Chapter Three

1–24. Descendants of David down to Eliohenai and seven sons of the latter.

The genealogy of David presented in the current chapter is a continuation of the line of Aram, traced in 1 Chr 2:10-17 down to Jesse and then interrupted by the genealogy of Caleb and Jeraheel. The generation of David is divided by the author into three groups: the sons of David, except the children of concubines 1 Chr 3:1-9; the kings of the house of David from Solomon to Jeconiah and Zedekiah 1 Chr 3:10-16; and the descendants of Jeconiah, ending with the seven sons of Eliohenai 1 Chr 3:17-24.

1 Chronicles 3:1. The sons of David, born to him in Hebron, were: the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second Dalia, of Abigail the Carmelite; 1 Chronicles 3:2. the third Absalom, son of Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, son of Haggith; 1 Chronicles 3:3. the fifth Shephatiah, of Abital; the sixth Ithream, of Eglah, his wife; 1 Chronicles 3:4. six born to him in Hebron; but he reigned there seven years and six months; and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. The six sons of David, born during his reign in Hebron (v. 4), are also listed in 2 Sam 3:2-5. The difference between the two lists is that the second son is called in the Book of Samuel not Daniel, as here according to the Hebrew and Greek texts, but Chileab, or according to the LXX, Dalia. According to Keil’s explanation, the difference in the name of David’s second son is due to the fact that he had two names. Others suppose that in the Book of Samuel Chileab is not a proper name but a common noun—“resembling the father.” But in that case, the question arises: why was only one son not named with a proper name? Finally, still others, taking into account that the names of the Greek text Dalia and Daniel are more similar in Hebrew spelling to each other than Chileab and Daniel, suppose a corruption of the Hebrew text in the Book of Samuel. Concerning Amnon’s mother Ahinoam and concerning him, see 1 Sam 25:43 and 2 Sam 13:1. Concerning Abigail, mother of Daniel, see 1 Sam 25:3.

1 Chronicles 3:2. the third Absalom, son of Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth Adonijah, son of Haggith; see 1 Kgs 1-2.

1 Chronicles 3:4. six born to him in Hebron; but he reigned there seven years and six months; and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. see 2 Sam 2:11.

1 Chronicles 3:5. And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, four of them of Bathsheba, daughter of Ammiel; 1 Chronicles 3:6. Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, 1 Chronicles 3:7. Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 1 Chronicles 3:8. Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine. 1 Chronicles 3:9. All the sons of David, besides the children of the concubines. And Tamar was their sister. Thirteen sons of David, of which four from Bathsheba, born in Jerusalem, are listed also in 1 Chr 14:7-11 in the account of his reign, as well as in 2 Sam 5:14-16. In the latter place only 11 sons are shown; the last two are omitted, as it is thought, because they died very young. The mother of the first four sons is called in the Hebrew text of this verse Bat-Schua, but in the parallel place 2 Sam 11:3 Bat-Sheba; her father is Hamiel, but there Eliam, and finally the eldest here is Shimea, but in 2 Sam 5:14 and 1 Chr 14:4 Shammua. As for the names of the father, their meaning is the same: both are composed of two words: “am”—“people” and “El”—“God,” but these component parts are arranged in reverse order in the names. The form Bat-Sheba is considered more ancient compared to Bat-Schua; the name Shammua is more correct, as it occurs twice. The peculiarity of the reading of the Chronicles arose from the omission of one letter—“e.”

1 Chronicles 3:6. Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, 1 Chronicles 3:7. Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, The name Elishama, replaced in 2 Sam 5:15 and 1 Chr 14:5 with Elishua, is considered erroneous. Among the names of David’s sons it recurs in chapter 3 twice 1 Chr 3:8, whereas the name from the Book of Samuel is completely omitted. Eliphelet and Nogah are omitted in 2 Sam 5:14-16, either because these children of David died young, or because similar-sounding names—Nepheg and Eliphelet appear somewhat below.

1 Chronicles 3:8. Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine. Instead of the name El-yada of the present verse and 2 Sam 5:16 in 1 Chr 14:7 stands another form—Begel-yada; but it is hardly correct, since the Alexandrian and Syrian translations 1 Chr 14:4 read El-yada.

1 Chronicles 3:9. All the sons of David, besides the children of the concubines. And Tamar was their sister. The existence of concubines among David’s women is confirmed by 2 Sam 5:13. Tamar was hardly the only daughter of David; rather, she is the only one known to history.

1 Chronicles 3:15. The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Joahaz, the second Joiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. As is evident from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah Jer 22:11, the name Shallum was borne by Josiah’s son Joahaz, who reigned immediately after his father’s death 2 Kgs 23:30; 2 Chr 36:1. Besides Shallum-Joahaz, the historical books of the Old Testament know two other sons of Josiah—Joiakim and Zedekiah 4Цар.33:34,24:17, and nowhere mention an older Johanan, either because he died young or because there was nothing to say about him. However, some scholars, both ancient (Sebastian Schlidt) and modern (Hitzig), doubt the correctness of the enumeration of Josiah’s sons in this verse, considering Joahaz to be the same person as the firstborn Johanan. But against such identification speak 2 Kgs 23:31 and 2 Chr 36:2. From the comparison of these two places it is evident that Joahaz was two years younger than Joiakim (Joahaz was 23 years old upon becoming king; Joiakim, who succeeded him three months later, was 25 years old), and therefore could not be the firstborn. As evidence of the author of Chronicles’ error, they point to the fact that, by placing Joahaz-Shallum in the last place among Josiah’s sons, he considers him the youngest, whereas in reality Zedekiah was the youngest: he was 13-14 years younger than Joahaz. Shallum was 23 years old upon ascending the throne; 11 years after him (the years of Joiakim’s and Jeconiah’s reign) Zedekiah, upon becoming king, was only 21; therefore Joahaz was at that time 34 years old 2 Kgs 23:31. But the distribution of Josiah’s sons observed in the author’s work is explained not by error or lack of knowledge, nor by particular considerations. Zedekiah is enumerated immediately after Joiakim and before Shallum, first because both of them—Joiakim and Zedekiah—reigned the same number of years, namely 11; and second, because Zedekiah and Shallum had the same mother—Hamutal 2 Kgs 23:31, whereas Joiakim was the son of Zebidah 2 Kgs 23:36. According to age they should be distributed thus: Johanan, Joiakim, Shallum, and Zedekiah; and taking into account the time of Shallum’s reign, he should be placed before Joiakim 2 Kgs 23:31. But in either case the children of Hamutal would be separated, to avoid which Shallum is enumerated after his brother by the same mother, Zedekiah.

1 Chronicles 3:16. The sons of Joiakim: Jeconiah his son; Zedekiah, his son. Jeconiah—the son of Joiakim and his successor on the throne 2 Chr 36:8. “Zedekiah, his son.” Since the expression “his son” throughout the preceding genealogy indicates a certain person as the son of the previously named, and such a person is Jeconiah, it is evident that Zedekiah is the son of Jeconiah, grandson of Joiakim, and great-grandson of Josiah. If Zedekiah of verse 16 is the son of Jeconiah, then he must be distinguished from Zedekiah of verse 15—the third son of Josiah, who occupied the throne after his nephew Jeconiah and received this name from Nebuchadnezzar 2 Kgs 24:17. As the comparison of verses 16 and 17 shows, Zedekiah is enumerated separately from his brothers. This circumstance is supposedly meant to convey that he, perhaps the firstborn of Jeconiah, was not taken away captive with his father 2 Kgs 24:15, but died before that event.

1 Chronicles 3:17. The sons of Jeconiah: Assir, Shealtiel, his son; 1 Chronicles 3:18. Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Hezekiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 1 Chronicles 3:19. And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith, their sister; 1 Chronicles 3:20. and five others: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed. 1 Chronicles 3:21. And the sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Isaiah; his son Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shechaniah. 1 Chronicles 3:22. The son of Shechaniah: Shemaiah; and the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igeal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. 1 Chronicles 3:23. The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three. 1 Chronicles 3:24. The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven. Descendants of Jeconiah down to the seven sons of Elioenai.

1 Chronicles 3:17. The sons of Jeconiah: Assir, Shealtiel, his son; Taking into account the meaning of the name Assir—“the captive,” Luther, Bertheau, Zöckler propose instead of the accepted reading: “the sons of Jeconiah: Assir, Shealtiel his son,” another reading: “the sons of Jeconiah, the one taken captive.” In favor of the reliability of such a translation are brought the following considerations: the absence of Assir as an intermediary figure between Jeconiah and Shealtiel in the genealogy in Matthew’s Gospel; the absence after the name Assir of the expression “his son” (of Jeconiah), which, however, is found after the name Shealtiel; at the same time this latter, as standing in the singular form, shows that Assir and Shealtiel cannot be considered brothers—children of Jeconiah.

1 Chronicles 3:19. And the sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith, their sister; Zerubbabel (“born in Babylon”)—the leader of the Jews who returned from Babylonian captivity and one of the builders of the second temple Ezra 3:8 and others. In Ezra 3:2; Hag 1:1; Matt 1:13; Luke 3:27 Zerubbabel is called the son of Shealtiel, but in the present verse—the son of Pedaiah. To remove this disagreement, exegetes make various suppositions. Some think that he was the son of Pedaiah by birth and of Shealtiel by the right of levirate marriage; others—Tremellius, Hitzig consider Pedaiah and all the persons mentioned in 1 Chronicles 3 not brothers of Shealtiel but his sons. With this assumption, Zerubbabel will be the grandson of Shealtiel—a son not in the proper sense. Which of these conjectures is true is difficult to say. The name of Pedaiah’s second son is nowhere found, but the names of Zerubbabel’s children express the faith and hope of the Jews who returned from captivity: Meshullam—friend of God; Hananiah—mercy of the Lord. Shelomith is called the sister of Meshullam and Hananiah by birth from the same mother. She divides Zerubbabel’s family into two groups: one consisting of two sons and another of five 1 Chr 3:20. It is possible that the second is more junior: its members were born after the return from captivity.

1 Chronicles 3:21. And the sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Isaiah; his son Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shechaniah. Both grandsons (Pelatiah and Isaiah) of Zerubbabel are unknown, but their lives must fall upon the time of Ezra. In what relation to Zerubbabel and his grandsons stand the persons enumerated further is difficult to say. True, the literal reading of this place: “sons of Rephaiah, sons of Arnan, sons of Obadiah, sons of Shechaniah”—Bertheau understands in the sense that all these persons, ending with Shechaniah, are sons of Hananiah, i.e., grandsons of Zerubbabel. “Since the sons of Rephaiah, Arnan, and so on,” he says, “stand on one line with the preceding names—Pelatiah and Isaiah, and since the continuation of the line 1 Chr 3:22 is joined to the named at the end 1 Chr 3:21 Shechaniah, then we are forced to accept that Pelatiah, Isaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, and Shechaniah without distinction are sons of Hananiah.” Further taking into account that in the following verses 1 Chr 3:22-24 the line of Shechaniah is traced through four generations (Shechaniah, Shemaiah, Neariah, Elioenai), and therefore the entire line of Zerubbabel consists of six generations, so Bertheau and others assert that the last representatives of his line lived around 350 B.C., before which time the Chronicles itself could not have been written. But Bertheau’s reasoning and the conclusions based upon it would be valid only if instead of the words: sons of Rephaiah, sons of Arnan, stood only the names Rephaiah, Arnan, and so on. But nothing of the sort is there: Pelatiah and Isaiah and the sons of Rephaiah, sons of Arnan, stand far from on one line. The first may be sons of Hananiah, but by no means can the sons of Rephaiah, Arnan, and so on be so. The latter may be grandsons of Hananiah if only one supposes that Rephaiah and Arnan were brothers of Pelatiah and Isaiah—sons of Hananiah. But this supposition has no foundation in view of the corruption of the Hebrew text recognized by many exegetes in this verse. Specifically, in it four times to one proper name the word “son” refers in the plural form (benei), whereas by analogy with the preceding verses it should stand “his son.” Because of this, the reading “sons of Rephaiah,” “sons of Arnan,” contains an indication of certain impersonal, nameless sons, offers such an enumeration of descendants, similar to which is not found elsewhere in the Chronicles. Corruption of the Hebrew text is presumed also by the LXX translation, offering its own reading: “sons of Hananiah: Phaletia and Iessias—his son, Raphal—his son, Orna—his son,” and so on. But the Greek text is not free from incorrectness: judging by the expression “sons,” Hananiah should have two sons—Pelatiah and Isaiah; but the addition to the latter name of the remark “his son” makes one consider Isaiah the son of Pelatiah,—Hananiah turns out to have one son.

1 Chronicles 3:22. The son of Shechaniah: Shemaiah; and the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igeal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. The true Hebrew reading of this verse is thus: “the sons of Shechaniah—Shemaiah and the sons of Shemaiah: Hattush,” and so on. The sons of Shemaiah are named by individual names—five, and the total number of them is indicated as six. To explain this discrepancy, some presume an omission of a name, while others insist on a corruption of the text, manifested in the designation of Hattush and the other five below-listed persons as “sons” of Shemaiah. He is not their father, but their brother; and then indeed there are six sons of Shechaniah. If it is difficult to establish the familial relationship between Zerubbabel and the “sons of Rephaiah, sons of Arnan,” then with probability one can say that the persons of verse 22 and the following verses are not his direct descendants. This is guaranteed by the fact that in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, according to the evangelist Matthew, not a single name is found similar to those enumerated here. True, in genealogical tables the middle members are often omitted. But to assert that the evangelist, who set himself the goal of presenting a fuller genealogy of the Savior, skipped a whole series of names, is hardly possible.