1 Chronicles 7:30–8:11

And Heber,.... The other grandson of Asher; and son of Beriah: begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shuah their sister; a place on the borders of Ephraim is called the coast of Japhleti; but whether from this Japhlet is uncertain.

And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath; these are the children of Japhlet. Of whom we read not elsewhere,

And the sons of Shamer,.... Or Shomer, the brother of Japhlet, 1 Chronicles 7:32. Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram; of whom nothing is known but their names.

And the sons of his brother Helem,.... Or Helem his brother, that is, the brother of Shomer, who, according to Hillerus (n), is Hotham, 1 Chronicles 7:32. Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Aram; nowhere else mentioned. (n) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 551.

And the sons of Zophah,.... The eldest of the sons of Helem: Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah, Bezer; and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera; in all eleven.

And the sons of Jether,.... The same with Ithran, the last of Zophah's sons but one, 1 Chronicles 7:37, Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara; not Jephunneh the father of Caleb; he was not of the tribe of Asher, but of Judah.

And the sons of Ulla,.... Who either was the son of Ara, last mentioned, or another son of Jether: Arah, and Haniel, and Rezia; here ends the genealogy of Asher; the last of the tribes; Dan and Zebulun not being reckoned at all.

All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father's house,.... Principal men in their tribe, and respective families: choice and mighty men of valour; these were some selected from others, being eminent for their courage and valour: chief of the princes; or chief princes; the Vulgate Latin version is, dukes of dukes, they were heads of their fathers' families: and the number throughout the genealogy that were apt to war, and to battle, was twenty and six thousand men; that is, in the days of David, 1 Chronicles 7:4, this was the number, not of their chief men, nor of all the people in the tribe, but of their militia.

Shaharaim begat children in the country of Moab--He had probably been driven to take refuge in that foreign land on the same calamitous occasion that forced Elimelech to emigrate thither (Rut 1:1). But, destitute of natural affection, he forsook or divorced his two wives, and in the land of his sojourn married a third, by whom he had several sons. But there is another explanation given of the conduct of this Benjamite polygamist. His children by Hushim are mentioned (Ch1 8:11), while his other wife is unnoticed. Hence it has been thought probable that it is Baara who is mentioned under the name of Hodesh, so called because her husband, after long desertion, returned and cohabited with her as before.

Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. Nohah is supposed by some to be the same with Becher, 1 Chronicles 7:6 and by others with Naaman, Genesis 46:21, as Rapha, the same with Rosh there.

The sons of Bela were Addar, and Gera, and Abihud. The first of these is thought to be the same with Ard, mentioned among the sons of Benjamin, Genesis 46:21 but was one of his grandsons, see Numbers 26:40 as Gera also was.

And Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah, and Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram. These were all the sons of Bela; one of the name of Naaman is reckoned among the sons of Benjamin, Genesis 46:21 and from this grandson the family of the Naamanites are named, Numbers 26:40, and Ahoah is by some thought to be the same with Ehi, mentioned in Genesis 46:21 as one of Benjamin's sons. Some take the three last to be the sons of Ehud, spoken of in the next verse; but Shephuphan and Huram seem to be the same with Shupham and Hupham, Numbers 26:39.

And these are the sons of Ehud,.... Not he that was a judge in Israel, Judges 3:15 but perhaps a son of Huram the last mentioned; for not the three last are his sons, as some think, but the three following in the next verse; what follows being to be read in a parenthesis: (these are the heads of the fathers of the inhabitants of Geba;) a city in the tribe of Benjamin, Joshua 18:24 namely, those sons of Ehud, after mentioned, were principal men in that tribe, and chief of the inhabitants of the city of Geba: and they removed them to Manahath; the name of a country referred to in 1 Chronicles 2:52 according to Jarchi, which was in the tribe of Judah; Geba being too small, either the inhabitants of Geba removed them, or they removed themselves, or their fathers removed them, 1 Chronicles 8:7, or it may be read impersonally, they were removed thither for the sake of a better habitation; the Targum adds,"to the land of the house of Esau,''to Edom; which is not likely.

And Naaman, and Ahiah, and Gera,.... Or, to wit, Naaman, &c. so the words are to be connected with these are the sons or Ehud, in the preceding verse: he removed them; to the above place, that is, either Gera, or rather Ehud, he advised them, directed and enjoined them to go thither, as being most convenient for them: and he begat Uzza and Ahihud; after he had removed his other sons.

And Shaharaim,.... Who was either a son of Ahihud, or rather a brother of his, another son of Ehud: begat children in the country of Moab; whither he might go on account of the famine, as Elimelech did, Ruth 1:1, after he had sent them away; which some understand of those that were removed from Geba to Manahath, 1 Chronicles 8:6, but a different word is here used; and besides Shaharaim seems to be one of those that were removed. Kimchi takes Shilhootham, we render "had sent them away", to be the name of his first wife, of whom he begat children in Moab; but it seems best to render and interpret the words in connection with what follows: he begat children in Moab: after he had sent them away; even Hushim and Baara his wives; after he had divorced them, for some reasons he had, he begat children of another wife, later mentioned.

And he begat of Hodesh his wife,.... That is, he, I say, begat, namely, Shaharaim; the Targum makes this Hodesh to be the same with Baara, called so because she was newly espoused; but wrongly: the sons begotten of her were the seven following; Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcham, Jeuz, Shachia, and Mirma. These were his sons; the sons of Shaharaim by his wife Hodesh: heads of the fathers; of the houses or families of their father.

There is little or nothing of history in all these verses; we have not therefore much to observe. 1. As to the difficulties that occur in this and the foregoing genealogies we need not perplex ourselves. I presume Ezra took them as he found them in the books of the kings of Israel and Judah (Ezr 9:1), according as they were given in by the several tribes, each observing what method they thought fit. Hence some ascend, others desecnd; some have numbers affixed, others places; some have historical remarks intermixed, others have not; some are shorter, others longer; some agree with other records, others differ; some, it is likely, were torn, erased, and blotted, others more legible. Those of Dan and Reuben were entirely lost. This holy man wrote as he was moved by the Holy Ghost; but there was no necessity for the making up of the defects, no, nor for the rectifying of the mistakes, of these genealogies by inspiration. It was sufficient that he copied them out as they came into his hand, or so much of them as was requisite to the present purpose, which was the directing of the returned captives to settle as nearly as they could with those of their own family, and in the places of their former residence. We may suppose that many things in these genealogies which to us seem intricate, abrupt, and perplexed, were plain and easy to them then (who knew how to fill up the deficiencies) and abundantly answered the intention of the publishing of them. 2. Many great and mighty nations there were now in being upon earth, and many illustrious men in them, whose names are buried in perpetual oblivion, while the names of multitudes of the Israel of God are here carefully preserved in everlasting remembrance. They are Jasher, Jeshurun - just ones, and the memory of the just is blessed. Many of these we have reason to fear, came short of everlasting honour (for even the wicked kings of Judah come into the genealogy), yet the perpetuating of their names here was a figure of the writing of the names of all God's spiritual Israel in the Lamb's book of life. 3. This tribe of Benjamin was once brought to a very low ebb, in the time of the judges, upon the occasion of the iniquity of Gibeah, when only 600 men escaped the sword of justice; and yet, in these genealogies, it makes as good a figure as almost any of the tribes: for it is the honour of God to help the weakest and raise up those that are most diminished and abased. 4. Here is mention of one Ehud (Ch1 8:6), in the preceding verse of one Gera (Ch1 8:5) and (Ch1 8:8) of one that descended from him, that begat children in the country of Moab, which inclines me to think it was that Ehud who was the second of the judges of Israel; for he is said to be the son of Gera and a Benjamite (Jdg 3:15), and he delivered Israel from the oppression of the Moabites by killing the king of Moab, which might give him a greater sway in the country of Moab than we find evidence of in his history and might occasion some of his posterity to settle there. 5. Here is mention of some of the Benjamites that drove away the inhabitants of Gath (Ch1 8:13), perhaps those that had slain the Ephraimites (Ch1 7:21) or their posterity, by way of reprisal: and one of those that did this piece of justice was named Beriah too, that name in which the memorial of that injury was preserved. 6. Particular notice is taken of those that dwelt in Jerusalem (Ch1 8:28 and again Ch1 8:32), that those whose ancestors had had their residence there might thereby be induced, at their return from captivity, to settle there too, which, for aught that appears, few were willing to do, because it was the post of danger: and therefore we find (Neh 11:2) the people blessed those that willingly offered themselves to dwell at Jerusalem, the greater part being inclined to prefer the cities of Judah. Those whose godly parents had their conversation in the new Jerusalem should thereby be engaged to set their faces thitherward and pursue the way thither, whatever it cost them.

And of Hushim he begat Abitub, and Elpaal. Before he sent her away, or divorced her, 1 Chronicles 8:8.