4 And Tamar his daughter-in-law hath borne to him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah `are' five.
And it is declared to Tamar, saying, `Lo, thy husband's father is going up to Timnath to shear his flock;' and she turneth aside the garments of her widowhood from off her, and covereth herself with a vail, and wrappeth herself up, and sitteth in the opening of Enayim, which `is' by the way to Timnath, for she hath seen that Shelah hath grown up, and she hath not been given to him for a wife. And Judah seeth her, and reckoneth her for a harlot, for she hath covered her face, and he turneth aside unto her by the way, and saith, `Come, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee,' (for he hath not known that she `is' his daughter-in-law); and she saith, `What dost thou give to me, that thou mayest come in unto me?' and he saith, `I -- I send a kid of the goats from the flock.' And she saith, `Dost thou give a pledge till thou send `it'?' and he saith, `What `is' the pledge that I give to thee?' and she saith, `Thy seal, and thy ribbon, and thy staff which `is' in thy hand;' and he giveth to her, and goeth in unto her, and she conceiveth to him; and she riseth, and goeth, and turneth aside her vail from off her, and putteth on the garments of her widowhood. And Judah sendeth the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the hand of the woman, and he hath not found her. And he asketh the men of her place, saying, `Where `is' the separated one -- she in Enayim, by the way?' and they say, `There hath not been in this `place' a separated one.' And he turneth back unto Judah, and saith, `I have not found her; and the men of the place also have said, There hath not been in this `place' a separated one,' and Judah saith, `Let her take to herself, lest we become despised; lo, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.' And it cometh to pass about three months `after', that it is declared to Judah, saying, `Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath committed fornication; and also, lo, she hath conceived by fornication:' and Judah saith, `Bring her out -- and she is burnt.' She is brought out, and she hath sent unto her husband's father, saying, `To a man whose these `are', I `am' pregnant;' and she saith, `Discern, I pray thee, whose `are' these -- the seal, and the ribbons, and the staff.' And Judah discerneth and saith, `She hath been more righteous than I, because that I did not give her to Shelah my son;' and he hath not added to know her again. And it cometh to pass in the time of her bearing, that lo, twins `are' in her womb; and it cometh to pass in her bearing, that `one' giveth out a hand, and the midwife taketh and bindeth on his hand a scarlet thread, saying, `This hath come out first.' And it cometh to pass as he draweth back his hand, that lo, his brother hath come out, and she saith, `What! thou hast broken forth -- on thee `is' the breach;' and he calleth his name Pharez; and afterwards hath his brother come out, on whose hand `is' the scarlet thread, and he calleth his name Zarah.
And sons of Judah, by their families, are: of Shelah the family of the Shelanite; of Pharez the family of the Pharzite; of Zerah the family of the Zarhite; and sons of Pharez are: of Hezron the family of the Hezronite; of Hamul the family of the Hamulite.
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Commentary on 1 Chronicles 2 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 2
1Ch 2:1, 2. Sons of Israel.
1Ch 2:3-12. Posterity of Judah.
3. The sons of Judah—His descendants are enumerated first, because the right and privileges of the primogeniture had been transferred to him (Ge 49:8), and because from his tribe the Messiah was to spring.
6. Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara—These five are here stated to be the sons of Zerah, that is, of Ezra, whence they were called Ezrahites (1Ki 4:31). In that passage they are called "the sons of Mahol," which, however, is to be taken not as a proper name, but appellatively for "sons of music, dancing," &c. The traditional fame of their great sagacity and acquirements had descended to the time of Solomon and formed a standard of comparison for showing the superior wisdom of that monarch. Jewish writers say that they were looked up to as prophets by their countrymen during the abode in Egypt.
7. the sons of Carmi—He was the son of Zimri, or Zabdi, as he is called (Jos 7:1).
Achar—or Achan (Jos 7:1). This variety in the form of the name is with great propriety used here, since Achar means "troubler."
1Ch 2:13-17. Children of Jesse.
15. David the seventh—As it appears (1Sa 16:10; 17:12) that Jesse had eight sons, the presumption is from David being mentioned here as the seventh son of his father, that one of them had died at an early age, without leaving issue.
17. Jether the Ishmaelite—(compare 2Sa 17:25). In that passage he is called Ithra an Israelite; and there seems no reason why, in the early days of David, anyone should be specially distinguished as an Israelite. The presumption is in favor of the reading followed by the Septuagint, which calls him "Jetra the Jezreelite." The circumstance of his settling in another tribe, or of a woman marrying out of her own tribe, was sufficiently rare and singular to call for the statement that Abigail was married to a man of Jezreel.
1Ch 2:18-55. Posterity of Caleb.
18. Caleb the son of Hezron—The notices concerning this person appear confused in our version. In 1Ch 2:19 he is said to be the father of Hur, whereas in 1Ch 2:50 he is called "the son of Hur." The words in this latter passage have been transposed in the copying, and should be read thus, "Hur the son of Caleb."
begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth—The former was his spouse, while Jerioth seems to have been a secondary wife, and the mother of the children whose names are here given. On the death of his principal wife, he married Ephrath, and by her had Hur [1Ch 2:19].
21. Hezron … daughter of Machir the father of Gilead—that is, chief of that town, which with the lands adjacent was no doubt the property of Machir, who was so desirous of a male heir. He was grandson of Joseph. The wife of Machir was of the tribe of Manasseh (Nu 26:29).
22. Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead—As the son of Segub and the grandson of Hezron, he was of the tribe of Judah; but from his maternal descent he is called (Nu 32:41; De 3:14) "the son of Manasseh." This designation implies that his inheritance lay in that tribe in right of his grandmother; in other words, his maternal and adopting great-grandfather was Machir the son of Manasseh. Jair, inheriting his property, was his lineal representative; and accordingly this is expressly stated to be the case; for the village group of "Havoth-Jair" was awarded to him in that tribe, in consequence of his valiant and patriotic exploits. This arrangement, however, took place previous to the law (Nu 36:1-13), by which it was enacted that heiresses were to marry in their own tribe. But this instance of Jair shows that in the case of a man obtaining an inheritance in another tribe it required him to become thoroughly incorporated with it as a representative of the family through which the inheritance was received. He had been adopted into Manasseh, and it would never have been imagined that he was other than "a son of Manasseh" naturally, had not this passage given information supplementary to that of the passage in Numbers.
23. he took—rather "he had taken." This statement is accounting for his acquisition of so large a territory; he got it by right of conquest from the former possessors.
Kenath—This place, along with its group of surrounding villages, was gained by Nobah, one of Jair's officers sent by him to capture it (Nu 32:1, 2).
All these belonged to the sons of Machir—In their number Jair is included as having completely identified himself by his marriage and residence in Gilead with the tribe of Manasseh.
24. Caleb-ephratah—so called from uniting the names of husband and wife (1Ch 2:19), and supposed to be the same as was afterwards called Beth-lehem-ephratah.
Ashur, the father of Tekoa—(2Sa 14:2-4). He is called the father, either from his being the first founder, or perhaps the ruler, of the city.
34. Sheshan had no sons, but daughters—either he had no sons alive at his death, or his family consisted wholly of daughters, of whom Ahlai (1Ch 2:31) was one, she being specially mentioned on account of the domestic relations about to be noted.
35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife—The adoption and marriage of a foreign slave in the family where he is serving, is far from being a rare or extraordinary occurrence in Eastern countries. It is thought, however, by some to have been a connection not sanctioned by the law of Moses [Michaelis]. But this is not a well-founded objection, as the history of the Jews furnishes not a few examples of foreign proselytes in the same manner obtaining an inheritance in Israel; and doubtless Jarha had previously embraced the Jewish faith in place of the grovelling idolatries of his native Egypt. In such a case, therefore, there could be no legal difficulty. Being a foreign slave, he had no inheritance in a different tribe to injure by this connection; while his marriage with Sheshan's daughter led to his adoption into the tribe of Judah, as well as his becoming heir of the family property.
42. the sons of Caleb—(compare 1Ch 2:18, 25). The sons here noticed were the fruit of his union with a third wife.
55. the families of the scribes—either civil or ecclesiastical officers of the Kenite origin, who are here classed with the tribe of Judah, not as being descended from it, but as dwelling within its territory, and in a measure incorporated with its people.
Jabez—a place in Judah (1Ch 4:9).
Kenites that came of Hemath—who settled in Judah, and were thus distinguished from another division of the Kenite clan which dwelt in Manasseh (Jud 4:11).