{"id":10548,"date":"2022-09-24T03:36:45","date_gmt":"2022-09-24T08:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-1-chronicles-71\/"},"modified":"2022-09-24T03:36:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-24T08:36:45","slug":"exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-1-chronicles-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/exegetical-and-hermeneutical-commentary-of-1-chronicles-71\/","title":{"rendered":"Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 7:1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now the sons of Issachar [were], Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. <\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

1 5. The Genealogy of Issachar<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. the sons of Issachar<\/em> ] Gen 46:13<\/span>; Num 26:23-24<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Puah<\/em> ] In Gen. and Num. Puvah<\/em> (R.V.), but in Jdg 10:1<\/span> Puah<\/em> as here. A descendant of Puah<\/em> named Tola<\/em> was one of the Judges.<\/p>\n

Jashub<\/em> ] So in Num., but in Gen. Iob<\/em> (not Iyob<\/em> as in Job 1:1<\/span>, R.V. mg).<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The treatment of different tribes is unequal in this chapter. In the case of Issachar (1Ch 7:1-5<\/span>), Benjamin (1Ch 7:6-12<\/span>), and Asher (1Ch 7:30-40<\/span>), genealogies are given and the number of fighting-men of each tribe is stated. To Naphtali is devoted a single verse, giving only the names of his sons. For Manasseh and Ephraim genealogies are given and their possessions are shortly enumerated. The mention of Dan is obliterated, owing to the state of the text of 1Ch 7:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1Ch 7:1-11<\/span><\/p>\n

Now the Sons of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jaahub, and Shimrom, four.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Statistics<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Statistics play an important part in Chronicles and in the Old Testament generally.<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> Genealogies and other lists of names.<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> Specifications of subscription lists for the Tabernacle and for Solomons temple.<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> Census returns and statements as to the number of armies and of the divisions of which they were composed.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Biblical statistics are examples in accuracy and thoroughness of information, and recognitions of the more obscure and prosaic manifestations of the higher life. In these and other ways the Bible gives an anticipatory sanction to the exact sciences.<\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>Statistics are the only form in which many acts of service can be recognised and recorded. The missionary report can only tell the story of a few striking conversions; it may give the history of the exceptional self-denial in one or two of its subscriptions; for the rest we must be content with tables and subscription-lists.<\/p>\n

4. <\/strong>Our chroniclers interest in statistics lays healthy emphasis on the practical character of religion. There is a danger of identifying spiritual force with literary and rhetorical gifts; to recognise the religious value of statistics is the most forcible protest against such identification. The supreme service of the Church in any age is its influence on its own generation, by which it moulds the generation immediately following. That influence can only be <\/strong>estimated by a careful study of all possible information and especially of statistics.<\/p>\n

5. <\/strong>The lists in Chronicles are few and meagre compared to the records of Greenwich Observatory or the volumes which contain the data of biology and sociology; but the chronicler becomes, in a certain sense, the forerunner of Darwin, Spencer, and Galton. <\/em>(W. H. Bennett, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CHAPTER VII <\/P>

The genealogy of Issachar<\/I>,1-5.<\/P>

Of Benjamin<\/I>, 6-12.<\/P>

Of Naphtali<\/I>, 13.<\/P>

Of Manasseh<\/I>, 14-19.<\/P>

Of Ephraim<\/I>, 20-29.<\/P>

And of Asher<\/I>, 30-40. <\/P>

NOTES ON CHAP. VII<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Jashub, <\/B>called, by way of contraction, Job<\/I>, Gen 46:13<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1. Jashub<\/B>or Job (Ge46:13<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Now the sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four.<\/strong> The same number is given, Ge 46:13<\/span> with a small variation of two of their names, there called Phuvah and Job, from whence so many families sprang, mentioned Nu 26:23<\/span>, where the names are the same as here.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Sons and families of Issachar.<\/em> – 1Ch 7:1<\/span>. Instead of , we must certainly read , as in 1Ch 7:14<\/span>, 1Ch 7:30<\/span>, or , as in 1Ch 7:20<\/span>; 1Ch 5:11<\/span>, and elsewhere. The has come into the text only by the recollection of the copyist having dwelt on the so frequently recurring in 1Ch 6:42<\/span>, 1Ch 6:46-47<\/span>, cf. 1Ch 6:48<\/span>, 1Ch 6:56<\/span>, 1Ch 6:62<\/span>, for it is not possible to take as the of introduction, because the names of the sons follow immediately. The names of the four sons are given as in Num 26:23<\/span>., while in Gen 46:13<\/span> the second is written , and the third ; vide <\/em> on Gen. loc. cit.<\/em> <\/p>\n

1Ch 7:2<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong> The six sons of Tola are not elsewhere met with in the Old Testament. They were “heads of their fathers’-houses of Tola.” after (with the suffix) is somewhat peculiar; the meaning can only be, “of their fathers’-houses which are descended from Tola.” It is also surprising, or rather not permissible, that should be connected with . belongs to the following: “(registered) according to their births, they numbered in the days of David 22,600.” The suffixes – do not refer to , but to the , the fathers’-houses, the males in which amounted to 22,600 souls. As David caused the people to be numbered by Joab (2 Sam 24; 1Ch 21:1<\/span>), this statement probably rests on the results of that census.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:3-5<\/span> <\/p>\n

<\/strong> From Uzzi, the first-born of Tola, are descended through Izrahiah five men, all heads of groups of related households (1Ch 7:4<\/span>); “and to them (i.e., besides these) according to their generations, according to their fathers’-houses, bands of the war host, 36,000 (men), for they (these chiefs) had many wives and sons.” From the fact that Izrahiah is introduced as grandson of Tola, Bertheau would infer that 1Ch 7:3<\/span>, 1Ch 7:4<\/span> refer to times later than David. But this is an erroneous inference, for Tola’s sons did not live in David’s time at all, and consequently it is not necessary that his grandson should be assigned to a later time. The only assertion made is, that the descendants of Tola’s sons had increased to the number mentioned in 1Ch 7:2<\/span> in the time of David. By that time the descendants of his grandson Izrahiah might have increased to the number given in 1Ch 7:4<\/span>. That the number, 36,000, of the descendants of the grandson Izrahiah was greater than the number of those descended from the sons of Tola (22,600), is explained in the clause, “for they had many wives and sons.” That the two numbers (in 1Ch 7:2<\/span>, 1Ch 7:4<\/span>) refer to the same time, i.e., to the days of David, is manifest from 1Ch 7:5<\/span>, “and their brethren of all the families of Issachar, valiant heroes; 87,000 their register, as regards everything,” i.e., the sum of those registered of all the families of Issachar. Whence we gather that in the 87,000 both the 22,600 (1Ch 7:2<\/span>) and the 36,000 (1Ch 7:4<\/span>) are included, and their brethren consequently must have amounted to 28,400 (22,600 + 36,000 + 28,400 = 87,000). In the time of Moses, Issachar numbered, according to Num 1:29<\/span>, 54,400; and at a later time, according to Num 26:25<\/span>, already numbered 64,300 men.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Genealogies.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD>

B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 1689.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE>

      1 Now the sons of Issachar were,<\/I> Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four.   2 And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house, to wit,<\/I> of Tola: they were<\/I> valiant men of might in their generations; whose number was<\/I> in the days of David two and twenty thousand and six hundred.   3 And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief men.   4 And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, were<\/I> bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand men:<\/I> for they had many wives and sons.   5 And their brethren among all the families of Issachar were<\/I> valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies fourscore and seven thousand.   6 The sons<\/I> 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 the house of their<\/I> fathers, mighty men of valour; and were reckoned by their genealogies twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.   8 And the sons of Becher; Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth. All these are<\/I> the sons of Becher.   9 And the number of them, after their genealogy by their generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour, was<\/I> twenty thousand and two hundred.   10 The sons also of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan; Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tharshish, and Ahishahar.   11 All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers, mighty men of valour, were<\/I> seventeen thousand and two hundred soldiers,<\/I> fit to go out for war and<\/I> battle.   12 Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir, and<\/I> Hushim, the sons of Aher.   13 The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.   14 The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare: (but<\/I> his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:   15 And Machir took to wife the sister<\/I> of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister’s name was<\/I> Maachah;) and the name of the second was<\/I> Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.   16 And Maachah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was<\/I> Sheresh; and his sons were<\/I> Ulam and Rakem.   17 And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were<\/I> the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.   18 And his sister Hammoleketh bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and Mahalah.   19 And the sons of Shemida were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam.<\/P>

      We have here a short view given us,<\/P>

      I. Of the tribe of Issachar, whom Jacob had compared to a strong ass, couching between two burdens<\/I> (Gen. xlix. 14<\/span>), an industrious tribe, that minded their country business very closely and rejoiced in their tents,<\/I> Deut. xxxiii. 18<\/I><\/span>. And here it appears, 1. That they were a numerous tribe; for they had many wives. So fruitful their country was that they saw no danger of over-stocking the pasture, and so ingenious the people were that they could find work for all hands. Let no people complain of their numbers, provided they suffer none to be idle. 2. That they were a valiant tribe, men of might<\/I> (1Ch 7:2<\/span>; 1Ch 7:5<\/span>), chief men,<\/I> v.<\/span> 3<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Those that were inured to labour and business were of all men the fittest to serve their country when there was occasion, The number of the respective families, as taken in the days of David, is here set down, amounting in the whole to above 145,000 men fit for war. The account, some think, was taken when Joab numbered the people, 2 Sam. xxiv.<\/span> But I rather think it refers to some other computation that was made, perhaps among themselves, because it is said (1 Chron. xxvii. 24<\/span>) that that account was not inserted in the chronicles of king David, it having offended God.<\/P>

      II. Of the tribe of Benjamin. Some account is here given of this tribe, but much larger in the next chapter. The militia of this tribe scarcely reached to 60,000; but they are said to be mighty men of valour,<\/I>1Ch 7:7<\/span>; 1Ch 7:9<\/span>; 1Ch 7:11<\/span>. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf,<\/I> Gen. xlix. 27<\/I><\/span>. It was the honour of this tribe that it produced Saul the first king, and more its honour that it adhered to the rightful kings of the house of David when the other tribes revolted. Here is mention (v.<\/I><\/span> 12<\/span>) of Hushim the sons of Aher. The sons of Dan are said to be Hushim<\/I> (Gen. xlvi. 23<\/span>), and therefore some read Aher appellatively, Hushim<\/I>–the sons of another<\/I> (that is, another of Jacob’s sons) or the sons of a stranger, which Israelites should not be, but such the Danites were when they set up Micah’s graven and molten image among them.<\/P>

      III. Of the tribe of Naphtali, v.<\/I><\/span> 13<\/span>. The first fathers only of that tribe are named, the very same that we shall find, Gen. xlvi. 24<\/span>, only that Shillem<\/I> there is Shallum<\/I> here. None of their descendents are named, perhaps because their genealogies were lost.<\/P>

      IV. Of the tribe of Manasseh, that part of it which was seated within Jordan; for of the other part we had some account before, ch.<\/I><\/span> v. 23<\/span>, c. Of this tribe observe, 1. That one of them married an Aramitess, that is, a Syrian, &lti>v.<\/span> 14<\/span><\/U><\/span>. This was during their bondage in Egypt, so early did they begin to mingle with the nations. 2. That, though the father married a Syrian, Machir, the son of that marriage, perhaps seeing the inconvenience of it in his father’s house, took to wife a daughter of Benjamin, v.<\/I><\/span> 15<\/span>. It is good for the children to take warning by their father’s mistakes and not stumble at the same stone. 3. Here is mention of Bedan (v.<\/I><\/span> 17<\/span>), who perhaps is the same with that Bedan who is mentioned as one of Israel’s deliverers, 1 Sam. xii. 11<\/span>. Jair perhaps, who was of Manasseh (Judg. x. 3<\/span>), was the man.<\/P> <\/p>\n

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

First Chronicles – Chapter 7<\/p>\n

Tribe of Issacher, Verses 1-5<\/p>\n

The record of the tribe of Issachar begins with the naming of Issachar’s four sons, each of whom headed a family in the later tribal organization. Several prominent sons of Tola’s family are named. Those of the family of Tola are singled out for their valor in the time of King David. They are called “valiant men of might,” and they numbered 22,600. Another group called “bands of soldiers for war” numbered 36, 000.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CRITICAL NOTES.] 1Ch. 7:1-5<\/span><\/em>.Issachar<\/em>. A tribe of more than average strength, since the entire return from all the tribes, except Judah, was no more than 800,000 men (2Sa. 24:9<\/span>) [Speak. Com.<\/em>]. In days of David<\/em>, 1Ch. 7:2<\/span>, probably from census taken by Joab <\/p>\n

(21).<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:6-12<\/span><\/em>.Benjamin<\/em>. Ten, Gen. 46:21<\/span>; five, 1Ch. 8:1<\/span>; three<\/em> here, most eminent mentioned, or other families extinct. 1Ch. 7:7<\/span>. Bela<\/em>, list different from ch. 1Ch. 8:3-5<\/span> and from Num. 26:40<\/span>. Probably persons mentioned not literally sons, but among later descendants of Bela, chief men of family in time of Davids census [Speak. Com.<\/em>]. 1Ch. 7:10<\/span>. Jediael<\/em>, sons may include grandsons. 1Ch. 7:12<\/span>. Three other sons of Benjamin named (cf.<\/em> Num. 26:39<\/span>; Gen. 46:21<\/span>; and ch. 1Ch. 8:5<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:13<\/span><\/em>.Naphtali<\/em> (cf.<\/em> Gen. 46:24<\/span>; Num. 26:48<\/span>). His territory originally included in Judah (Jos. 19:40<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:14-19<\/span><\/em>.Manasseh<\/em>. An intricate and defective passage, appears to refer to western side of Jordan; other side in ch. 1Ch. 5:23-26<\/span>. 1Ch. 7:15<\/span>. Daughters<\/em> (cf.<\/em> account Jos. 17:3-6<\/span>; Num. 26:33<\/span>). 1Ch. 7:16-17<\/span>. None of these mentioned elsewhere, unless Bedan is the judge of 1Sa. 12:11<\/span>. 1Ch. 7:19<\/span> This paragraph is of peculiar interest as illustrating the freedom and independence with which sons of Israel moved in period before the new king arose that knew not Joseph [Murphy<\/em>].<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:20-29<\/span><\/em>.Ephraim<\/em>. Difficult to solve the question of chronology and genealogy of this passage. The line of Shuthelah is traced to seventh generation, viz., to another Shuthelah. Ezer and Elead, perhaps two brothers of the first Shuthelah, i.e.<\/em>, own sons of Ephraim. Men of Gath<\/em>, settled inhabitants (contrasted with strangers, nomadic Hebrews, Amalekites, &c.), attacked shepherds of Ephraim, and the conflict produced the usual result. 1Ch. 7:23<\/span>. Beriah<\/em>, in evil, some render a gift, to the house by the birth of another son. 1Ch. 7:24<\/span>. Beth-horon<\/em> (Jos. 10:10<\/span>; Jos. 16:3-5<\/span>; Jos. 18:13-14<\/span>). 1Ch. 7:25-27<\/span>. Two other sons of Ephraim added, Rephah and Resheph, from latter sprang Joshua (Jehovah, Saviour). Elishama, son of Ammihud, prince of Ephraim in time of Exodus (Num. 1:10<\/span>; Num. 2:18<\/span>). Non<\/em>, for Nun (Num. 13:8-16<\/span>). 1Ch. 7:28-29<\/span>. Possessions and boundaries of the two tribes here given.<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:30-40<\/span><\/em>.Asher<\/em>. Sons, daughters, and grandsons, given as in Gen. 46:17<\/span> and partly Num. 26:44<\/span>, if we allow for slight changes of spelling in names.<\/p>\n

HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n

REGISTERED SOLDIERS.1Ch. 7:1-40<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In this chapter a genealogy of those tribes only who were mighty men of valour.<\/p>\n

I. Issachar, the industrious tribe<\/strong> (1Ch. 7:1-5<\/span>). <\/p>\n

1. Patient in labour<\/em>. He possessed a fruitful district, willingly submitted to toil and tribute (cf.<\/em> Gen. 49:14-15<\/span>; Jos. 19:17-22<\/span>). <\/p>\n

2. Great in number<\/em> (1Ch. 7:5<\/span>). <\/p>\n

3. Valiant in war<\/em> (1Ch. 7:5<\/span>). <\/p>\n

II. Benjamin, the warlike tribe<\/strong> (1Ch. 7:6-12<\/span>). Quick, rapacious, and powerful (Gen. 49:27<\/span>; cf.<\/em> Jdg. 5:14<\/span>; Jdg. 20:16<\/span>). Ehud, Saul, Jonathan. Paul from this tribe. <\/p>\n

III. Naphtali, the heroic tribe<\/strong> (1Ch. 7:13<\/span>). Beautiful and active, comparable to the gazelle (2Sa. 2:18<\/span>). Remarkable also for culture. He giveth goodly words, rich in poetry and speech (Gen. 49:21<\/span>). <\/p>\n

IV. Manasseh, the divided tribe<\/strong> (1Ch. 7:14-19<\/span>). One half of the tribe on the other side Jordan (ch. 1Ch. 5:23<\/span>). Division, perhaps, according to the fitness of those who composed it at the time. More warlike adapted to coast of Jordan. <\/p>\n

V. Ephraim, the exalted tribe<\/strong> (1Ch. 7:20-29<\/span>). Manasseh the elder, but Jacob gave the preference to Ephraim (Gen. 48:10-12<\/span>). Great things declared of this tribe in best days. Here notice<\/p>\n

1. Its bereavement<\/em> (1Ch. 7:21<\/span>). <\/p>\n

2. Its possessions<\/em> (1Ch. 7:28<\/span>). <\/p>\n

3. Its vicissitudes<\/em>. Its predicted greatness (Gen. 48:19<\/span>) nipped in the bud. Powerless to protect itself, thrown into grief, humbled, yet comforted and distinguished in its sons (1Ch. 7:27<\/span>). <\/p>\n

VI. Asher, the undistinguished tribe<\/strong> (1Ch. 7:30-40<\/span>). A few choice and mighty men of valour, but inferior in numbers, no great record in sacred history furnished no hero or judge to the nation. One name only shines out of the general obscurity. The aged widow, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser, who, in the very close of the history, departed not from the Temple, but served God with fastings and prayers day and night [Stanley<\/em>].<\/p>\n

FAMILY SORROW.1Ch. 7:21-23<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I. The cause of the sorrow.<\/strong> Gathites robbed sons of E. of their cattle, and slew them when defending themselves (1Ch. 7:21<\/span>) Life often exposed and lost by wealth; the sword devours; death takes away children. Families bereaved and thrown into grief Ephraim mourned many days. <\/p>\n

II. The Sympathy in the sorrow.<\/strong> His brethren came to comfort him. The affliction of others should excite our own pity and grief. Relatives and intimate friends should ever be ready to comfort the bereaved. Hard to bear the burden alone. Bear ye one anothers burdens. Most available and tender is the help of one touched with the feeling of our infirmities. <\/p>\n

III. The remembrance of the sorrow.<\/strong> Afflictions may be overcome, but occasions of them never forgotten. <\/p>\n

1. Perpetuated in joy<\/em>. Another son born (1Ch. 7:23<\/span>) in Beriah. Like Seth, another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew <\/p>\n

2. Perpetuated in sorrow<\/em>. It went evil with his house. Weeping yet rejoicing; humbled by the stroke, yet grateful for deliverance. God compensates for the loss in human sympathy, heavenly gifts, and perpetual joy. The Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.<\/p>\n

Shrink not from suffering. Each dear blow<\/p>\n

From which the smitten spirit bleeds<\/p>\n

Is but a messenger to show<\/p>\n

The renovation which it needs.<\/p>\n

HOMILETIC HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS<\/em><\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:2<\/span>. Valiant men of might<\/em>. <\/p>\n

1. Times of conflict. Days of war in Israel many. Thank God for peace and advance of civilisation and humanity. <\/p>\n

2. Men fitted by God to engage in conflict. Apt to the war and to battle (1Ch. 7:40<\/span>). Physical strength, skill in command, statesmanship, and success. The gift of God needful, and should be consecrated to holy purposes.<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:17<\/span>. Bedan<\/em> (cf.<\/em> mentioned in 1Sa. 12:11<\/span>). A great deliverer in Israel.<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:24<\/span>. Loss replaced<\/em> or a famous daughter. Sherah<\/em>, a virtuous woman, who built cities at her own charge (one Uzzen-sherah<\/em>, named after her), and became an honour to the family. A gallant woman, famous in her generation for beautifying and fortifying of sundry cities. Thus also God made up Ephraims loss [Trapp<\/em>].<\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:22<\/span>. A great leader;<\/em> Joshua, son of Nun. In name and work a type of Jesus; yet a contrast (Jos. 13:8-16<\/span>). Human life a register and rapid genealogy, but we have a place and work.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

LESSON THREE 78<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. GENEALOGIES FROM ADAM TO DAVID (1Ch. 1:1<\/span> to 1Ch. 9:44<\/span>)<\/p>\n

9. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF ISSACHAR (1Ch. 7:1-5<\/span>)<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The representatives of other tribes of Israel clearly identifiable in Davids day are mentioned in this section. Joshua and Saul are prominent names appearing in this account.<\/p>\n

TEXT<\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:1<\/span>. And of the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 2. And 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 valor in their generations: their number in the days of David was two and twenty thousand and six hundred. 3. And the son of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five; all of them chief men. 4. And 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. 5. And their brethren among all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valor, reckoned in all by genealogy, were fourscore and seven thousand.<\/p>\n

PARAPHRASE<\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch. 7:1<\/span>. The sons of Issachar: Tola, Puah, Jashub, Shimron. 2. The sons of Tola, each of whom was the head of a subclan: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeri-el, Jahmai, Ibsam, Shemuel. At the time of King David, the total number of men of war from these families totaled 22,600. 3. Uzzis son was Izrahiah among whose five sons were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, all chiefs of subclans. 4. Their descendants, at the time of King David, numbered 36,000 troops; for all five of them had several wives and many sons. 5. The total number of men available for military service from all the clans of the tribe of Issachar numbered 87,000 stouthearted warriors, all included in the official genealogy.<\/p>\n

COMMENTARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The enumeration in chapter seven was taken in the days of David (1Ch. 7:2<\/span>).[22] Issachar was Jacobs fifth son by Leah (Gen. 35:23<\/span>). He was the father of four sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron. Tolas descendants at the time of this record numbered 22,600. The descendants of Uzzi, son of Tola, numbered 36,000. Tolas and Uzzis people total 58,600. Verse five indicates that all of the families of Issachar numbered 87,000. This latter number agrees well with the census figures in Moses day (Num. 26:23-25<\/span>). The Issacharites are described as mighty men of valor, great warriors.<\/p>\n

[22] Elmslie, W. A. L., The Interpreters Bible, Vol. Ill, The First and Books of Chronicles, Abingdon Press, New York, 1954, p. 371.<\/p>\n

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

(1) Gen. 46:21<\/span><\/p>\n

Bela and Becher and Ashbel, Gera and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Muppim and Huppim and Ard.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

VII.<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE GREAT CLANS OF ISSACHAR, BENJAMIN, NAPTHALI, WEST MANASSEH, EPHRAIM, AND ASHER.<\/strong><\/p>\n

(15) The tribe of Issachar, its clans and their military strength.<\/p>\n

(1) Now the sons of Issachar.<\/strong>Heb., and to the sons<\/em>i.e., <\/em>and as for the sons of Issachar, Tola, Puah, &c., four were they. The Vatic, LXX., has the dative; the Alex, the nominative, which is perhaps a correction. The four names are given Gen. 46:13<\/span>, where the second is Puwwah, the third lb; and Num. 26:23<\/span>, where also the second name is Puwwah, but the third Ishb (he returns<\/em>).<\/em> The Heb. text here is Ishb (he makes return<\/em>);<\/em> the Hebrew margin, adopted by the Authorised Version, is the same as the text of Numbers 26<\/span><\/p>\n

(2-6) These verses supply names and facts not found elsewhere. We have here some of the results of the census of David (2 Samuel 24<\/span>, and below, 1 Chronicles 21<\/span>).<\/p>\n

(2) Heads of their fathers house<\/strong>Rather, chiefs of their father-houses<\/em> (septs or clans).<\/p>\n

Of Tola.<\/strong>Belonging to Tola,<\/em> that is, to the great clan or sub-tribe so called.<\/p>\n

In their generations.<\/strong>According to their registers<\/em> or birth-rolls.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whose number.<\/strong>The number of the warriors of all the six groups of the Tolaite branch of Issachar.<\/p>\n

In the days of David.<\/strong>See the census (1chron xxi,).<\/p>\n

(3) Izrahiah<\/strong> . . .<\/strong>All these names contain a divine element. Izrahiah means Iah riseth (like the sun) (comp. Mal. 4:2<\/span>); Michael, who like God? (Comp. Isa. 40:18<\/span>; Isa. 40:25<\/span>.) Before Ishiah and<\/em> has fallen out.<\/p>\n

Five: all of them chief men.<\/strong>Heb., five chiefs<\/em> (heads) altogether<\/em> (all of them). But perhaps the punctuation should be as in the Authorised Version. 1Ch. 7:7<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

(4) By their generations.<\/strong>Heb., after<\/em> or according to their birth-rolls<\/em> or registers.<\/em> The census of the Uzzite warriors was taken according to their birth-rolls and their father-houses (septs or clans).<\/p>\n

Bands of soldiers.<\/strong>Heb., troops of the host of war<\/em> or of the battle-host.<\/em><\/p>\n

For they had many wives and sons.<\/strong>They<\/em> are the clans represented by the hereditary chiefs Izrahiah, Michael, and the rest.<\/p>\n

(5) And their brethren.<\/strong>Fellow-tribesmen.<\/p>\n

Families.<\/strong>Clans (mishpehth<\/em>).<\/em> The verse states<\/p>\n

the number of warriors for the whole tribe of Issachar in Davids census at 87,000. Render: And their kinsmen, of all the clans of Issachar, valiant warriors. Eighty-seven thousand was their census for the whole (tribe).<\/p>\n

Reckoned in all by their genealogies.<\/strong>Heb., hithyahsm,<\/em> a difficult word peculiar to the chronicler in the Old Testament, but reappearing in the Rabbinic Hebrew. The present form is a verbal noun with suffix pronoun, and means their enrolling or enrolment, their census; cp. ,<\/em> (Luk. 2:1<\/span>). As the Tolaites were 22,600, and the sons of Izrahiah 36,000, the other son of Issachar must have amounted to 28,400, to make up the total of 87,000 for the tribe. At the first census of Moses (Num. i 29), the warriors of Issachar were 54,400; at the second (Num. 26:25<\/span>) they were 64,300. (Comp. Jdg. 5:15<\/span>; Jdg. 10:1<\/span> for the ancient prowess of Issachar.)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1Ch 7:23<\/strong><\/span>  And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bare a son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:23<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> <\/strong> Word Study on “Beriah” <\/em><\/strong> PTW <\/em> says the Hebrew name “Berish” means, “unfortunate.”<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The Genealogy of the Twelve Sons of Israel <\/strong> 1 Chronicles 4-8 gives a brief chronology of the twelve sons of Israel. However, there appears to be no certain order in listing these twelve children of Jacob, although a reference is made to Reuben’s genealogy being listed out of the order of birthright (1Ch 5:1<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch 5:1<\/span>, “Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright .”<\/p>\n

The genealogies are listed in the following order:<\/p>\n

Judah 1Ch 4:1-23<\/span><\/p>\n

Simeon 1Ch 4:24-43<\/span><\/p>\n

Reuben 1Ch 5:1-10<\/span><\/p>\n

Gad 1Ch 5:11-22<\/span><\/p>\n

Manasseh (east) 1Ch 5:23-26<\/span><\/p>\n

Levi 1Ch 6:1-81<\/span><\/p>\n

Issachar 1Ch 7:1-5<\/span><\/p>\n

Benjamin 1Ch 7:6-12<\/span><\/p>\n

Naphtali 1Ch 7:13<\/span><\/p>\n

Manasseh (west) 1Ch 7:14-19<\/span><\/p>\n

Ephraim 1Ch 7:20-28<\/span><\/p>\n

Asher 1Ch 7:30-40<\/span><\/p>\n

Note that the tribes of Dan and Zebulun are not listed in these chapters.<\/p>\n

If we compare the order of their births, we find that these genealogies in 1 Chronicles were not listed by order of birth:<\/p>\n

1. Leah Reuben<\/p>\n

2. Leah Simeon<\/p>\n

3. Leah Levi<\/p>\n

4. Leah Judah<\/p>\n

5. Bilhah Dan<\/p>\n

6. Bilhah Naphtali<\/p>\n

7. Zilpah Gad<\/p>\n

8. Zilpah Asher<\/p>\n

9. Leah Issachar<\/p>\n

10. Leah Zebulun<\/p>\n

11. Rachel Joseph (Manasseh and Ephraim)<\/p>\n

12. Rachel Benjamin<\/p>\n

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/strong> The Line of Issachar, Benjamin, and Naphtali<\/p>\n

v. 1. Now, the sons,<\/strong> and descendants, of Issachar were Tola, and Puah<\/strong> (or Phuvah), Jashub<\/strong> (or Job), and Shimrom, four. <\/strong> Cf Num 16:23<\/span> if. <\/p>\n

v. 2. And the sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house, to wit, of Tola,<\/strong> chiefs of these subdivisions of the tribe, the father-houses; they were valiant men of might in their generations,<\/strong> as they were registered in the mustering-lists; whose number was in the days of David,<\/strong> perhaps at the time of his unfortunate census, two and twenty thousand and six hundred. <\/p>\n

v. 3. And the sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah; and the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five; all of them chief men,<\/strong> both the father and each of his four sons at the head of a numerous and influential division of their tribe. <\/p>\n

v. 4. And with them, by their generations,<\/strong> as they were enrolled in the mustering-lists, after the house of their fathers, were bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand men; for they had many wives and sons,<\/strong> this note being included to explain the extraordinary increase in numbers. <\/p>\n

v. 5. And their brethren among all the families of Issachar,<\/strong> all the other members of the tribe, were valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies fourscore and seven thousand. <\/p>\n

v. 6. The sons of Benjamin,<\/strong> this being a preliminary list, a more detailed one following in the next chapter: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael<\/strong> (or Ashbel), three,<\/strong> these being apparently the chiefs of the most illustrious families. <\/p>\n

v. 7. And the sons of Bela,<\/strong> some of those mentioned being sons in the wider sense, that is, descendants: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of the house of their fathers,<\/strong> chiefs of these divisions in the tribe, the father-houses, mighty men of valor; and were reckoned by their genealogies twenty and two thousand and thirty and four. <\/p>\n

v. 8. And the sons of Becher: Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth,<\/strong> the last two names also being found as applied to cities in the tribe of Benjamin. All these are the sons of Becher. <\/p>\n

v. 9. And the number of them, after their genealogy by their generations,<\/strong> as the mustering-lists showed, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valor, was twenty thousand and two hundred. <\/p>\n

v. 10. The sons also of Jediael: Bilhan; and the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tharshish, and Ahishahar. <\/p>\n

v. 11. All these the sons,<\/strong> the descendants, of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers,<\/strong> as registered, mighty men of valor, were seventeen thousand and two hundred soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle. <\/p>\n

v. 12. Shuppim also and Huppim, the children of Ir, and Hushim, the sons of Aher. <\/strong> The reference seems to be to the descendants of the only son of Dan, Gen 46:23<\/span>, who is otherwise not mentioned in this list. V . 13. The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah,<\/strong> Naphtali and Dan being the sons of this handmaid, and the descendants here named continued the tribe. The growth and the power of all these tribes agreed exactly with the promises of God. <\/p>\n

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

EXPOSITION<\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch 7:1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The great tribes of Judah and Levi being now passed, as well as the minor ones of Simeon, Reuben, and Gad, we reach the sons of Issachar<\/strong>. Issachar was Jacob’s fifth son by Leah (Gen 35:23<\/span>). In the list of Gen 46:13<\/span> our Puah<\/strong> () appears differently spelt as Phuvah (), and Jashub<\/strong> is found as Job, which is corrected by the Samaritan Codex to Jashub, and this reading the Septuagint follows. In the other parallel passage (Num 26:23<\/span>) the Phuvah form obtains, but the other names are the same as here. Tola<\/strong>. We read (Jdg 10:1<\/span>, Jdg 10:2<\/span>) of another person of this name, who judged Israel twenty-three years, at Shamir, in Mount Ephraim, and who is called “the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar.” This is a good instance of how the use of the same names, though in different order, clung to a tribe or family through long periods.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The six sons of Tola<\/strong> given here are stated to be the six heads of the house at the time of the census of David <\/em>(2Sa 24:1-17<\/span>). The verse further states that the Tolaites had grown to number at that time twenty-two thousand six hundred<\/strong>, and as this fact is not stated <\/em>elsewhere, it is pretty clear proof that the compiler had other sources of information in addition to those possessed by us.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Five<\/strong>. The name of Izrahiah’s<\/strong> sons count up only four; but if, with four of Kennicott’s manuscripts, the words, and the sons of Izrahiah<\/strong>, should be omitted, the five will count right for sons of Uzzi<\/strong>, and the little clause beginning this verse will correspond exactly with that beginning 1Ch 7:2<\/span>. The Syriac, however, does not omit “and the sons of Izrahiah;” but alters the numeral “five” to “four.”<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:4<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>1Ch 7:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The meaning of these verses, especially of the former of them, is not quite evident. This seems to say that as the Tolaites were in David’s time twenty-two thousand six hundred, so the Uzzites taken from among them numbered thirty-six thousand additional. But were not the Uzzites included in the Tolaites? and did not the figure thirty-six thousand embrace the accumulated numbers, whilst the balance of fifty-one thousand necessary to make up the eighty-seven thousand of 1Ch 7:5<\/span>, was drawn from all the other branches of the Issachar tribe? This is not the view, however, generally taken, and if the numbers of 1Ch 7:2<\/span> and 1Ch 7:4<\/span> are distinct, the balance needful for 1Ch 7:5<\/span> will, of course, be twenty-eight thousand four hundred. It cannot be denied that this view is favoured by the special description applied to these Uzzites, or Izrahiahites, as bands of soldiers for war; their disposition and their training constituting possibly the reason of their being singled out for further description from among the sons of Tola. The statement of the total number of the tribe of Issachar in David’s time is wonderfully corroborated by the two censuses of Moses Num 1:28<\/span>, Num 1:29<\/span>, fifty-four thousand four hundred; and Num 26:23-25<\/span>, sixty-four thousand three hundred. The total of Issachar, four score and seven thousand<\/strong>, is a good proportion of the aggregate total of all the tribes, given (2Sa 24:8<\/span>, 2Sa 24:9<\/span>) as eight hundred thousand. Grove, however, adds all the above numbers, and makes thereby Issachar’s total one hundred and forty-five thousand six hundred, which seems disfavoured by the numbers at the second census of Moses. At the time of this census Issachar came third of all the tribes, only Judah and Dan taking precedence. The bands of soldiers for war<\/strong>. This expression culminates in the word () “bands,” which is applied (Gen 49:19<\/span>) to Gad, and almost invariably to the irregular but special bodies of fighting men of the nations round (Authorized Version, 1Ch 12:23<\/span> is incorrect, the Hebrew word being different). The examples are too numerous to quote, but some of the more important instances are 2Ki 6:23<\/span>; 2Ki 13:20; 2Ki 24:2<\/span>; Hos 6:9<\/span>; Hos 7:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The sons of Benjamin; Bela<\/strong>, and Becher<\/strong>, and Jediael<\/strong>, three. We have four passages for our authorities as to the sons of Benjamin, and it is not altogether easy to bring them into verbal harmony. They are Gen 46:21<\/span>; Num 26:38-41<\/span>; the present passage; and Num 8:1-26<\/span>. Our present passage mentions three sons, as though they were all, and immediately proceeds to their posterity. The list in Genesis mentions ten, of whom, however, we know (Num 26:40<\/span>; 1Ch 8:3<\/span>, 1Ch 8:4<\/span>) that three, Naaman, Ard, and Gem, were grandsons, being sons of Bela, under which circumstances the order in which the two former stand in Genesis is remarkable. Again, while Becher is given as the second son in both Genesis and our present place, he is not mentioned in Num 26:38-41<\/span> and in 1Ch 8:1<\/span>. Ashbel, who in Genesis is given as the third, is expressly called the second son. Among the Ephraimites, however (Num 26:35<\/span>), a Becher, with his descendants the Bachrites, is mentioned, and it is not improbable that, by marriage, the family were at that time<\/em>, <\/em>for manifest reasons of inheritance and possession, reckoned in this tribe, though by blood of the tribe of Benjamin. This subject is skilfully discussed by Lord A. C. Hervey (Smith’s ‘Bible Dictionary,’ 1:175). Lastly, Jediael of this passage and verse 10 is not found in Genesis, in Numbers, or in our Num 8:1-26<\/span>. This name seems to have superseded in our passage the name Ashbel in Genesis, though it is impossible to speak certainly. It cannot be supposed to designate the same person, but rather a descendant in the same branch, whose family had come to importance “in the days of David.”<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And the sons of Bela<\/strong>. The first and last of the five (descendants or heads of families<\/em>) <\/em>here given, viz. Ezbon<\/strong> and Iri<\/strong>, are not found in previous places among Benjamite families, but are found (Gen 46:16<\/span>; Num 26:16<\/span>) among Gadite families. It would seem that by David’s time they had become in some aspects ranked among the Benjamites, though not originally of them.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:8<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Joash<\/strong>. This name, of which nothing else is known, is spelt with an ayin<\/em>, <\/em>not with an aleph<\/em>, <\/em>as are the names of the seven other persons called (Authorized Version) Joash. Jerimoth<\/strong>. This name is spelt with a tsere<\/em>, <\/em>and not, as the Jerimoth of 1Ch 7:7<\/span>, with khirik. <\/em>All the names of this verse must be regarded as those of heads of families, and not the literal sons of Becher.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:10<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bilhan; Jeush<\/strong>. Both of these, us well as the name Bela, are of Edomitish origin (Gen 36:5<\/span>, Gen 36:18<\/span>, Gen 36:27<\/span>, Gen 36:32<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:12<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shuppim and Huppim<\/strong>. These two, called (Num 36:1-13 :39) “Shupham and Hupham,” and 1Ch 8:5<\/span> “Shephuphan and Huram,” are mentioned (Gen 46:21<\/span>) as among those who went down with Jacob into Egypt, are called “Muppim and Huppim,” and are described as “sons of Benjamin.” They are here described as sons of Iri, or Ir, which would make them great-grandsons of Benjamin, a thing impossible. Hushim, the sons of Aher<\/strong>. Nothing can be said with confidence of either of these names. The Hushim of Gen 46:23<\/span> (called Shuham, Num 26:42<\/span>) are expressly given as a family of Dan, while the Hushim of 1Ch 8:8<\/span>, 1Ch 8:11<\/span>, is manifestly the name, not of a family, but of an individual, and that a woman. Bertheau takes the opportunity of urging, in connection with this name, that Dan <\/em>is not entirely omitted in our work of Chronicles! But his foundation is surely far too slender to build upon. Bertheau and Zockler (in Lange, ‘Alt. Test.’) would translate “another,” or “the other,” instancing not very pertinently, Ezr 2:31<\/span>, and referring the allusion to Dan. He also thinks that this is corroborated by the expression, “the sons of Bilhah,” in the next verse.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:13<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The sons of Naphtali<\/strong>. In an order quite different from the otherwise parallel passages (Gen 46:24<\/span>; Num 26:48-50<\/span>), the tribe of Naphtali is taken. Naphtali was the second son of Rachel’s handmaid Bilhah, and in order of birth the fifth sen of Jacob, and was of course more closely allied to Dan, Ephraim, and Benjamin. The family was distinguished for its spirit throughout its history. At the Sinai census it numbered fifty-three thousand four hundred fighting men (Num 1:42<\/span>, Num 1:43<\/span>); but at the close of the wanderings through the wilderness its numbers had become only forty-five thousand four hundred. Its territory in the north, largely mountainous, bounded by Asher, Zebulun, and Manasseh, was some of the finest, and covered the district afterwards called Galilee, “the cradle of the Christian faith, the native place of most of the apostles, and the home of our Lord” (Grove). The slight difference in the spelling of Jahziel<\/strong> in Genesis, and of Shallum<\/strong> in Numbers, may be noticed. The following are interesting references to Naphtali in one or another portion of its history: Deu 33:23<\/span>; Jos 20:7<\/span>; Jos 21:32<\/span>; Jdg 1:33<\/span>; Jdg 5:18; 1Ch 27:19<\/span>; Eze 48:3<\/span>, Eze 48:4<\/span>, Eze 48:34<\/span>; Mat 4:15<\/span>; Rev 7:6<\/span>. It played a considerable and prominent part also in the conflicts with Titus and Vespasian, when the days of Jerusalem were numbered.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:14<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The sons of Manasseh<\/strong>. The tribe of Manasseh has been partly treated of in 1Ch 5:23-26<\/span>, viz. those of the tribe who inhabited Gilead and Bashan. Here those who inhabited this side Jordan are treated of. And it is very difficult to give any coherent account of the differences of this passage when compared with Num 26:28-34<\/span> and Jos 17:1-4<\/span>. In these places six families, or heads of families, are noted to only two, or at most three here, viz. Askriel, Shemida, and perhaps Abiezer (iq. <\/em>Jeezer, Num 26:30<\/span>; comp. with Jos 17:2<\/span>). The opening clause of this verse also is unmanageable as it stands. One way of reducing it to coherence would be to Supply the words “his wife” between whom and bars, the similarity of the Hebrew letters of which to those of the Hebrew for “whom” might possibly account for the loss of it. The parenthesis about the concubine would then read with emphasis. But there is not the slightest reason to suppose there was such a wife. Another way would be to read the concubine as the mother of Ashriel, and prefix a conjunction, and, to the second “bare;” i.e.<\/em> and she bare, or, she bare also Machir.” But it seems pretty plain from Numbers and Joshua that Ashriel was not strictly a son, but only descendant of Manasseh; and, further, the irresistible impression is that Machir was the only son, strictly speaking (see especially Gen 50:23<\/span>). The position of Ashriel in our present passage, first, is also very unsatisfactory in face of Gen 50:23<\/span> and the other references already given.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Maachah<\/strong>. Of this Maachah, one among tea of the same name, nothing else is known. The Peshito Syriac makes her the mother instead of wife<\/strong> of Machir. The distinct mention of the marriage of a Manassite to a Benjamite woman is to be noticed. Zelophehad<\/strong>. The meaning of the preceding words, and the name of the second<\/strong>, is unintelligible. Zelophehad was son of Hephen, who was (through Gilead and Maehir) great-grandson of Manasseh (Jos 17:3<\/span>). The number and names and wise appeal and success of the daughters hero spoken of, are given in Jos 17:3-6<\/span>; Num 26:33<\/span>; Num 27:1-11<\/span>; Num 36:5-12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:17<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bedan<\/strong>. While all the names of the preceding verse are strange to us, this name excites much interest, as possibly to be identified with the Bedan (1Sa 12:11<\/span>) who is placed after Jerubbaal (i.q. Gideon<\/em>), <\/em>and before Jephthah and Samuel. Who in the Book of Judges is to answer to this Bedan of the Book of Samuel it is impossible to say. See Bishop Cotton’s excellent short article. These<\/strong> were the sons of Gilead<\/strong> (see verse 14). The name Gilead surpassed the name Machir, and even rivalled that of Manasseh itself.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:18<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abiezer<\/strong>. He is the nephew, then, of Gilead, and grandson of Machir. Gideon sprang from him (Jdg 6:11<\/span>; Jdg 8:32<\/span>). The name of the mother, Hammoleketh<\/strong>, is compounded of the article and Moleketh, or Meleketh, a Chaldee form, found several times in the Book of Jeremiah, of the word for “queen.” Of Ishod<\/strong> and Mahalah<\/strong> nothing is known, but the latter name is identical with Mahlah, one of the five daughters of Zelophehad.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:19<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shemidah<\/strong>, Jos 17:2<\/span> tells us that the descendants of Shemida obtained their inheritance among the male children of Manasseh; and Num 26:32<\/span> places him in the Gilead family. Of Ahian, Likhi, Aniam<\/strong>, nothing else is known. Shechem<\/strong>. If this name is rightly placed under Shemi-dab, it must be concluded from Jos 17:2<\/span> and Num 26:31<\/span> that it is a different Shechem from the one there found. This latter was also a Manassite, belonged to the family of Gilead, and was head of a family named Shechemites after him. His descendants are spoken of as the “sons of Shechem” in the above passage of Joshua.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:20-27<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The chief difficulty of this passage lies in reconciling the points of chronology which it forces to the surface. 1Ch 7:20, 1Ch 7:21<\/span>, purport to contain the line of descent from Ephraim through his son Shu-thelah to the seventh generation, viz. to another Shuthelah. The remaining two names, Ezer and Elead, may perhaps be two brothers of the first Shuthelah, i.e. <\/em>own sons of Ephraim. If it be so, these two must not be supposed to correspond with Becher and Tahan, called “sons of Ephraim” in Num 26:35<\/span>; for it is evident that they were generations succeeding <\/em>Shuthelah. Now, Ephraim was born in Egypt (Gen 46:20<\/span>), so that, on the above showing, the actual sons of Ephraim must have made some incursion from Egypt into the territories of the settled or possibly aboriginal inhabitants of Gath, and met the fate over which Ephraim so mourned. Such excursions on the part of the Israelites out of Egypt have very little collateral evidence. But there would seem to be no impossibility in the matter, considering Gen 50:13-23<\/span>. Next, Gen 50:23 -27 seem to say that in his sorrow Ephraim has another son, whom he names Beriah, and of whose line in the ninth descent comes Joshua, the son of Nun. This also is very doubtful. It may very possibly be that the parenthesis continues to the end of verse 23 or 24, and that verses 25-27 carry on the generations from verse 21. Meantime welcome light breaks in at the stage (verse 26) at which Ammihud and Elishama are mentioned. For we find these immediate ancestors of the great Joshua repeatedly mentioned at the period of the Exodus (Num 1:10<\/span>; Num 2:18<\/span>; Num 7:48<\/span>, etc.); yet none of these places assist us to say that he did or did not come through Beriah. It is impossible to solve with any certainty the involved question of chronology and genealogy presented by this section. The passage is evidently mutilated and corrupt, though vindicating a high antiquity. Avery original presentation of the whole section, as ingenious as it is conjectural, by Lord A.C. Hervey, may be found in the art. “Shuthclah,” Smith’s ‘Bible Dictionary,’ 3:1305. It is well worthy of attention that a great point is made in bringing Joshua to the place of the eighth generation from Joseph, in near analogy with the numbers in so many other known cases, of the generations that intervened from the descent into Egypt to the entrance into Canaan. There also may be found the most and best that can be said against the literal reading of what is here written respecting the men of Gath and the cattle.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:21<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Because they<\/strong>i.e<\/em>, <\/em>the men of Ephraimcame down to take away their cattle<\/strong>. This certainly may be translated, when they <\/em>(i.e. <\/em>the men of Gath) came down <\/em>(i.e. <\/em>into Goshen) to plunder their cattle <\/em>(i.e. <\/em>the cattle of Ephraim).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:24<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

His daughter<\/strong>. If the literal interpretation of this whole section be accepted, according to which both Ephraim and Beriah must have passed their lifetime in Egypt, the “daughter,” strictly so called, of either the one or the other could not have been the founder of the places here mentioned. The word “daughter” must, therefore, represent simply a female descendant. (For other references to Beth-heron, see Jos 10:10<\/span>, Jos 10:11<\/span>; Jos 16:3<\/span>, Jos 16:5<\/span>; Jos 18:13<\/span>, Jos 18:14<\/span>; Jos 21:20-22<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:25<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Of the names Rephah<\/strong> and Resheph<\/strong> nothing else is known.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:27<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Non<\/strong>. The same as Nun (Num 13:8<\/span>, Num 13:16<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:28<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Naaran<\/strong>. This place is probably the same with the Naarath or Naarah of Jos 16:7<\/span>; though here it is said to be an eastward limit, and there its description might rather seem that of a southward limit. Gaza. This name can scarcely designate the well-known Gaza<\/strong>, assigned to Judah (Jos 15:47<\/span>; Jdg 1:18<\/span>), but so largely the prey of the Philistines (Jdg 3:3<\/span>; Jdg 16:21<\/span>; 1Sa 6:17<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:29<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The places mentioned in this verse were assigned to Manasseh. Bethshean<\/strong> was on the west of Jordan, and was within the borders of Issachar (Jos 17:11-13<\/span>; 1Ki 4:11<\/span>, 1Ki 4:12<\/span>). Dor<\/strong> was within the borders of Asher (Jos 11:1<\/span>, Jos 11:2<\/span>; Jos 12:23<\/span>; Jos 17:11<\/span>; Jdg 1:27<\/span>, Jdg 1:28<\/span>). Taanach<\/strong>. This place also lay within the borders of Issachar or Asher (Jos 17:11<\/span>, Jos 17:12<\/span>; Jos 21:25<\/span>; Jdg 5:19<\/span>). Megiddo<\/strong>. This place is constantly coupled with the preceding. It lay on the south of the plain of Esdraelon (Jos 12:21<\/span>; Jos 17:12<\/span>; Jdg 1:27<\/span>; 1Ki 4:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:30<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The same four sons and one daughter of Asher<\/strong> are found in Gen 46:17<\/span>; but the name of the second son is wanting to the list of families <\/em>descended from Asher of Num 26:44-47<\/span>, and the name of the daughter is given by itself, and not as furnishing a family.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:31<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

These two grandsons are also found in the above lists of both Genesis and Numbers; but nothing is found there to explain the name Birzavith<\/strong>, which the Keri spells with yod<\/em>, <\/em>the Kethiv with vau. <\/em>With the former spelling its signification would be the “well of olives,” and would point to its being the name of a place rather than of a person, and, as some think, that person a woman. (For instances of the expression “father” of a place, see 1Ch 2:51<\/span>, 1Ch 2:52<\/span>; 1Ch 4:4, 1Ch 4:5<\/span>.)<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:32<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Japhlet<\/strong>. This son of Heber, not otherwise known, cannot be identified with the “Japhletite’ of Jos 16:3<\/span> (himself an enigma), on the south boundary of Ephraim, between the nether Beth-heron and Ataroth. Shomer<\/strong>; i.q. <\/em>Shamer of verse 34.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:33<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nothing, except what follows in the next verses, is known of the three sons of Japhlet given in this verse. In them we reach the fourth <\/em>generation from Asher. The generations then travel forward through Helem, presumably a third brother of Japhlet, passing the sons of Shamer, or Shomer, presumably Japhlet’s second brother.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:34<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>1Ch 7:35<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ahi<\/strong>. It seems impossible to decide with certainty whether this is the name of a person or whether, with the vau<\/em>, <\/em>which otherwise begins the next word, it should not be translated “his brother,” i.e. <\/em>the brother of Japhlet. In 1Ch 7:32<\/span> the names of three brothers are given, sons of Heber, viz. Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham. Now, the name Helem<\/em>, in 1Ch 7:35<\/span>, is supposed to point to this Hotham. If it be so, it would so far be an argument that Ahi, in 1Ch 7:34<\/span>, should be translated “his brother,” in correspondence with the undoubted “his brother” of 1Ch 7:35<\/span>. Of no one of the names in these verses is anything further known.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:36-38<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch 7:36<\/span> and 1Ch 7:37<\/span> purport to give us eleven sons of Zophah<\/strong>, son of Helem, and grandson of Heber, and these bring us to the sixth <\/em>generation from Asher; and again (1Ch 7:38<\/span>), we reach the seventh <\/em>in descent from Asher, in the three sons of Jether<\/strong>, or Ithran<\/strong>, the tenth <\/em>son of Zophah.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:39<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ulla. Whether in this verse we get to the eighth <\/em>generation depends on who may be meant by Ulla. <\/em>It is impossible to answer the question. The suggestion has been made that the name may, by some great error of copyists, stand for either Zophah’s last son Beera, or, by happier conjecture, Jether’s last son, Ara. But neither professes to be anything better than mere conjecture.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:40<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Twenty and six thousand<\/strong>. The number of Asherites, “of twenty years old and upwards, able to go forth to war,” given in Num 1:40<\/span>, Num 1:41<\/span>, was forty-one thousand five hundred. Forty years later (Num 26:44-47<\/span>; comp. Num 26:2<\/span>) the number was fifty-three thousand four hundred. But it is supposed that the twenty-six thousand of this verse may refer only to a portion of the tribe, i.e. <\/em>to the large and distinguished family of Heber. It is to be noticed that the name of the tribe of Asher is not found in the list of the “chief rulers” lower down in this book (1Ch 27:16-22<\/span>). The tone also in which reference is made to Asher<\/strong> and Manasseh and Zebulun coming to Jerusalem to Hezekiah’s Passover (2Ch 30:11<\/span>) is very noticeable. This tribe, with Simeon, gave no judge to the nation, and of all the tribes west of the Jordan they stand by themselves in this respect. There is an ancient legend that the parents of St. Paul lived within the territories of Asher, at the place called Ahlab in Jdg 1:31<\/span>, otherwise Giscala, or Gush Chaleb. Against the uncertainty of the legend we may gratefully remember the certainty of the history of the “Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser” (Luk 2:36<\/span>).<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch 7:22<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>Mourning and consolation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is much obscurity about this passage, as recording an historical incident. But, though it is not easy to decide who the persons referred to were and at what time they lived, the incident is a witness to the community of human nature, both in the bitterness of the earthly lot and in the consolations with which it abounds. We have here brought before us <\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> BEREAVEMENT<\/strong>. From the first it has been the fate of men to endure this sorrow, for our days on earth are as a shadow, and death takes away from us all in turn the joys of our hearts, the desire of our eyes, the objects of our hopes. And it is to be observed that the sudden and violent death of our beloved ones is peculiarly distressing. When the young are cut down by wicked hands, in tumult or in war, the shock to survivors is especially painful.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> MOURNING<\/strong>. Lamentation for our dead is natural and right. “Jesus wept” at Lazarus’s grave. There is such a thing as sanctified sorrow. In certain cases, even poignant grief and prolonged mourning are excusable. “The heart knoweth his own bitterness.” The parent weeps for the children because they are not.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> SYMPATHY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> CONSOLATION<\/strong>. Those who are near akin or intimate friends are expected to offer their affectionate condolence to the bereaved in the hour of sorrow and desolation. This is the obligation of friendship and its privilege also. Helpful and consolatory is true sympathy; for who would wish to bear his heaviest burden alone? Yet the most profitable ministrations in bereavement are those by which the heart of the bereaved is directed to take refuge in the fatherly wisdom and love of God, and in the tender sympathy of that High Priest who “in all our afflictions.; is afflicted,” and who is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”T.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:24<\/span><\/strong>.-A famous woman.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We know nothing else of Sherah than is recorded in this verse. Whether she did herself build or enlarge and fortify these towns, or whether this was the work of her descendants, is not easy to decide. The fact, in any case, is of interest for us, that her name should be put upon record in this passage, and should be associated with great works.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> A WOMAN<\/strong> MAY<\/strong> BE<\/strong> SELECTED<\/strong> BY<\/strong> PROVIDENCE<\/strong> TO<\/strong> FULFIL<\/strong> SOME<\/strong> VAST<\/strong> DESIGN<\/strong>. History records great feats of feminine valour; for women have defended castles and cities by their heroism, and delivered nations, by personal bravery and by the enthusiastic support they have commanded. Some nations, as e.g. <\/em>our <\/em>own, number among their sovereigns queens of singular sagacity and statesmanship. In art and in literature, and even in science, women have, in our own times, won for themselves a high position and a wide renown.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> WORK<\/strong> OF<\/strong> NOBLE<\/strong> WOMEN<\/strong> IS<\/strong> ESPECIALLY<\/strong> TO<\/strong> BUILD<\/strong>. If not cities, societies and families have again and again been built up in strength and stateliness and serviceableness through feminine wisdom, sympathy, and devotedness. A gifted and fascinating woman has often been the architect of fortune, and, as the centre and inspiration of intellectual and social life, has not only laid the foundations, but reared the edifice of political and social power.<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> A GIFTED<\/strong> WOMAN<\/strong>‘S WORTHIEST<\/strong> WORK<\/strong> IS<\/strong> WORK<\/strong> FOR<\/strong> GOD<\/strong>. How many such shine from the pages of inspiration! Sarah, Miriam, Ruth, Hannah, Esther, in the Old Testament; the Maries, Priscilla, Dorcas, Lydia, in the New Testament, may serve as examples. No work is so congenial to the female character, so truly graceful and ornamental to the feminine life, as work for Christ.<\/p>\n

IV.<\/strong> A WOMAN<\/strong> WHO<\/strong> SERVES<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LORD<\/strong> AND<\/strong> LEAVES<\/strong> AN<\/strong> EXAMPLE<\/strong> OF<\/strong> PIETY<\/strong> AND<\/strong> USEFULNESS<\/strong> IS<\/strong> WORTHY<\/strong> OF<\/strong> BEING<\/strong> HELD<\/strong> IN<\/strong> LASTING<\/strong> REMEMBRANCE<\/strong>, If the inspired writer thought well to record the name of the builder of Beth-heron, surely the memory of the noblewomen of our Lord’s spiritual kingdom should never fade.T.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch 7:1-19<\/span><\/strong>.-The old order changeth.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a significant fact that, in this enumeration of names and these references to ancient times, the only complimentary epithets used relate to military affairs. “Their brethren among all the families of Issachar were valiant men of might” (1Ch 7:5<\/span>); “The sons of Be]a mighty men of valour” (1Ch 7:7<\/span>); “The sons of Becher mighty men of valour” (1Ch 7:8, 1Ch 7:9<\/span>; see 1Ch 7:11<\/span>). We have here an illustration of the fact <\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> MILITARY<\/strong> VALOUR<\/strong> FORMED<\/strong> A LARGE<\/strong> PART<\/strong> OF<\/strong> ANCIENT<\/strong> VIRTUE<\/strong>. The history of the ancient peoples, Egyptians, Assyrians, Greek, Romans, etc; proves this statement with only too monotonous a repetition. The history of the Jews, the ancient people of God, adds one more note of confirmation. We might have supposed it would be otherwise; we might have judged that they would constitute the one exception to the rule. But, so doing, we should have erred. War involves certain most painful incidents, but it is not absolutely and intrinsically wrong. The simple fact that God sanctioned it in many instances, that he commanded his people to engage in it, and that he desired to be inquired of and supplicated in regard to it, distinctly settles that point.<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>It has to be remembered that war does call out the heroic virtues of<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> patient endurance, <\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> implicit trust in a faithful leader, <\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> courageous daring of utmost danger, and consequent <\/p>\n

(4)<\/strong> readiness to resign that which is most precious at the call of duty, on behalf of country or in obedience to what seems to be the will of God.<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>It has to be remembered that men have engaged in it without any conscious departure from the obligations they were under to their kind; therefore without any sense of its evil, and therefore without any injury to their conscience and character. The idea that all warfare is positively wrong is a modern sentiment. With quite as clear a conscience armies have gone out to battle as merchants have left home to traffic, or travellers to explore, or even missionaries to evangelize. Other thoughts are in our minds, other feelings in our hearts, because we have learnt <\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> LIFE<\/strong> IS<\/strong> NOW<\/strong> TO<\/strong> BE<\/strong> REGARDED<\/strong> AS<\/strong> A VERY<\/strong> SACRED<\/strong> THING<\/strong>. At the feet of Christ we have learnt that one human soul is a thing of inestimable worth. Hence we have come to prize, as most precious, one human life; and hence we have learnt to shrink from voluntarily taking it away. That which God only can give or renew, from which he requires so much, and on which such great and lasting issues hang,-this is something to be reverently treated. And we have been led to regard with aversion, with deep repugnance, that ruthless system, war, which mows down human bodies without remorse, and which counts amongst its triumphs the number of the slain. We gratefully recognize the fact that, under the beneficent reign of the Prince of peace, we are arriving at the conclusion <\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> WORTHIEST<\/strong> TRIUMPHS<\/strong> WE<\/strong> CAN<\/strong> WIN<\/strong> ARE<\/strong> THOSE<\/strong> WE<\/strong> GAIN<\/strong> IN<\/strong> PEACEFUL<\/strong> CONTESTS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. In the struggle we maintain against the enemies within us: the privation <\/em>we inflict on ourselves in foregoing things which are evil and injurious, the perseverance <\/em>with which we contend against recurring passions that will not be soon silenced and slain.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. In the war which we wage against the adversaries of God and man: the hardship we <\/em>suffer (2Ti 2:3<\/span>), the risk we <\/em>run (danger sometimes ending in death itself, as many a missionary chronicle will tell), the loyalty <\/em>we show to our great Captain, the faith <\/em>we exercise in the overruling mind and the conquering arm of our redeeming God.C.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:20-24<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>Divine compensations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have, in brief, a story of family life which still has its interest and application to us in our domestic relations. We gather <\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> GRIEVOUS<\/strong> AFFLICTION<\/strong> SOMETIMES<\/strong> FALLS<\/strong> ON<\/strong> A HUMAN<\/strong> HOME<\/strong> WITH<\/strong> OVERWHELMING<\/strong> SUDDENNESS<\/strong>. Several sons of one “house<\/em>“ <\/em>were slain in one day. Whichever party was the aggressor, and whether the Israelites were guilty or unfortunate, the blow fell with terrible effect on the elders of the family. “Ephraim their father mourned many days” (1Ch 7:22<\/span>). “Misfortunes never come alone” is only a hasty and false generalization: they generally do <\/em>come alone. It is far truer to say, “One by one our sorrows meet us.” For usually God tempers our griefs by sending them singly and with more or less of interval as also of preparation. More often than not the evil which awaits us “casts its shadow before it,” and we prepare our hearts for the coming trouble. But sometimes it is otherwise. Occasionally, awful, aggravated, multiplied sorrows surge around us, and all the waves and billows of distress go over us without forewarning; from the height of prosperity and joy we go down, in one bitter hour, to the dark depth of loss and woe. No man can tell what tragedy is at hand for himself and his house. The holiest, the most beloved of God, may be standing, at any moment, in immediate peril of an almost unendurable calamity.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THAT<\/strong> GOD<\/strong> HAS<\/strong> MERCIFUL<\/strong> COMPENSATIONS<\/strong> IN<\/strong> STORE<\/strong> FOE<\/strong> HIS<\/strong> STRICKEN<\/strong> CHILDREN<\/strong>. He wounds that he may heal; and that, as he heals, he may bless and save. It may be that he will send:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Human sympathy. <\/em>Ephraim’s “brethren came to comfort him.” Though the sympathy of human hearts cannot “do” anything for us, as men of coarse minds say, it can and does introduce into our hearts a soothing balm which is very precious to sensitive and responsive souls. It is seldom wasted; it is generally appreciated, and is often most highly esteemed. Or God may provide:<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That which replaces the loss. <\/em>To the bereaved Ephraim he gave another child, whose name, Beriah, was pathetically suggestive of this sad breach, but whose presence in the home must have gone no small way to repair it. And now it often happens that, instead of the child that is taken, comes the infant who is sent to fill its parents’ hearts as well as its mother’s arms; or instead of the fortune that is lost the competency that is gained. Or God may send:<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Some other compensating gift. <\/em>From this stricken house he took away some parental love by the death of sons, but he gave a large measure of parental joy by the enterprising spirit of a daughter (1Ch 7:24<\/span>). It may be well for us that God should exchange one source of happiness for another. Long-continued enjoyment of one satisfaction often begets a false and guilty notion of independence, and even right of possession in the human heart. So God withdraws his gift which is ceasing to be a blessing; but he gives in place of it some other good which will work no evil to the soul.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. Spiritual acquisition. <\/em>When Ephraim was “mourning many days,” his heart was tender, his mind docile, his soul receptive. Then, we may venture to say, he looked up to God with special earnestness, with filial submission, with peculiar devotion. Great sorrows, sweeping away earthly satisfactions and revealing our own helplessness, make the aid and arm of man seem but feebleness and cast us back on God. Then we hide in him; then we find that he is the Refuge and the Strength of his people, the true Dwelling-place of the human soul in all generations. In great and deep affliction, as at no other time, we<\/p>\n

(1)<\/strong> see the meaning and feel the force of sacred truths;<\/p>\n

(2)<\/strong> come into close fellowship with the Father, the Friend, the Comforter of the human spirit;<\/p>\n

(3)<\/strong> realize the littleness of earthly life and the preciousness of the heritage which is beyond. Bereft of human wealth, we are “rich towards God.”C.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:27<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>Joshua and Jesus: resemblance and contrast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The identity of the namesthe one being the Greek form of the otherhas led the Church to look on the Hebrew Captain as a type of the Saviour of the world. (For confirmation, see Heb 4:8<\/span>.) There are certain resemblances, though the contrasts are as striking if not as numerous.<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> RESEMBLANCES<\/strong> BETWEEN<\/strong> JOSHUA<\/strong> AND<\/strong> JESUS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. They both bore the same name.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. They both brought to the people of God deliverance from the enemies of God.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. They were both obedient to “him that sent them,” and wrought out the work which he gave them to do.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. They both led (or, lead) the people of God into the promised land.<\/p>\n

5<\/strong>. They both began their earthly life in obscurity, and rose (or, have risen) to the highest point of human honour.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> CONTRASTS<\/strong> BETWEEN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> HUMAN<\/strong> CAPTAIN<\/strong> AND<\/strong> THE<\/strong> DIVINE<\/strong> DELIVERER<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. Joshua was engaged in the work of his life for (at least) thirty years; the Lord for (at most) three.<\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. Joshua fought with carnal weapons, and won victories with sword of steel; Christ fought only with spiritual weapons, and his conquest is the triumph of truth and grace.<\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. Joshua had good reason to fear that by his death his life-work would be undone; the Saviour had the best reason to know that by his <\/em>death his lifework would be sealed and crowned.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. Joshua led a nation into a land which would prove a temporary inheritance; the redeeming Lord leads the human race “into everlasting habitations,” into the one city <\/em>which is eternal. <\/em>Better the humblest post amongst the followers of Jesus than the proudest place in the ranks of Joshua.C.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY F. WHITFIELD<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jos 7:1-26<\/span>; Jos 8:1-35<\/span>.<\/em>Genealogies: Issachar, Naphtali, Ephraim, Asher, Benjamin.<\/p>\n

Two conspicuous features are presented in these chaptersgenealogy and warfare. Only those are numbered who were found in the registers, and these are all soldiers and “mighty men of valour.” They are described in the seventh chapter (Jos 8:11 -40) as “fit to go out for war” and “apt to the war.” Thus it is with all God’s people. They are of the genealogy. They are “born again,” “not of flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Their names are in the register, too, not in the earthly <\/em>bookthe baptismal register only, of which these earthly registers of Israel may be considered as figuresbut in the “Lamb’s book of life.” They know their genealogy, they can trace their pedigree. They are “sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.” Christ is their elder Brother. And they are all “soldiers<\/em>.” <\/em>They were redeemed for this end, that they should be “good<\/em> soldiers of Jesus Christ,” and “war a good warfare.” But how are they to become “valiant,” “apt,” “fit”? By the discipline of the Holy Spirit, by the afflictions and trials and sufferings of the way, which often make the heart to bleed and the eye to weep. We are told that Solomon bad “eighteen thousand stone-squarers” in preparing the stones in Lebanon for the temple on Zion. God has many more than these in preparing his “living stones” in this Lebanon-world for the glorious temple on Mount Zion. We have an instance of this spiritual discipline in this chapter (1Ch 7:21-23<\/span>). It seems to have been an episode in Egypt before Israel had left it. The patriarch Ephraim was then alive, and at a very advanced age. The men of Gath came suddenly down upon the family of Ephraim (for they<\/em>, <\/em>not Ephraim<\/em>, <\/em>were the aggressors, if we substitute the word “when” in Jos 8:21<\/span> for “because,” the correct <\/em>rendering) for the purpose of plundering their flocks. Ephraim’s sons were slain. The aged father was deeply afflicted. In accordance with Eastern custom (see Job 2:11<\/span>; Joh 11:19<\/span>), distant relatives came to offer their condolences. So deeply did the bereavement weigh upon the aged father that he perpetuated the memory of his sorrow by calling his next son “Beriah, because it went evil with his house.” So suddenly do calamities overtake us here l We know not what a day may bring forth. The postman’s knock may dash the fairest schemes to pieces and drape our landscape in gloom. Oh, what is there sure here<\/em>? N<\/em>othing but Christ. And, like the mother of Jabez and Ephraim here, our sorrows come, and we, in our unbelief and short-sightedness, look at <\/em>our sorrows and see nothing else. We see not the bow of mercy spanning the cloudthe love that is behindand so we hang our heads in sorrow, and we write “Jabez” on this and “Beriah” <\/em>on that. <\/em>Oh that we could trust that love more in darkness as well as in light!W.<\/p>\n

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK<\/strong><\/p>\n

1Ch 7:2-5<\/span><\/strong>.-The Divine gift of physical strength.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is remarked as being the peculiar trust and endowment of some men that they were bodily strong. <\/em>They are spoken of as “valiant men of might.” In the line of this endowment came their life-mission, and in the use of this trust they would be finally judged. On St. Paul’s principle that the “body<\/em> is for the Lord, and the Lord for the body,” we are delivered from sentimental undervaluing of our physical frame, and consequent neglect of its culture into health and vigour, or monastic efforts to humble it into a due subjection to the spirit. In view of the relations between bodily strength and religious life, we ought to regard health, vigour, energy of frame, as great gifts from God and, as all Divine gifts are, great and responsible trusts. <\/em>In the older times physical strength found its readiest sphere in armies and wars. So the vigour indicated in these verses took the form of valour. <\/em>The modern sentiments concerning peace and war materially differ from those of earlier ages. The modern admiration of peace and horror of offensive war befit a condition of advanced civilization and the tolerably complete division of the earth’s habitable countries among the different races and nations. Still, we must fully recognize that war has had its important place in the ordering and training of the world. It has often proved to be the best judgment on, and corrective of, serious moral evils; and so there has always been a place and a work for the “mighty man of valour.” On Joubert’s principle, “Force till right is ready,” the physical restraints of social order must come before the intellectual and moral ones; and in such early times and first stages of national development, physical strength, warlike skill, power of command, and valour, are properly recognized as Divine gifts, and they are as truly such as are the gifts of statesmanship<\/em>, diplomacy<\/em>, <\/em>and arbitration <\/em>in quieter, more developed, more civilized times. The laws that regulate the use of all our bodily <\/em>gifts may be effectively illustrated in relation to this one of valour. <\/em>It may be pointed out:<\/p>\n

1<\/strong>. That it may never be used for schemes of personal aggrandizement.<\/em><\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. That it may act be prostrated to any evil uses, of tyranny or passion.<\/em><\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. That it is for use in all ways of loyalty, obedience, brotherhood, and piety. <\/em><\/p>\n

And there is still the place and the work for the gift of physical strength, though not so much call for it in armies and battlefields. Great things have been done for humanity by the physical endurance of explorers and travellers, such as Livingstone and Stanley and the members of Arctic expeditions. Great things are done in the saving of life by strong-armed and brave-hearted sailors in our lifeboats, and by firemen in our great cities. Still the demand for manual labour and bodily strength is made, in field and workshop and yard. And though so large a proportion of modern toil is mental rather than bodily, and consequently physical vigour is unduly despised, it remains true that the man of mind imperils his mind by failure to culture his body into strength. It remains true for the intellectual nineteenth century, as for every other, that bodily strength is a gracious Divine gift, which should be treasured, kept, cultured, exercised, and put to all noble and holy uses. Appeal, especially from the Christian standpoint, that Christ expects faithfulness to the whole trust which he commits to us; and holds us responsible for the measure of bodily health and energy we maintain, as well as for the culture of character, mind, and soul which we may gain. “Body, soul, and spirit” together make the living sacrifice, which is our “reasonable service.”R.T.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:15<\/span><\/strong>.-Woman’s rights in ancient times.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The condition and the disabilities of Eastern women should be explained, described, and duly contrasted with the position won by women in all Christian countries. Especially deal with their secluded lives in their harems, or private apartments; the utter neglect of their education and culture; their disadvantages in never going out into society; and their utterly dependent position, involving the crushing of their personal wills, or the leaving them undeveloped and unexercised. And yet among them some women made for themselves spheres, by force of their character and ability. Give Bible illustrations, such as Sarah, Rebekah, Moses’ mother, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Jezebel, Athaliah, etc. Always women have found spheres among the children and dependents, but sometimes wider and public spheres have opened to them. Women have little recognized legal or public rights in the East. Woman has no standing apart from her husband, and this makes the lot of the Eastern widow so inexpressibly sad. The name Zelophehad recalls a remarkable exceptiona case in which women, having no male protector, succeeded in securing and maintaining their own rights; and the story is detailed in the Scripture as affording important instructive features. Compare the modern assertion of woman’s legal and governmental rights, and tell how modern legislation has aided in removing women’s disabilities. This Zelophehad was a descendant of Manasseh, who died during the wilderness wanderings, leaving no sons, only five daughters, who, by the custom of the time, would be treated as unable to inherit his estates. These five daughters appealed to Moses (Num 27:1-7<\/span>), on the ground that their father had not died under any such judgment as disabled his children, and they asked to be authorized to stand as his heirs. The matter was a new and difficult one, and Moses took it directly to God, and by Divine direction established the new rule that when there were no sons the daughters might claim the rights of heirs. A remarkable illustration of the wise adjustment of law in its practical application to new and unanticipated cases. Bishop Wordsworth says, “It seems to have been God’s design in the Levitical dispensation to elevate woman from the degradation into which she had fallen, and to prepare her gradually for that state of dignity and grace to which she is now advanced in the gospel by the incarnation of the Son of God, the Seed of the woman.”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> WOMAN<\/strong>‘S PLACE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> FAMILY<\/strong> LIFE<\/strong>. There she properly takes a headship, bearing rule over both children and dependents. Illustrate by the interesting picture of the “virtuous woman and wife” given in the Book of Proverbs. If the woman be but a member of the family and not the head, still there is the due and honourable place of childhood, sisterhood, and friendship. No woman lacks a sphere of kindly useful service save the woman who wants none, because life is for her a mere low self-sphere. Plead for the nobility of womanly duties and relations in the home. Martha and Mary could even prove ministers to the bodily needs of a Friend who was the world’s Saviour; many a woman since has “entertained angels unawares.”<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> WOMAN<\/strong>‘S PLACE<\/strong> IN<\/strong> PUBLIC<\/strong> LIFE<\/strong>. Home, in most cases, provides ample and satisfying spheres. But for women who are free from family ties suitable public spheres are found among other women<\/em>, <\/em>among the suffering<\/em>, <\/em>the poor<\/em>, <\/em>and the children<\/em>; <\/em>and where there is endowment literature <\/em>finds work for woman. These spheres are daily enlarging. They should be fully detailed, and an earnest plea should be made against the wasting of woman<\/em>‘s powers <\/em>when such broad spheres claim her abilities and energies, and on them she may enter into the joy of “serving Christ.”R.T.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:21<\/span><\/strong>, <\/strong>1Ch 7:22<\/span><\/strong>.<\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>Common family sorrows.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In these verses is given a very touching episode, and yet it is a very commonplace incident that is narrated. A father gains the news that his sons have been attacked by foes and killed, and, as the poor father sits stricken with the great sorrow, his brethren, his relatives, come to mourn with him and to comfort him. Children are an anxiety and care, all through our relations with them, when “about us” in the frailties of their childhood, and when away from us in the wilfulnesses of their young manhood. Sick-scenes and death-scenes are familiar to most parents, and few human homes last long unbroken. Nor is the comforting of loving friends other than a commonplace and yet most gracious fact of our modern life. Still, the thrill of hand and tear-filled eye and sympathetic word bring relief and rest to burdened and bereaved hearts. Life repeats itself over and over again, and tells its tale of grief and loss concerning one family after another. So it was in the olden times. Ephraim mourns the loss of his children, and his brethren come to comfort him; and thus it is seen that family life <\/em>becomes a moral training for us all; and as the experiences of sickness, sorrow, and loss go round to one after another, we all come under the great Father’s sanctifying, and find out how “good it is even to be afflicted.”<\/p>\n

I.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LOSS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CHILDREN<\/strong>. Here especially the greater loss of their death rather than the toss by removal, which never quite quenches hope. Such loss comes at various stages, and we never know at which of their ages the stroke falls lightest. It comes in various ways, slowly or suddenly, and we never can tell which way seemed to crush us most. The reaper cuts the “bearded grain” and the “flowers;” <\/em>beautiful infants fly away, bright childhood fades, and blooming youth is smitten; and all we can say about it we say after Jacob, “If I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.” On this we may dwell somewhat more fully.<\/p>\n

II.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> PARENTAL<\/strong> GRIEF<\/strong> AT<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LOSS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CHILDREN<\/strong>. “Ephraim mourned many days.” Such grief is well illustrated in David’s wailing over Absalom, Elijah’s friend’s grief over her dead child, and the poor Nain widow going out to bury her only son. The Eastern thought about the children helps to explain the intensity of their grief. Easterns conceived of their own earthly existence as continued in their childrenthey had a kind of immortality in their children, and they pleased themselves with the idea that their descendants would reach higher dignity and place than they had done. So for their children to die was a plucking down of lofty imaginations, an uprooting of carefully raised hopes. And so it is in measure for us, as may be most tenderly illustrated in the case of the talented young Hallam, whose early death Tennyson deplores in his “In Memoriam.”<\/p>\n

III.<\/strong> THE<\/strong> FAMILY<\/strong> BONDS<\/strong> SANCTIFIED<\/strong> IN<\/strong> THE<\/strong> LOSS<\/strong> OF<\/strong> CHILDREN<\/strong>. Such points as these may be unfolded and illustrated. If rightly, piously borne, the death of children may be used:<\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>To the producing of a hallowing tenderness of feeling on all the members.<\/em><\/p>\n

2<\/strong>. To a solemnizing estimate of the relative interests of this brief life and the coming eternal one.<\/em><\/p>\n

3<\/strong>. To the self-denying efforts of each member to comfort the others<\/em>, often involving most precious lessons in self-restraint.<\/p>\n

4<\/strong>. To the reknitting of the family bonds<\/em>. One member of a home realized as being away in the heavenly brings wondrously near and makes affectingly real all that belongs to the “unseen and eternal.” And in family griefs we are “comforted, in order that we may be able to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”R.T.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

e<\/em>. The Families of the Remaining Tribes (except Dan and Zebulun), and in particular of the Benjamtte House Of Saul <\/p>\n

1 Chronicles 78
1. The Families of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, West Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher: <\/em>1 Chronicles 7<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

. The Tribe of Issachar:<\/em> 1Ch 7:1-5<\/span><\/p>\n

1Ch 7:1<\/span>.And the sons1<\/span> of Issachar: Tola and Puah, Jashub2<\/span> and Shimron, four. 2And the sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Samuel, heads of their father-houses to Tola, valiant heroes in their generations; their number in the days of David was twenty and two thousand and six hundred. 3And the sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah; and the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five heads in all. 4And with them, by their generations, by their father-houses, troops of the host of war, thirty and six thousand; for they had many wives and sons. 5And their brethren of all the families of Issachar, valiant heroes, eighty and seven thousand was their register for all.<\/p>\n

. The Tribe of Benjamin:<\/em> 1Ch 7:6-11<\/span><\/p>\n

6Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three. 7And the sons of Bela : Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five, heads of father-houses, valiant heroes; and their register was twenty and two thousand and thirty and four. 8And the sons of Becher: Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth: 9all these were the sons of Becher. And their register by their generations, heads of their father-houses, valiant heroes, twenty thousand and two hundred. 10And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan; and the sons of Bilhan: Jeush,3<\/span> and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar. 11All these were sons of Jediael, by the heads of the fathers, valiant heroes, seventeen thousand and two hundred going out in the host for war.<\/p>\n

. Another Tribe, and the Tribe of Naphtali:<\/em> 1Ch 7:12-13<\/span><\/p>\n

12And Shuppim and Huppim, sons of Ir: Hushim, sons of another. 13The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, sons of Bilhah.<\/p>\n

. Half-Tribe of Manasseh (west of Jordan)<\/em>: 1Ch 7:14-19<\/span><\/p>\n

14The sons of Manasseh: Ashriel,4<\/span> whom his concubine, the Aramitess, bare; she bare Machir, the father of Gilead. 15And Machir took a wife for Huppim and Shuppim, and the name of his sister was Maachah, and the name of the 16second was Zelophehad ; and Zelophehad had daughters. And Maachah, 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 Rekem. 17And the sons of Ulam : Bedan: these are the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son ofManasseh. 18And his sister Hammolecheth bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and Mahlah. 19And the sons of Shemidah: Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam.<\/p>\n

. The Tribe of Ephraim<\/em>: 1Ch 7:20-29<\/span><\/p>\n

20And the sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son. <\/span>2<\/span>1And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son; and Ezer and Elad ; and the men of Gath that were born in the land slew them, because they came down to take away their cattle. 22And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to 23comfort him. And he went in to his wife, and she conceived and bare a son, 24and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house. And his daughter was Sherah, and she built Beth-horon, the nether and the upper, and 25Uzzen-sherah. And Rephah his son, and Resheph and Telah his son, and 26,27Tahan his son. Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son. Non 28his son, Joshua his son. And their possession and their habitations were Bethel and her daughters, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer and her daughters, and Shechem and her daughters unto Ajjah5<\/span> and her daughters. 29And on the side of the sons of Manasseh, Bethshean and her daughters, Taanach and her daughters, Megiddo and her daughters, Dor and her daughters; in these dwelt the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.<\/p>\n

. The Tribe of Asher<\/em>: 1Ch 7:30-40<\/span><\/p>\n

30The sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishuah, and Ishui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. 31And the sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel; he is the father of Birzavith.6<\/span> 32And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua their sister. 33And the sons of Japhlet Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath : these are the sons of Japhlet. 34And the sons of Shemer: Ahi, and 35Rohgah, and Hubbah7<\/span> and Aram. And the son 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 Riziah. 40All these were the sons of Asher, heads of father-houses, choice, valiant heroes, heads of the princes: and their register for the service in war was twenty and six thousand.<\/p>\n

EXEGETICAL<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. The Tribe of Issachar<\/em>: 1Ch 7:1-5<\/span>.And the sons of Issachar<\/em>. That is an error of the pen for (comp. 1Ch 7:20<\/span>; 1Ch 5:11<\/span>, etc.), occasioned by the many in the previous section (1Ch 6:42<\/span>; 1Ch 6:46-47<\/span>, etc.), is probable in itself, and is confirmed by the Sept. cod<\/em>. <\/em>Alex<\/em>. (see Crit. Note). To regard the as introductory, as for the sons of Issachar, is impossible, because the names of the four sons immediately follow. On the constant Keri<\/em> (, obtained by hire) referring to the name , and on its probable pronunciation, comp. the expositors on Gen 30:16<\/span>, and Dietrichs Gesenius.<\/em>Tola and Puah, Jashub and Shimron.<\/em> So run the names also in Num 26:23<\/span> ff., while in Gen 46:15<\/span> the second and third vary ( for , and for ).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:2<\/span>. Uzzi and Rephaiah,<\/em> etc. These sons of Tola occur nowhere else. They are here designated heads of their father-houses to Tola their parent; this addition serves to define more exactly ; but it is somewhat strange, which raises the suspicion of corruption.Valiant heroes in their generations,<\/em> after their births, that is, as they are registered. Before a appears to have fallen out; comp. 1Ch 7:9<\/span>. Less probable is the connection of with the following against the accentuation, which Keil proposes, after their births their number was, etc. Moreover, the number 22,600 for the men of Issachar fit for service in Davids time should rest on the known census made by Joab under this king (1 Chronicles 21<\/span>; 2 Samuel 24<\/span>), and therefore, like the following numbers, 1Ch 7:4-5<\/span>; 1Ch 7:7<\/span>; 1Ch 7:11<\/span>, etc., should be credible and accurate.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:3<\/span>. Five heads in all,<\/em> namely, Izrahiah the father with his four sons.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:4<\/span>. And with them,<\/em> namely, the five heads of families mentioned 1Ch 7:3<\/span> ( in , with, along with). The number 36,000 for this family alone is at first sight surprising; but the following remark: for they (those five heads) had many wives and sons, is sufficient to explain and justify it, pointing to an unwonted fruit-fulness of this family, and making it conceivable that the grandson of Izrahiah should have nearly twice as many descendants (36,000) as the patriarch Tola (22,600).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:5<\/span>. And their brethren eighty and seven thousand was their register<\/em>, literally, their register with respect to all (). In this sum total of all the tribes of Issachar in the time of David are included1. The 22,600 descendants of Tola; 2. The 36,000 of Izrahiah; and 3. Their brethren, 28,400 of the other families of the tribe not mentioned by name. The credibility of these numbers is shown by the circumstance that in the two enumerations under Moses the men of Issachar fit for service were respectively 54,400 (Num 1:29<\/span>) and 64,300 (Num 26:25<\/span>). The comparatively slow increase (about 23,000) during the centuries from Moses to David is due to the desolating troubles in the time of the judges.<\/p>\n

2. The Tribe of Benjamin<\/em>: 1Ch 7:6-11<\/span>.Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.<\/em> A or appears to have fallen out before . If only three sons of Benjamin are here enumerated, this seems to contradict Gen 46:21<\/span>, where ten sons of Benjamin are named; also Num 26:38<\/span>, where at least five are named; and 1Ch 8:1<\/span> f., where at all events five are enumerated, though some of them are different from those in Numbers. The relation of these four different registers may be thus exhibited:<\/p>\n

Genesis 46
<\/span><\/p>\n

Numbers 26
<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Chronicles 8
<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Chronicles 7
<\/span><\/p>\n

Bela.<\/p>\n

Bela.<\/p>\n

Bela.<\/p>\n

Bela.<\/p>\n

Becher.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Becher.<\/p>\n

Ashbel.<\/p>\n

Ashbel.<\/p>\n

Ashbel.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Gera.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Naaman.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ehi.<\/p>\n

Ahiram.<\/p>\n

Ahrah ().<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kosh.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Muppim.<\/p>\n

Shephuphan.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Huppim.<\/p>\n

Hupham.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ard.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nochah ().<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Raphah ().<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jediael.<\/p>\n

From this comparison, it appears that1. Jediael occurs only here, and may be corrupted from the Ashbel of the other three lists, or a synonymous by-form of it. If this conjecture of most old expositors (with which the derivation of from [Wellhausen, Text d. B. Sam.<\/em> p. 31] would not agree) were well grounded, our text would give three sons of Benjamin agreeing with Genesis, and pass over in silence the remaining seven. 2. Becher the second son of Benjamin, is, to our surprise, wanting in Num. and 1 Chronicles 8<\/span>, although a family of nine sons, growing into 20,200 men, are given underneath (1Ch 7:8-9<\/span>). His omission in those lists in Numbers 26<\/span>. may arise from this, that he did not attain to great numbers in the time of Moses, but only in the days of David and Solomon, whose enumerations lie at the basis of the data here. 3. Some of the differences in the other names prove to be mere variations of pronunciation or structure; thus Ehi, Ahiram, and Ahrah are one and the same; also Muppim (, probably written by mistake for ; see on 1Ch 7:12<\/span>) and Shephupham, Huppim and Hupham. 4. Two of the ten names in Genesis 46<\/span>, as the partly more correct genealogy in Num 26:38-40<\/span> shows, are not sons, but grandsons of Benjamin, Naaman and Ard, who were sons of Bela. 5. The two names in Genesis 46<\/span>. that have no parallel, Gera and Rosh, appear to have died childless, or to have not been blessed with a numerous offspring, to whose existence the later genealogists were not led to make any further reference.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:7<\/span>. And the sons of Bela five,<\/em> etc. Their names do not agree with the names of the sons of Bela given in 1Ch 8:3<\/span> and in Num 26:40<\/span>; the difference will rest on this, that a part of these heads of father-houses of the family of Bela, or perhaps all of them, were later descendants of their ancestors, and therefore sons in a wider sense.Valiant heroes.<\/em>. here and in 1Ch 7:10<\/span> for the otherwise usual and more concrete (1Ch 7:2<\/span>; 1Ch 7:9<\/span>, etc.).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:8<\/span>. And the sons of Becher,<\/em> etc. Of the names of these nine sons of Becher, the last two, Anathoth and Alemeth, occur otherwise as cities of Benjamin; Alemeth (in the varied form ), 1Ch 6:45<\/span>, and Anathoth there and Isa 10:30<\/span>, Jer 1:1<\/span>, both as Levitical cities.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:9<\/span>. Heads of their father-houses, valiant heroes.<\/em> is in explanatory apposition with , and with the former. The heads of houses are, at the same time, designated as heroes of war. See a similar construction in Ezr 3:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:10<\/span>. And the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud,<\/em> etc. Of these grandsons of Jediael, the first is called in the Kethib<\/em> Jeish (see Crit. Note); the second bears the name of the patriarch, his ancestor ; the third is a namesake of Ehud the judge (Jdg 3:15<\/span>), who was of the family of Gera, and scarcely identical with the present one (Gen 46:21<\/span>). Chenaanah, , may incline us to think (with Berth.) of a Canaanitish family incorporated with the Benjamites. The names Tarshish, otherwise denoting a precious stone, and Ahishahar, brother of the morning blush, point to the glory and fame of their bearers, and may be surnames, which afterward became personal names.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:11<\/span>. All these were sons<\/em>, descendants, of Jediael, by the heads of the fathers<\/em> registered. stands briefly for . The before seems to be redundant; it is also wanting in the Sept., and is perhaps to be erased, though it may be dependent on a (1Ch 7:9<\/span>) to be supplied in thought, and in this case to be retained. The 17,200 men of Jediaels family fit for war, with the 20,200 men of Bechers and 22,034 of Belas, make up 59,434 warriors or heads of houses in Benjamin when David made his census, about 14,000 more than in the days of Moses, when all the families of Benjamin presented in the field 45,600 men (Num 26:41<\/span>). In weighing the grounds for this not very rapid increase during a period of three or four centuries, it is proper to take into account the catastrophe of the first period of the judges, whereby the whole tribe of Benjamin was reduced to 600 men (Jdg 20:47<\/span>). The number of 280,000 Benjamite warriors given, 2Ch 24:7<\/span>, for the time of Asa is explained in this way, that there, not heads of houses, but individuals fit for military service, are included.<\/p>\n

3. Another<\/em> (unnamed) Tribe, and the Tribe of Naphtali<\/em>: 1Ch 7:12-13<\/span>.And Shuppim and Huppim, sons of Ir.<\/em> This first half of the verse contains pretty certainly a supplement to the genealogy of Benjamin; for the names Shuppim and Huppim coincide with those of two by the sons of Benjamin, as they are called Gen 46:21<\/span> (the word there appears, as has been said, corrupted from ); and that these two Benjamites, whose more correct forms are preserved in Num 26:39<\/span>, appear here as , is easily reconciled with other statements, for is most probably identical with the son of Bela, 1Ch 7:7<\/span>; hence those who are called, Genesis 46<\/span> and Numbers 26<\/span>, sons of Bela, appear here more correctly as his grandsons. Thus our verse contains so far nothing difficult or enigmatical.Hushim, sons of another,<\/em> or sons of Aher (). It is possible that these words also refer to a Benjamite family, for the name , in the varying form or , is found, 1Ch 8:8<\/span>; 1Ch 8:11<\/span>, among the Benjamites as the son of a Shaharaim, who might lie hid under the of our passage (so thinks Davidson, Introd.<\/em> ii. 51, who proposes the middle form as common ground for and ). But it is more probable that denotes the only son of Dan mentioned Gen 46:23<\/span>, who is himself, indicated by the mysterious . For1. Both in Genesis 46<\/span>. and Numbers 26<\/span>. Dan immediately follows Benjamin, and he stands in the first passage, as here, between Benjamin and Naphtali. 2. The name , which Num 26:42<\/span> gives for the only son of Dan, is different only in form from the of our passage and the of Genesis; we may suppose a or (comp. , Num 26:39<\/span>) as common ground-form for both. 3. Decisive for the reference of 1Ch 7:12<\/span> b to the tribe of Dan is the at the close of 1Ch 7:13<\/span>, a note referring obviously, Gen 46:25<\/span>, to Dan and Naphtali, the two sons of Bilhah. The avoiding to name Dan, and concealing him under the indefinite (comp. Ezr 2:31<\/span>), recall the former surprising omissions of this tribe in 1Ch 6:46-54<\/span>, and appear to rest like these on a peculiar dislike of our author to record particulars concerning a tribe that had early separated itself from the theocratic community by the establishment of a foreign worship; comp. Judges 17, 18. That the name Dan occurs three times in our book (1Ch 2:2, 1Ch 12:35<\/span>, 1Ch 27:22<\/span>) certainly appears to stand against this hypothesis proposed by Bertheau, and approved by other moderns, as Kamph., Bhmer (Zur Lehre vom Antichrist, Jahrb. f. deutsche Theol.<\/em> 1859, p. 449), and to favour either the view of Ewald, who supposes an accidental omission of the name of Dan and of some other words by a corruption of the text, or that of Keil, who, with the ancients, finds in the words Hushim, sons of Aher, only a Benjamite family (named 1Ch 8:8<\/span>; 1Ch 8:11<\/span>). But that here again a corruption of the text accidentally affects the name of Dan, whom we expect to meet between Benjamin and Naphtali, is scarcely credible; and against the addition of the words in question to the foregoing series of Benjamites is the absence of the copula before . There is therefore considerable probability in the assumption of Berth., that the omission of Dan is as little accidental here as in the list of the twelve tribes in Rev 7:5-8<\/span>, and that it has a theocratic, judicial import, as it points to the fall of Dan into idolatry. From the Rabbinical tradition concerning Jdg 18:30<\/span>, where the name of Moses is supposed to be intentionally changed into Manasseh, that it might not occur in the history of the Danite sanctuary, nothing can be drawn in support of this assumption, as this is only an insipid conceit in explanation of the Keri<\/em> (against Berth.). It is also to be borne in mind that another tribe, that of Zebulun, is wholly passed over in our series, the omission of which may well be called accidental (as, for example, that of the tribes Asher and Gad in the list of tribe-princes, 1Ch 27:16-24<\/span>). Comp. the evangelical-ethical principles, No. 2.The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and Jazer, and Shallum.<\/em> The parallel lists, Gen 46:24<\/span>, Num 26:48<\/span> f., give these names, only the first is there Jahzeel () and the last Shillem (). For the addition, sons of Bilhah, see on 1Ch 7:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4. The half-Tribe of Manasseh<\/em> (west of Jordan): 1Ch 7:14-19<\/span>.The sons of Manasseh: Ashriel, whom his concubine the Aramitess bare<\/em>. That here it is treated of the western half of Manasseh is understood of itself after the former communications concerning East Manasseh, 1Ch 5:23<\/span> f. Of the six families of West Manasseh named in Num 26:30<\/span>; Num 26:34<\/span>, and Jos 17:2<\/span>, only two are mentioned here, Ashriel and Shemida (1Ch 7:19<\/span>). But Ashriel, from the more exact accounts in Num 26:31<\/span>, is not a son, but a grandson, of Manasseh, by his father Gilead. Now, as the following sentence referring to the Avaman concubine of Manasseh, she bare Machir the father of Gilead, seems designed to explain how Ashriel could be called a son of Manasseh and his concubine, it seems necessary to assume that he sprang from her in the fourth degree as the son of Gilead and grandson of Machir. But this assumption is as doubtful as the Masoretic expedient, which separates the words by an Athnach<\/em> under the latter from the following , and requires the supplement of some unmentioned wife to the whom she bare. The sagacious hypothesis of Movers (assented to by Berth. and Kamph.) here commends itself, that the name Ashriel, as a gloss arising from writing twice the consonants immediately following , is to be erased, and so the sense is to be gained: the sons of Manasseh, whom his Araman concubine bare: she bare Machir, etc. Comp. the Sept. on Gen 46:26<\/span> : , .<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:15<\/span>. And Machir took a wife for Huppim and Shuppim<\/em>, etc. The whole verse is so obscure, that the assumption either of interpolation or of the omission of some words seems unavoidable. Bertheau proceeds in the former way, rejects the words as a gloss from 1Ch 7:12<\/span>, and by means of some other changes, especially the insertion of 1Ch 7:18<\/span> a<\/em>, arrives at the sense: and Machir took a wife, whose name was Maachah, and the name of his sister was Hammolecheth; and the name of his brother (the second) was Zelophehad. Somewhat less violent is the emendation attempted by Movers (p. 89), which limits itself to the change of before into , and yields the sense: and Machir took a wife from Huppim and from Shuppim () standing for , and pointing to a marriage of Machir with two wives out of the families of Huppim and Shuppim, 1Ch 7:12<\/span>); the name of the first was Maachah, and the name of the second Zelophehad. Keil conjectures an omission of some words, among these the name of Ashriel, the first son of Gilead, but at the same time the intrusion of senseless interpolations in 1Ch 7:15<\/span> a<\/em>; while, on the contrary, he regards as critically impregnable the words of the second half verse: and the name of the second is Zelophehad; and Zelophehad had daughters (only). Several gaps are also supposed in the emendations of older writers, as in that of J. H. Michaelis, who endeavours to squeeze out the sense: and Machir took to wife (the sister of) Huppim and Shuppim, and the name of his sister (namely of Huppim) was Maachah, and the name of the second (here named son of Manasseh) was Zelophehad. From the unsatisfactory character of all these attempts, it is plain that a correct interpretation of the verse must be given up. So much only is clear from the second gloss, whether it be preserved intact or in some way corrupted, that therein Zelophehad was called the brother or near relative of Machir, and was the same who, Num 27:1<\/span>; Num 36:1<\/span> ff., Jos 17:3<\/span>, was called the father of a great number of daughters.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:17<\/span>. The sons of Maachah here mentioned, Peresh and Sheresh, as also the sons of the latter, Ulam and Rekem, occur only here.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:17<\/span>. And the sons of Ulam: Bedan<\/em>. The Masoretic text names a judge Bedan, 1Sa 12:11<\/span>, where, however, perhaps is to be read.These are the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir<\/em>. Bertheau, perhaps rightly, proposes here the change (favoured by 1 Chronicles 7:41 and by 1Ch 2:21<\/span>): These are the sons of the father of Gilead, of Machir the son of Manasseh.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:18<\/span>. And his sister Hammolecheth bare Ishod<\/em>. The Vulg. explains this not elsewhere occurring name appellatively: Regina<\/em> (as Kimchi, queen of a part of Gilead). Rightly ?The first of her sons, Ishod, man of fame, of glory, is otherwise unknown; on the contrary, the second appears to be identical with the Abiezer named Jos 17:2<\/span>, the chief of one of the families of Manasseh. If this were so, he would have to pass for the ancestor of Gideon, Jdg 6:11<\/span>; Jdg 6:15<\/span>. But Abiezer in Joshua, or Jezer () as it is in Num 26:30<\/span>, appears as first son of Manasseh after Machir, not as the mere sisters son of this Machir, as here ; for which reason the identity is doubtful. Whether the following name denotes a brother of these two, or a sister (comp. Mahlah, the daughter of Zelophehad, Num 26:33<\/span>; Num 27:1<\/span>), is doubtful.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:19<\/span>. And the sons of Shemidah<\/em>. A son of Manasseh, Jos 16:2<\/span>, or, more exactly, of Gilead, Num 26:32<\/span>. The names of his four sons, except Shechem, , who appears, Jos 17:2<\/span>, as an immediate son of Manasseh, but, Num 26:32<\/span>, as a son of Gilead, occur nowhere else; for Bertheaus attempts to connect Likhi with Helek, Num 26:30<\/span>, and Aniam () with , one of the daughters of Zelophehad, Num 26:33<\/span>, Jos 17:3<\/span>, are arbitrary.<\/p>\n

5. The Tribe of Ephraim:<\/em> 1Ch 7:20-29<\/span>.Shuthelah, and Bered his son<\/em>, etc. Shuthelah appears also, Num 26:25<\/span>, as founder of a chief family of Ephraim. This family is here traced through six generations to a second Shuthelah, 1Ch 7:21<\/span>, to whom are then added Ezer and Elad, two brothers of the older Shuthelah, and therefore sons or near descendants of Ephraim.And the men of Gath, that were born in the land, slew them<\/em>, namely, Ezer and Elad. The Avim (Avites), driven by the Philistines from their seats between Hazerim and Gaza, Deu 2:23<\/span>, are said to be born in the land, in contrast with the intruders. Hence Ew., Berth., Kamph. will have these Avim to be here meant, whereas Keil thinks rather of the Philistines, whose settlement in south-west Palestine, in the district of Gath, was attested even in the time of Abraham, or even of the Canaanites, but not the Avites, of whom there is no tradition that they had spread to Gath. At any rate, reference is here made to a very old event, as Ephraim, the son of Jacob, still lived and begat other children. This can scarely have taken place before the descent into Egypt, as Ephraim was born in Egypt, Gen 46:20<\/span> (against Ewald). We must suppose it to have occurred during the sojourn in Egypt, and to have been a warlike expedition from the land of Goshen, that may have fallen in the interval from Gen 1:13-23<\/span>. The verb is not absolutely against this assumption, which was advocated by older expositors (Rossi, Kimchi, L. Lavater, Grot., Calov., etc.), and accepted by more recent ones, as Frst (Gesch. -d. bibl. Lit<\/em>. i. 318). When the Ephraimite host marched from the wilderness of Shur or Paran, we may very well regard this as a descent upon the district of Gath (without directly identifying Ephraim with Paran, as Hitzig does, Gesch, Isr<\/em>. p. 48).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:22<\/span>. And Ephraim, their father, mourned many days<\/em>. Bertheau will, without ground, take these words figuratively, and apply them to the whole tribe of Ephraim; the going in of Ephraim to his wife, mentioned 1Ch 7:23<\/span>, can only be taken literally; and as there is no indication that a younger Ephraim is meant (as Keil), it is plainly recorded of the old patriarch Ephraim that he begat a son, Beriah, after those two sons were slain by the Gathites. Ewald perhaps goes too far, when he makes the sons Rephah and Resheph, 1Ch 7:25<\/span>, be born to Ephraim in this latter period. Rather is the interwoven historical notice of the raid of Ezer and Elad against Gath and its results to be regarded as closed with 1Ch 7:23<\/span>, and the following passage from 1Ch 7:24<\/span> to be taken as the continuation of the genealogy of Ephraim.And he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house<\/em>, because there had been calamity () in his house. This etymology of the name , reminding us of the well-known derivations of Genesis (especially Gen 5:9<\/span>; Gen 5:29-30<\/span>), speaks for the undoubted antiquity of the present account. For the relation of this Ephraimite to his namesake of Benjamin, see on 1Ch 8:13<\/span> f.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:24<\/span>. And his daughter was Sherah<\/em>, namely, Ephraims daughter (1Ch 7:20<\/span>), not Beriahs, who is only mentioned by the way. The places Nether and Upper Beth-horon built, that is, fortified, by this Sherah, probably a powerful heiress, correspond (Robinson, iii. 273ff.) to the present Beit Ur et-Tachta and Beit Ur el-Foka, on the road from Jerusalem to Joppa. They lay at the south border of the tribe of Ephraim, on a strip of land stretching out between the tribes of Benjamin and Dan. Uzzen-Sherah must be sought in their immediate neighbourhood. The name (=, ear) points to a like projection or skirt as its site.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:25-27<\/span>. Joshuas forefathers<\/em>.And Rephah his son, and Resheph<\/em>. These two can scarcely pass for actual sons of Ephraim; comp. Num 26:35<\/span> f. It is uncertain to which of the families of Ephraim there mentioned they belonged.And Telah his son<\/em>, that is, Rephahs son, who is the chief person, while Resheph is only mentioned by the way. The Tahan named as the son of this Telah appears different from the Tahan named Num 26:25<\/span> as son of Ephraim, but might belong to his posterity.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:26<\/span>. Ladan his son<\/em>, etc. The name occurs, 1Ch 28:7<\/span> f., 1Ch 26:21<\/span>, also as the name of a Levitical family, but only here as an Ephraimite. Elishama, the son of Ammihud, meets us, Num 7:48<\/span>; Num 10:22<\/span>, as prince of the tribe of Ephraim. in the time of Moses. His grandson was Joshua the son of Non, or Nun, as it is constantly spelled in the Pentateuch and Joshua. [This episode corresponds in antiquarian interest with the notices concerning Caleb in 1 Chronicles 2<\/span>. The simplest exposition of the passage is obtained by making a pause after Shuthelah his son, and another after Rephah his son. Ezer and Elad are then the second and third sons of Ephraim. This younger but greater son of Joseph became heir to the portion of ground which Jacob had taken from the Amorite in the region of Shechem, Gen 48:22<\/span>. Hence, in the early period of Israels sojourn in Egypt, we find Ephraim in this quarter asserting his claim and taking possession of this domain. The presence, or perhaps the aggression, of his family provoked the Philistines, and in a warlike encounter these two sons of Ephraim were slain by the men of Gath. After this another son was born to Ephraim, of whom Sherah, the builder or fortifier of towns, and Rephah were most probably the daughter and son, though they are generally regarded as the immediate children of Ephraim. Then we have a fifth son of Ephraim, Resheph, through whom Joshua is the eighth in descent from Ephraim. After the exploits of Sherah, it is probable that the tribe lost its hold on this region, and the bondage in Egypt commenced. We learn from this curious passage that there were nine generations in the line of Joshua during the sojourn in Egypt.J. G. M. ]<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:28-29<\/span> attach as a geographical notice of the dwelling-places of the Ephraimites, 1Ch 7:28<\/span>, and West Manassites, 1Ch 7:29<\/span>, to their genealogies, as the account of the Levitical cities, 1Ch 6:39<\/span> ff., to the preceding genealogy of Levi, or as the like geographical notice of the dwelling-places of the Simeonites, 1Ch 4:28<\/span> ff., to the preceding genealogy.Bethel and her daughters<\/em>, that is, the surrounding hamlets belonging to Bethel. Bethel, now Beitin, on the borders of Benjamin and Ephraim (Jos 16:2<\/span>; Jos 18:15<\/span>), was originally assigned to the former tribe (Jos 18:22<\/span>), but afterwards belonged to the kingdom of the ten tribes, and therefore to Ephraim. Our genealogist regards only this later relation.Naaran<\/em> bears in Jos 16:7<\/span> the name , lengthened by local, and seems to be identical with Neara, north of Jericho (comp. Joseph. Antiq<\/em>. xvii. 13. 1).Gezer (Jos 16:3<\/span>) lay between Bethhoron and the sea, in the south-west corner of Ephraim, while the next named, Shechem and Ajjah, lay on the north-west. For the uncertainty of the reading see Crit. Note. The only here occurring lay not far from Shechem (Neapolis, Nablous), perhaps in the region of Michmethah (Jos 16:6<\/span>; Jos 17:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:29<\/span>. And on the side of the sons of Manasseh<\/em>, on their border, and in their possession. , as in 1Ch 6:16<\/span>. The four cities now named, Bethshean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, lie properly (like Ibleam joined with them, Jos 17:11<\/span>) outside the territory of Manasseh, in that of the tribes of Issachar and Asher bordering it on the north. They were, however, to be assigned to Manasseh as remote dwelling-places towards the north, and serve here to mark the north border of the whole territory of the sons of Joseph, as the Ephraimite cities named, 1Ch 7:28<\/span>, determined their south border.<\/p>\n

6. The Tribe of Asher<\/em>: 1Ch 7:30-40<\/span>.The sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishuah, and Ishui, and Beriah.<\/em> So Gen 46:17<\/span>, whereas, Num 26:44<\/span> ff., Ishui is omitted. Beriahs sons Heber and Malchiel occur also in Genesis 46<\/span> and Numbers 26<\/span>, but the last, Birzajith, only here (perhaps a womans name, see Crit. Note; but perhaps also = , well of the olive, and so a local name).<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:32-34<\/span>, Hebers descendants for three generations. The name Shomer (), 1Ch 7:32<\/span>, recurs, 1Ch 7:34<\/span>, in the form (in pausa<\/em>), without warranting a difference between the two. For the name Ahi () in 1Ch 7:34<\/span> (which is not to be taken appellatively, brother, as the following shows), comp. 1Ch 5:15<\/span>, where a Gadite is so called.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:35-38<\/span>. Descendants of Helem, as it appears, the son of Heber, and brother of Shemer, who was called Hotham in the third place after Japhlet and Shomer, 1Ch 7:32<\/span>. One of the two names, either or , seems to have arisen from a slip of the pen, but which is uncertain. So it is with Ithran, the last but one of the eleven sons of Zophah, 1Ch 7:37<\/span>, who reappears in the following verse under the name of Jether, and perhaps also with Ulla, 1Ch 7:39<\/span>, which may be = Beera, the last son of Zophah, on the supposition of a very gross error of the pen.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:40<\/span>. All these were the sons of Asher<\/em>, etc. This collective notice is like that in 1Ch 7:11<\/span>; the plur. , as in 1Ch 7:5<\/span>.Heads of the princes<\/em> (Vulg. duces ducum<\/em>), that is, captains of the greater divisions of the army, at the head of which stood the , elati<\/em>, <\/em>magnates<\/em>, <\/em>optimates<\/em>.And their register for the service in war<\/em>, that is, not that of the whole tribe of Asher, but only that of the family of Heber, as the most powerful and flourishing. The limitation to this one family explains how the present list of warriors (it is expressly designated as such, in contrast with registers including the whole inhabitants of the country; comp. 1Ch 9:22<\/span>) yields only 26,000 men of war, whereas for the whole tribe of Asher, the numbers 41,500 and 53,400 are given in Num 1:41<\/span>; Num 26:47<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/span>For read , as the Sept. cod<\/em>. <\/em>Alex<\/em>. reads (cod<\/em>. <\/em>Vat<\/em>. has ).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/span>So the Keri<\/em>: the Kethib<\/em> has .<\/p>\n

[3]<\/span> in the Kethib<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/span> appears to be a gloss introduced into the text by the double writing of the following consonants, <\/p>\n

[5]<\/span>So () all the best mss. and prints. The of some other mss. and editions is an error of the pen or the press introduced into the text by the influence of the Sept, Vulg., and Targ.; comp. de Rossi, Var. lect. ad h. l.<\/em><\/p>\n

[6]<\/span>So the Keri<\/em>:<\/em> it is doubtful how the Kethib<\/em> is to be pronounced ( ? with Gesen., who supposes it to be a womans name).<\/p>\n

[7]<\/span>For is to be read, with the Keri<\/em>, .<\/p>\n

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

CONTENTS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The same subject is prosecuted through this chapter, namely, the genealogy of Israel. Here is contained the register of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, and Ephraim.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

The genealogy of Issachar is here rehearsed, and the number of their soldiery and brethren; by which, it should seem, that Jacob’s prophecy concerning this tribe was fulfilled, when the Patriarch compared it to that of a strong ass couching between two burthens. Gen 49:14<\/span> .<\/p>\n

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Qualification and Duty<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:11<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

I. ‘Fit.’ We must be fit for whatever the times are fit. Some have lived in controversial times; they have been fit for controversy, strong in argument, defiant in spirit, intrepid and courageous in the last degree. Others have been born in times of suffering, deprivation, persecution, and yet they may, by the mercy and lovingkindness and condescension of God, have been fit; the fight has gone out of them, but the endurance has come into their blood, and endurance is a kind of fighting. Some have had to show their Christian faith in mighty deeds of valour; it has been an action of the arm, muscular, long, felling arms. And others have fought in their own way with quite as much courage, though it was never in the journals, as any soldier in any battle ever displayed. ‘Fit to go out for war and battle.’ Many have been fit to do that who have not been fit to simply sit down and suffer.<\/p>\n

II. Now let us look at the text on the very highest level as expressing a great destiny, as fulfilling obediently, and with a kind of struggling joy, the destiny to which the Spirit of the living God has called us. No man is fitted except by the Spirit of God to do any really beneficent and lasting work in society. All true ministry is a Divine vocation, whatever may be its name or its aspect, whether it is suffering or valour, whether it is writing or merchandise, or preaching or statesmanship; whatever it may be, the power or the qualification of it is in the fact that it is God’s doing and God’s holy will. What hast thou thou hast not received? Thy qualification is a Divine qualification; therefore do not boast of it. No man who recognizes God as the giver of gifts can ever be vain. If a man has the gift of God in him, that gift displaces the fiend or imp of vanity, and he who can do most of himself thinks least.<\/p>\n

III. Now what is the object or purpose of being fitted? What does it all come to? It all comes to service. What is the good of being furnished, fitted out, equipped, or whatsoever it may be called, if there be no definite and concrete end? We do not want ornamental faith or ornamental piety. Can he fight? Yes. Then bring him forward. Can he heroically suffer? Yes. Then produce him, where his influence can be most deeply and divinely felt. Can he exemplify the Christian character either in service or in suffering? He can. Then introduce him, mark him on the register fit fit fit. We have had enough of ornamental piety.<\/p>\n

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit,<\/em> vol. v. p. 109.<\/p>\n

References. X. 13. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit,<\/em> No. 1884. XI. 7, 8, 9. J. M. Neale, Occasional Sermons,<\/em> p. 59.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Valiant Men Ingratitude a Torrent of Names<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:1<\/span>1Ch 8<\/span>1Ch 8<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

In these chapters we have summaries of the great clans of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, West Manasseh, Ephraim, Asher, the families of Gibeon, especially the royal house of Saul, with innumerable and collateral allusions.<\/p>\n

In 1Ch 7:2 of chapter 7 there is a sentence which presents an excellent family record “They were valiant men of might in their generations;” while the reference is to the sons of Issachar, and is therefore the more notable because in pronouncing upon each member of his family, Jacob had represented Issachar as a “strong ass,” a figure not suggestive of fire and courage, and love of battle. Sometimes the man’s sons are better than the man himself. It is important to notice this, lest some who are conscious of an unfavourable ancestry should lose heart and resign themselves to the tyranny of mere fate. History abounds in striking instances of men who, being socially low born, have conquered all opposing circumstances and entered into great estates of character and influence. If the sons of Tola had said, “A curse rests upon the whole house of Issachar, every man of us is reckoned as belonging to the nature of the ‘ass,’ and throughout all Israel the ass has been held in contempt; it is useless for us to endeavour to secure any high position, or do any noble work” they never would have made a name in history. We must beware of what may be termed historical superstition, and rid ourselves for ever of the unhappy and irrational thought that history has a grudge against us. A beautiful record is this truly, “valiant men of might in their generations;” it did not therefore follow that every generation would be as valiant; each generation creates its own records and cannot live upon the excellence or fame of preceding days.<\/p>\n

In the third verse of the same chapter we are introduced to a whole family of chieftains <\/p>\n

“And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief men.” (<\/em> 1Ch 7:3 )<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Here we come again upon a series of names each of which contains a divine element. Izrahiah means “God riseth like the sun,” and Michael means “who like God?” We cannot get rid, even if we would, of social diversities. From the beginning to the end of time “chief men” and lowly men, men of power and men of weakness, will divide the human family. In this division or classification there may be an element of sovereignty neither to be foreseen nor overruled. What may be termed an arbitrary distribution of talents is distinctly laid down in one of the parables of our Lord, wherein one servant has five talents, another two, and another one. But while there is a sovereignity in the distribution of the talents, there is a justice in the recognition of industry. The man was not honoured because he had ten talents, but because he had doubled the talents with which he began. We may be separate at the point of genius, but we may be one at the humbler point of industry. Never do we find that it is mere genius that is rewarded, but always the fidelity which is possible even to the humblest grade of mind. We cannot all be “chief men,” but we can all be lowly followers of the Lord, each doing his best to hold the light aloft and make known the good news of God’s redeeming love. From the second to the fifth verses of the seventh chapter it would seem as if a procession of giants were passing before us; thus we read of valiant men of might, chief men, bands of soldiers, and again is repeated the expression in verse five, “valiant men of might.” That there have been such men in the world is obvious from innumerable proofs of their capacity and skill. Who subdued the beasts of the forest and turned the sites of jungles into the foundations of cities? Who ventured across the sea to discover lands afar off and established with them profitable commerce and exchange? Whose chisel formed the all but living image of man in shapeless blocks of marble? Who painted the pictures of which the world is proud? Who gathered into one orchestra countless instruments and trained voices which make the very wind eloquent with music? Who tunnelled the mountains? In short, who created the complex and glorious civilisation which satisfies every want and gratifies every taste of man? Truly there have been chief men, valiant men of might, and bands of soldiers in olden history. Sometimes it would seem as if all the great work had been done before we came into the world, and nothing is left for us to do but to admire or use or enjoy. A marvellous thought too is it that civilisation is self-exhausting; that it can fill all the space allotted to it and, having done that, can only go back again into decay or barbarism. The great thing which it is possible for us to do is to quicken the mind, to destroy superstition, to preach the doctrine of the endless development of life, and to hold up the cross of Christ amid the tumult of time as the explanation and meaning of all things.<\/p>\n

In chapter 7, 1Ch 7:11<\/span> , we read of “seventeen thousand and two hundred soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle.” Blessed are they who are really qualified for any needful work in this weary world! A beautiful character is this “fit to go out.” How many men go out before they are fit, how many go out to preach, to teach, to lead, who have no qualification for the office which they have assumed! Men should not go out until they are sent; in other words, men should not go out to warfare at their own charges. There are controversialists whom God has specially qualified and inspired “to go out for war and battle.” They are men of combative mind, their very sentences like Luther’s are half battles; they never realise the extent of their capacity or the energy of their character until they are called upon to take arms in a great cause. Other men are fit to go out to sing sweet music to the weary and sad; on no occasion could they fight; they have a perfect horror of war; but their voice is music, every tone is a revelation of sympathy, when they breathe, men are conscious of the descent of a benediction. Others again are fit to go out to. preach; they are workmen not needing to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth; they combine both the foregoing classes, the controversial and the musical. How they denounce wrong! How they burn against injustice! How nobly they encourage virtue! How sweetly they administer consolation, with what energetic music they proclaim that the Living God would have all men saved! We must find out what we are fit for, and do that particular work with both hands earnestly. Do not let us foolishly wait under the impression, that by some dazzling sign God will point out the speciality of our gift. We must put ourselves into practice, and let revelation come through experience. “Stir up the gift that is in thee.” “Put on thy strength.” “Awake, awake.” “Arise, shine.” There is something for us to do; we must begin where we can; if we cannot speak to a kingdom, we may be able to speak to a family; if we dare not address a whole family, we may venture to speak some word of instruction or hope to a little child. “He that doeth the will, shall know the doctrine;” in other words he who is obedient in all directions and at all times, will soon come to discover what he can best do, and how he best can do it.<\/p>\n

“And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him” (<\/em> 1Ch 7:21-22 ).<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

We here see how sons brought their father to grief. The sons were slain because they went down to Gath to steal cattle. There is nothing unreasonable in the supposition of some commentators that the young men may have gone out on this felonious business against their father’s judgment and will. Where is the unreasonableness of such a statement? Look around and see how today fathers are treated by their sons! How experience goes for nothing! How venerableness is regarded as senility! How good advice is treated as worthless sentiment! The aged Ephraim still mourned over his sons notwithstanding their obstinacy. The influence of evil actions cannot be confined to the actors. The drunkard does not injure himself alone, he degrades his children and fastens a stigma on their name. Ingratitude does not punish itself, but it breaks the hearts of benefactors. We may have killed many men whom we have never violently assaulted. There is a murder of the heart, there is a man-slaughter that is not recognised as such by the law of the land. Strange it will be if many who have claimed to be respectable should at last be proved to have been slayers of men.<\/p>\n

In 1Ch 7:24<\/span> , chapter 7, we actually find a woman doing something! “And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon, the nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-Sherah.” Into the local details of this statement we cannot enter, but many may take encouragement from the fact that Ephraim’s daughter Sherah built the nether and upper Beth-horon. What builders women may be! What character they can build in their sons and daughters! What influence they can build around themselves, and be as a beacon light amid surrounding darkness. Women can do a work which men cannot even attempt. It is not only unjust but absurd to assign to all women the same occupation. It is true that women have been painters, musicians, authors, and even devotees of the highest science, but whilst few can follow in that great train all women should be resolved according to the peculiarity of their circumstances to build up a sweet home, and train dependent lives to intelligence, justice, patriotism, and religious fidelity.<\/p>\n

From this point and onward to the end of the eighth chapter we may be said to have little but a torrent of names. How the cataract rushes whilst we read! Whilst the torrent is fullest it is most difficult to select instances of special worth and excellence. The historian himself does not attempt to specialise. Where names are fewer, character stands out in bolder relief. This is so in every department of life; were there but one book in the world, how it would be sought after and perused with eager interest; but because there are innumerable multitudes of books many are affrighted by the very extent of the library and hardly dare begin to read. Where but one or two distinguished persons claim attention, profound respect is paid to their presence and claims, but when the units become tens, and the tens swell into hundreds, even conspicuous men may become of no account, as miracles by their multiplication may be reduced to mere common-places.<\/p>\n

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1Ch 7:1 Now the sons of Issachar [were], Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four.<\/p>\n

Ver. 1. Jashub.<\/strong> ] Alias<\/em> Job; Gen 46:13 but not Job the patient, as some would have it.<\/p>\n

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Now the sons of Issachar were = And to the sons of Issachar belonged. Issachar born 1746 B.C. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Chapter 7<\/p>\n

Now when we get to chapter seven, it moves now to Issachar, the son of Jacob, one of the twelve tribes, the tribe of Issachar and it begins to list some of those from the tribe of Issachar. Until you get to verse six, and then we deal with the descendants of Benjamin. And in verse thirteen, the descendants of Naphtali. In verse fourteen, the descendants of Manasseh. Verse twenty, of Ephraim. And then more or less filling out the chapter with the areas that Ephraim inhabited. “<\/p>\n

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1Ch 7:1-5<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:1-5<\/p>\n

“And of the sons of Issachar: Tolah, and Puah, Jashib, and Shimron, four. And the sons of Tolah: Uzzi, and Raphaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, to wit, of Tolah, mighty men of valor in their generations: their number in the days of David was two and twenty thousand and six hundred. And the sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five; all of them chief men. And 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. And their brethren among all the families of Issachar, mighty men of valor, reckoned in all by genealogy, were fourscore and seven thousand.”<\/p>\n

E.M. Zerr:<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:1-2. Generation means family history as the word is used here. The statement means the history of that family was one of valor. Their number had been taken by David, and it was 22,600. <\/p>\n

1Ch 7:3. Obadiah and Joel are mentioned in this verse, but it is a mere coincidence that their names are the same as those of two of the minor prophets. <\/p>\n

1Ch 7:4-5. In the family register of these men of Issachar were 36,000 military men. The simple explanation of the large number of that kind of men is that there were many wives and sons. The conclusion is that a general military training was given the sons of the rising generations. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

In this chapter we have the genealogies of six of the tribes, and again the bias of the chronicler is evident in his treatment. Those tribes more directly associated with Judah have fuller treatment than others. In referring to Issachar, Benjamin, and Asher, both genealogies and the number of fighting men are given. These numbers refer to the time of David, around whose reign all the interest of the Book centers. Of the sons of Issachar it is said that they were mighty men of valor, and among them were the chief men of the nation. Much the same is declared of the sons of Asher, that they were choice and mighty men of valor and chief among the princes. Naphtali is dismissed in a verse. Concerning Manasseh some few names are given and the possessions enumerated. The descendants of the three sons of Benjamin are declared to be mighty men of valor, while Ephraim is distinguished principally by the one name of Joshua, which appears in the course of the record. <\/p>\n

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

5. Issachar, Naphtali, half Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher<\/p>\n

CHAPTER 7<\/p>\n

1. Issachar (1Ch 7:1-5)<\/p>\n

2. Of Benjamin (1Ch 7:6-12)<\/p>\n

3. Naphtali (1Ch 7:13)<\/p>\n

4. Half Manasseh (1Ch 7:14-19)<\/p>\n

5. Ephraim (1Ch 7:20-29)<\/p>\n

6. Asher (1Ch 7:30-40)<\/p>\n

The other tribes are given except Dan and Zebulun, which are missing. Issachars had the territory between the highlands and the Jordan valley. Their warriors numbered 87,000 taken most likely from Davids census. Only three sons of Benjamin are mentioned in verse 6; five are given in chapter 8:1. What became of the other five? In Gen 46:21 we find ten names. The others had most likely become extinct in the awful slaughter recorded in Judges (Judges 20). All these tables are more or less imperfect. This does not in any way affect the question of inspiration. No doubt there are deeper lessons connected with many of these names and arrangement of them, which we do not know.<\/p>\n

These genealogies were imperfect. The condition of Israel bore the impress of the ruin which had befallen them; but also that of the goodness of God who had brought back a remnant, and who had preserved all that was needful to place those who formed it in the record of His people. If the needful proof to give them a title to this were wanting, such as were of the people ceased to enjoy their proper privileges, and the priests their sacerdotal position, until a priest stood up with Urim and with Thummim. For these genealogies served as a means to recognize the people. Happy he who had preserved his own, and who had so appreciated the heritage of Jehovah as to attach value to it! It was a proof of faith; for it might have been said, Of what use are these genealogies in Babylon? (Synopsis of the Bible)<\/p>\n

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

Gen 46:13, Phuvah, Job, Num 26:23, Num 26:24, Pua<\/p>\n

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

1Ch 7:2. Whose number in the days of David. This proves that David, in time of peace, numbered the people for war. This very much surprised Joab, and in this lay a great part of the sin. These chapters contain also a heraldry of the Hebrew nobility, each of these names being a prince or princess in the family. It is left with heaven to number the poor. The variations in writing their names, was made by some author anterior to the time of Ezra.<\/p>\n

1Ch 7:22. Ephraim their father mourned. If this affair happened in Israel, the Ephraimites were the aggressors, and this Ephraim was the father of the principal men who fell in this expedition; but how many generations from the first Ephraim, may not be exactly traced. Some of the Jews however contend that this affair happened in Egypt, and that the Philistines were the aggressors in going down to steal their cattle; but it is difficult to conceive how those rabbins should know better than Ezra. At the thirteenth verse of the next chapter, we find that the Benjamites drove away the inhabitants of Gath, which was probably to avenge this blood, and keep the borders quiet. <\/p>\n

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

PART I (1 Chronicles 1-9). Genealogical Lists, together with Geographical and Historical Notes.These chapters form a general introduction to the whole work. They contain the following genealogies, often in an incomplete form: Adam to Israel (1Ch 1:1 to 1Ch 2:2)with the exception of Cains descendants (Gen 4:16-22)the whole material is taken from Genesis 1-36; Judah (1Ch 2:3-55); David (1Ch 3:1-24); Judah again, and made up of fragments (1Ch 4:1-23); Simeon (1Ch 4:24-43); Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe (the eastern) of Manasseh (1Ch 5:1-26); Levi and the Levitical cities (1Ch 6:1-81); Issachar (1Ch 7:1-5); Benjamin (1Ch 7:6-12); Naphtali (1Ch 7:13); half the tribe of Manasseh (the western) (1Ch 7:14-19); Ephraim (1Ch 7:20-29); Asher (1Ch 7:30-40); Benjamin again, together with the house of Saul (1Ch 8:1-40). Then follows an enumeration of the inhabitants of Jerusalem given in the order: sons of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, Manasseh, priests, Levites, doorkeepers (1Ch 9:1-44); 1Ch 9:35-44 are repeated verbally from 1Ch 8:29-38.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

7:1 Now the sons of Issachar [were], Tola, and Puah, {a} Jashub, and Shimron, four.<\/p>\n

(a) Who also is called Job, Gen 46:13.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n

5. The remaining families of Israel ch. 7<\/span><\/p>\n

The tribes the writer listed were Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher. Why did he omit Dan and Zebulun? The inclusion of these tribes would have resulted in a total of 14 tribes since he had counted Levi and had dealt with both halves of Manasseh separately. Evidently to keep the whole number of tribes at 12 he omitted these. [Note: John Sailhamer, First and Second Chronicles, p. 26.] <\/span> Another possibility is that perhaps the tribes of Dan and Zebulun had little influence or relevance among the Jews who made up the returned exiles. [Note: Payne, "1, 2 Chronicles," p. 357.] <\/span> That there were 12 tribes seems to have been more important to the writer than how he counted them as 12. The writers of both the Old and New Testaments used many different combinations each totaling 12 in the many lists of the 12 tribes that appear in Scripture. By listing 12 tribes the Chronicler emphasized that the whole nation was intact. The term "all Israel" occurs over 40 times in Chronicles, and there are also many occurrences of the phrases "all the house of Israel" and "all the tribes of Israel."<\/p>\n

"At a time when the northern tribes had long been in exile, the Chronicler provides a genealogical listing for all the tribes (except Zebulun and Dan); in giving such a list, the Chronicler is (1) expressing his awareness of continuity with the larger number, (2) showing his concern to include the northern tribes rather than to exclude them, (3) suggesting that he regarded the schism as neither permanent nor desirable, and (4) possibly giving some expression to an eschatological hope for a revival of the nation in its largest extent." [Note: Longman and Dillard, p. 196.] <\/span><\/p>\n

"Individuals without lineage in the course of time took their names from the cities in which they were located, and their names were enrolled genealogically among the ancestors of Israel." [Note: Braun, 1 Chronicles, p. 109.] <\/span><\/p>\n

In these chapters (4-7), the writer stressed the following central features of God’s covenant relationship with Israel. The leadership of Judah that even swallowed up another tribe came to a head in David and his descendants. The Transjordanian tribes experienced the results of unfaithfulness to God. The tribe of Levi enjoyed the privilege of priesthood in Israel. The writer also drew attention to the 12-tribe structure of the one Israelite nation.<\/p>\n

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now the sons of Issachar [were], Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four. 1 5. The Genealogy of Issachar 1. the sons of Issachar ] Gen 46:13; Num 26:23-24. Puah ] In Gen. and Num. Puvah (R.V.), but in Jdg 10:1 Puah as here. A descendant of Puah named Tola was one of the Judges. … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Chronicles 7:1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}