Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 5:11

And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salchah:

11 17. The Genealogy and Settlements of Gad

11. Bashan ] the wide district extending from the Jabbok on the S. to Hermon in the N. and from the Sea of Galilee on the W. to the mountains of Hauran on the E. Cp. 1Ch 5:23.

Salchah ] R.V. Salecah, is probably represented at the present day by the ruins of Salkhad due S. of the Jebel Hauran and almost due E. of Bostra.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

From this passage and from the subsequent account of the Manassites 1Ch 5:23-24, the Gadites extended themselves to the north at the expense of their brethren, gradually occupying a considerable portion of the tract originally allotted to the half tribe.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

11-15. the children of Gad dweltover against themThe genealogy of the Gadites and thehalf-tribe of Manasseh (1Ch 5:24)is given along with that of the Reubenites, as these three wereassociated in a separate colony.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And the children of Gad dwelt over against them,…. Or by them, the Reubenites; and one part of Gilead was given them between them, and the other to the half tribe of Manasseh:

in the land of Bashan, unto Salcah; for though all Bashan is said to be given to the half tribe of Manasseh, De 3:13 yet that is to be understood of the greater part of it; all of that which belonged to Og, but what did not, the Gadites, either from the first, or in later times, inhabited even as far as Salcah, which was one of the cities of Og, De 3:10 and which Benjamin of Tudela w makes mention of, being called by the same name in his days.

w Itinerar. p. 57.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The families of the tribe of Gad, and their dwelling-places. – 1Ch 5:11. In connection with the preceding statement as to the dwelling-places of the Reubenites, the enumeration of the families of Gad begins with a statement as to their dwelling-places: “Over against them (the Reubenites) dwelt the Gadites in Bashan unto Salcah.” Bashan is used here in its wider signification of the dominion of King Og, which embraced the northern half of Gilead, i.e., the part of that district which lay on the north side of the Jabbok, and the whole district of Bashan; cf. on Deu 3:10. Salcah formed the boundary towards the east, and is now Szalchad, about six hours eastward from Bosra (see on Deu 3:10).

1Ch 5:12-14

The sons of Gad (Gen 46:16) are not named here, because the enumeration of the families of Gad had been already introduced by 1Ch 5:11, and the genealogical connection of the families enumerated in 1Ch 5:12., with the sons of the tribal ancestor, had not been handed down. In 1Ch 5:12 four names are mentioned, which are clearly those of heads of families or fathers’-houses, with the addition “in Bashan,” i.e., dwelling, for is to be repeated or supplied from the preceding verse. – In 1Ch 5:13 seven other names occur, the bearers of which are introduced as brothers of those mentioned (1Ch 5:12), according to their fathers’-houses. They are therefore heads of fathers’-houses, but the district in which they dwelt is not given; whence Bertheau concludes, but wrongly, that the place where they dwelt is not given in the text. The statement which is here omitted follows in 1Ch 5:16 at a fitting place; for in 1Ch 5:14 and 1Ch 5:15 their genealogy, which rightly goes before the mention of their dwelling-place, is given. , 1Ch 5:14, is not to be referred, as Bertheau thinks, to the four Gadites mentioned in 1Ch 5:12 and 1Ch 5:13, but only to those mentioned in 1Ch 5:13. Nothing more was known of those four (1Ch 5:12) but that they dwelt in Bashan, while the genealogy of the seven is traced up through eight generations to a certain Buz, of whom nothing further is known, as the name occurs nowhere else, except in Gen 22:21 as that of a son of Nahor. The names of his ancestors also are not found elsewhere among the Gadites.

1Ch 5:15

The head of their fathers’-houses (i.e., of those mentioned in 1Ch 5:13) as Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, who is conjectured to have lived in the time of King Jotham of Judah, or of Jeroboam II of Israel, when, according to 1Ch 5:17, genealogical registers of the Gadites were made up.

1Ch 5:16

The families descended from Buz “dwelt in Gilead,” in the part of that district lying to the south of the Jabbok, which Moses had given to the Gadites and Reubenites (Deu 3:12); “In Bashan and her daughters,” that is, in the villages belonging to the cities of Bashan and Gilead inhabited by them (for the suffix in is to be referred distributively to both districts, or the cities in them). “And in all the pasture grounds ( , cf. on Num 35:2) of Sharon unto their outgoings.” , Sharon, lay not in Perea, but is a great plain on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Carmel to near Joppa, famed for its great fertility and its rich growth of flowers (Son 2:1; Isa 33:9; Isa 35:2; Isa 55:10). “ A Caesarea Palaestinae usque ad oppidum Joppe omnis terra, quae cernitur, dicitur Saronas .” Jerome in Onom.; cf. v. Raumer, Pal. S. 50, and Robins. Phys. Geog. S. 123. It is this plain which is here meant, and the supposition of the older commentators that there was a second Sharon in the east-Jordan land is without foundation, as Reland, Palestina illustr. p. 370f., has correctly remarked. For it is not said that the Gadites possessed cities in Sharon, but only pastures of Sharon are spoken of, which the Gadites may have sought out for their herds even on the coast of the Mediterranean; more especially as the domain of the cis-Jordanic half-tribe of Manasseh stretched into the plain of Sharon, and it is probable that at all times there was intercourse between the cis-and trans-Jordanic Manassites, in which the Gadites may also have taken part. are the outgoings of the pastures to the sea, cf. Jos 17:9.

1Ch 5:17

“And these ( , all the families of Gad, not merely those mentioned in 1Ch 5:13.) were registered in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.” These two kings did not reign contemporaneously, for Jotham ascended the throne in Judah twenty-five years after the death of Jeroboam of Israel. Here, therefore, two different registrations must be referred to, and that carried on under Jotham is mentioned first, because Judah had the legitimate kingship. That set on foot by Jeroboam was probably undertaken after that king had restored all the ancient boundaries of the kingdom of Israel, 2Ki 14:25. King Jotham of Judah could prepare a register of the Gadites only if a part of the trans-Jordanic tribes had come temporarily under his dominion. As to any such event, indeed, we have no accurate information, but the thing in itself is not unlikely. For as the death of Jeroboam II was followed by complete anarchy in the kingdom of the ten tribes, and one ruler overthrew the other, until at last Pekah succeeded in holding the crown for ten years, while in Judah until Pekah ascended the throne of Israel Uzziah reigned, and raised his kingdom to greater power and prosperity, the southern part of the trans-Jordanic land might very well have come for a time under the sway of Judah. At such a time Jotham may have carried out an assessment and registration of the Gadites, until his contemporary Pekah succeeded, with the help of the Syrian king Rezin, in taking from the king of Judah the dominion over Gilead, and in humbling the kingdom of Judah in the reign of Ahaz.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Tribe of Gad Verses 11-17

The territory alloted the tribe of Gad was adjacent to that of the tribe of Reuben on the north. It is identified as Bashan, but comparison indicates that only the northern half of Gad came out of the portion Israel conquered from the giant king Og of Bashan by Moses and the Israelites. The land was also called Gilead, and was considered a rich and prosperous land in Bible times. Actually Gilead extended into the half tribe of Manasseh still farther to the north.

Reference is made to a genealogical accounting of this tribe in the days of King Jotham (father of Ahaz) of Judah and of Jeroboam II, king of Israel. It appears that the brief record inserted here in the Chronicles was based on that. The purpose of that earlier genealogical record is not stated, but it is interesting to note that it was made about the time the Assyrian armies became a serious molestation to the tribes. They first became a threat to Judah during the reign of Jotham (2Ki 15:36-38).

The reference to “suburbs of Sharon” are thought to refer to lands occupied in common with other tribes of the times.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

6. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF GAD (1Ch. 5:11-17)

TEXT

1Ch. 5:11. And the sons of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salecah: 12. Joel the chief, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13. And their brethren of their fathers houses: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven. 14. These were the sons of Abihail and the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; 15. Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers houses. 16. And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as far as their borders. 17. All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

PARAPHRASE

1Ch. 5:11. Across from them, in the land of Bashan, lived the descendants of Gad, who were spread as far as Salecah. 12. Joel was the greatest and was followed by Shapham, also Janai and Shaphat. 13. Their relatives, the heads of the seven clans, were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber. 14. The descendants of Buz, in the order of their generations, were: Jahdo, Jeshishai, Michael, Gilead, Jaroah, Huri, Abihail. 15. Ahi, the son of Abdi-el and grandson of Guni, was the leader of the clan. 16. The clan lived in and around Gilead (in the land of Bashan) and throughout the entire pasture country of Sharon. 17. All were included in the official genealogy at the time of King Jotham of Judah and King Jeroboam of Israel.

COMMENTARY

Gad shared the trans-Jordanic territory with Reuben and Manasseh. These three tribes were in a precarious position because of their nearness to the desert. They were always vulnerable to warring bands of tribesmen and were destined never to play a significant role in Hebrew history. These were the tribes that requested of Moses this part of Palestine for their homeland. Moses suspected that they wanted to avoid military service in the proposed conquest of Canaan (Numbers 32). They assured Moses, Joshua, and Eleazar that they would help take Canaan, but they wanted this land east of the Jordan river because it was good pasture land. In making this choice, they also removed themselves from the main stream of Hebrew history. Bashan lay beyond the Sea of Chinnereth to the east. Salecah was a village on the far east boundary of Bashan. The names that follow in 1Ch. 5:12-15 are Gads descendants. We know nothing more about them in the Bible record. Through their generations they shared the pasture lands of the Gilead country. There was a beautiful plain of Sharon on the Mediterranean coast in Canaan. This Sharon in 1Ch. 5:16 probably refers to a section in Gilead. There were genealogical studies done in the days of Jotham, King of Judah, (about 740 B.C.) and in the days of Jeroboam II, King of Israel (about 760 B.C.). Perhaps at regular intervals lists of ancestors were revised and brought up to date.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(11-17) THE SONS OF GAD, THEIR CLANS, TERRITORY, AND REGISTRATION.

(11) And the children of Gad dwelt over against them.That is, adjoining them on the east of Jordan.

In the land of Bashan unto Salcah.(Jos. 13:11.) Bashan, the ancient dominion of the giant Og (Num. 21:33-35; Deu. 3:1-12). Salcah now Sulkhad, on the south-east slope of Jebel Hauran in the extreme east of Gilead.

(12) Joel the chief (or, first; literally, head), and Shaphan the next (or second.)Gen. 46:15 enumerates seven sons of Gad, a number corresponding with the clans of 1Ch. 5:13; but none of the names are the same.

In Bashan.This expression goes to prove that clans, not individuals, are intended.

Joel is also the head Reubenite house (1Ch. 5:4).

(13) And their brethren of the house of their fathers.And their kinsmen (fellow-tribesmen), according to their father-houses (clans). The verse names seven inferior clans of the Gadites, whose seats are assigned in 1Ch. 5:16.

These, viz., the clans of 1Ch. 5:13, were sons of Abihail, whose line is retraced through seven generations to Buz, of whom nothing further is known. The name has occurred Gen. 22:21 as that of a son of Nahor; and Job. 32:2, as that of the clan of Elihu the Buzite.

(15) Ahi the son of Abdial, the son of Guni (was) head of their clans. Perhaps Ahi was chieftain or prince of the sons of Abihail at the time when this register was drawn up (1Ch. 5:17).

(16) And they dwelt in Gilead.The seats of the Gadites of 1Ch. 5:13 were in the country east of Jordan.

In Bashan, defines the locality more precisely. It was the northern region of Gilead.

And in her towns.Heb., her daughters.

And in all the suburbs of Sharon.Rather, pasture-grounds or sheep-walks.

Sharon.The well-known plain of this name lay west of Jordan, between Carmel and Joppa, along the coast of the Great Sea. The old conjecture that Shirion, i.e., mount Hermon (Deu. 3:9; Psa. 29:6) should be read, is probably right.

Upon their borders.That is, their extremities (Num. 34:4-5). The Gadites fed their flocks in the glens opening out at the foot of the mountains, here called their exits or outlets.

(17) All these.That is, the Gadite clans.

Were reckoned by genealogies (or registered) in the days of Jotham king of Judah, i.e., after 757 B.C., according to Biblical chronology.

And in the days of Jeroboam (the second), king of Israel, who reigned from 825-784, according to the data of Kings. Clearly, therefore, more than one registration is the basis of the above statistics. That of Jeroboam was the earlier in point of time; but the chronicler names the king of Judah first honoris causa. Jeroboam II., a vigorous king, who restored the border of Israel from the entry of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah (2Ki. 14:25), may have taken this census of the tribes east of Jordan, with a view to fiscal purposes. Jotham or his father, the great Uzziah, appears to have recovered Gad for Judah during the anarchy that succeeded the fall of Jehus dynasty in the northern kingdom.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

The Posterity of Gad and of Half-Manasseh.

v. 11. And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, just north of them, in the land of Bashan unto Salcah, in Central Gilead, southeast of the Sea of Galilee:

v. 12. Joel, the chief, and Shapham, the next, and Jaanai, and Shaphat in Bashan, all of these continuing the line of Gad after the settlement in the Land of Promise.

v. 13. And their brethren of the house of their fathers, by the families at whose head they stood, and which were named after them, were Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jachan, and Zia, and Heber, seven. The pedigree of these brothers is now given through eight generations.

v. 14. These are the children of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz:

v. 15. Ahi, the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house of their fathers.

v. 16. And they dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan, in the middle and northern part of the district so called, including the country immediately east of the Sea of Galilee, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs, that is, the pastures, of Sharon, east of Jordan, upon their borders, literally, “their goings out,” to the very end of the districts included in these geographical designations.

v. 17. All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham, king of Judah, about 758-742, and in the days of Jeroboam, king of Israel, about 824-783 B. C. These were the two registrations of the tribe noted in history, at which time the genealogical tables were revised.

v. 18. The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, the tribes which occupied the country east of Jordan, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, the ordinary equipment of a foot-soldier in those days, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war, this being their standing army.

v. 19. And they made war with the Hagarites, descendants of Hagar, at first identified with the Edomites, but later applied to a special tribe of Arabian Bedouins, with Jetur, and Nephesh, and Nodab, the name of the first tribe being preserved in Iturea, west of Lebanon.

v. 20. And they were helped against them, the Lord Himself taking their part, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them, probably in return for raids which had been made by the desert nomads; for they cried to God in the battle, and He was intreated of them, because they put their trust in Him, for these events took place while the tribes of the country east of Jordan were still faithful to the Lord.

v. 21. And they took away their cattle, as a bit of welcome plunder; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand, of captive and of slain. The great numbers give an idea of the wealth in the possession of these desert tribes.

v. 22. For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God, He it was that gave them success. And they dwelt in their steads, colonizing the district themselves, until the captivity.

v. 23. And the children of the half-tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land; they increased from Bashan, the greater part of which they occupied, unto Baal-hermon and Senir, east of Lebanon, and unto Mount Hermon, the high mountain in the southern part of the Anti-Lebanon range.

v. 24. And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, whose names were mentioned with respect everywhere, and heads of the house of their fathers, of the smaller division of the tribe known as the father-house.

v. 25. And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, all the Israelites living east of Jordan were unfaithful to Jehovah, and went a-whoring after the gods of the people of the land, in a form of spiritual adultery, whom God destroyed before them.

v. 26. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, who began the oppression of Israel, 2Ki 15:19, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, his son and successor, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, or the mountain, and to the river Gozan, in Upper Media, toward the Caspian Sea, unto this day. As in this case, so in others, the just punishment of the Lord always struck the malefactors.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

The tribe of Gad very properly comes in, to be noticed in their genealogy, after that of Reuben; for this tribe also joined with Reuben in the wish of settlement.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1Ch 5:11 And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salchah:

Ver. 11. In the land of Bashan. ] Bashan was the name both of the whole country and the chief city; like as Muscovia is at this day.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

children = sons.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1Ch 5:11-17

1Ch 5:11-17

“And the sons of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salecah: Joel the chief, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. And their brethren of their fathers houses: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven. These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Mishael, the son of Jeshishai the son of Hahdo, the son of Buz; Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers’ houses. And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as far as their borders. All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.”

E.M. Zerr:

1Ch 5:11. Gad was another of the tribes, and had some territory in the same place as that of the descendants of Reuben. The specific spot where they settled may be recognized by the mentioning of Bashan, the place where Og was king at the invasion of the Israelites under Moses.

1Ch 5:12-16. This paragraph specifies some of the men of God who occupied this space formerly held by the king of Bashan.

1Ch 5:17. The names given in the preceding paragraph had been enrolled in the time of Jotham and Jeroboam, rings of the two bodies of Israelites. Their right to some of the inherited and could therefore not be disputed.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the children: The Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh are joined to the genealogy of Reuben, because they inhabited the same country, and formed a sort of separate colony east of Jordan.

Gad: Gen 30:11, in the land Bashan, Num 21:33, Num 32:34-36, Deu 3:10-17, Jos 12:4, Jos 13:11, Jos 13:24-28, Psa 22:12

Salcah: Jos 13:11

Reciprocal: Gen 46:16 – sons of Gen 49:19 – General 1Ch 5:12 – Bashan 1Ch 5:16 – Bashan

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge