1 Chronicles 2:1-55
1 These are the sons of Israel;a Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,
2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
3 The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him.
4 And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.
5 The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.
6 And the sons of Zerah; Zimri,b and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.
7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar,c the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.
8 And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.
9 The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram,d and Chelubai.
10 And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;
11 And Nahshon begat Salma,e and Salma begat Boaz,
12 And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,
13 And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimmaf the third,
14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,
15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:
16 Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.
17 And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jetherg the Ishmeelite.
18 And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.
19 And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.
20 And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezaleel.
21 And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he marriedh when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.
22 And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead.
23 And he took Geshur, and Aram, with the towns of Jair, from them, with Kenath, and the towns thereof, even threescore cities. All these belonged to the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.
24 And after that Hezron was dead in Calebephratah, then Abiah Hezron's wife bare him Ashur the father of Tekoa.
25 And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.
26 Jerahmeel had also another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.
27 And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were, Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker.
28 And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur.
29 And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bare him Ahban, and Molid.
30 And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but Seled died without children.
31 And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the children of Sheshan; Ahlai.
32 And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children.
33 And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.
34 Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.
35 And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai.
36 And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad,
37 And Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed,
38 And Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah,
39 And Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,
40 And Eleasah begat Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum,
41 And Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.
42 Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were, Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron.
43 And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema.
44 And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam: and Rekem begat Shammai.
45 And the son of Shammai was Maon: and Maon was the father of Bethzur.
46 And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez.
47 And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber, and Tirhanah.
49 She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of Gibea: and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.
50 These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah;i Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim,
51 Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hareph the father of Bethgader.
52 And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh,j and half of the Manahethites.
53 And the families of Kirjathjearim; the Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites.
54 The sons of Salma; Bethlehem, and the Netophathites, Ataroth,k the house of Joab, and half of the Manahethites, the Zorites.
55 And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.
The Book of 1 Chronicles
God rules History
1 Chronicles
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 2
The *tribes of *Israel – 1 Chronicles 2:1-8
The sons of *Israel – 1 Chronicles 2:1-2
v1-2 The sons of *Israel were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
Verses 1-2 Here is a list of the 12 sons of *Israel. From them came the 12 *tribes of *Israel. Leah was the mother of the first 6 sons in this list (Reuben to Zebulun). They are in the order of their births. The mother of Joseph and Benjamin was Rachel. Bilhah was the mother of Dan and Naphtali. And Zilpah was the mother of Gad and Asher.
The *tribe of Judah – 1 Chronicles 2:3-4
Judah to Caleb – 1 Chronicles 2:3-9
v3 Judah’s sons were Er, Onan, and Shelah. A woman from Canaan, the daughter of Shua, was their mother. Judah’s first son, Er, did things that the *LORD considered to be wicked. Therefore, the *LORD killed him. v4 Judah had sex with his son’s widow Tamar. They had two sons, Perez and Zerah. So, Judah was the father of 5 sons.
v5 Perez’s sons were Hezron and Hamul. v6 Zerah had 5 sons. They were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. v7 Carmi’s son was Achar. Achar caused *disaster for *Israel. He took things for himself that belonged to God. v8 Ethan’s son was Azariah. v9 Hezron’s sons were Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.
Verses 3-4 Judah married a woman who was from Canaan. She was the daughter of Shua. Judah and his wife had three sons. Judah arranged the marriage of his son Er to Tamar. But Er was so wicked that the *LORD killed him. The custom was that a brother of the dead husband should try to have children by the widow. Onan would not have children for his brother. The *LORD also killed Onan because he was a wicked man. Judah promised to give Shelah to Tamar when he was older. But he did not do it. So, Tamar pretended to be a *prostitute and Judah had sex with her. The result of this was that Judah and Tamar had two boys (see Genesis chapter 38). These boys were Perez and Zerah.
Canaan was the nation that was in the country before Israel.
Verses 5-6 Perez had two sons. Zerah had 5 sons. Carmi came from the family of Zerah. He was a son of Zimri.
Verse 7 The *Israelites expected to take Ai town in battle. But when they attacked the town, the people from Ai defeated them. They asked the *LORD why they had lost the battle. They lost because of Achar. He had taken things for himself after a previous battle. His *sin brought about this *disaster for *Israel. This story is in Joshua chapter 7 (where Achar is called Achan). The word ‘Achar’ means ‘trouble’.
Verse 9 The rest of this chapter is about the families of these three sons (Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb).
The family of Ram – 1 Chronicles 2:10-17
v10 Ram was Amminadab’s father. And Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the leader of the *tribe of Judah. v11 Nahshon was the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz. v12 Boaz was the father of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse. v13 Jesse’s first son was Eliab. His second son was Abinadab. His third son was Shimea. v14 His 4th son was Nethanel. His 5th son was Raddai. v15 His 6th son was Ozem, and his 7th son was David. v16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah’s three sons were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel. v17 Abigail was the mother of Amasa, and his father was Jether, a *descendant of Ishmael.
Verse 10 It seems that this is not a complete list of the family from Ram to David. There was about 300 years between Ram and Nahshon. In these family lists, ‘father’ can mean ‘*ancestor’. And ‘son’ can mean ‘*descendant’. Nahshon was the leader in the *tribe of Judah at the time of Moses (Numbers 1:7).
Verse 11 Salmon (the son of Nahshon) married Rahab after the battle at Jericho. She had been a *prostitute in Jericho. But she helped the *Israelites and she believed in God (Joshua chapter 2). She was the mother of Boaz. Because of God’s great kindness, a former *prostitute became an *ancestor of the *Lord Jesus (Matthew 1:5 and Luke 4:32).
Verse 12 Boaz married Ruth. She was a foreign woman who had formerly been married to an *Israelite. Her first husband had died and she came to *Israel with her husband’s mother. You can read more about her in the Book of Ruth. Boaz and Ruth had a son called Jesse.
Verses 13-15 Jesse had 8 sons. Here we have a record of 7 sons. And the 7th son of Jesse was David. But David was the youngest of 8 sons (1 Samuel 16:10; 1 Samuel 17:12). We do not know why the writer left out one son. Perhaps this son died before he became an adult. Or perhaps the missing son did not have the same mother as the other 7.
Verses 16-17 Zeruiah and Abigail were sisters of David. But they were the daughters of Nahash (2 Samuel 17:25). There are three possible answers to this problem. There is a *Jewish tradition that Nahash and Jesse were the same person. That seems to be the best solution. It could be that this Nahash was the wife of Jesse. Then Jesse would be the father of these girls. Another idea is that Jesse married the wife of Nahash. So, his sons and the girls had the same mother.
The three sons of Zeruiah all became famous soldiers in David’s army. Amasa was the leader of Absalom’s army (2 Samuel 17:25). Later David would have made him a leader in his army. But Joab killed Amasa (2 Samuel 20:10).
The family of Caleb – 1 Chronicles 2:18-24
v18 Caleb, a son of Hezron, had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. Caleb and Azubah’s sons were Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. v19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath. They had a son called Hur. v20 Hur was the father of Uri. Uri was the father of Bezalel.
v21 Later, when Hezron was 60 years old, he married the daughter of Makir. Makir was Gilead’s father. Hezron had sex with Makir’s daughter, and she had a son called Segub. v22 Segub was the father of Jair. Jair ruled 23 towns in the region called Gilead. v23 (But Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair. Also, they took Kenath and the small towns round it. They took control of a total of 60 towns.) All these people were *descendants of Makir, the father of Gilead.
v24 After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, his wife Abijah had his son, called Ashhur. Ashhur was the father of Tekoa.
Verses 18-20 Hezron’s son Caleb is not the same as the Caleb who was with Moses. (That Caleb was the son of Jephunneh – Numbers 13:6.) This list is not a complete one of the family from Caleb to Bezalel. There is an interval of about 300 years between Hur and Uri. This is not the same Hur that held up the hands of Moses (Exodus 17:10).
Bezalel lived at the same time as Caleb the son of Jephunneh. They came out of Egypt with Moses. Bezalel did much of the work to make the *LORD’s tent in the desert (Exodus 31:2-5; Exodus 35:30-33; and 36:1).
Verses 21-22 Makir was Gilead’s father. The family of Gilead lived in the region called Gilead. Hezron was from the *tribe of Judah. But Jair was from the family of Makir by the daughter of Makir. Jair ruled 23 towns in Gilead in the time of Moses (Numbers 32:41).
Verse 23 The 60 towns were Jair’s 23 plus 37 more at Kenath. The families of Geshur and Aram were called the Arameans. Probably, they fought for and took these 60 towns in the 9th century *BC. (Moses and Jair lived in the 15th century *BC.)
Verse 24 Abijah gave birth to Asshur after the death of her husband Hezron.
The family of Jerahmeel – 1 Chronicles 2:25-41
v25 Hezron’s first son was Jerahmeel. Jerahmeel’s sons were Ram, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. Ram was Jerahmeel’s first son. v26 Jerahmeel had another wife, called Atarah. She was the mother of Onam. v27 Jerahmeel’s first son, Ram, had sons. They were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. v28 Onam’s sons were Shammai and Jada. Shammai’s sons were Nadab and Abishur. v29 Abishur’s wife was Abihail, and their sons were Ahban and Molid. v30 Nadab’s sons were Seled and Appaim. Seled died. He had no children. v31 Appaim’s son was Ishi, who became the father of Sheshan. Sheshan was the father of Ahlai. v32 Jada was Shammai’s brother. Jada’s sons were Jether and Jonathan. Jether died but he had no children. v33 Jonathan’s sons were Peleth and Zaza. These men were Jerahmeel’s *descendants. v34 Sheshan did not have any sons. He only had daughters. He had a servant from Egypt called Jarha. v35 Sheshan let his daughter marry his servant Jarha. She had a son called Attai. v36 Attai was the father of Nathan. Nathan was the father of Zabad. v37 Zabad was the father of Ephlal. Ephlal was the father of Obed. v38 Obed was the father of Jehu. Jehu was the father of Azariah. v39 Azariah was the father of Helez. Helez was the father of Eleasah. v40 Eleasah was the father of Sismai. Sismai was the father of Shallum. v41 Shallum was the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah was the father of Elishama.
Verses 25-40 Jerahmeel was the first son of Hezron. His *descendants lived in the Negev to the south of Judah.
Verse 41 Elishama lived about 1100 *BC. That is in the time of Jesse, who was the father of David.
More of Caleb’s family – 1 Chronicles 2:42-55
v42 Caleb was Jerahmeel’s brother. Caleb’s first son was Mesha. Mesha was the father of Ziph, and his son Mareshah was the father of Hebron. v43 Hebron’s sons were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. v44 Shema was the father of Raham, who was the father of Jorkeam. Rekem was the father of Shammai. v45 Shammai was the father of Maon. Maon was the father of Beth Zur. v46 Caleb’s secondary wife was Ephah, and she was the mother of Haran, Moza, and Gazez. Haran was the father of Gazez. v47 Jahdai’s sons were Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. v48-49 Caleb had another secondary wife called Maacah. She was the mother of Sheber, Tirhanah, Shaaph, and Sheva. Shaaph was the father of Madmannah. Sheva was the father of Macbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Acsah.
v50-51 These people were Caleb’s *descendants. Caleb’s son Hur was the first son of his mother Ephrathah. Hur’s sons were Shobal, Salma, and Hareph. Shobal was the father of Kiriath Jearim. Salma was the father of Bethlehem. And Hareph was the father of Beth Gader. v52 Shobal, the father of Kiriath Jearim, had other sons. Shobal’s *descendants were Haroeh and half the people called Manahathites. v53 And he was the *ancestor of the families from Kiriath Jearim. These families were called the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. The people called Zorathites and the Eshtaolites came from the Mishraite people. v54 These people were Salma’s *descendants: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, half the Manahathites, and the Zorites. v55 Also, he was the *ancestor of those people who lived in Jabez. They were famous because they were clever people. These people were called the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These families came from the people called Kenites. The father of the Kenites was Hammath. Hammath was the father of the people who lived in Recab.
The Manahathites were the people who lived in the city called Manahath. Half of them were *descendants of Shobal and the rest were *descendants of Salma. The Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites and the Mishraites were families who lived in the town called Kiriath Jearim. The Zorathites were a family who lived in the town called Zorah. Zorah was in the area that belonged to the *tribe of Dan. The Eshtaolites lived in Eshtaol town that was in Judah. The Netophathites lived in Netophath town. Netophath was near Bethlehem in Judah. The Zorites is another name for the Zorathites. The Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites were people that lived in the town called Jabez in Judah. The Kenites were a group of people who travelled round. But later they lived in Judah.
Verses 42-55 Here are lists of Caleb’s family. Many of these men gave their names to towns and cities in Judah. The Kenites were not *Israelites but here they have come into the *tribe of Judah (verse 55).
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ‘He is always God.’ This name has a relationship with God’s special promises to his people.
disaster ~ when something very bad happens.
prostitute ~ a woman who offers her body for sex in order to earn money. There are also male prostitutes.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
sin ~ Sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because they are guilty of sin.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ‘He is always God.’ This name has a relationship with God’s special promises to his people.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to a Jew.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.