificant peculiarities in the pronunciation of names: Jeush instead of Jeish (Gen 36:14), Zepho instead of Zephi (Gen 36:11).

1 Chronicles 1:38. The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. 1 Chronicles 1:39. The sons of Lotan: Hori and Hemam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister. 1 Chronicles 1:40. The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. 1 Chronicles 1:41. The children of Anah: Dishon [and Oholibamah daughter of Anah]. The sons of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. 1 Chronicles 1:42. The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. Seven sons of Seir and their descendants, constituting the first population of Edom, although they do not belong to the generation of Abraham, yet by virtue of the union with the tribe of Esau (Oholibamah, who became Esau’s wife, was from the Seirites (Gen 36:18)) are included in Chronicles, as also in Genesis (Gen 36:20 and following), among the peoples descended from the latter. The names of the seven sons of Seir correspond with the names in Genesis (Gen 35:20-21); a similar correspondence is observed in the names of their descendants – 19 men and one woman. The author omits only the name of the second Seirite woman mentioned in Genesis – Oholibamah (Gen 36:25).

1 Chronicles 1:43. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned a king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinhabah; 1 Chronicles 1:44. And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:45. And Jobab died, and Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:46. And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad reigned in his place, and he struck down the Midianites in the field of Moab; and the name of his city was Avith. 1 Chronicles 1:47. And Hadad died, and Samla from Masrekah reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:48. And Samla died, and Saul from Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:49. And Saul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. 1 Chronicles 1:50. And Baal-hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pau; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezahab. The list of Edomite kings presents an almost verbatim repetition of (Gen 36:31-39). Except for insignificant peculiarities in the pronunciation of the same name (Hadad – verse 46 and Pau – verse 50, instead of Hadar and Pai (Gen 36:35), as well as the omissions of certain additions from Genesis (“and he was king in Edom” – (Gen 36:32) and “son of Achbor” – Gen 36:39), a more significant difference between the lists is the absence in Genesis of the remark of Chronicles about the death of the last king Hadad (verse 51). It is explained by the fact that this king was alive in the time of Moses.

1 Chronicles 1:51. And Hadad died. And the chiefs of Edom were: Chief Timna, Chief Aliah, Chief Jetheth, 1 Chronicles 1:52. Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon, 1 Chronicles 1:53. Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar, 1 Chronicles 1:54. Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom. The list of Edomite chiefs with fuller introduction and conclusion than here is found in (Gen 31:40-3). The shortening of the Genesis text was done by the author of Chronicles on the consideration that the additions were known to the readers. The leaders are named after their domains; the undoubtedly feminine names Timna and Oholibamah, as well as the names of places – Elah, Pinon, Teman – prove this. The expression standing before the enumeration of chiefs: “and Hadad died,” gives some scholars (Bertheau) the right to consider them successors to the kings and to see here an indication of the transition from monarchical power to democratic. Others (Keil) allow for the concurrent rule of kings and chiefs.

Chapter One

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