Adam, Seth ,.... These first four verses exactly agree with the account of the antediluvian patriarchs in Genesis 5:1 , the first letter in Adam is larger than usual, as a memorial, as Buxtorf F13 observes, of the first and only man, from whence mankind had their beginning, and whose history the author had undertaken to write. read more
The sons of Japheth, Gomer ,.... Here begins the genealogy of the sons of Noah after the flood; of the sons of Japheth the elder, in this and the two following verses; next of the sons of Ham, the younger brother, 1 Chronicles 1:8 , then of Shem, whose posterity are mentioned last, because from him, in the line of Heber, sprang Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish nation, of whom the Messiah was to come, for whose sake this genealogy is given, 1 Chronicles 1:17 . The whole is the same... read more
Adam , Sheth , Enosh - That is, Adam was the father of Sheth or Seth. Seth was the father of Enosh, Enosh the father of Kenan, and so on. No notice is taken of Cain and Abel, or of any of the other sons of Adam. One line of patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, is what the historian intended to give; and to have mentioned the posterity of Cain or Abel would have been useless, as Noah was not the immediate descendant of either. Besides, all their posterity had perished in the deluge, none... read more
After Tiras, the Targum adds, "And the names of their countries were Africa, and Germany, and Media, and Macedonia, Bithynia, and Maesia, and Thrace." And in another copy, "Germany, Getia, and Media, and Ephesus, Bithynia, and Maesia, and Thrace." read more
To this verse the Targum adds, "And the names of their countries were Asia, and Persia, and Barbary. read more
The sons of Javan - "But the sons of Macedon, Alsu, and Tarsus, Ilation, and Dardania, or, according to others, Elisha, Alam, Titsas, Achzavia, and Dardania, Ridom, and Chamen, and Antioch." So says this Targum, which I shall henceforth designate by the letter T. read more
The sons of Ham ; Cush , and Mizraim - "Arabia and Egypt." - T. read more
Seba , and Havilah - "Sindi and Hindi, and Semadaei, and Libyes and the Zingitae; but the sons of the Mauritanians, Demargad and Mesag." - T. read more
He began to be mighty upon the earth - "He began to be bold in sin, a murderer of the innocent, and a rebel before the Lord." - T. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Chronicles 1:1-27
This paragraph has Adam for its first word and Abraham for its last. Between the creation of the former and the birth of the latter were 2000 years, almost the one-half of which time Adam himself lived. Adam was the common father of our flesh, Abraham the common father of the faithful. By the breach which the former made of the covenant of innocency, we were all made miserable; by the covenant of grace made with the latter, we all are, or may be, made happy. We all are, by nature, the seed of... read more