1 Chronicles 5:11-17

6. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF GAD (1 Chronicles 5:11-17)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 5:11. And the sons of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salecah: 12. Joel the chief, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13. And their brethren of their fathers-' houses: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven. 14. These were the sons of Abihail and the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; 15. Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers-' houses. 16. And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as far as their borders. 17. All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 5:11. Across from them, in the land of Bashan, lived the descendants of Gad, who were spread as far as Salecah. 12. Joel was the greatest and was followed by Shapham, also Janai and Shaphat. 13. Their relatives, the heads of the seven clans, were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber. 14. The descendants of Buz, in the order of their generations, were: Jahdo, Jeshishai, Michael, Gilead, Jaroah, Huri, Abihail. 15. Ahi, the son of Abdi-el and grandson of Guni, was the leader of the clan. 16. The clan lived in and around Gilead (in the land of Bashan) and throughout the entire pasture country of Sharon. 17. All were included in the official genealogy at the time of King Jotham of Judah and King Jeroboam of Israel.

COMMENTARY

Gad shared the trans-Jordanic territory with Reuben and Manasseh. These three tribes were in a precarious position because of their nearness to the desert. They were always vulnerable to warring bands of tribesmen and were destined never to play a significant role in Hebrew history. These were the tribes that requested of Moses this part of Palestine for their homeland. Moses suspected that they wanted to avoid military service in the proposed conquest of Canaan (Numbers 32). They assured Moses, Joshua, and Eleazar that they would help take Canaan, but they wanted this land east of the Jordan river because it was good pasture land. In making this choice, they also removed themselves from the main stream of Hebrew history. Bashan lay beyond the Sea of Chinnereth to the east. Salecah was a village on the far east boundary of Bashan. The names that follow in 1 Chronicles 5:12-15 are Gad's descendants. We know nothing more about them in the Bible record. Through their generations they shared the pasture lands of the Gilead country. There was a beautiful plain of Sharon on the Mediterranean coast in Canaan. This Sharon in 1 Chronicles 5:16 probably refers to a section in Gilead. There were genealogical studies done in the days of Jotham, King of Judah, (about 740 B.C.) and in the days of Jeroboam II, King of Israel (about 760 B.C.). Perhaps at regular intervals lists of ancestors were revised and brought up to date.