Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 2:35
And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bore him Attai.
35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha ] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir, an action not unknown in the East. Thus Abraham at first (Gen 15:2-3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. Cp. note on 1Ch 2:31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
35. Sheshan gave his daughter toJarha his servant to wifeThe adoption and marriage of aforeign slave in the family where he is serving, is far from being arare or extraordinary occurrence in Eastern countries. It is thought,however, by some to have been a connection not sanctioned by the lawof Moses [MICHAELIS]. Butthis is not a well-founded objection, as the history of the Jewsfurnishes not a few examples of foreign proselytes in the same mannerobtaining an inheritance in Israel; and doubtless Jarha hadpreviously embraced the Jewish faith in place of the grovellingidolatries of his native Egypt. In such a case, therefore, therecould be no legal difficulty. Being a foreign slave, he had noinheritance in a different tribe to injure by this connection; whilehis marriage with Sheshan’s daughter led to his adoption into thetribe of Judah, as well as his becoming heir of the family property.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife,…. Having first given him his freedom, as the Targum premises; this daughter seems to be Ahlai, 1Ch 2:31 which receives confirmation from Zabad, one of the descendants of this man, 1Ch 2:36, being said to be the son of Ahlai, 1Ch 11:41, that is, great-grandson:
and she bare him Attai; the genealogy of whose descendants is given to the end of 1Ch 2:41, of whom no mention is made elsewhere, but of Zabad, as before observed; and, according to the Jews, it is given for the sake of Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, the last person mentioned in this genealogy; which Ishmael slew Gedaliah governor of Jerusalem, and is said to be of the seed royal, Jer 41:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(35-41) The line of Sheshan-Jarha is pursued for thirteen generations of direct descent, but nothing is known of any of its members from any other source. Elishama, the last name (1Ch. 2:41), is the twenty-fourth generation specified from Judah. The list thus extends over a period of at least 720 years; and if we reckon from the Exodus (circ. 1330 B.C.), we get B.C. 610 as an approximate date for Elishama. Now an Elishama was living about that time, who is mentioned (Jer. 36:12) as one of the princes of Jehoiakim, king of Judah; Jer. 41:1 perhaps mentions the same person again, calling him of the seed of the kingdom. It is at least a coincidence that several of the names recur in the house of David: Nathan (1Ch. 2:36) in 1Ch. 3:5; Obed, as Davids grandfather in 1Ch. 2:12; Azariah, as a byname of King Uzziah, in 1Ch. 3:12; Shallum, as a son of Josiah, in 1Ch. 3:15; Jekamiah, as a brother of Salathiel (Shealtiel), in 1Ch. 3:18; and Elishama, as a son of David, in 1Ch. 3:8a coincidence of six out of thirteen names. The passage Deut. Xxiii. 7, 8 rules that in the third generation persons of Egyptian blood are to be treated as full Israelites. This whole section proves that an Egyptian element was recognised in Judah. (Compare Exo. 12:38; Num. 11:4.) Even the name Jarha has an Egyptian cast (comp. lar, the Memphitic name of the Nile, with the Vulg. spelling of the word Jeraa); perhaps it is Iar-aa, great river, (i.e., the Nile).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
to Jarha. So to make him his heir. The laws of Khammurabi included this, 191. See App-15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Sheshan: When the people of the East have no sons, they frequently marry their daughters to their slaves, even when they have much property to bestow upon them. Hassan had been the slave of Kamel, his predecessor; but Kamel, according to the custom of the country, gave him one of his daughters in marriage, and left him at his death one part of his great riches which he had amassed in the course of a long and prosperous life – Maillet, Lett. xi. p. 118.
his daughter: 1Ch 2:31
Attai: i.e. opportune, [Strong’s H6262], 1Ch 2:36, 1Ch 12:11, 2Ch 11:20
Attai1. Son of Jarha, father of Nathan 1Ch 2:35, 1Ch 2:36, 2. One who came to David to Ziklan 1Ch 12:11, 3. Son of Rehoboam by Maachah 2Ch 11:20
Reciprocal: 1Ch 2:34 – Jarha