Day 436 of 1461 · 2028-03-11

1 Chronicles 3:1–24

My plan starts

¹Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;

²the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;

³the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife:

⁴six were born to him in Hebron; and he reigned there seven years and six months. He reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem;

⁵and these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel;

⁶and Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet,

⁷Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia,

⁸Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.

⁹All these were the sons of David, in addition to the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.

¹⁰Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

¹¹Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,

¹²Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,

¹³Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,

¹⁴Amon his son, and Josiah his son.

¹⁵The sons of Josiah: the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, and the fourth Shallum.

¹⁶The sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, and Zedekiah his son.

¹⁷The sons of Jeconiah, the captive: Shealtiel his son,

¹⁸Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.

¹⁹The sons of Pedaiah: Zerubbabel and Shimei. The sons of Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister;

²⁰and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab Hesed, five.

²¹The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah; the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah.

²²The son of Shecaniah: Shemaiah. The sons of Shemaiah: Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six.

²³The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three.

²⁴The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

About a five-minute read

Drawn from the public-domain commentaries and Spurgeon sermons that cover this exact passage · ~742 words.

Matthew Henry. Of all David's sons Solomon was chosen to succeed him, perhaps not for any personal merits (his wisdom was God's gift), but so, Father, because it seemed good unto thee. David had many concubines; but their children are not named, as not worthy of the honour (Ch1 3:9), the rather because the concubines had dealt treacherously with David in the affair of Absalom. 6. The sons of Nathan were his fathers as man, the sons of Solomon his predecessors as king. The rest had the honour to be the sons of David; but these only had the honour to be related to the Messiah. David having nineteen sons, we may suppose them to have raised many noble families in Israel whom we never hear of in the history. Salathiel is said to be the son of Jeconiah because adopted by him, and because, as some think, he succeeded him in the dignity to which he was restored by Evil-merodach. Otherwise Jeconiah was written childless: he was the signet God plucked from his right hand (Jer 22:24), and in his room Zerubbabel was placed, and therefore God saith to him (Hag 2:23), I will make thee as a signet. The only famous man of that house that we meet with at their return from captivity was Zerubbabel, elsewhere called the son of Salathiel, but appearing here to be his grandson (Ch1 3:17-19), which is usual in scripture. The great and celebrated names by which the line of David is drawn down to the captivity, the kings of Judah in a lineal succession, the history of whom we have had at large in the two books of Kings and shall meet with again in the second book of Chronicles. The posterity of Zerubbabel here bear not the same names that they do in the genealogies (Mt. 1, or Lu. 3), but those no doubt were taken from the then herald's office, the public registers which the priests kept of all the families of Judah, especially that of David. But the scripture gives us an account only of the descendants of Solomon here, and of Nathan, Lu. 3. Seldom has a crown gone in a direct line from father to son for seventeen descents together, as here.

Jamieson–Fausset–Brown. four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel--or, "Bath-sheba" (Sa2 11:3), and there her father is called "Eliam." Of course Solomon was not her "only son," but he is called so (Pro 4:3) from the distinguished affection of which he was the object; and though the oldest, he is named the last of Bath-sheba's children. Elishama and Eliphelet--Two sons of the same name are twice mentioned (Ch1 3:8). Or, it might be, that the former two were dead, and their names had been given to sons afterwards born to preserve their memories. nine--The number of David's sons born after his removal to Jerusalem, was eleven (Sa2 5:14), but only nine are mentioned here: two of them being omitted, either in consequence of their early deaths or because they left no issue. HIS LINE TO ZEDEKIAH. (Ch1 3:10-16) Solomon's son was Rehoboam, &c.--David's line is here drawn down to the captivity, through a succession of good and bad, but still influential and celebrated, monarchs. It has rarely happened that a crown has been transmitted from father to son, in lineal descent, for seventeen reigns. Shallum--No king of this name is mentioned in the history of Josiah's sons (2Ki. 14:1-29; 2Ki. 23:1-37), but there is a notice of Shallum the son of Josiah (Jer 22:11), who reigned in the stead of his father, and who is generally supposed to be Jehoahaz, a younger son, here called the fourth, of Josiah. Zedekiah--called the son of Josiah (compare Jer 1:3; Jer 37:1), but in Ch2 36:19 he is described as the brother of Jehoiachin, who was the son of Jehoiakim, and consequently the grandson of Josiah. SUCCESSORS OF JECONIAH. (Ch1 3:17-24) the sons of Jeconiah; Assir--rather, "Jeconiah the prisoner," or "captive." This record of his condition was added to show that Salathiel was born during the captivity in Babylon (compare Mat 1:12). And the sons of Salathiel; Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister. The sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah and Jesaiah; the sons of Rephaiah; his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah. And the sons of Jeconiah the the captive, Salathiel (Shealtiel, Ezr 3:2; Neh 12:1; Hag 1:12, Hag 1:14; Hag 2:2) his son.

Full commentary on this passage

Matthew Henry

chapter

Of all the families of Israel none was so illustrious as the family of David. That is the family which was mentioned in the foregoing chapter (Ch1 3:15). Here we have a full account of it. I. David's sons (Ch1 3:1-9). II. His successors in the throne as long as the kingdom continued (Ch1 3:10-16). III. The remains of his family in and after the captivity (Ch1 3:17-24). From this family, "as concerning the flesh, Christ came."

Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain

1–9

We had an account of David's sons, Sa2 3:2, etc., and Sa2 5:14, etc. 1. He had many sons; and no doubt wrote as he thought, Psa 127:5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of these arrows. 2. Some of them were a grief to him, as Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah; and we do not read of any of them that imitated his piety or devotion except Solomon, and he came far short of it. 3. One of them, which Bath-sheba bore to him, he called Nathan, probably in honour of Nathan the prophet, who reproved him for his sin in that matter and was instrumental to bring him to repentance. It seems he loved him the better for it as long as he lived. It is wisdom to esteem those our best friends that deal faithfully with us. From this son of David our Lord Jesus descended, as appears Luk 3:31. 4. Here are two Elishamas, and two Eliphelets, Ch1 3:6, Ch1 3:8. Probably the two former were dead, and therefore David called two more by their names, which he would not have done if there had been any ill omen in this practice as some fancy. 5. David had many concubines; but their children are not named, as not worthy of the honour (Ch1 3:9), the rather because the concubines had dealt treacherously with David in the affair of Absalom. 6. Of all David's sons Solomon was chosen to succeed him, perhaps not for any personal merits (his wisdom was God's gift), but so, Father, because it seemed good unto thee.

Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain

10–24

David having nineteen sons, we may suppose them to have raised many noble families in Israel whom we never hear of in the history. But the scripture gives us an account only of the descendants of Solomon here, and of Nathan, Lu. 3. The rest had the honour to be the sons of David; but these only had the honour to be related to the Messiah. The sons of Nathan were his fathers as man, the sons of Solomon his predecessors as king. We have here, 1. The great and celebrated names by which the line of David is drawn down to the captivity, the kings of Judah in a lineal succession, the history of whom we have had at large in the two books of Kings and shall meet with again in the second book of Chronicles. Seldom has a crown gone in a direct line from father to son for seventeen descents together, as here. This was the recompence of David's piety. About the time of the captivity the lineal descent was interrupted, and the crown went from one brother to another and from a nephew to an uncle, which was a presage of the eclipsing of the glory of that house. 2. The less famous, and most of them very obscure, names, in which the house of David subsisted after the captivity. The only famous man of that house that we meet with at their return from captivity was Zerubbabel, elsewhere called the son of Salathiel, but appearing here to be his grandson (Ch1 3:17-19), which is usual in scripture. Belshazzar is called Nebuchadnezzar's son, but was his grandson. Salathiel is said to be the son of Jeconiah because adopted by him, and because, as some think, he succeeded him in the dignity to which he was restored by Evil-merodach. Otherwise Jeconiah was written childless: he was the signet God plucked from his right hand (Jer 22:24), and in his room Zerubbabel was placed, and therefore God saith to him (Hag 2:23), I will make thee as a signet. The posterity of Zerubbabel here bear not the same names that they do in the genealogies (Mt. 1, or Lu. 3), but those no doubt were taken from the then herald's office, the public registers which the priests kept of all the families of Judah, especially that of David. The last person named in this chapter is Anani, of whom bishop Patrick says that the Targum adds these words, He is the king Messiah, who is to be revealed, and some of the Jewish writers give this reason, because it is said (Dan 7:13), the son of man came gnim gnanani - with the clouds of heaven. The reason indeed is very foreign and far-fetched; but that learned man thinks it may be made use of as an evidence that their minds were always full of the thoughts of the Messiah and that they expected it would not be very long after the days of Zerubbabel before the set time of his approach would come.

Source · CC0-1.0 / Public Domain

Jamieson–Fausset–Brown

Eglah his wife--supposed to be another name of Michal, who, though she had no son after her mockery of David for dancing before the ark [Sa2 6:16, Sa2 6:20], might have had one previous to that time. She has the title of wife appended to her name because she was his proper wife; and the mention of her name last probably arose from the circumstance that, having been withdrawn from David and married to another husband but afterwards restored, she had in reality become the last of his wives.