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Chapter II.

1, 2 (compare Genesis xxxv. 22b–26).
The Sons of Israel.

¹These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar and Zebulun; ²Dan, Joseph and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

II. 3–IV. 23.
Genealogies of Judah.

3–17.
Descendants of Judah to the Sons of Jesse.

³The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of Bath-shua the Canaanitess. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and he slew him. ⁴And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. ⁵The sons of Perez; Hezron and Hamul.

5. The sons of Perez; Hezron and Hamul] So Genesis xlvi. 12. The only reference in the Old Testament to Hamulites is Numbers xxvi. 21. On the other hand Hezron, a south Judean tribe (Joshua xv. 3), is a clan of the first importance in the genealogies. From Hezron are descended not only the family of David (verse 15), but also the great Calebite and Jerahmeelite clans (verses 18–24, 25–33, etc.). The name Hezron might bear the significance “an enclosed place” as opposed to movable encampments, and Atarah (verse 26) who is said to be the mother of certain Jerahmeelite families has much the same meaning. Both names therefore may not be eponymous either of individuals or places, but may originate in the desire to preserve the fact that the families named as their sons were nomads who had abandoned wandering for settled life. If so, it might help to explain the fact that Hezron (compare Carmi, ii. 7, iv. 1, v. 3) is also mentioned as a son of Reuben (v. 3; Genesis xlvi. 9, etc.).

⁶And the sons of Zerah; Zimri¹, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara²: five of them in all.

6. the sons of Zerah] This genealogy appears only in Chronicles.

Zimri] LXX. (B) Ζαμβρεί (β being merely euphonic) here and also Joshua vii. 1 where Hebrew has “Zabdi.” LXX. is probably right in identifying the two. Either form might arise from the other by easy textual corruption.

Ethan ... Dara] Read, Darda with Vulgate, Targum, Peshitṭa The same four names in the same order occur 1 Kings iv. 31 as the names of wise men whom Solomon surpassed in wisdom. They are there called sons of “Mahol” who may have been either a nearer or remoter ancestor than Zerah. Ethan however is there called the Ezrahite (= probably “son of Zerah”). [Psalms lxxxviii., lxxxix. bear respectively the names “Heman the Ezrahite,” “Ethan the Ezrahite,” but these (it seems) were Levites (compare xv. 17, 19, where see note).]

⁷And the sons of Carmi; Achar¹, the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing. ⁸And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.

7. the sons of Carmi] Carmi is probably to be taken as the son of Zimri (= Zabdi, Joshua vii. 1). Targum however has “Carmi who is Zimri.” See note on Zimri, verse 6.

Achar] This form of the name (instead of “Achan,” Joshua vii. 1) is used by the Chronicler to bring out better the play on the Hebrew word for “troubler.” The Hebrew runs, “Achar ocher Israel.”

⁹The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.

9. Jerahmeel] For his descendants see verses 25–41. The descendants of his younger brother Ram are given first. They purport to be the ancestry of David and his family.

Chelubai] Another form of “Caleb”; see note on verse 42.

¹⁰And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; ¹¹and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz; ¹²and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse;

10. Ram] The descent of David from Judah is given also in Ruth iv. 18–22 and Matthew i. 3–6. Ram as a clan parallel with the great clans of Caleb and Jerahmeel is strange; for it is not known otherwise in the Old Testament Further, as the descendants of Ram given in verses 10–12 are the family tree of David (contrast the clans and cities in the lines of Caleb and Jerahmeel) it may be supposed that Ram owes his position here simply to the Chronicler’s desire to incorporate Ruth iv. 19, where also this pedigree of David is given. Note also that in verse 25 a Ram is mentioned as a son of Jerahmeel and grandson of Hezron.

Nahshon, prince, etc.] See Numbers i. 4, 7, ii. 3.

¹³and Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third;

13. Shimea] so also xx. 7; but “Shammah” 1 Samuel xvi. 9.

¹⁴Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth;

14. Nethanel] the same name as Nathanael (John i. 45). The fourth, fifth and sixth brothers are not elsewhere named.

¹⁵Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:

15. David the seventh] Jesse had eight sons (1 Samuel xvii. 12; compare xvi. 10, 11). Here one seems deliberately passed over, perhaps because he had no children. (The Elihu “one of David’s brethren” of 1 Chronicles xxvii. 18 is probably to be identified with Eliab and not to be regarded as an eighth brother.)

¹⁶and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai¹, and Joab, and Asahel, three.

16. sons of Zeruiah] Joab and his brothers are always thus named after their mother; perhaps their father died while they were young, or we may have a relic here of the ancient method of tracing kinship through the mother.

¹⁷And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

17. the Ishmaelite] 2 Samuel xvii. 25, “the Israelite,” an error yielding no satisfactory sense.

18–24 (compare verses 42–55.)
Descendants of Caleb.

¹⁸And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: and these were her sons; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. ¹⁹And Azubah died, and Caleb took unto him Ephrath, which bare him Hur.

18. Caleb] a clan dwelling in southern Judea, and probably distinct from Judah in the time of David (1 Samuel xxv. 3, xxx. 14). Other references to them or rather their reputed founder Caleb ben Jephunneh the Kenizzite (Numbers xxxii. 12; Joshua xiv. 6, 14; 1 Chronicles i. 36, where see note on Kenaz) point to an original connection with the Edomites. Their importance in these lists is explained by the fact that they were incorporated in Judah, and, after the exile, occupied townships close to Jerusalem (verses 50–55) “forming possibly the bulk of the tribe in post-exilic Judah, since the Chronicler knows so few other families” (Curtis, Chronicles p. 89). See also W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, p. 279 ad fin.

begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth] the Hebrew seems to be corrupt. Read perhaps begat children of Azubah, his wife, daughter of Jerioth; or took Azubah the wife of Jerioth. The name Azubah = forsaken is significant: see the note on verse 42, Caleb, ad fin.

²⁰And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat Bezalel.

20. Bezalel] the Chronicler is naturally pleased to give prominence in his list to Bezalel, who in Exodus xxx. (P) is mentioned as the artificer of the Tabernacle.

²¹And afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead; whom he took to wife when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub.

21. The table of Caleb is broken off at this point to introduce verses 21–23 a statement of further descendants of Hezron (verse 9) by another wife, the daughter of Machir. The interruption is not unnatural, for it is convenient to refer to Hezron’s “son of old age” immediately before the notice of his death (verse 24).

Machir] the most important clan of Manasseh (compare Numbers xxvi. 29; Judges v. 14). The affinity of Judean Hezronites with members of the tribe of Manasseh, implied by this verse, is surprising. Whether the tradition has a basis in fact, or arose through some genealogical confusion, cannot as yet be determined. There is however considerable evidence in favour of the view that the relationship between Machir and Caleb is at least “no isolated detail, still less is it the invention of the Chronicler’s age,” and there may be real historical ground for a tradition that besides the northern movement of the Hezronites upwards to Judah there was also at some time a movement across the northern end of Edom into the lands east of Jordan, ending in the settlements of Machir and Jair in Gilead here recorded; compare Numbers xxxii. 39, and for discussion of the problem see Cook, Notes on Old Testament History, pp. 92, 93, etc.

²²And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead.

22. Jair] one of the Judges (Judges x. 3, 4 where thirty cities, not twenty-three, are assigned him).

the land of Gilead] This name is sometimes restricted to that part of the land east of Jordan which lies south of the wady Yarmuk. Here, as often, it is applied to all the land east of Jordan occupied by Israel.

²³And Geshur and Aram took the towns¹ of Jair from them, with Kenath, and the villages² thereof, even threescore cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead.

23. And Geshur and Aram] Geshur was an Aramean kingdom east of Jordan on the north-east border of Manasseh. Aram, commonly translated “Syria” or “the Syrians,” probably here signifies the kingdom of which Damascus was the capital. The conquest of Manassite territory by the Arameans (“Syrians”) here described probably took place before the days of Ahab, for in his reign they were already established as far south as Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings xxii. 3).

the towns of Jair] note margin Havvoth-jair, compare Deuteronomy iii. 14; Judges x. 4. The name perhaps means “the tent-villages of Jair” (Arabic Ḥĭvâ = “a collection of tents near together”).

²⁴And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah, then Abijah Hezron’s wife bare him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

24. And after that Hezron was dead in Caleb-ephrathah] The Hebrew is certainly corrupt, but can easily be emended with the help of the LXX. Read And after Hezron was dead Caleb went in to Ephrath (verse 19) his father Hezron’s wife and she bare him, etc. Ephrath (= Ephrathah, verse 50, iv. 4) is a name of Bethlehem (Ruth iv. 11; Micah v. 2). “The taking of a father’s wife signified a claim to inherit the father’s possessions (compare 2 Samuel xvi. 22), and the phrase here expresses the legitimacy of Caleb’s residence in northern Judea” (see note on verse 42).

Ashhur] compare iv. 4, 5. Ashhur might be a younger brother of Hur (verses 19, 50); but quite possibly they are one and the same (compare the contraction of Jehoahaz into Ahaz); see also iv. 5.

the father of Tekoa] i.e. the founder of the town or the eponymous ancestor of its inhabitants. For Tekoa see 2 Chronicles xx. 20, note.

25–41.
The Genealogy of the Jerahmeelites.

²⁵And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, Ahijah.

25. Jerahmeel] In David’s time they were, like Caleb, a semi-nomadic clan in the south of Judah; compare 1 Samuel xxvii. 10; xxx. 29. They shared in the northern movements of Caleb (see note on verse 42), and eventually formed part of the post-exilic Jewish community; hence their records do not appear in earlier parts of the Old Testament, but are known to the Chronicler.

Ozem, Ahijah] By a slight change in the Hebrew we get Ozem his brother (so LXX.); compare xxvi. 20 for a similar confusion of reading.

²⁶And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. ²⁷And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker. ²⁸And the sons of Onam were Shammai, and Jada: and the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur. ²⁹And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bare him Ahban, and Molid. ³⁰And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but Seled died without children¹.

26. Atarah] see note on Hezron, verse 5.

³¹And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai. ³²And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children¹. ³³And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.

31. the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai] Ahlai is perhaps a gentilic name, not the name of an individual, since in verse 34 Sheshan is said to have had “no sons, but daughters.” More probably however the Chronicler is using a different source for verses 34–41.

³⁴Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.

34. an Egyptian] Hebrew Miṣri. Render probably a Muṣrite, i.e. inhabitant of the north Arabian district to the south of Palestine, known as Muṣri and apparently confused at times with Miṣraim (Egypt). For some suggestive conjectures regarding this table of Jarha’s descendants see S. A. Cook, Encyclopedia Biblica II. 2364.

³⁵And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai. ³⁶And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad; ³⁷and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed; ³⁸and Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah; ³⁹and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah; ⁴⁰and Eleasah begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum; ⁴¹and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.

35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir. Thus Abraham at first (Genesis xv. 2, 3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. The list of thirteen descendants of Jarha ending with Elishama (verse 41) is perhaps a proper genealogy: at least the names may be those of individuals, although it is impossible to say why this pedigree of Elishama should have been so carefully preserved (so Curtis). On the other hand Cook (see previous note) regards Jarha as perhaps an eponym of Jerahmeel, and, connecting Sheshan with the Hebronite Sheshai, thinks the genealogy may signify a northward movement of Jerahmeel from Muṣri to the district of Hebron.

42–49 (compare verses 18–24).
The Descendants of Caleb.

⁴²And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. ⁴³And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. ⁴⁴And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai.

42. Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel] Called Chelubai (verse 9) and Caleb the son of Hezron (verse 18). As eponym of the tribe Caleb is described as “son” of Hezron “son” of Judah, and of course is not to be distinguished from the Caleb son of Jephunneh who is classed as a Kenizzite in various passages (iv. 15; Numbers xiii. 6; Joshua xiv. 6).

Important features of the fortunes of the Caleb clan can be discerned from the lists in this chapter, verses 18–24, 42–50. It appears that at first their seats were in the southern parts of Judah—witness verses 42–49, in which several of the names, viz. Ziph (Joshua xv. 24 or 25), Mareshah (2 Chronicles xi. 8), Hebron, Tappuah (Joshua xv. 34), Maon (Joshua xv. 55), and Beth-zur (Joshua xv. 58) are names of towns in the south or south-west of Judah. From these, their pre-exilic homes, they were driven northwards, and during the exilic period and afterwards they occupied many of the townships not far from Jerusalem, e.g. Bethlehem (see verses 50–55). Apart from the names in verses 50–55, we have a testimony to this northward movement in verse 24 (where see note), and probably also in verse 18, where the names Jerioth (tents) and Azubah (forsaken) hint at the abandonment first of nomadic life and then of the south Judean settlements. This movement was largely no doubt compulsory, under pressure from the Edomites to the south (compare above i. 43, note) who in their turn were being forced north by a strong and fairly constant encroachment of Arab tribes (see Wellhausen, De Gentibus, and more recently Hölscher, Palästina, pp. 22, 30, on the importance of such evidence as this notice in Chronicles for determining the composition and conditions of Palestine in the post-exilic period).

Mesha] The Moabite king whose deeds are recorded on the Moabite Stone bore this name. LXX. reads Mareshah (Μαρεισά) as in the latter part of the verse.

⁴⁵And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur. ⁴⁶And Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez. ⁴⁷And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph. ⁴⁸Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bare Sheber and Tirhanah.

45. Maon] Nabal who was a Calebite lived at the town of Maon (1 Samuel xxv. 2, 3). It is improbable that Maon was ever used as the name of a person; compare Buchanan Gray, Hebrew Proper Names, pp. 127 f. See note on verse 42.

⁴⁹She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.

49. the daughter of Caleb was Achsah] Compare Judges i. 12.

50–55. These verses give the post-exilic settlements of the Calebites in the townships of northern Judea, not far from Jerusalem: see verse 42, note.

⁵⁰These were the sons of Caleb; the son¹ of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim; ⁵¹Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the father of Beth-gader.

50. the son of Hur] Read with the LXX., the sons of Hur. Hur was the son of Caleb (verse 19).

the firstborn of Ephrathah] see note verse 24.

⁵²And Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons; Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth.

52. Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth] The Hebrew is quite obscure, but may perhaps be rendered, who provided for half the resting-places, the description applying to Shobal, i.e. his work was to supervise some of the halting stations of the caravans which passed through the territory of Judah. Compare similar details in iv. 21–23, and the title Prince of the resting-places (margin quarter-master) given to Seraiah in Jeremiah li. 59. Almost certainly, however, the text in the present passage is corrupt, and, following iv. 2 and verse 54, we may read Reaiah and half of the Manahathites. For the latter see below, verse 54.

⁵³And the families of Kiriath-jearim; the Ithrites, and the Puthites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of them came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.

53. Zorathites, Eshtaolites] for Zorah (modern Surah) and Eshtaol (modern Eshua), compare Judges xiii. 25.

⁵⁴The sons of Salma; Beth-lehem, and the Netophathites, Atrothbeth-Joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites.

54. Manahathites, the Zorites] The Manahathites of Zorah must be associated with Manoah, the father of Samson, according to the tradition of Judges xiii. 2, 25, and an inhabitant of Zorah (see Cooke, Judges, pp. 131, 138, in this series).

⁵⁵And the families of scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

55. families of scribes] an indication of post-exilic date.

the Kenites that came of Hammath] or perhaps, the Kenites who came in (i.e. who attached themselves to Israel), who were from Hammath.

father of the house of Rechab] The verse is somewhat obscure, but it is most probable that the Chronicler preserves a correct tradition in the connection here alleged between the Rechabites and the Kenites. On the ancient zeal for Jehovah displayed by the Rechabites, see 2 Kings x. 15 ff.; and for their distinctive standpoint, Jeremiah xxxv.

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Chapter III.

1–24.
The Genealogy of the House of David.

1–4 (= 2 Samuel iii. 2–5).
The Sons born to David in Hebron.

¹Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;

1. Daniel] LXX. (B) Δαμνιήλ, (A) Δαλουιά. In 2 Samuel iii. 3 Chileab, but LXX. Δαλουιά. The real name of David’s second son remains therefore uncertain.

²the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;

2. Geshur] Compare ii. 23, note.

³the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife. ⁴Six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

3. Eglah his wife] In 2 Samuel iii. 5 “Eglah David’s wife,” where however David is probably a wrong reading for the name of a previous husband of Eglah.

5–9 (= chapter xiv. 4–7 and 2 Samuel v. 14–16).
The Sons born to David in Jerusalem.

⁵And these were born unto him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel:

5. Shimea] in xiv. 4 and 2 Samuel v. 14 (Revised Version) Shammua.

Nathan] Through him our Lord’s descent is traced in Luke iii. 31.

Solomon] Only here are other sons besides Solomon attributed to Bath-sheba.

Bath-shua] is a slight variation in pronunciation of Bath-sheba.

the daughter of Ammiel] of Eliam (perhaps a by-form of Ammiel) in 2 Samuel xi. 3. An Eliam son of Ahithophel, David’s counsellor, is mentioned in 2 Samuel xxiii. 34; Bath-sheba may therefore have been grand-daughter to Ahithophel. Notice that the Chronicler does not call Bath-sheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite; he nowhere refers to David’s great sin; compare xx. 1–3, where the silence of Chronicles on this matter is specially to be noted.

⁶and Ibhar, and Elishama, and Eliphelet; ⁷and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia;

6. Elishama] in xiv. 5 and 2 Samuel v. 15 Elishua, no doubt the right reading, for otherwise (compare verse 8) we have two sons of David named Elishama.

Eliphelet] in xiv. 5 Elpelet. Eliphelet cannot be right, for it occurs again as the name of the thirteenth son in verse 8. Elpelet may be right here and Eliphelet in verse 8, for according to Hebrew custom two brothers might bear names of similar sound and significance. But both Eliphelet and Nogah, the following word, are lacking in 2 Samuel v. 15; and are probably only textual errors due to dittography.

⁸and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹All these were the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.

8. Eliada] so in 2 Samuel v. 16, but in 1 Chronicles xiv. 7 Beeliada (i.e. Baaliada, “The Lord—the Baal—knows”). This seems to have been changed to Eliada (i.e. God knows), when the title Baal had come to have only heathen associations, and was accordingly repudiated by the Jews: see the note on viii. 33.

10–16.
The Line of Davidic Kings.

¹⁰And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son; ¹¹Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son;

Two things are to be noted in this list: (1) Johanan’s name is given in verse 15, though he was never king, (2) Zedekiah’s name appears to be twice given, once among the sons of Josiah (verse 15) and again in his place according to the succession (verse 16).

10. Abijah] called Abijam in 1 Kings xiv. 31, xv. 1 ff. Abia is the Greek form of the name; Matthew i. 7 (Authorized Version).

¹²Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son; ¹³Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son; ¹⁴Amon his son, Josiah his son.

12. Azariah] This king is usually called Uzziah, compare Isaiah vi. 1; see note on 2 Chronicles xxvi. 1.

¹⁵And the sons of Josiah; the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

15. the firstborn Johanan] This son of Josiah never came to the throne, nor is anything known of him except from this passage.

Zedekiah] Though reckoned third here, he was younger than Shallum (= Jehoahaz); compare 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 2 (= 2 Kings xxiii. 31) with 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 11 (= 2 Kings xxiv. 18).

Shallum] To be identified with Jehoahaz; compare 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 1 with Jeremiah xxii. 11.

¹⁶And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.

16. Jeconiah] This name is sometimes shortened to Coniah (Jeremiah xxii. 24) and written (with a slight change of meaning) Jehoiachin (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 8, 9; 2 Kings xxiv. 6 ff.).

Zedekiah his son] Zedekiah was heir, not son, to Jeconiah, whom he succeeded in the kingdom. His relationship to Jeconiah was that of uncle.

17–19a.
The Davidic Line from Jeconiah to Zerubbabel.

Note that whereas Zerubbabel is here represented apparently as the son of Pedaiah and consequently nephew of Shealtiel (= Salathiel), he is elsewhere called the son of Shealtiel (Ezra iii. 2; Haggai i. 1, ii. 2; compare Luke iii. 27–31). The LXX. solves the difficulty by reading Salathiel (= Shealtiel) in verse 19. The view that the names given in verse 18 (including Pedaiah) are the names of the sons of Shealtiel is not probable. Another suggestion is that Zerubbabel was grand-son both to Shealtiel and Pedaiah, according to such a scheme as the following:

Pedaiah Shealtiel
| |
a daughter = a son 
|
Zerubbabel.

A minor difficulty that Shealtiel (= Salathiel) is here connected with David through Solomon, whereas in Luke iii. 27–31 his descent is traced through Solomon’s brother Nathan, could be explained by an intermarriage at some point in the genealogy between the two Davidic families.

¹⁷And the sons of Jeconiah, the captive¹; Shealtiel his son, ¹⁸and Malchiram, and Pedaiah, and Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.

17. the sons of Jeconiah] That Jeconiah had sons is not at variance with Jeremiah’s denunciation of him (Jeremiah xxii. 30). That passage gives the answer to Jeconiah’s expectation of a speedy return to his kingdom (Jeremiah xxii. verse 27); Jeremiah says that neither he nor any of his seed shall recover the lost throne: “Reckon him childless, for no son of his shall succeed him on his throne.”

the captive] Hebrew assir, which the Revised Version margin (= Authorized Version), following the ancient Versions, has wrongly taken to be a proper name. The Revised Version margin is here only a survival of Authorized Version. The rendering of the text (the captive) no doubt expresses the real judgment of the Revisers.

Shealtiel] the Greek form Salathiel (Authorized Version) occurs in Luke iii. 27 (Authorized Version).

¹⁹And the sons of Pedaiah; Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons¹ of Zerubbabel;

19. the sons of Zerubbabel] so the LXX. The Hebrew has son, as Revised Version margin.

19b–24.
The Davidic Line from Zerubbabel.

The text of these verses is very uncertain. In verse 20 the names of five sons are given, but their father’s name (perhaps Meshullam) is wanting. In verses 21, 22 the LXX. differs from the Hebrew in such a way as to affect the number of steps in the genealogy; the Hebrew seems to reckon but one generation between Hananiah and Shemaiah, the LXX. on the contrary reckons six; the result on the whole genealogy being that the LXX. counts eleven generations after Zerubbabel as against six in the Hebrew In verse 22 again the sons of Shemaiah are reckoned to be six, but only five names are given in both Hebrew and LXX. For the bearing of these verses upon the date of Chronicles, see the Introduction § 3.

Meshullam, and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister: ²⁰and Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five.

20. and Hashubah] Perhaps we should read “The sons of Meshullam: Hashubah.” See above.

Jushab-hesed] The name means “Mercy is restored.” Many such significant names are found in the present list, and, in general, are characteristic of the exilic and later periods.

²¹And the sons¹ of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jeshaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah. ²²And the sons of Shecaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.

21. and Jeshaiah ... Shecaniah] The LXX. reads (with some blunders in reproducing the names), “and Jeshaiah his son, Rephaiah his son, Arnan his son, Obadiah his son, Shecaniah his son,” thus adding five steps to the genealogy. The difference of reading in the Hebrew text thus suggested is very slight. It is quite uncertain whether the Hebrew or the reading of the LXX. is to be preferred: see the Introduction § 3, A 2.

²³And the sons¹ of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴And the sons of Elioenai; Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

23. Elioenai] A name meaning, “Mine eyes are towards Jehovah,” compare Psalms xxv. 15; compare Jushab-hesed (verse 20) and Hodaviah (“Give thanks to Jehovah” = Hoduiah), verse 24.