1–40.
Genealogies of Six Remaining Tribes.
The treatment of the several tribes in this chapter is very unequal. In the case of Issachar (1–5), Zebulun (6–12, see note verse 6), and Asher (30–40), genealogies are given and the number of fighting-men of each tribe is stated. To Naphtali is devoted a single verse (13), giving only the names of his sons. For Manasseh and Ephraim (14–29) genealogies are given and their possessions are shortly enumerated. The mention of Dan is obliterated, owing to the state of the text of verse 12.
1–5.
The Genealogy of Issachar.
¹And of the sons of Issachar; Tola, and Puah¹, Jashub, and Shimron, four.
1. the sons of Issachar] Genesis xlvi. 13; Numbers xxvi. 23, 24. verses 2–5 are from an unknown source, or from the Chronicler himself.
Tola] the name of one of the minor Judges (Judges x. 1). He is there described as “Tola the son of Puah, dwelling [Hebrew josheb] in Shamir.” No descendants are mentioned from Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, but only from Tola; and it has been suggested that these four sons of Issachar are imaginary, being simply deduced from the statement in Judges—Jashub = josheb, and Shimron = Shamir. This is very ingenious but by no means convincing.
Puah] In Genesis and Numbers Puvah (Revised Version).
Jashub] So in Numbers, but in Genesis Iob.
²And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, to wit, of Tola; mighty men of valour in their generations: their number in the days of David was two and twenty thousand and six hundred.
2. of their fathers’ houses] i.e. clans or families; see note on v. 13.
in their generations] Render, after (or according to) their generations, the rendering given to the same phrase in Genesis x. 32, xxv. 13.
their number] i.e. of the divisions which claimed Tola as ancestor.
in the days of David] xxi. 1 ff. (= 2 Samuel xxiv. 1 ff.).
³And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five: all of them chief men.
3. five] i.e. reckoning the four grandsons as sons.
⁴And with them, by their generations, after their fathers’ houses, were bands of the host for war, six and thirty thousand: for they had many wives and sons.
4. by their generations] i.e. according to descent. Each head commanded men that were his kinsfolk.
⁵And their brethren among all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valour, reckoned in all by genealogy, were fourscore and seven thousand.
5. fourscore and seven thousand] In Numbers ii. 6 Issachar is reckoned at 54,400, and in Numbers xxvi. 25 at 64,300.
6–12.
The Genealogy of Zebulun.
6–12. According to the existing text these verses are a genealogy of Benjamin; but, as such, they present most serious difficulties. Notice (1) that the customary “sons of” is lacking in the Hebrew text before Benjamin: (2) that the sons of Benjamin here number three, whereas in Numbers xxvi. 38, 39, they are five (five also in 1 Chronicles viii. 2!), and in Genesis xlii. 21 ten; and further that one of the sons here mentioned, Jediael, is nowhere else referred to as a Benjamite: (3) that the sons of Bela (verse 7) are entirely different in viii. 3: and (4) that in general the names in the list (with only three certain exceptions and two of them place-names) are not elsewhere found in lists of Benjamite names—a startling fact. (5) Finally and most important of all, a genealogy of Benjamin is given in chapter viii., exactly where we might expect to find it according to the order in which the Chronicler describes the tribes.
The first of these points could be (and has usually been) explained by the elision of some letters; for the words “the sons of” (Bᵉnê) in Hebrew writing most closely resemble “Ben” the first syllable of Benjamin. For a few other minor difficulties tentative suggestions have been put forward, but are very unsatisfying, whilst for most of the features noted above, and especially for the most important of them, no proper explanation can be given on the supposition that the list really is a genealogy of Benjamin. It is therefore most probable that the view urged by Curtis, Chronicles, p. 127, should be adopted. He finds in these verses the genealogy of Zebulun, the absence of which otherwise is a striking feature of the genealogies in these chapters. The letters which are now taken to be the first part of the word Benjamin should be read Bᵉnê (i.e. the sons of), and the following letters are a corruption of Zebulun, which was originally followed by the names of Zebulun’s three sons, Sered and Elon and Jahleel, as given in Genesis xlvi. 14. The changes involved by this suggestion may seem violent in English, but they are by no means so in the Hebrew, and moreover it must be understood that they all follow inevitably or at least most naturally upon the slight initial error whereby “the sons of Zebulun” was corrupted into “Benjamin.” The development and details of Curtis’ reasoning cannot be set forth except in connection with the Hebrew text, and it must therefore suffice here to indicate the one essential point, and to remark that the convincing feature of his hypothesis is that it furnishes a clear and natural explanation of all the difficulties noted above.
⁶The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.
6. Bela, and Becher, and Jediael] Contrast viii. 2. Read, following Genesis xlvi. 14, Sered and Elon and Jahleel.
⁷And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of fathers’ houses, mighty men of valour; and they were reckoned by genealogy twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.
7. the sons of Bela] Contrast viii. 3; and read instead the sons of Sered. These are differently stated in viii. 3–5.
⁸And the sons of Becher; Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. ⁹And they were reckoned by genealogy, after their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valour, twenty thousand and two hundred.
8. Becher] Read Elon.
Anathoth, and Alemeth] both names of places in Benjamin; vi. 60 (45, Hebrew, “Allemeth”); Jeremiah i. 1. These are the only place-names in the list, and they are admittedly Benjamite: as to the significance of this fact see note on Ehud, verse 10.
¹⁰And the sons of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan; Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar.
10. Jediael] or rather Jahleel.
Benjamin, and Ehud] The error in verse 6 by which this Zebulunite list becomes ostensibly Benjamite must have been very early. When once it had arisen, the tendency to introduce names which were to be expected in a Benjamite genealogy was inevitably strong. This is the ground on which the names Anathoth and Alemeth (verse 8) are to be explained, as also Shuppim and Huppim (verse 12). Most clearly, however, is the tendency illustrated by the present verse, where the reading Benjamin and Ehud most probably has its origin in a marginal addition “and Ehud the Benjamite” (from Judges iii. 15) which was later inserted in the text as two separate names.
Tarshish] It is said of Zebulun in Genesis xlix. 13 that he shall be “a haven for ships,” and Tarshish, absolutely unknown as a Hebrew personal name, is regularly used in the Old Testament in connection with ships and commerce by sea. It would be astonishingly out of place in a genealogy of Benjamin, but is appropriate in one of Zebulun (compare Genesis xlix. 13 “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea”).
¹¹All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valour, seventeen thousand and two hundred, that were able to go forth in the host for war.
11. able to go forth] the total number of warriors is here 59,434; compare 50,000 in xii. 33; and compare Numbers i. 37, xxvi. 41.
¹²Shuppim¹ also, and Huppim, the sons of Ir², Hushim, the sons of Aher³.
12. Shuppim also, and Huppim] for the spelling compare viii. 5, Numbers xxvi. 39, and Genesis xlvi. 21. These Benjamite names are an addition, and illustrate the tendency referred to above in the note on Benjamin and Ehud, verse 10.
12b.
The Genealogy of Dan.
Ir] compare verse 7, Iri. But see following note.
Hushim, the sons of Aher] In Aher (literally “another”) some commentators find the word Dan. More probably Ir is a corruption for Dan, and the word Aher an error for “one” (the differences are small in Hebrew). Following the indication of Genesis xlvi. 23 and the LXX., read therefore the sons of Dan, Hushim his son, one.
13. (= Genesis xlvi. 24).
The Genealogy of Naphtali.
¹³The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel¹, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum², the sons of Bilhah.
13. Jahziel ... Shallum] In Genesis Jahzeel ... Shillem.
14–19.
The Genealogy of Manasseh.
A difficult section. The text is much disturbed in verses 14, 15; and there is hardly any material available for the illustration of verses 16, 17.
¹⁴The sons of Manasseh; Asriel, whom¹ his wife bare: (his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:
14. Asriel, whom his wife bare: (his concubine the Aramitess bare] Compare Numbers xxvi. 31. Probably, however, the name is due to an error of dittography. Read simply as margin, following LXX., whom his concubine the Aramitess bare; she bare, etc.
his concubine the Aramitess] The inhabitants of Gilead were thus in part Arameans (Syrians) by descent. A different tradition is preserved in Genesis 1. 23.
¹⁵and Machir took a wife of¹ Huppim and Shuppim, whose² sister’s name was Maacah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.
15. took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim] i.e. allied himself by marriage to these two families.
whose sister’s name] Render, and his (Machir’s) sister’s name. The statement regarding Maacah is ethnographical, and means that the people of Maacah (a district at the foot of Hermon) were related by blood to Machir (the Eastern Manassites).
Zelophehad had daughters] Numbers xxvii. 1–11.
¹⁶And Maacah 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.
16. wife of] But in verse 15, Maacah is sister of Machir. The text of verses 15, 16 has probably suffered some disturbance.
¹⁷And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
17. the sons of Ulam] Sons of Ulam are mentioned (viii. 40) among the descendants of Benjamin: a variation in the tradition of their descent.
¹⁸And his sister Hammolecheth bare Ishhod, and Abiezer¹, and Mahlah.
18. Abiezer] Gideon’s family; Judges vi. 11; compare Joshua xvii. 2.
¹⁹And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam.
19. Shechem] This name represents the Israelite portion of the inhabitants of Shechem: the rest of the inhabitants were Hivites or Canaanites. See Judges ix.
20–27.
The Line of Ephraim to Joshua.
20–27. The section presents several difficulties, arising either from the attempt to combine various threads of traditions or possibly from textual corruption. Note that Ezer and Elead, who in verse 21 are removed by several generations from Ephraim, are in verse 22 f. treated as his immediate sons.
²⁰And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eleadah his son, and Tahath his son,
20. Shuthelah ... Bered ... Tahath ... Eleadah] These four names appear to correspond with Shuthelah ... Becher ... Tahan ... Eran in Numbers xxvi. 35, 36.
²¹and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in the land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.
21. the men of Gath that were born in the land] i.e. the Philistine population.
they came down] This phrase suits a descent from the hills of Ephraim into the Philistine lowlands. The raid presumably took place after the period of the Exodus and the settlement of Israel in Canaan. Yet it is also possible that the story should be classed with certain traditions which ignore the narrative of the Egyptian sojourn and the Exodus—see Cook, Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹, s.v. Genesis, p. 584, col. 2.
²²And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.
22. And Ephraim their father] i.e. the tribe, or district, to which the clans, Ezer and Elead, belonged.
²³And he went in to his wife, and she conceived, and bare a son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house.
23. Beriah, because it went evil] Hebrew Beri‘ah because it went berā‘ah, a play on the sound of the name. This is a feature characteristic of the patriarchal narratives in Genesis, compare Genesis xxx. 11, etc. It is interesting to find it in the tradition upon which the Chronicler here depends. Compare also iv. 9 (note).
²⁴And his daughter was Sheerah, who built Beth-horon the nether and the upper, and Uzzen-sheerah. ²⁵And Rephah was his son, and Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son; ²⁶Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son; ²⁷Nun¹ his son, Joshua his son.
24. Beth-horon] See vi. 68, note.
28, 29.
Settlements of the Sons of Joseph.
The writer of these verses does not intend to give a full list of the seats of Ephraim (verse 28) and Manasseh (verse 29); but apparently to indicate the area and position of their territory by the mention of towns on the borders.
²⁸And their possessions and habitations were Beth-el and the towns¹ thereof, and eastward Naaran², and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Azzah³ and the towns thereof:
28. Beth-el] the southern boundary. Beth-el is the modern Beitîn, ten miles north of Jerusalem (Bädeker, Palestine⁵, p. 217). The city was on the border of Ephraim and Benjamin and in Joshua xviii. 22 is assigned to Benjamin, but it was originally conquered by Ephraim (Judges i. 22), and during the division of the kingdom it belonged to the North: compare 1 Kings xii. 29, 32; 2 Chronicles xiii. 19, note.
Naaran] the eastern boundary. In Joshua xvi. 7, Naarath (Revised Version Naarah).
Gezer ... Shechem] On Gezer the western, and Shechem the northern boundary—see the note on vi. 67.
Azzah] or Ayyah, has not yet been identified. Probably, like Shechem, it serves to define the northern border between Ephraim and Manasseh.
²⁹and 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.
29. For Manasseh four important towns are enumerated: Beth-shean on the east in the valley of the Jordan, Taanach and Megiddo in the plain of Esdraelon or Megiddo, and Dor on the Mediterranean coast, south of Mt Carmel.
Beth-shean] In 1 Samuel xxxi. 10, 12 spelt Beth-shan. It is the Greek Scythopolis, the modern Beisan.
Taanach] See vi. 70, note on Aner.
Megiddo] Judges v. 19; 2 Kings xxiii. 29; Zechariah xii. 11.
Dor] modern Tantura. Compare Joshua xvii. 11.
30–40.
The Genealogy of Asher.
³⁰The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister.
30. The sons of Asher] The names in verses 30, 31 are derived from Genesis xlvi. 17 (compare Numbers xxvi. 44–46). There is no variation in the Hebrew spelling of the names, but Ishvah is missing in Numbers Either Ishvah or Ishvi must be regarded as an error of dittography.
Beriah] Beriah is mentioned above, verse 23, as a clan of Ephraim, and appears also as a family of Benjamin, viii. 13, 16.
³¹And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. ³²And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer¹, and Hotham, and Shua their sister. ³³And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the children of Japhlet.
31. Heber, and Malchiel] The antiquity of these two names seems to be attested by the mention of “Habiri and Malchiel” in the Amarna tablets (circa 1400 B.C.).
Birzaith] probably the name of a place, “The well of the olive-tree.”
³⁴And the sons of Shemer¹; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. ³⁵And the sons² of Helem his brother; Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Amal. ³⁶The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah; ³⁷Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera. ³⁸And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara. ³⁹And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Hanniel, and Rizia.
34, 35. Shemer ... Helem] Read perhaps Shomer ... Hotham, to agree with verse 32.
⁴⁰All these were the children of Asher, heads of the fathers’ houses, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the number of them reckoned by genealogy for service in war was twenty and six thousand men.
40. twenty and six thousand] In xii. 36 the men of war of Asher are reckoned at forty thousand (compare Numbers i. 41, xxvi. 47, where still higher reckonings are given). The numbers here and in verses 5, 7, 9, 11 (as well as in verse 2, which see) are perhaps supposed to refer to the time of David. The numbers may be based on family traditions, but no important conclusions ought to be drawn from them.