Of the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four.
KJV
Now the sons of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimrom, four.
Commentary
Commentary
In this chapter we have some account of the genealogies,
I. Of Issachar, ver. 1-5 .
II. Of Benjamin, ver. 6-12 .
III. Of Naphtali, ver. 13 .
IV. Of Manasseh, ver. 14-19 .
V. Of Ephraim, ver. 20-29 .
VI. Of Asher, ver. 30-40 .
Here is no account either of Zebulun or Dan. Why they only should be
omitted we can assign no reason; only it is the disgrace of the tribe
of Dan that idolatry began in that colony of the Danites which fixed in
Laish, and called Dan, and there one of the golden calves was set up by
Jeroboam. Dan is omitted, Rev. vii.
1 Now the sons of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and
Shimron, four.
2 And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and
Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father's house, to wit, of Tola: they were valiant men of might in their
generations; whose number was in the days of David two and
twenty thousand and six hundred.
3 And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah;
Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief
men.
4 And with them, by their generations, after the house of their
fathers, were bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty
thousand men: for they had many wives and sons.
5 And their brethren among all the families of Issachar were valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies
fourscore and seven thousand.
6 The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.
7 And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and
Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of the house of their fathers,
mighty men of valour; and were reckoned by their genealogies
twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.
8 And the sons of Becher; Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and
Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and
Alameth. All these are the sons of Becher.
9 And the number of them, after their genealogy by their
generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of
valour, was twenty thousand and two hundred.
10 The sons also of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan;
Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and
Tharshish, and Ahishahar.
11 All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their
fathers, mighty men of valour, were seventeen thousand and two
hundred soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle.
12 Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir, and Hushim,
the sons of Aher.
13 The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and
Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
14 The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare: ( but his
concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:
15 And Machir took to wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim,
whose sister's name was Maachah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.
16 And Maachah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called
his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and
his sons were Ulam and Rakem.
17 And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of
Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
18 And his sister Hammoleketh bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and
Mahalah.
19 And the sons of Shemida were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi,
and Aniam.
I. Of the tribe of Issachar, whom Jacob had compared to a strong
ass, couching between two burdens ( Gen. xlix. 14 ),
an industrious tribe, that minded their country business very closely
and rejoiced in their tents, Deut. xxxiii. 18 .
And here it appears,
1. That they were a numerous tribe; for they had many wives. So
fruitful their country was that they saw no danger of over-stocking the
pasture, and so ingenious the people were that they could find work for
all hands. Let no people complain of their numbers, provided they
suffer none to be idle.
2. That they were a valiant tribe, men of might ( v. 2, 5 ), chief men, v. 3 .
Those that were inured to labour and business were of all men the
fittest to serve their country when there was occasion, The number of
the respective families, as taken in the days of David, is here set
down, amounting in the whole to above 145,000 men fit for war. The
account, some think, was taken when Joab numbered the people, 2 Sam. xxiv. But I rather think it refers to some other computation that was made,
perhaps among themselves, because it is said
( 1 Chron. xxvii. 24 )
that that account was not inserted in the chronicles of king David, it
having offended God.
II. Of the tribe of Benjamin. Some account is here given of this tribe,
but much larger in the next chapter. The militia of this tribe scarcely
reached to 60,000; but they are said to be mighty men of valour, v. 7, 9, 11 . Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf, Gen. xlix. 27 .
It was the honour of this tribe that it produced Saul the first king,
and more its honour that it adhered to the rightful kings of the house
of David when the other tribes revolted. Here is mention
( v. 12 )
of Hushim the sons of Aher. The sons of Dan are said to be Hushim ( Gen. xlvi. 23 ),
and therefore some read Aher appellatively, Hushim --the sons
of another (that is, another of Jacob's sons) or the sons of a
stranger, which Israelites should not be, but such the Danites were
when they set up Micah's graven and molten image among them.
III. Of the tribe of Naphtali, v. 13 .
The first fathers only of that tribe are named, the very same that we
shall find, Gen. xlvi. 24 ,
only that Shillem there is Shallum here. None of their
descendents are named, perhaps because their genealogies were lost.
IV. Of the tribe of Manasseh, that part of it which was seated within
Jordan; for of the other part we had some account before, ch. v. 23 ,
&c. Of this tribe observe,
1. That one of them married an Aramitess, that is, a Syrian, v. 14 .
This was during their bondage in Egypt, so early did they begin to
mingle with the nations.
2. That, though the father married a Syrian, Machir, the son of that
marriage, perhaps seeing the inconvenience of it in his father's house,
took to wife a daughter of Benjamin, v. 15 .
It is good for the children to take warning by their father's mistakes
and not stumble at the same stone.
3. Here is mention of Bedan
( v. 17 ),
who perhaps is the same with that Bedan who is mentioned as one of
Israel's deliverers, 1 Sam. xii. 11 .
Jair perhaps, who was of Manasseh
( Judg. x. 3 ),
was the man.
20 And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and
Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son,
21 And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and
Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew,
because they came down to take away their cattle.
22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren
came to comfort him.
23 And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bare a
son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his
house.
24 (And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon the
nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah.)
25 And Rephah was his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son,
and Tahan his son,
26 Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
27 Non his son, Jehoshua his son.
28 And their possessions and habitations were, Bethel and the
towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the
towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and
the towns thereof:
29 And by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth-shean
and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor
and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of
Israel.
30 The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Isuah, and Ishuai, and Beriah,
and Serah their sister.
31 And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel, who is the
father of Birzavith.
32 And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua
their sister.
33 And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath.
These are the children of Japhlet.
34 And the sons of Shamer; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.
35 And the sons of his brother Helem; Zophah, and Imna, and
Shelesh, and Amal.
36 The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and
Beri, and Imrah,
37 Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and
Beera.
38 And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara.
39 And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Haniel, and Rezia.
40 All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father's house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the
princes. And the number throughout the genealogy of them that
were apt to the war and to battle was twenty and six thousand
men.
I. Of the tribe of Ephraim. Great things we read of that tribe when it
came to maturity. Here we have an account of the disasters of its
infancy, while it was in Egypt as it should seem; for Ephraim himself
was alive when those things were done, which yet is hard to imagine if
it were, as is here computed, seven generations off. Therefore I am apt
to think that either it was another Ephraim or that those who were
slain were the immediate sons of that Ephraim that was the son of
Joseph. In this passage, which is related here only, we have,
1. The great breach that was made upon the family of Ephraim. The men
of Gath, Philistines, giants, slew many of the sons of that family, because they came down to take away their cattle, v. 21 .
It is uncertain who were the aggressors here. Some make the men of Gath
the aggressors, men born in the land of Egypt, but now resident
in Gath, supposing that they came down into the land of Goshen, to
drive away the Ephraimites' cattle, and slew the owners, because they
stood up in the defence of them. Many a man's life has been exposed and
betrayed by his wealth; so far is it from being a strong city. Others
think that the Ephraimites made a descent upon the men of Gath to
plunder them, presuming that the time had come when they should be put
in possession of Canaan; but they paid dearly for their rashness and
precipitation. Those that will not wait God's time cannot expect God's
blessing. I rather think that the men of Gath came down upon the
Ephraimites, because the Israelites in Egypt were shepherds, not
soldiers, abounded in cattle of their own, and therefore were not
likely to venture their lives for their neighbours' cattle: and the
words may be read, The men of Gath slew them, for they came down to
take away their cattle. Zabad the son of Ephraim, and Shuthelah,
and Ezer, and Elead (his grandchildren), were, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks,
the men that were slain. Jacob had foretold that the seed of Ephraim
should become a multitude of nations ( Gen. xlviii. 19 ),
and yet that plant is thus nipped in the bud. God's providences often
seem to contradict his promises; but, when they do so, they really
magnify the promise, and make the performance of it, notwithstanding,
so much more illustrious. The Ephraimites were the posterity of
Joseph, and yet his power could not protect them, though some think he
was yet living. The sword devours one as well as another.
2. The great grief which oppressed the father of the family hereupon: Ephraim mourned many days. Nothing brings the aged to the grave
with more sorrow than their following the young that descend from them
to the grave first, especially if in blood. It is often the burden of
those that live to be old that they see those go before them of whom
they said, These same shall comfort us. It was a brotherly
friendly office which his brethren did, when they came to comfort
him under this great affliction, to express their sympathy with him
and concern for him, and to suggest that to him which would support and
quiet him under this sad providence. Probably they reminded him of the
promise of increase which Jacob had blessed him when he laid his right
hand upon his head. Although his house was not so with God as he
hoped, but a house of mourning, a shattered family, yet that promise
was sure, 2 Sam. xxiii. 5 .
3. The repair of this breach, in some measure, by addition of another
son to his family in his old age
( v. 23 ),
like Seth, another seed instead of that of Abel whom Cain slew, Gen. iv. 25 .
When God thus restores comfort to his mourners, makes glad according
to the days wherein he afflicted, setting the mercies over against
the crosses, we ought therein to take notice of the kindness and
tenderness of divine Providence; it is as if it repented God
concerning his servants, Ps. xc. 13, 15 .
Yet joy that a man was born into his family could not make him forget
his grief; for he gives a melancholy name to his son, Beriah--in
trouble, for he was born when the family was in mourning, when it went evil with his house. It is good to have in remembrance
the affliction and the misery, the wormwood and the gall, that our
souls may be humbled within us, Lam. iii. 19, 20 .
What name more proper for man that is born of a woman than Beriah, because born into a troublesome world? It is added, as a
further honour to the house of Ephraim,
(1.) That a daughter of that tribe, Sherah by name, at the time
of Israel's setting in Canaan, built some cities, either at her own
charge or by her own care; one of them bore her name, Uzzen-sherah, v. 24 .
A virtuous woman may be as great an honour and blessing to a family as
a mighty man.
(2.) That a son of that tribe was employed in the conquest of Canaan, Joshua the son of Nun, v. 27 .
In this also the breach made on Ephraim's family was further repaired;
and perhaps the resentment of this injury formerly done by the
Canaanites to the Ephraimites might make him more vigorous in the
war.
II. Of the tribe of Asher. Some men of note of that tribe are here
named. Their militia was not numerous in comparison with some other
tribes, only 26,000 men in all; but their princes were choice and
mighty men of valour, chief of the princes ( v. 40 ),
and perhaps it was their wisdom that they coveted not to make their
trained bands numerous, but rather to have a few, and those apt to the
war and serviceable men.
INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 7
In this chapter are given the genealogies of the tribes of Issachar, 1Ch 7:1 of Benjamin, 1Ch 7:6 Naphtali, 1Ch 7:13, of Manasseh, 1Ch 7:14 of Ephraim, 1Ch 7:20 and of Asher, 1Ch 7:30, even of the chief men of them; and their numbers are reckoned as in the times of David. The tribes of Dan and Zebulun are omitted.
Ver. 1. Now the sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. The same number is given, Ge 46:13 with a small variation of two of their names, there called Phuvah and Job, from whence so many families sprang, mentioned Nu 26:23, where the names are the same as here.
1 Chronicles 7:2
Ver. 2. And the sons of Tola,.... The eldest son of Issachar, whose posterity are only reckoned by name:
Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father's house, to wit, of Tola; the principal man of his family:
[they] were valiant men of might in their generations, famous for their courage and military exploits, though they sprang from Tola, whose name signifies "a worm"; and which name Bochart {k} conjectures was given him by his parents, because he was so weakly that they had no hopes of raising him; and yet from him sprung such mighty men, and from them such a numerous race, as follows:
whose number was, in the days of David, two and twenty thousand and six hundred; besides those of the posterity of Uzzi, after mentioned. This was at the time Joab took the number of Israel, by the order of David, 1Ch 21:5.
{k} Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 21. col. 630.
1 Chronicles 7:3
Ver. 3. And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah,.... Including his posterity:
and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five; together with their father, all reckoned the sons of Uzzi:
all of them chief men; in their father's house, heads of families.
1 Chronicles 7:4
Ver. 4. And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, were bands of soldiers for war,.... Companies of men of military courage and skill, who could and did go out to war upon occasion:
six and thirty thousand [men]; besides the 22,600 Tolaites, 1Ch 7:2,
for they had many wives and sons; having many wives, they had many sons; polygamy was the cause of their large numbers; and that they gave into for the sake of the multiplication of Abraham's seed, according to the divine promise.
1 Chronicles 7:5
Ver. 5. And their brethren among all the families of Issachar,.... As those of Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, 1Ch 7:1
were men of might; valiant and courageous:
reckoned in all, by their genealogies, fourscore and seven thousand; that is, including with these those of Tola and Uzzi before given.
1 Chronicles 7:6
Ver. 6. The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three. Benjamin had ten sons, but three only are mentioned first; the latter of these seems to be the same with Ashbel, Ge 46:21.
1 Chronicles 7:7
Ver. 7. And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five,.... These are thought by some to be the grandsons of Bela, because of the different names in 1Ch 8:3,
heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour; principal men in their tribe and families, and of great courage:
and were reckoned by their genealogies twenty and two thousand and thirty and four; who sprung from these men.
1 Chronicles 7:8
Ver. 8. And the sons of Becher,.... Another son of Benjamin, 1Ch 7:6,
Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth; the two last of these, according to Kimchi, gave names to two cities in Benjamin, built by them; Anathoth, the native place of Jeremiah the prophet, and Alameth, the same with Bahurim, 2Sa 16:5
all these are the sons of Becher; before named.
1 Chronicles 7:9
Ver. 9. And the number of them,.... Of the posterity of the sons of Becher:
after their genealogy by their generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour; as they increased in succeeding ages, and at the time of David:
was twenty thousand and two hundred.
1 Chronicles 7:10
Ver. 10. The sons also of Jediael,.... The third son of Benjamin before mentioned, 1Ch 7:6. Bilhan, including his posterity, as follows:
and the sons of Bilhan; Jeush, and Benjamin; called so after his great grandfather:
and Ehud; who was the second judge in Israel, Jud 3:15
and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tharshish, and Ahishahar; of whom we nowhere else read.
1 Chronicles 7:11
Ver. 11. All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers, mighty men of valour, [were] seventeen thousand and two hundred [soldiers], fit to go out for war and battle. Which, with the above sums put together, make of the tribe of Benjamin, besides what follow, 59,430; who, if numbered by Joab, the account was not given in by him, 1Ch 21:6.
1 Chronicles 7:12
Ver. 12. Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir,.... The same with Iri, 1Ch 7:7 so that these were not sons of Benjamin, as they seem to be, if they are the same with Muppim and Huppim in Ge 46:21 but his great-grandchildren, and are the same with Shupham and Hupham, from whom families of the tribe of Benjamin sprung, Nu 26:39 the Targum calls them the inhabitants of a city, but of what is not said, unless Geba should be meant, 1Ch 8:6 and
Hushim, the sons of Aher: either the same with Aharah, the third son of Benjamin, 1Ch 8:1 or Ahiram, Nu 26:38, though some read the words, "the sons of another"; whom they suppose to be Dan, who otherwise is omitted; and Hushim is the only son of Dan, Ge 46:23, where the same plural word is used as here; who, they think, is called another, by way of detestation, that tribe being guilty of gross idolatry; but he rather seems to belong to Benjamin.
1 Chronicles 7:13
Ver. 13. The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum,.... Called Shillem, Ge 46:24,
the sons of Bilhah; Jacob's concubine; her grandsons; for Naphtali, the father of them, was her son; from these sprung so many families, after their names, Nu 26:48.
1 Chronicles 7:14
Ver. 14. The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare,.... The wife of Manasseh, as distinguished from his concubine in the next clause; though the Targum reads, in connection with that,
"whom his Aramitess (or Syrian) concubine bare;''
and then adds,
who also bare Machir the father of Gilead; so that Ashriel and Machir were brethren; from which Ashriel sprung the family of the Ashrielites, Nu 26:29 as from Machir the Machirites, Nu 26:29.
1 Chronicles 7:15
Ver. 15. And Machir took to wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister's name was Maachah,.... He married into the tribe of Benjamin, a sister of the persons mentioned, 1Ch 7:12 whose name was Maachah:
and the name of the second was Zelophehad; the second son of Manasseh, or of his posterity mentioned; for he was not his immediate son; for he was the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, Nu 27:1
and Zelophehad had daughters; but no sons, the names of his daughters are given, Nu 26:33.
1 Chronicles 7:16
Ver. 16. And Maachah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh,.... He had both these sons by her:
and his sons were Ulam and Rakem, that is, either the sons of Peresh or Sheresh, the nearest, as Kimchi observes.
1 Chronicles 7:17
Ver. 17. And the sons of Ulam: Bedan,.... See 1Sa 12:11
these were the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh; that is, were of his posterity, or belonged to his family; for Ulam and Rakem were sons of a brother of Gilead, 1Ch 7:16.
1 Chronicles 7:18
Ver. 18. And his sister Hammoleketh,.... The sister of Gilead so named; though the Targum renders it "that reigned"; and so Kimchi, that reigned in some part of Gilead; and the Vulgate Latin version translates it, "a queen bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and Mahalah"; Abiezer is the same with Jeezer, from whom a family sprung of that name, Nu 26:30, of which Gideon was, Jud 6:11.
1 Chronicles 7:19
Ver. 19. And the sons of Shemida,.... Another son of Gilead's sister, unless the same with Ishod; from him sprung the family of the Shemidaites, Nu 26:30
were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam; from Shechem came the family of the Shethemites, as from Likhi, if he is the same with Helek, as probably he may be, was the family of the Helekites, Nu 26:30.
1 Chronicles 7:20
Ver. 20. And the sons of Ephraim,.... A son of Joseph, and father of a tribe of this name, whose genealogy through five generations follows: Shuthelah, Bered, Tahath, Eladah, Tahath; the second.
1 Chronicles 7:21
Ver. 21. And Zabad his son,.... Not the son of Tahath the second last mentioned, but the son of Ephraim, a second son of his:
and Shuthelah; his son, the son of Zabad, called after his uncle's name, 1Ch 7:20
and Ezer, and Elead; two other sons of Zabad:
whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew: that is, Zabad and his three sons; these the men of Gath slew, who were Philistines that dwelt there, and were originally of Egypt, and were born in that land, but had removed into Palestine, which had its name from them, of which Gath was one of its cities; and this bordering upon the land of Goshen, or being near it, where the Israelites dwelt, they made inroads upon them, and plundered them:
because they came down to take away their cattle; and the sons, the grandsons of Ephraim, resisted them, and so were slain: and that the aggressors were not the Ephraimites, who went out of Egypt before their time, and fell upon the men of Gath, born in the land of the Philistines, in order to dispossess them of their land and substance, and were slain by them, which is the sense of the Targum and other writers, both Jewish and Christian; but the men of Gath, as is clear from this circumstance, that they
came down, as men did when they went from Palestine to Egypt, not when they went from Egypt to Palestine, then they "went up"; which would have been the phrase used, if this had been an expedition of the Ephraimites into Palestine; besides, it is not reasonable to think, that the Ephraimites, addicted to husbandry and cattle, and not used to war, should engage in such an enterprise; but rather the men of Gath, or the Philistines, who were a warlike people, and given to spoil and plunder; this, according to a learned chronologer {l}, was seventy four years after Jacob went down to Egypt, and one hundred and forty years before the children of Israel came from thence.
{l} Nic. Abrami Pharus, l. 9. c. 21. p. 242.
1 Chronicles 7:22
Ver. 22. And Ephraim their father mourned many days,.... For the loss of his son and grandchildren for the above fact was done while the Israelites were in Egypt, and Ephraim the patriarch yet alive; nor is there any need to suppose another Ephraim, different from him:
and his brethren came to comfort him; some of the heads of the other tribes of Israel, particularly Manasseh, with some of his family.
1 Chronicles 7:23
Ver. 23. And when he went in to his wife,.... After his grief and sorrow in part at least had subsided:
she conceived and bare a son; which in some measure made up for the loss he had sustained:
and he called his name Beriah; which signifies being "in evil" or calamity, he being born in an evil time:
because it went evil with his house; or evil was in his house, as Noldius {m}, in his family; a great calamity had befallen it.
{m} Ebr. Concord. Part. No. 750. p. 165.
1 Chronicles 7:24
Ver. 24. And his daughter was Sherah,.... That is, the daughter of Beriah; not an immediate daughter, but a descendant of his, otherwise she could not have reached the times of Joshua, as she did by what follows:
who built Bethhoron the nether, and the upper; which were cities on the border of the tribe of Ephraim; which the Israelites having taken from the Canaanites, and destroyed, she rebuilt, see Jos 16:3
and Uzzensherah; which was called after her own name, and to distinguish it from another place called Uzzen; though of neither of them do we read elsewhere.
1 Chronicles 7:25
Ver. 25-27. And Rephah was his son,.... The son of Beriah, whose genealogy from him is traced down to Joshua in this and the two following verses, and stands thus: after Rephah, Resheph, Telah, Tahan, Laadan, Ammihud, Elishama, who was prince of the tribe of Ephraim in the wilderness, Nu 1:10, then Non or Nun, whose son was Jehoshua or Joshua.
1 Chronicles 7:26
Ver. 26. See Gill on "1Ch 7:25"
1 Chronicles 7:27
Ver. 27. See Gill on "1Ch 7:25"
1 Chronicles 7:28
Ver. 28. And their possessions and habitations,.... That is, of the sons of Ephraim, when come into the land of Canaan:
were Bethel, and the towns thereof; the villages belonging to it, which was formerly called Luz, and was the border of Ephraim, Jos 16:7
and eastward Naaran: the same with Naarath, Jos 16:7
and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; of which see
Jos 16:3,
and Shechem also, and the towns thereof; which was a city of refuge in Mount Ephraim, Jos 20:7
unto Gaza, and the towns thereof; not Gaza, a city of the Philistines, for the tribe of Ephraim did not reach so far; the Targum calls it Aiah; it may be read Adaza, as in the margin of our Bibles.
1 Chronicles 7:29
Ver. 29. And by the borders of the children of Manasseh,.... Of the half tribe of Manasseh on this side Jordan: near to them the Ephraimites dwelt, even near to
Bethshean and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor and her towns; of all which places see Jos 17:11,
in these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel; the Ephraimites, in those mentioned in 1Ch 7:28, and the Manassites, in those that are here mentioned; who were both the children or posterity of Joseph, the beloved son of Israel.
1 Chronicles 7:30
Ver. 30,31. The son of Asher,.... Which, and his two grandsons born before Jacob went down to Egypt, are here reckoned as in Ge 46:17 only it is here added Malchiel his second grandson,
who is the father of Birzavith; which Jarchi interprets, prince of a city of this name, which signifies pure oil; which it might have from the abundance of olives about it, Asher being a tribe which abounded with them, see De 33:24 though some of the Rabbins take it to be the name of a man, whose daughters, they say, as Jarchi observes, were very beautiful, having much oil to anoint with, and were married to kings and priests anointed with oil.
1 Chronicles 7:31
Ver. 31. See Gill on "1Ch 7:30".
1 Chronicles 7:32
Ver. 32. 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.
1 Chronicles 7:33
Ver. 33. And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath; these are the children of Japhlet. Of whom we read not elsewhere,
1 Chronicles 7:34
Ver. 34. And the sons of Shamer,.... Or Shomer, the brother of Japhlet, 1Ch 7:32.
Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram; of whom nothing is known but their names.
1 Chronicles 7:35
Ver. 35. And the sons of his brother Helem,.... Or Helem his brother, that is, the brother of Shomer, who, according to Hillerus {n}, is Hotham, 1Ch 7:32.
Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Aram; nowhere else mentioned.
{n} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 551.
1 Chronicles 7:36
Ver. 36,37. 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.
1 Chronicles 7:37
Ver. 37. See Gill on "1Ch 7:36".
1 Chronicles 7:38
Ver. 38. And the sons of Jether,.... The same with Ithran, the last of Zophah's sons but one, 1Ch 7:37,
Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara; not Jephunneh the father of Caleb; he was not of the tribe of Asher, but of Judah.
1 Chronicles 7:39
Ver. 39. 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.
1 Chronicles 7:40
Ver. 40. 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, 1Ch 7:4, this was the number, not of their chief men, nor of all the people in the tribe, but of their militia.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Commentary
Commentary