And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth and Zaza ,.... Of whom no mention is made elsewhere: these were the sons of Jerahmeel ; not only his immediate sons, but their posterity, called from him Jerahmeelites, 1 Samuel 27:10 . read more
Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters ,.... And but one of that sort, whose name was Ahlai, 1 Chronicles 2:31 the plural being put here for the singular; or, if that is the name of a son, as some think, he died in his father's lifetime, and left no issue; so that there only remained daughters, and it seems but one by the next verse: and Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha ; one born in his house, and brought up by him, and a proselyte, such an one as Eliezer in... read more
And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife ,.... Having first given him his freedom, as the Targum premises; this daughter seems to be Ahlai, 1 Chronicles 2:31 which receives confirmation from Zabad, one of the descendants of this man, 1 Chronicles 2:36 , being said to be the son of Ahlai, 1 Chronicles 11:41 , that is, great-grandson: and she bare him Attai ; the genealogy of whose descendants is given to the end of 1 Chronicles 2:41 , of whom no mention is made... read more
Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel ,.... Called Chelubai, 1 Chronicles 2:9 and is the same Caleb spoken of in 1 Chronicles 2:18 and his sons next reckoned were by a third wife, Azubah, Ephrath being dead, 1 Chronicles 2:19 and these sons were Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph ; who gave name to the city of Ziph; there were two of this name in the tribe of Judah, Joshua 15:24 or this is the title of Mesha, governor of the city of Ziph; so the Targum... read more
Whose name was Jarha - "And he gave him his liberty, and gave him Sheshan his daughter to wife." - T. read more
Now the sons of Caleb - This was not Caleb the son of Jephunneh, but Caleb the son of Hezron, 1 Chronicles 2:18 , 1 Chronicles 2:50 . But some think that Caleb the son of Hezron was the grandson of Caleb, son of Jephunneh; but this is probably fanciful. The father of Ziph - "The prince of the Ziphites." - T. read more
The Authorized Version is not justified in substituting children for the Hebrew "sons;" the object evidently being to make this statement reconcilable with 1 Chronicles 2:34 , which says that Sheshan had only daughters. The difficulty can be removed, possibly, by supposing that Ahlai died (yet see 1 Chronicles 11:41 ), or that, at the time to which 1 Chronicles 2:34 refers, only daughters were in question. Wall's conjecture, that Ahlai of 1 Chronicles 2:31 is the same with Attai ... read more
We reach here the second interruption in the account of Caleb's posterity. (A) Jerahmeel , though the eldest Hezronite son, has as yet been passed by in favour of Ram and in favour of Caleb, so far as regards part of his descendants. Jerahmeel himself is mentioned nowhere else, but his people collectively are ( 1 Samuel 27:10 ; 1 Samuel 30:29 ). On the other hand, this place alone supplies the lists of names, and we have not the aid of any collation. 1 Chronicles 2:25 purports in the... read more
The name Zabad throws considerable doubt on the opinion that no one of Jerahmeel's descendants given in this genealogy can be found elsewhere in the Old Testament; for compare again 1 Chronicles 11:41 . read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Chronicles 2:18-55
The persons mentioned in the former paragraph are most of them such as we read of, and most of them such as we read much of, in other scriptures; but very few of those to whom this paragraph relates are mentioned any where else. It should seem, the tribe of Judah were more full and exact in their genealogies than any other of the tribes, in which we must acknowledge a special providence, for the clearing of the genealogy of Christ. 1. Here we find Bezaleel, who was head-workman in building the... read more