C5 g1 4:1-4. Judah's posterity.
g2 4:5-8. Ashur.
g3 4:8,10. Jabez.
g4 4:11-20. Caleb the son of Hur
g5 4:21-23. The sons of Shelah.
g6 4:24-43. The sons of Simeon.
g7 5:1-10. The sons of Reubin.
g8 5:11-17. The sons of Gad.
g9 5:18-26. Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh.
g10 6:1-3. The sons of Levi.
g11 6:4-15. The Priests (to the Captivity).
g12 6:16-48. Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
g13 6:49-53. The sons of Aaron.
g14 6:54-81. The cities of Priests and Levites.
g15 7:1-5. The sons of Issachar.
g16 7:6-12. The sons of Benjamin.
g17 7:13. The sons of Naphtali.
g18 7:14-19. The sons of Manasseh.
g19 7:20-29. The sons of Ephraim.
g20 7:30-40. The sons of Asher.
g21 8:1-32. The sons of Benjamin.
g22 8:33-40. The stock of Saul and Jonathan.
1748 B.C.
1 Chronicles 4)
1 The descendants of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. (These were sons of Caleb, the son of Hezron [2:18,20,50,52])
2 And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites. (See 2:53)
3 And these were the sons of the father of Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi:
4 And Penuel the father (or lord, or prince. See 2:42) of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.
5 And Ashur (the son of Hezron. See 2:24) the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
6 And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.
7 And the sons of Helah were, Zereth, and Jezoar, and Ethnan, and Coz, [and Coz] begat Anuh. (cp. v 13)
8 And Coz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren (perhaps his going up with Caleb and Othniel against the Canaanites is referred to. See Judg. 1:2,4,9-15. Josh. 15:13-19): and his mother called his name Jabez (the transposition in Heb. may intimate a change of experience, and mean "may he have pain or grief reversed"), saying, "Because I bare him with sorrow." (Cp. Gen. 3:16 [same word])
10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel (the nation as descended from him for whom God orders all. See Gen. 32:28; 43:6; 45:26,28 a suitable title and prayer before going on an expedition), saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that it may not pain me!" (no conclusion to his prayer) And God granted him that which he requested.
11 And Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir, which was the father of Eshton.
12 And Eshton begat Bethrapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Irnahash. These are the men of Rechah.
13 And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of Othniel; Hathath and Meonothal, [and Meonothai] begat Ophrah.
14 And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the valley of Ge-harashim; for they were craftsmen.
15 And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh (not the sons of Hezron [2:18]); Iru, Elah, and Naam: and the sons of Elah, even Kenaz.
16 And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel.
17 And the sons of Ezra were, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon: and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa.
18 And his wife the Jehudijah (= a Jewess) bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh (is Bithiah the same as Jehudijah, and did she turn a Jewess? Mered was evidently a man of position), which Mered took.
19 And the sons of his wife Hodiah (the Jehudijah of v. 18) the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite.
20 And the sons of Shimon were, Amnon, and Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were, Zoheth, and Benzoheth.
21 The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine white Egyptian linen, of the house of Ashbea,
22 And Jokim, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had the dominion in Moab (or became lord to Moab), and Jashubilehem (some read "and returned to Beth-lehem", like Naomi and Ruth [1:1-4; 19). And these are ancient things. (or records)
23 These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work. (The inhabitants of Netaim and Gedera.)
1750 B.C.
24 The sons of Simeon were, Nemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul:
25 Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son.
26 And the sons of Mishma; Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son, Shimei his son.
27 And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters: but his brethren had not many sons, neither did all their family multiply, like to the sons of Judah.
28 And they dwelt at Beersheba (cp. Josh. 19:2-5), and Moladah, and Hazarshual,
29 And at Bilhah, and at Ezem, and at Tolad,
30 And at Bethuel, and at Hormah, and at Ziklag, (Given later to David by the Philistines [1 Sam. 27:6])
31 And at Bethmarcaboth, and Hazarsusim, and at Bethbirei, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities to the king David.
32 And their villages were, Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities:
33 And all their villages that were round about the same cities, to Baal (another name for Baalath-beer in Josh. 19:8). These were their habitations, and they had their own genealogy regester.
34 And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah, the son of Amaziah,
35 And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel,
36 And Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshohaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah,
37 And Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;
38 These mentioned by their names were princes in their families: and the house of their fathers increased greatly.
39 And they went to the entrance of Gedor (probably south of Simeon, toward Mt Seit), even unto the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
40 And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they of Ham had dwelt there of old.
41 And these written by name (i.e. in the foregoing list) came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the Maonites ([or Mehumims 2 Chron. 26:7. Cp. 20:1 and Judg. 10:12]) that were found there, and destroyed them utterly unto this day, and dwelt in their rooms: because there was pasture there for their flocks.
42 And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men (if these could accomplish such things, what could the whole of Israel have done? Cp. v. 10 and 5:20), went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
43 And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, and dwelt there to this day. (Not all destroyed in 1 Sam. 15:8. A number survived. Cp. 1 Sam. 27:6; 30:1; 2 Sam. 8:12. Est. 3:1. See Ex. 17:16. Evidently not disturbed by the king of Babylon in the deportation of Israel.)