1 Chronicles 4 · Adam Clarke
Introduction A second genealogy of Judah, vv. 1-23. The account of Jabez, 1Chr 4:9 , 1Chr 4:10 . The genealogy of Simeon, 1Chr 4:24-27 . Their cities, 1Chr 4:28-31 . Their villages, and where situated, 1Chr 4:32 , 1Chr 4:33 . The heads of families, 1Chr 4:34-38 . Where they settled; and what was their occupation, 1Chr 4:39-43 . Verse 1 The sons of Judah - A genealogy of this tribe has already been given in the second chapter. It is here introduced again, with some variations. Probably there were different copies in the public registers; and the writer of this book, finding that this second one contained some remarkable particulars, thought proper to insert it in this place: and no reader will regret the insertion, when he carefully considers the matter.
Verse 3 These were of the father of Etam - "And these are the rabbins (doctors) living at Etam, Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash." - T.
Verse 7 And Ethnan - After this word we should, with the Targum, read Coz, whose posterity is mentioned in the next verse. Coz was probably the same as Kenaz.
Verse 8 The son of Harum - Jabez should be mentioned at the end of this verse, else he is as a consequent without an antecedent.
Verse 9 And Jabez was more honorable - This whole account is variously understood by some of the principal versions. I shall subjoin a translation of each. Septuagint. - "And Igabes was more glorious than his brethren; and his mother called his name Igabes, saying, I have brought thee forth as Gabes. And Igabes invoked the God of Israel, saying, If in blessing thou wilt bless me, and enlarge my borders, and thy hand be with me, and wilt give me understanding not to depress me: and God brought about all that he requested." Syriac. - "And one of these was dear to his father and to his mother; and he called his name ainai, My Eye. And he said to him, In blessing may the Lord bless thee, and enlarge thy boundary; and may his hand be with thee; and may he preserve thee from evil, that it may not rule over thee; and may he give to thee whatsoever thou shalt request of him!" Arabic. - "And this one (Hastahar or Harum) was beloved of his father and his mother: and they called his name aina, My Eye; and they said unto him, May the Lord bless thee, and multiply thy people, and may his hand be present with thee, because thou wast born in Beth-lehem!" These two latter versions seem to have copied each other, and the Vulgate is nearly, like ours, a literal rendering of the Hebrew; but the Chaldee is widely different from all the rest: - Chaldee. - "And Jabets also, he is Othniel, honorable and skilled in the law beyond his brethren, whose mother called his name Jabets, because she had borne him with sorrow. And Jabets prayed to the God of Israel, saying, O that in blessing thou wouldest bless me with children, and enlarge my borders with disciples; and that thy hand may be with me in business, that thou mayest make me like to my companions, that evil concupiscence may the less grieve me! And the Lord granted that which he prayed for." Of this honorable person we know nothing but what is here mentioned, nor does the name occur in any other part of Scripture except in 1Chr 2:55 , where it appears to be the name of a place, but is understood by the Chaldee to be the name of a person, as here. Though I have noticed this particularly in the note on that place, yet I think it right to add the Chaldee here, that all that concerns this worthy person may be seen at one view: - 1Chr 2:55 : "The families of the Rechabites, the son of Eliezer, the son of Moses, the disciples of Jabets; he was Othniel, the son of Kenaz. And he was called Jabets, יעבץ Yabets, because in his counsel [בעיצתיה beqtsatih, from יעץ yaats, he counselled, advised, etc.] he instituted a school for disciples. They were called Tirathim, תרעתים, because in their hymns their voices were like trumpets, [from רע ra, to sound like a trumpet; see Num 10:9 ; 2Chr 13:12 ], and Shimathim, שמעתים, because in hearing, they lifted up their faces, i.e. in prayer, [from שמע shama, he heard, hearkened], and Suchathim, שוכתים, because they were overshadowed with the spirit of prophecy, [from שך sach, a tabernacle, or extended covering]." For farther particulars, see at the end of this chapter, 1Chr 4:43 (note).
Verse 12 These are the men of Rechah - "These are the men of the great Sanhedrin." - T.
Verse 15 Caleb the son of Jephunneh - We have already met with this eminent person in Num 13:6 , Num 13:30 ; Num 14:24 , and elsewhere; and seen his courageous piety and inflexible integrity. The Targum says here, "They called him Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, because he had purged his soul from the counsel of the spies.
Verse 18 And his wife Jehudijah - The Targum considers the names in this verse as epithets of Moses: "And his wife Jehuditha educated Moses after she had drawn him out of the water: and she called his name Jered, because he caused the manna to descend upon Israel; and Prince Gedor, because he restored the desolations of Israel; Heber also, because he joined Israel to their heavenly Father; and Prince Socho, because he overshadowed Israel with his righteousness, and Jekuthiel, because the Israelites waited on the God of heaven in his time, forty years in the desert; and prince Zanoah, because God, on his account, had passed by the sins of Israel. These names Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, called him by the spirit of prophecy, for she became a proselyte; and Mered took her to himself to wife: he is Caleb, and was so called because he opposed the counsel of the spies." - T. A similar explanation is given by Jarchi.
Verse 21 That wrought fine linen - "Of the family of those who worked in fine flax to make garments for kings and priests." - T.
Verse 22 And Joash, and Saraph - "And the prophets and scribes which sprang from the seed of Joshua, and the Gibeonites, whose office it was to serve in the house of the sanctuary, because they had lied to the princes of Israel; also Joash, who is the same as Mahlon; and Saraph, who is the same as Chilion, who took wives of the daughters of Moab and Boaz, the chief of the wise men of the college of Bethlehem, and of those who existed in former days." - T.
Verse 23 These were the potters - "These are the disciples of the law, for whose sake the world was created; who preside in judgment, and establish the world; and they build and perfect the fallen down house of Israel: they dwelt there with the Shechinah of the King of the world, in the study of the law and the intercalation or months, and determining the commencement of years and festivals: and they computed the times from heaven in the days of Ruth, the mother of kingdoms, to the days of Solomon the king." - T. I am afraid this paraphrase gives us as little light as the text itself, which speaks of potters, and those who dwelt among plants and hedges. They were probably brickmakers; perhaps potters also, who had their dwelling in low grounds, and fabricated the clay into pots and bricks that was digged up in forming fences in the king's domains.
Verse 24 The sons of Simeon - This genealogy is very different from that given in Gen 46:10 , and Num 26:12 . This may be occasioned by the same person having several names, one list taking one name, another list some other, and so on: to reconcile is impossible; to attempt it, useless.
Verse 27 Neither did all their family multiply - In Num 1:23 the number of all the families of Simeon was fifty-nine thousand three hundred; and that of Judah was, Num 1:27 , not less than seventy-four thousand six hundred. When the next census was made, Num. 26, the tribe of Judah amounted to seventy-six thousand five hundred, an increase of one thousand nine hundred; while the tribe of Simeon amounted only to twenty-two thousand two hundred, a decrease of thirty-seven thousand one hundred. It was at that time the smallest tribe in Israel.
Verse 31 These were their cities unto the reign of David - It appears that David took some of the cities of the Simeonites, and added them to Judah; Ziklag for instance, 1Sam 27:6 . As the tribe of Simeon had withdrawn their allegiance from the house of David, the kings of Judah extended their domination as far as possible into the territories of that tribe, so that they were obliged to seek pasture for their flocks at Gedor, and in the mountains of Seir, as we find 1Chr 4:39-42 .
Verse 40 They of Ham had dwelt there of old - These were probably either Philistines or Egyptians, who dwelt at Gedor, which was situated in the environs of Joppa and Samnia. Those whom the five hundred Simeonites expelled from Seir were Amalekites, 1Chr 4:43 .