Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 7:6
[The sons] of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.
6 12 (cp. ch. 1Ch 8:1-40). The Genealogy of Benjamin
6. The sons of Benjamin ] The Heb. word for the sons of being just like the beginning of the word Benjamin has fallen out through an error of transcription. The names of these are also given in 1Ch 8:1-5; Gen 46:21; Num 26:38-41. There are variations of reading and probably also variations of tradition in the different lists; e.g. here the sons of Benjamin are reckoned to be three in number, but in 1Ch 8:2 to be five.
Bela, and Becher, and Jediael ] These three names come from Gen 46:21, Jediael (“Known to God”) being substituted for the heathen-sounding Ashbel (= Ishbaal, “Man of Baal”). The Chronicler in this case conforms literally to the principle laid down in Hos 2:17. (See note on Eshbaal, 1Ch 8:33.) In 1Ch 8:1 on the contrary the three names Bela, Ashbel, Aharah (= Ahiram) are taken from Num 26:38 without misgiving.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Three – In Genesis, ten sons of Benjamin are mentioned; in Numbers, five (marginal references). Neither list, however, contains Jediael who was perhaps a later chieftain. If so, son as applied to him means only descendant.
It is conjectured that Becher has disappeared from the lists in 1 Chr. 8 and in Numbers, because he, or his heir, married an Ephraimite heiress, and that his house thus passed over in a certain sense into the tribe of Ephraim, in which the Bachrites are placed in Numbers Num 26:35. He retains, however, his place here, because, by right of blood, he really belonged to Benjamin.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher and Jediael] In Ge 46:21, ten sons of Benjamin are reckoned; viz., Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Eri, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. In Nu 26:38, c., five sons only of Benjamin are mentioned, Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shupham, and Hupham: and Ard and Naaman are there said to be the sons of Bela consequently grandsons of Benjamin. In the beginning of the following chapter, five sons of Benjamin are mentioned, viz., Bela, Ashbel, Aharah, Nohah, and Rapha; where also Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, a second Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram, are all represented as grandsons, not sons, of Benjamin: hence we see that in many cases grandsons are called sons, and both are often confounded in the genealogical tables. To attempt to reconcile such discrepancies would be a task as endless as it would be useless. The rabbins say that Ezra, who wrote this book, did not know whether some of these were sons or grandsons; and they intimate also that the tables from which he copied were often defective, and here we must leave all such matters.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There were ten, Gen 46:21, and five of them are named, 1Ch 8:1, but here only three are mentioned, either because these were most eminent for courage or fruitfulness, or because the other families were now extinct.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. The sons of BenjaminTenare named in Ge 46:21, but onlyfive later (1Ch 8:1; Num 26:38).Perhaps five of them were distinguished as chiefs of illustriousfamilies, but two having fallen in the bloody wars waged againstBenjamin (Jud 20:46), thereremained only three branches of this tribe, and these only areenumerated.
JediaelOr Asbel(Genesis 46. 21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Sons and families of Benjamin. – In 1Ch 7:6 only three sons of Benjamin-Bela, Becher, and Jediael – are mentioned; and in 1Ch 7:7-11 their families are registered. Besides these, there are five sons of Benjamin spoken of in 1Ch 8:1-2, – Bela the first, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth; while in 1Ch 7:3-5 five other are enumerated, viz., , (twice), , , and . If we compare here the statements of the Pentateuch as to the genealogy of Benjamin, we find in Gen 46:21 the following sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi ( ) and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard ( ); and in Num 26:38-40 seven families, of which five are descended from his sons Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shephupham, and Hupham ( ); and two from his grandsons, the sons of Bela, Ard and Naaman. From this we learn, not only that of the mentioned in Gen 46:21 at least two were grandsons, but also that the names and (Gen.) are only other forms of and (Num.). It is, however, somewhat strange that among the families (in Num.) the names , , and are wanting. The explanation which at once suggests itself, that their descendants were not numerous enough to form separate families, and that they on that account were received into the families of the other sons, though it may be accepted in the case of Gera and Rosh, of whom it is nowhere recorded that they had numerous descendants, cannot meet the case of Becher, for in 1Ch 7:8, 1Ch 7:9 of our chapter mention is made of nine sons of his, with a posterity of 20,200 men. The supposition that the name of Becher and his family has been dropped from the genealogical register of the families in Num 26, will not appear in the slightest degree probable, when we consider the accuracy of this register in other respects. The only remaining explanation therefore is, that the descendants of Becher were in reality not numerous enough to form a by themselves, but had afterwards so increased that they numbered nine fathers’-houses, with a total of 20,200 valiant warriors. The numbers in our register point unquestionably to post-Mosaic times; for at the second numbering by Moses, all the families of Benjamin together numbered only 45,600 men (Num 26:41), while the three families mentioned in our verses number together 59,434 (22,034 + 20,200 + 17,200). The tribe of Benjamin, which moreover was entirely destroyed, with the exception of 600 men, in the war which it waged against the other tribes in the earlier part of the period of the judges (Jdg 20:47), could not have increased to such an extent before the times of David and Solomon. The name of the third son of Benjamin, Jediael, occurs only here, and is considered by the older commentators to be another name of Ashbel (Gen 46:21 and Num 26:38), which cannot indeed be accepted as a certainty, but is very probable.
1Ch 7:7 The five heads of fathers’-houses called sons of Bela are not sons in the proper sense of the word, but more distant descendants, who, at the time when this register was made up, were heads of the five groups of related households of the race of Bela. is synonymous with , 1Ch 7:9, and is a plural, formed as if from a nomen compositum , which arose after the frequent use of the words as they are bound together in the status constructus had obscured the consciousness of the relation between them.
1Ch 7:8-9 Becher’s descendants. Of these nine names there are two, and , which occur elsewhere as names of cities (cf. for in the form , 1Ch 6:45; and for , Jos 21:18; Isa 10:30; Jer 1:1). We may, without doubt, accept the supposition that in these cases the cities received their names from the heads of the families which inhabited them. In 1Ch 7:9, stands in apposition to, and is explanatory of, : “And their register, according to their generations,” viz., according to the generations, that is, the birth-lists, “of the heads of their fathers’-houses, is (amounts to) in valiant heroes 20,200 men.”
1Ch 7:10-11 Among the descendants of Jediael we find Benjamin and Ehud, the first of whom is named after the patriarch; but the second is not the judge Ehud (Jdg 3:15), who was indeed a Benjamite, but of the family of Gera. Chenaanah does not necessarily indicate a Canaanite family. Tharshish, which is elsewhere a precious stone, is here the name of a person; Ahishahar, that is, Brother of the Dawn, perhaps so named because sub auroram natur . – In 1Ch 7:11 the expression is contracted, as often happens in formulae which frequently recur; and the meaning is, “All these are sons of Jediael (for as sons of Bilhan the son of Jediael, they are at the same time sons of the latter), (registered) according to the heads of their fathers’-houses, valiant heroes 17,200, going forth in the host to war.” is contracted from , vide on Exo 6:25; and the before , which Bertheau from a misinterpretation wishes to remove, depends upon the (1Ch 7:9) to be supplied in thought.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
for comments on vs 6-12 1Ch 8:1
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
10. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN (1Ch. 7:6-12)
TEXT
1Ch. 7:6. 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 fathers houses, mighty men of Valor; and they were reckoned by genealogy twenty and two thousand and thirty and four. 8. And the sons of Becher: Zemirah, Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. 9. And they were reckoned by genealogy, after their generations, heads of their fathers houses, mighty men of valor, twenty thousand and two hundred. 10. And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar. 11. All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers houses, mighty men of valor, seventeen thousand and two hundred, that were able to go forth in the host for war. 12. Shuppim also, and Huppim, the sons of Ir, Hushim the sons of Aher.
PARAPHRASE
1Ch. 7:6. The sons of Benjamin were: Bela, Becher, Jedia-el, 7. The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, Iri. These five mighty warriors were chiefs of subclans and were the leaders of 22,034 troops (all of whom were recorded in the official genealogies). 8. The sons of Becher were: Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Eli-o-enai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, Alemeth. 9. At the time of David there were 22,200 mighty warriors among their descendants; and they were led by their clan chiefs. 10. The son of Jedia-el was Bilhan. The sons of Bilhan were: Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, Ahishahar. 11. They were the chiefs of the subclans of Jedia-el, and their descendants included 17,200 warriors at the time of King David. 12. The sons of Ir were Shuppim and Huppim. Hushim was one of the sons of Aher.
COMMENTARY
The indications here are that Benjamin had three sons, namely, Bela, Becher, and Jediael. The list in Gen. 46:21 names the sons of Benjamin. Some of these are to be identified as grandsons. At the time when this present enumeration was taken, Belas descendants numbered 22,034. Bechers direct descendants numbered 20,200 (1Ch. 7:8-9), and Jedia-els people numbered 17,200. Evidently these enumerations have to do with warriors. The total military strength of Benjamin at this time was 59,434.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(6) Becher with different vowels would mean firstborn; and the original reading in Genesis 46 may have been Bela bechoroBela his firstborn, as in 1Ch. 8:1.
Jediael, friend of God, may be a substitute for Ashbel, i.e., Eshbaal, man of Bel or Baal. (Comp. 1Ch. 3:8, Eliada for Beeliada.) Ashbel is the second son of Benjamin in Numbers 26 and 1 Chronicles 8, and the third (perhaps second) in Genesis 46
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(6-11) The tribe of Benjamin.
(6) Benjamin.Before this word bn (sons of . . .) has been lost, because Benjamin in Hebrew begins with the same three letters. The present list of the sons of Benjamin may be compared with three others, that of Gen. xlvi 21, that of Num. xxvi 38-41, and that of the next 1chron 1Ch. 7:1-5.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
The genealogy of Benjamin next comes to be registered! but it is only in part set down in this place. In the next chapter we find a further enumeration. Benjamin, as a tribe, seems to have been pointed out as a warlike people by their father Jacob, who described Benjamin, ravening as a wolf. Gen 49:27 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ch 7:6 [The sons] of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.
Ver. 6. The sons of Benjamin. ] The genealogies of Dan and Zebulon are left out, for causes unknown; haply, because at their return out of Babylon their genealogies were not found. Dan is also – for their apostasy, likely, and idolatry – not reckoned among the rest that were sealed. Rev 7:5-8 That Antichrist should be one of this tribe, is a fiction rightly exploded. We read of Hushim, 1Ch 7:12 the sons of Aher, which signifieth Another – and so some render it – by Another, understanding Dan, compare Gen 46:23 whom the penman of this book held not worth the naming. The Hebrews, when they would show their detestation of any person or thing, they call it acher; a sow they call dabshar acher, that is, another thing; so leaven at the passover, &c. a
a Elias Thisbit.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
three. In Gen 46:21 there were ten. When Chronicles was written the others probably had become extinct. Even in Num 26:38 only five are mentioned. in 1Ch 8:1, 1Ch 8:2 only five are given.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1Ch 7:6-12
1Ch 7:6-12
“The sons of Benjamin: Bel, and Becher, and Jediael, three. And the sons of Bala:, Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Itri, five; heads of fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor; and they were reckoned by genealogy twenty and two thousand and thirty and four. And the sons of Becher: Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. And they were reckoned by genealogy, after their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor, twenty thousand and two hundred. And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar. All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor, seventeen thousand and two hundred, that were able to go forth in the host for war. Shuppim also, and Huppim, the sons of lr (Iri), Hushim, the sons of Aher.”
E.M. Zerr:
1Ch 7:6-7. Another tribe is introduced, that of Benjamin. Reckoned by their genealogies means they were not counted unless they had been born in line with the family record of births. These were men of valor which means strength or power.
1Ch 7:8-9. The main reason for noting these verses is to show the close distinction between the words genealogy and generations. The first means the pedigree of the stock, and the second is the history of that pedigree. To illustrate, an animal might possess the pure blood of a certain strain, yet not get credit for it because no record had been kept of it. Therefore, a prospective purchaser would demand that the pedigree be “registered” to show the purity of the stock. Likewise in our case of the sons of Becher, the number of men counted for the military came from those not only of the pure stock (genealogy), but it was a matter of history or registration.
1Ch 7:10. Benjamin is another familiar name, but its presence here is a coincidence.
1Ch 7:11-12. Heads of their fathers. The last word is plural because the group being considered descended through the various posterity of Jediael. The number 17,200 was the military strength of this group.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
of Benjamin: In the parallel place of Genesis, ten sons of Benjamin are reckoned, Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard; and in Numbers, five only are mentioned, Bela, Ashbel, Ahiraim, Shupham, and Hupham; and Ard and Naaman are said to be the sons of Bela, and consequently Benjamin’s grandsons. In the beginning of the following chapter, also, five are only mentioned, Bela, Ashbel, Aharah, Nohah, and Rapha; and Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoha, another Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram, are all represented as grandsons, not sons of Benjamin. Hence we see that in many cases, grandsons are called sons, and both are often confounded in the genealogical tables. It seems, also, that the persons mentioned in the following verses were neither sons nor grandsons of Bela and Becher, but distinguished persons among their descendants. 1Ch 8:1-12, Gen 46:21, Num 26:38-41
Jediael: 1Ch 7:10, 1Ch 7:11
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ch 7:6. The sons of Benjamin, three They were ten, (Gen 46:21,) and five of them are named 1Ch 8:1, but here only three are mentioned, either because they were most eminent, or because the other families were now extinct.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
7:6 [The sons] of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and {d} Jediael, {e} three.
(d) Also called Ashbel, Gen 46:21, Num 26:38.
(e) Who were the chief: or else there were seven in all as it appears in Gen 46:21.