ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for 1 Chronicles 2

2:1–2 The Sons of Israel. The sons of Israel are the subject of the following genealogies. Here the author lists the biological sons of Jacob (see Gen. 35:22–26). When he lists the tribes later in the book he traces how the land was divided (see Joshua 13–21). Thus, he includes the half-tribes of Manasseh in Transjordan (1 Chron. 5:23–26) and west of the Jordan (7:14–19) and omits Zebulun and Dan.

2:3–4:23 The Tribe of Judah. The first and most extensive place in the genealogy is given to Judah. The author has arranged it as follows:

2:3    Shelah, the oldest surviving son of Judah

2:4–8       Perez and Zerah, Judah’s sons by Tamar

2:9–3:24          Hezron, ancestor of David and his line

4:1–20       Perez’s other descendants

4:21–23    Shelah’s descendants

As is common in such literary arrangements, the central unit (2:9–3:24) is the focus of chief interest because it leads to David, the central human character in Chronicles.

1 Chron 2:3–8 Judah is the central focus of the genealogy because God chose Judah to lead Israel (Gen. 49:8–12). God also chose David and his line to bless Israel and rule forever (2 Sam. 7:1–17; 1 Chron. 17:1–15). Judah’s five sons demonstrate both Yahweh’s judgment on disobedience (Er, Onan, Shelah) and his grace in continuing the lines of Perez and Zerah, the twins born from Judah’s unlawful union with Tamar (Genesis 38). Achan means “trouble” in the Hebrew text, a wordplay on the troubler of Israel (see Josh. 7:24–26). broke faith. This is the first instance of this key term in the book that describes Israel’s failure to obey the Lord (see Lev. 26:40).

1 Chron 2:9–17 Verses 10–12 are drawn mainly from Ruth 4:19–22. Here, only the line of David (1 Chron. 2:15) came from Ram, and the rest of Judah from Hezron’s other sons, Jerahmeel and Caleb (Chelubai is a variant of “Caleb”). Although 1 Sam. 16:10–13 indicates that David was the eighth son of Jesse, the Chronicler presents him as the seventh, perhaps to indicate his favored place in God’s purpose.

1 Chron 2:18–24 Caleb the son of Hezron is not the later contemporary of Joshua (see 4:15). He was an ancestor of Bezalel (2:20), the principal craftsman for the tabernacle (Ex. 31:2; 2 Chron. 1:5).

1 Chron 2:25–41 Two lists (vv. 25–33 and 34–41) have been joined here, probably from material preserved by this clan, descendants of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron. They lived in the Negeb, on Judah’s southern frontier, in David’s day (1 Sam. 27:10). If this record of 23 generations is complete, Elishama may have been a contemporary of David, and the Chronicler would be drawing on ancient records from the early monarchy.

1 Chron 2:42–55 An addition to vv. 18–24, made up of early lists of the descendants of Caleb (vv. 42–50a) and his son Hur (vv. 50b–55). Personal and place names are together in this section (Hebron, Beth-zur, Kiriath-jearim, Bethlehem), so “father” here sometimes means the “founder” or “leader” of a city.