Chapter Four

1–23. Genealogy of the house of Jude 24-43. Generation of Simeon.

The fourth chapter, containing genealogical fragments of the descendants of Judah, represents, on the one hand, a supplementation of the genealogical tables of the second chapter, and on the other, is (from v. 24) a transition to the genealogical lists of the tribes of Israel.

1 Chronicles 4:1. The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. Besides Perez, the son of Judah in the proper sense Gen 46:12; 1 Chr 2:4, all the other persons enumerated in this verse are his more distant descendants. Hezron is the son of Perez Gen 46:12; 1 Chr 2:5, grandson of Judah; Carmi is probably the grandson of Zorites 1 Chr 2:7, great-grandson of Judah; Hur is the son of Caleb and grandson of Hezron 1 Chr 2:16, great-great-grandson of Judah, and Shobal is the son of Hur 1 Chr 2:50, an even more distant descendant of Judah. The generations descended from the enumerated persons are the main ones in the tribe of Judah, but not all. Thus, to some researchers it seems strange the mention of Carmi alongside Hezron and Hur, and therefore they presume that instead of Carmi one should read: Caleb. If such a reading were correct, then we would have in this verse a series of descendants descended from each other in the line of Hezron (Hezron, his son Caleb, son of Caleb Hur and son of Hur Shobal: 1 Chr 2:5), and this in turn would suggest that chapter 4 is devoted to the enumeration of the descendants of Hezron, not mentioned in chapter 2 of 1 Chronicles.

1 Chronicles 4:2. Reaiah, the son of Shobal, fathered Jahath; and Jahath fathered Ahumai and Lahad: these are the families of the Zorites. Reaiah is the same son of Shobal, named in 1 Chr 2:52 Haroeh. Jahath, a descendant of Judah through Shobal, is not mentioned anywhere else: on the contrary, this name is known as the name of one of the Levites 1 Chr 23:10; 2 Chr 34:12. Similarly, the names of his sons are nowhere found. And only the remark: “these are the families of the Zorites,” gives understanding that together with other sons of Shobal they were the founders of the population of Zorah 1 Chr 2:50-53.

1 Chronicles 4:3. And these were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and their sister Hazzelelponi, 1 Chronicles 4:4. and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. Verses 3–4: descendants of Hur. Etam is a city in the tribe of Judah, south of Bethlehem, at a short distance from it 2 Chr 11:6, mentioned also in the history of Samson Judg 15:8. The name of the father is given to it, as the main city of the district: from it, perhaps, colonies went out that founded the cities named below. Of them only Jezreel is known—a city of the hill country of Judah Josh 15:56. The last three names are found only here.

1 Chronicles 4:4. and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. The name Penuel appears also as the name of a person from the tribe of Benjamin 1 Chr 8:25 and as the name of a city Gen 32:33; Judg 8:8, lying on the east side of Jordan. Gedor is the name of a city Josh 15:58, located almost in the middle of the tribe of Judah. The location of Hushah, founded by Ezer, is unknown. The phrase “These are the sons of Hur, the father of Bethlehem,” referring to 1 Chr 2:51, gives understanding that in the present case his descendants are being enumerated, previously not mentioned.

1 Chronicles 4:5. And Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives: Helah and Naarah. From 1 Chr 2:24 it is evident that Ashur was the firstborn of Hezron by his wife Abijah.

1 Chronicles 4:6. And Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and the Hahashtar. These are the sons of Naarah. The name of Naarah’s first son, Ahuzzam, is nowhere found. But Hepher, which of course has nothing in common with Hepher the Gileadite Num 26:32; 1 Chr 11:36, may be viewed as the founder of the population of the southern Judean district of Gopher 1 Kgs 4:10, where in earlier times a Canaanite petty king ruled Josh 12:17. Temeni (“man of the south”) means, in all probability, the population of Judah living near Gopher. The name of Hahashtar is nowhere mentioned.

1 Chronicles 4:7. The sons of Helah: Zereth, Zohar, and Ethnan. The names of Helah’s sons are found only here.

1 Chronicles 4:8. And Koz fathered Anub and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel, the son of Harum. The connection of the generation of Koz enumerated in this and the following verses with the preceding families remains unknown. The names of his descendants are nowhere found, except for Anub. This latter is identified with the name of the southern Judean city of Anab Josh 11:21, especially since the LXX reads Ἀνιόβ.

1 Chronicles 4:9. Jabez was more honored than his brothers. His mother had called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain. Judging from the fact that the name Jabez is joined with the preceding names by the particle “and,” its bearer can be considered a descendant of Koz, and the city mentioned in 1 Chr 2:55 of the same name is his work. From this it follows the supposition of the kinship of Jabez and the persons of verse 8 with Shobal. The name Jabez—“son of pain,” given to the child according to the mother’s exclamation at his birth, recalls similar exclamations of women of the patriarchal period Gen 4:25.

1 Chronicles 4:11. And Chelub the brother of Shuah fathered Mehir; he is the father of Eshton. 1 Chronicles 4:12. And Eshton fathered Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah, the father of the city of Nahas [the brother of Shalom the Kenizzite and the Ahazite]; these are the men of Recah. The name of the locality—Recah, its position, as well as the names of the peoples dwelling in it, are nowhere found. One thing is certain, that “Chelub, brother of Shuah” cannot be identified with Caleb-Chelub 1 Chr 2:9.

1 Chronicles 4:13. The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The son of Othniel: Hathath. 1 Chronicles 4:14. And Meonothai fathered Ophrah, and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of the Valley of the Craftsmen, for they were craftsmen. Verses 13–14: descendants of Kenaz. In Judg 1:13 Kenaz is called the “younger brother” of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the famous spy and contemporary of Moses. And since Caleb belonged to the line of Hezron (see the commentary on 1 Chr 2:49), it is evident that his brother came from the same generation. Othniel, son of Kenaz, is the nephew and at the same time the son-in-law of Caleb Judg 1:12-13, the first judge of Israel Judg 3:9-10. The name of Kenaz’s second son is found only here; in the time of Zerubbabel it is given to one of the returned Jews from captivity Ezra 2:2.

1 Chronicles 4:14. And Meonothai fathered Ophrah, and Seraiah fathered Joab, the father of the Valley of the Craftsmen, for they were craftsmen. Although the name Meonothai is not joined with the preceding “Hathath” by the particle “and,” the Hebrew expression standing before the first (“benei”—sons) gives the right to consider both persons as sons of Othniel; neither, however, is mentioned anywhere else. Ophrah cannot be identified with the city of Ophrah of the tribe of Benjamin Josh 18:23; 1 Sam 13:17 and Manasseh Judg 6:11. The name “Valley of the Craftsmen,” of which Joab is the founder of the population, is found in Neh 11:35 to designate a locality lying in the northern direction from Jerusalem.

1 Chronicles 4:15. The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Ir, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz. Concerning Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, see the note on 1 Chr 2:49. Although he is the older brother of Kenaz 1 Chr 4:13, the genealogy of the latter for some reason is presented after the genealogy of the younger family. The reason for this may be that the generation of Kenaz, which had such a representative as Judge Othniel, is more glorious than the descendants of Caleb. And indeed, the names of his descendants are nowhere mentioned.

1 Chronicles 4:16. The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. Of the sons of Jehallelel only Ziph is known as the founder of the population of the city mentioned by Joshua in the tribe of Judah Josh 15:24.

1 Chronicles 4:17. The sons of Ezra: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Jether fathered Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 1 Chronicles 4:18. And his wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took. The descendants of Ezra. The name of Ezra, unless he is identified with Ezer, the father of Hushah 1 Chr 4:4, is nowhere found; the names of his sons—Jether and Epher—are assigned to members of other generations 1 Chr 2:32; 1 Chr 5:24. As for Mered, it is presumed that the persons of verse 17, except for his three brothers (Jether, Epher, and Jalon), as well as verse 18, are his children, born by two wives—Jehudijah and the pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah (verse 18). This guess is based on the following. Verse 18 concludes with the remark: these are the sons of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took. And since the Hebrew expression standing after the name of verse 17, “Jalon,” “vayttar” represents a verbal form of the feminine gender (she bore), which has no meaning in the absence of a subject in the feminine gender (the LXX and Russian Synodal text without any basis translate “vayttar” in the masculine gender “bore” and as a subject add to it a superfluous word “Jether” compared with the Hebrew text), Bertheau, Keil, and others insert before it the concluding words of verse 18: “these are the sons of Bithiah...” and read the entire place thus: “these are the sons of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took. She bore Miriam, Shammai, and so on.” With this correction, we will have two generations from Mered: one from his wife Egyptian Bithiah (verse 17), another from the Jewess Jehudijah. The son of the first, Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa, located in the southern part of the territory of the tribe of Judah Josh 21:14; 1 Sam 30:28. The children of the second were the founders of the inhabitants of Gedor (see the commentaries on 1 Chr 4:4), Socho, located in the lowland southwest of Jerusalem Josh 15:35, and Zanoah Josh 15:34; Neh 3:13.

1 Chronicles 4:19. The sons of the wife Hodiah, the sister of Naham, father of Keilah: Garmi and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. The Russian reading: “the sons of his wife Hodiah,” considers Hodiah to be a woman. But, as the name of many Levites of the post-captivity period Neh 8:7, Hodiah is a masculine name, not feminine. The identity of him, his wife, the names Garmi and Eshtemoa the Maachathite are completely unknown. Likewise, the position of Keilah, located in the Judean lowland, is not precisely determined.

1 Chronicles 4:20. The sons of Simeon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. The identity of Simeon and his children is completely unknown; nothing can be said about their position in the genealogy of the tribe of Judah. Wellhausen without sufficient grounds supposes that they belong to the line of Hezron. Ishi is mentioned above, in 1 Chr 2:31, as a descendant of Jerahmeel and below, 1 Chr 4:42, as a descendant of Simeon; but neither of the two has a son Zoheth. Apparently, these are completely different persons.

1 Chronicles 4:21. The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er, the father of Lecah, and Laadah, the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers of the house of Ashbea, 1 Chronicles 4:22. and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled over Moab but came back to Bethlehem (but the records are ancient). 1 Chronicles 4:23. These were the potters and dwelt at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work. Descendants of Shelah, the third son of Judah by the Canaanite woman, the daughter of Shua 1 Chr 2:3; Gen 33:5, which for some reason are omitted in 1 Chr 2. Ir, the father of Lecah, must not be confused with Ir, the brother of Shelah, the firstborn of Judah, the uncle of the Ir of the present verse. Identical names in the uncle and nephew among the generation of Judah is a common phenomenon 1 Chr 2:9. Mareshah is a city of the tribe of Judah, lying in the Shephelah valley Josh 15:44; 2 Chr 11:8; 2 Chr 14:8; Mic 1:15. What the “house of Ashbea” (“house of Asba” according to the reading of the LXX and “house of oath” according to the Vulgate, which replaces a proper name with a common noun) is cannot be said.

1 Chronicles 4:22. and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled over Moab but came back to Bethlehem (but the records are ancient). The names “Jokim, men of Cozeba” do not lend themselves to explanation. It is presumed that Cozeba is the same as Chezib Gen 38:5—the native place of Shelah himself. Likewise, it is unknown when the descendants of Shelah had dominion over Moab. Judging by the remark: “these are ancient deeds,” the author himself did not know the time and circumstances of the event he noted.

1 Chronicles 4:23. These were the potters and dwelt at Netaim and Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work. The reading “at Netaim and Gederah” represents a translation of the Hebrew proper names “Netaim and Gederah.” What they mean cannot be said. It is also disputed which king is meant: Hebrew or Babylonian and Persian. If the latter, then the meaning of the verse is thus: some descendants of Judah remained in Babylon after their relatives received permission to return home. The section devoted by the author to the tribe of Simeon 1 Chr 4:24-43 is divided into three parts: in the first 1 Chr 4:24-27 five sons of Simeon and a generation of the last are enumerated; in the second 1 Chr 4:28-33 the places of settlement of the Simeonites are indicated before the time of David 1 Chr 4:31, and in the third 1 Chr 4:34-43 there is an account of two of their campaigns, of which one—against the Hamites—took place in the time of Hezekiah 1 Chr 4:41, and the other at an unknown time—against the land of Seir 1 Chr 4:42.

1 Chronicles 4:24. The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Saul. Five sons of Simeon are enumerated also in Num 26:12-14, with the only difference that the third son is called there Jachin, but here Jarib, which peculiarity is explained by the error of a scribe. On the other hand, in Gen 46:10 and Exod 6:15 six sons of Simeon are indicated. Of them the third, Ohad, is omitted both in the Book of Numbers and in the Chronicles, probably because he had no descendants. Further, Jemuel is in the first place, whom we have Nemuel, and in the penultimate place instead of Zerah—Zockhar. Which form of these names is ancient and original is difficult to say; but in any case they are synonymous. Zockhar means “brightness,” Zerah—“sunrise,” Nemuel and Jemuel—“garden of God.”

1 Chronicles 4:25. Shallum his son; his son Mibsam; his son Mishma. 1 Chronicles 4:26. The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son; his son Zaccur; his son Shimei. Six generations of Saul, son of Simeon.

1 Chronicles 4:27. And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, and all their clan did not increase in number as much as the sons of Judah. The statement about the small number of the tribe of Simeon compared with Judah is confirmed by the evidence of the Pentateuch. Namely, in the second year after the exodus from Egypt, the tribe of Simeon had 59,300 men from age twenty, and it ranked third in number, after the tribes of Judah and Dan; but before entering the promised land it had only 22,200 men, so that it turned out to be less numerous than all the tribes Num 1:22. Therefore, the Simeonites were always in close union with the tribe of Judah, and their allotment formed as it were a part of the allotment of Judah Josh 19:1. This circumstance is the reason that the number of Simeonites is compared with the number of the tribe of Judah.

1 Chronicles 4:28. They dwelt in Beersheba, Molada, Hazar-shual, 1 Chronicles 4:29. in Bilhah, in Ezem, in Tolad, 1 Chronicles 4:30. in Bethuel, in Hormah, in Ziklag, 1 Chronicles 4:31. in Beth-marcaboth, in Hazar-susim, in Beth-birei, and in Sharaim. These were their cities until the reign of David, 1 Chronicles 4:32. with their villages: Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities. 1 Chronicles 4:33. And all their villages that were around these cities as far as Baal. These were their dwellings, and they kept a genealogical record. The enumeration of most of the cities belonging to the Simeonites coincides with the enumeration of them in Josh 19:2-8 both in the names and in the division into two groups: the cities of verses 1 Chr 4:28-31 correspond to the cities 1 Chr 4:2-6; the cities of verses 1 Chr 4:32 correspond to the cities Josh 4:7. But with this general similarity a certain difference is noted. And first, among the cities of the first group, we do not have Sheba after Beersheba (see verse Josh 4:2). But in view of the remark Josh 19:6, that there were 13 cities altogether, whereas in fact, if we count Sheba, they amount to 14, we can suppose that the name Sheba denotes not a city distinct from Beersheba, but was entered into the text of the Book of Joshua by mistake, by repetition of the last component part of the word Beersheba. Further, the second, smaller group consists of four cities Josh 4:7, but not five, as in the Chronicles 1 Chr 4:32—the name Tochen is omitted, but not by mistake, as in both places the number of cities is specifically named. Finally, instead of “Bilhah” 1 Chr 4:29 in the Book of Joshua stands “Baalah” Josh 4:3, instead of “Tolad”—“Eltolad,” instead of “Bethuel”—“Bethul.” Which of these readings is more correct is difficult to say.

1 Chronicles 4:31. in Beth-marcaboth, in Hazar-susim, in Beth-birei, and in Sharaim. These were their cities until the reign of David, The remark: “These were their cities until the reign of David,” placed at the end of verse 31, but not verse 33, may be because the changes that occurred from the time of David affected only the above-enumerated cities, whereas the villages and hamlets noted in verses 32 and 33 after David remained the inalienable property of the tribe of Simeon.

1 Chronicles 4:32. with their villages: Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities. The names Ain and Rimmon are used both in this place and in Josh 19:7 (compare Josh 15:32) as the names of two different cities. Meanwhile in Neh 11:29 En-rimmon is the name of one city. Keeping this in mind, Movers and Bertheau suppose that these names in the Chronicles also denote one city. But the combination of Ain and Rimmon into En-rimmon in the Book of Nehemiah is explained either by the proximity of these places or by their merger at a later time into one settlement. Rimmon lies four hours’ journey north of Beersheba, Ain is the name of the well adjacent to Rimmon. Etam is a city of southern Judah, in the territory of the tribe of Simeon Judg 15:8.

1 Chronicles 4:33. And all their villages that were around these cities as far as Baal. These were their dwellings, and they kept a genealogical record. From the place parallel to this verse Josh 19:8 it is evident that the name Baal represents a shortened form of the name Baalath-beer, and that the group of villages extending to this point bore the name of southern Rama, with which, without doubt, is identical the southern Ramoth 1 Sam 30:27. Keil places this locality not far from Hebron, and modern geographers on the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea, at the caravan road leading to Hebron. “These were their dwellings, and they kept a genealogical record”—although the tribe of Simeon was given an allotment in the region of the tribe of Judah, it had its own cities and a separate from Judah enumeration of its generations.

1 Chronicles 4:34. Meshobab, Jamlech, and Joshiah the son of Amaziah, 1 Chronicles 4:35. and Joel, and Jehu son of Joshibiah, son of Seraiah, son of Asiel, 1 Chronicles 4:36. Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, and Benaiah, 1 Chronicles 4:37. and Ziza son of Shiphi, son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah. 1 Chronicles 4:38. These mentioned by name were princes of their families, and their fathers’ houses increased greatly. These verses hardly present a new genealogy of the generations of the tribe of Simeon; between them and 1 Chr 4:24-27 there is no connection. It is more natural to suppose that the persons enumerated in them (“princes of their families”—verse 38) were leaders of the Simeonites in their below-noted campaign 1 Chr 4:39-41. This is guaranteed by 1 Chr 4:41. By its expression: “and these were the ones mentioned by name came,” it refers to the words of verse 38: “these mentioned by name were princes of their families.” The mentioned ones were at the head of the campaign, and they are persons 1 Chr 4:34-37. The immediate cause of the campaigns, which ended in the settlement of the Simeonites in the conquered places 1 Chr 4:41, is, as may be supposed, their increase in number and the lack of free places in the original places of settlement: “and their fathers’ houses increased greatly” (verse 38).

1 Chronicles 4:39. They sought pasture for their flocks in the region of Gerar, as far as the eastern side of the valley, 1 Chronicles 4:40. and found rich, good pasture, and the land was very broad, quiet, and peaceful; for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham. The locality to which the Simeonites reached is called in the Hebrew text “Gedor,” in the LXX—“Gerara.” The former is known as a city of the hill country of Judah Josh 15:58, but to understand it in the present case is impossible: this is prevented by the remark of verse 40, that the Simeonites occupied a plain, a locality open on all sides, which cannot be a hill country of Judah. The character of the conquered region corresponds more to the Greek reading “as far as Gerara.” Gerar is the capital of the Philistines Gen 26:6, dwelling in the lowland, the plain. The supposition about the invasion of the Simeonites into the territory of the Philistines is in complete harmony with the indication 1 Chr 4:41, that this campaign took place in the time of Hezekiah. As is known, the latter dealt a terrible blow to the Philistines 2 Kgs 18:8; and therefore there is nothing improbable that the Simeonites also took advantage of their weakness for their conquest.

1 Chronicles 4:42. Some of them, five hundred men of the sons of Simeon, went to Mount Seir, having as their leaders Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi; 1 Chronicles 4:43. and they destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites that had escaped, and they have dwelt there to this day. It is impossible to determine the time of the second campaign. If one judges by the fact that the account of it is placed after the narrative of the campaign from the time of Hezekiah, then one can suppose that it fell upon a later period. The Simeonites defeated “the remnant of the Amalekites that had escaped in Seir,” that is, those Amalekites who in one way or another escaped the defeat inflicted upon them by Saul and David 1 Sam 14:48; 2 Sam 8:12. “To this day” means not the day of the author of the Chronicles’ life, but the day of the life of the compilers of the sources from which the former draws his information.