In this chapter is a further account of the tribe of Judah, and of some principal families in it, 1 Chron. 4:1–23 and of the tribe of Simeon, their families, cities, and villages, 1 Chron. 4:24–38 and of the enlargement of their borders, and conquest of the Amalekites, 1 Chron. 4:39–43.

The sons of Judah: Pharez The posterity of Judah in the line of Pharez, for he only is mentioned: Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal. Hezron was the son of Pharez, and Carmi is supposed to be Chelubai, or Caleb, the son of Hezron; and Hur the son of Caleb; and Shobal was the son of the second…

And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath Reaiah is the same with Haroeh, the names are of the same signification: and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites; who inhabited Zoreah, as the Targum, at least part of it; see (1 Chron. 2:53, 1 Chron. 2:54) .

And these were of the father of Etam Or of the prince of Etam: or, as the Targum, these are princes that dwelt in Etam, a place not far from Zorah, and is mentioned with Bethlehem and Tekoa in the tribe of Judah, , namely, which follow: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash; these were the sons of the…

And Penuel the father of Gedor The prince of that place, according to some, and the same with Hareph, , and Ezer the father of Hushah: thought to be the same with Shuah, , these are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah: Caleb’s wife, the Targum adds, the same with Miriam; and so other Jewish…

And Ashur the father of Tekoa A son of Hezron by Abiah, had two wives, Helah and Naarah; as Lamech had, polygamy not being reckoned unlawful in those times.

And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari Of whom we have no account elsewhere: these were the sons of Naarah; the second wife of Ashur.

And the sons of Helah ] The other wife: were Zereth, and Zoar, and Ethnan: nowhere else mentioned.

And Coz Another son of Helah, and brother of the before mentioned: begat Anub, and Zobebah; of whom we nowhere else read: and the families of Aharhel, the son of Harum; these were of the posterity of Coz; the Targum is, “and the family of Aharhel, this is Hur, the firstborn of Miriam;” which is not…

And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren The Targum adds, “and wiser in the law than his brethren;” or he might be a man of great wealth and riches, or of great strength and courage, all which make a man honourable; or he may be so called, because a praying man, as follows, a man of devotion…

And Jabez called on the God of Israel Or prayed to him, as the Targum; though some understand it as a vow, promising what he would do if God would do thus and thus for him; the Syriac and Arabic versions read in the third person, taking it to be what others, his parents and friends, wished for him,…

And Chelub the brother of Shuah begat Mehir If Shuah is the same with Hushah, , then Chelub was the son of Ezer: which was the father of Eshton; not the prince of a place called Eshton, as Vatablus; for it is the name of a man, the son of Mehir, and who in the next verse is said to beget sons.

And Eshton begat Bethrapha Or the family of Rapha: and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Irnahash; or the city of Nahash; Tehinnah seems to have been the prince or governor of a city, so called: these are the men of Rechah; these sons of Eshton dwelt in a place called Rechah; the Targum, without…

And the sons of Kenaz Who was either the son of Chelub, or of Eshton: Othniel, and Seraiah; the first of these is he who is mentioned, and was the first judge in Israel: and the son of Othniel, Hathath; and the next mentioned.

And Meonothai Another son of Othniel: begat Ophrah; and Seraiah, the brother of Othniel, begat Joab; not David’s general, but another of the same name, who lived long before him, see the father of the valley of Charashim: of the inhabitants of the valley, or the prince of them, called the valley of…

And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh Jephunneh is not the same with Hezron, as the Targum, but another son of Kenaz, hence called the Kenezite, and brother of Othniel; and Caleb his son is the same that was sent one of the spies of the land of Canaan by Moses, see his sons were Iru, Elah, and…

And the sons of Jehaleleel Who probably was the son of Uknaz: Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel; there were two cities in the tribe of Judah of the name of Ziph, (Josh. 15:24, Josh. 15:55) , which might be called from these men, or from Ziph in .

And the sons of Ezra Who was perhaps the son of Asareel, last mentioned: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon; only one of them, Mered, is after mentioned: and she bare Miriam; which is not the name of a woman, but of a man, as Kimchi observes; and, according to him, his mother was the wife of…

And his wife Jehudijah Another wife of Ezra; or, according to Kimchi, of Mered; a Jewess, as the word is by some rendered, to distinguish her from another wife, an Egyptian, in the latter part of the verse: bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of…

And the sons of his wife Hodiah Another wife of Mered. Hillerus [[2]] takes her to be the same with Jehudijah, , though some [[3]] take Hodiah to be the name of a man, and read the words, “and the sons of the wife of Hodiah”; which wife of Hodiah was the sister of Naham; or rather Achotnaham, we…

And the sons of Shimon Perhaps another son of Mered by his last wife, or the same with Shammai, were Amnon, and Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon; nowhere else mentioned: and the sons of Ishi: who it may be was the brother of Shimon or Tilon: were Zoheth, and Benzoheth; of whom we know no more than their…

The sons of Shelah, the son of Judah, were The genealogy of the posterity of Judah, in the lines of Pharez and Zerah, being given, and very largely in that of the former, because of the honour of David, and his kingdom, which sprang from thence, as Jarchi observes, and also the King Messiah, the…

And Jokim The Vulgate Latin version is, and he that made the sun to stand: as if Joshua was meant; and in the Talmud it is [[6]] said Jokim, this is Joshua, who confirmed the oath to the Gibeonites; and the Targum here is, “and the prophets of the scribes that sprang from the posterity of Joshua;”…

These were the potters Or are the potters; the posterity of those men, who were so famous in their day, are now of mean employments: some of them made earthen pots; and some of them dwelt among plants and hedges; or were employed in planting gardens and orchards, and making fences for them; or, as…

The sons of Simeon The account of whom, next to the tribe of Judah, is given before Reuben, because its inheritance lay in the tribe of Judah, his sons were Nemuel, the same with Jemuel, and Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul; who, in the place referred to, is said to be the son of a Canaanitish woman;…

Shallum his son The son of Shaul, and Mibsam was the son of Shallum, and Mishma the son of Mibsam.

And the sons of Mishma These were Hamuel, Zacchur, and Shimei.

And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters None of which are mentioned by name: but his brethren had not many children: Hamuel and Zacchur: neither did all their family multiply like to the children of Judah: to show the fruitfulness and great increase of which tribe, the genealogical account of…

And they dwelt at Beersheba posterity of Simeon; and this and the other places of their habitation are mentioned in the same order, and with very little variation of names to the end of , as in and here, at it is added, these were their cities unto the reign of David; when, according to Kimchi, and…

See Gill on 1 Chron. 4:28

See Gill on 1 Chron. 4:28

See Gill on 1 Chron. 4:28

And their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities. ] There are but four mentioned in one might be added since, or new built, namely, Tochen; these, according to Kimchi, were all that remained for them to dwell in, in the times of David; and therefore they were…

And all their villages that were round about the same cities, unto Baal The same with Baalathbeer, these were their habitations, and their genealogy; as before described, until the times of David.

And Meshobab, and Jamlech These, with those that follow to the end of were famous men in the tribe of Simeon, of rank and dignity, and eminent for courage and valour, as the latter part of the chapter testifies, though they are nowhere else taken notice of.

And Meshobab, and Jamlech These, with those that follow to the end of were famous men in the tribe of Simeon, of rank and dignity, and eminent for courage and valour, as the latter part of the chapter testifies, though they are nowhere else taken notice of.

And Meshobab, and Jamlech These, with those that follow to the end of were famous men in the tribe of Simeon, of rank and dignity, and eminent for courage and valour, as the latter part of the chapter testifies, though they are nowhere else taken notice of.

And Meshobab, and Jamlech These, with those that follow to the end of were famous men in the tribe of Simeon, of rank and dignity, and eminent for courage and valour, as the latter part of the chapter testifies, though they are nowhere else taken notice of.

These mentioned by their names were princes in their families The principal men of them, heads of their fathers’ houses: and the house of their fathers increased greatly; by them, so that they were obliged to seek out for new habitations, as follows.

And they went to the entrance of Gedor There was a city of this name in the tribe of Judah, but this seems to be further off, and perhaps is the same with Gedaris, mentioned by Strabo even unto the east side of the valley; which was near to Gedor, and a suitable place: to seek pasture for their…

And they found fat pasture and good In or near the valley of Gedor: and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; there was room enough for them and their flocks, and they had no enemies on either side to disturb them: for they of Ham had dwelt there of old; either the Canaanites who descended…

And these written by name Before in , came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; as Dr. Lightfoot [[11]] thinks, not within the first fourteen years of his reign, when the Syrian army was abroad, and none dost peep out, but in his last fifteen years, when the army was destroyed and gone: and smote…

And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to Mount Seir In the land of Edom: having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi; these four captains are said, by the ancient Rabbins, to be of the tribe of Manasseh, as Kimchi…

And they smote the rest of the Amalekites that were escaped, &c.] That escaped the sword of Saul; though, according to the Jews [[12]], 100,000 of them were slain by him in one day; and of the sword of David, though he is said not to leave man or woman alive, (1 Sam. 27:8, 1 Sam.