Judah's Family Is Larger Than the Royal Line

The first six names are Leah's sons in birth order, as Genesis 35:23 lists them. Reuben heads the roll even though 5:1–2 will explain that he lost the birthright for defiling his father's bed; the order of birth is kept, the order of honour is argued later.

Dan, a son of Rachel's maid Bilhah, is set oddly between Leah's sons and Rachel's own, Joseph and Benjamin, rather than with his full brother Naphtali. No reason is given. Joseph appears as a single name here, though he will be counted later as the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

Judah comes first of all the tribes to be traced, though he was the fourth son. His wife is not named, only “the daughter of Shua”; Genesis 38:2 gives the same. That Er was slain by the LORD is kept from Genesis 38:7, the first death in the chapter.

Tamar bore twins by her father-in-law after posing as a veiled woman at the roadside (Genesis 38:13–30). The line to David runs through Pharez, the twin who broke out first. The count of five includes both of Judah's dead sons, Er and Onan.

Hezron is the key name for everything that follows: David, Caleb and Jerahmeel all descend from him. Hamul is barely mentioned again, though his family is counted among Judah's clans in Numbers 26:21.

Ethan, Heman, Calcol and Dara are the names of the famous wise men whom Solomon surpassed (1 Kings 4:31, where Dara is Darda). Whether these sons of Zerah are the same men is debated; Kings calls them sons of Mahol. Zimri is Zabdi in Joshua 7:1.

Achar is Achan of Joshua 7, spelled here to match 'akar, to trouble, which gave the valley of Achor its name (Joshua 7:26). The verb “transgressed”, ma'al, means breach of faith, the Chronicler's favourite word for Israel's unfaithfulness, used again of Saul (10:13).

Of Ethan's line only one son is named. Azariah is among the commonest names in the Old Testament, borne by some two dozen men, so nothing links this one to any other Azariah.

Chelubai is another form of Caleb (verse 18), and Ram is called Aram in the King James of Matthew 1:3. Jerahmeel is named first as the eldest, but the chapter will trace Ram's line before his, because Ram's leads to David.

Nahshon led Judah in the wilderness and brought the first offering at the tabernacle's dedication (Numbers 7:12). His sister Elisheba married Aaron (Exodus 6:23), so the royal line and the priestly line were joined in this generation.

Salma is Salmon of Ruth 4:21. Matthew 1:5 names Rahab of Jericho as the mother of Boaz, a detail the Book of 1 Chronicles does not include. The gap between Nahshon in the wilderness and Boaz in the judges' period suggests generations have been skipped.

The verse compresses the whole book of Ruth. Ruth herself is not named, though Obed was her son; the line of David is traced here through men, while the next verses will name David's sisters.

Eliab was the tall eldest whom Samuel mistook for the LORD's anointed (1 Samuel 16:6–7). Shimma is Shammah of 1 Samuel 16:9, called Shimeah in 2 Samuel 13:3, where his son Jonadab advised Amnon.

Nethaneel and Raddai are named only here. Samuel's account of the anointing passes over them as among the sons who were not chosen, so the Book of 1 Chronicles alone preserves their names.

David is “the seventh”, while 1 Samuel 16:10–11 and 17:12 imply Jesse had eight sons. Perhaps one died without heirs and was dropped. Seven also places David in the position that in Hebrew thought marks completion.

Zeruiah's three sons are always named after their mother, and her husband is never mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Joab became David's commander, Abishai one of his chief warriors, and Asahel was killed by Abner (2 Samuel 2:23).

2 Samuel 17:25 calls Amasa's father Ithra an Israelite; here he is Jether the Ishmeelite. The Chronicles reading is probably original, since noting an Israelite would be pointless. Amasa led Absalom's army, and his cousin Joab murdered him (2 Samuel 20:10).

The Hebrew is tangled: it may mean Caleb had children by Azubah his wife and by Jerioth, or that Azubah bore a daughter Jerioth. “Her sons” then refers to whichever woman is meant. This Caleb, son of Hezron, lived generations before Caleb son of Jephunneh.

Ephrath is also the old name of Bethlehem (Genesis 35:19; Micah 5:2, Bethlehem Ephratah). Her son Hur may be the Hur who held up Moses' hands with Aaron (Exodus 17:12), as Jewish tradition supposed.

Bezaleel built the tabernacle and its furnishings, and is the first person the Bible describes as filled with the spirit of God (Exodus 31:2–3). Solomon later worshipped at the bronze altar Bezaleel made (2 Chronicles 1:5), a link the Chronicler values.

Hezron's late marriage at sixty ties Judah to Manasseh, since Machir was Manasseh's son and Gilead his grandson (Numbers 26:29). “Went in to” is the Hebrew idiom for a man sleeping with a woman.

Jair appears in Numbers 32:41 as a son of Manasseh who took villages and called them Havoth-jair, “Jair's tent villages”. Here his father's line is from Judah, and he is counted with Manasseh through his grandmother.

The Hebrew subject is more likely Geshur and Aram, who took the towns of Jair and Kenath from Jair's descendants; the King James makes Jair the taker. Deuteronomy 3:4 counts sixty cities in the region of Argob. Kenath had been conquered by Nobah (Numbers 32:42).

Caleb-ephratah is a textual puzzle; the Greek reads “Caleb went in to Ephrathah”, meaning Caleb married his father's widow. Ashur, born after Hezron's death, founded Tekoa, the town of the wise woman (2 Samuel 14:2) and of Amos.

The Jerahmeelites were a clan in the Negev whom David claimed to raid while he was really fighting Israel's enemies (1 Samuel 27:10), and to whom he later sent spoil (1 Samuel 30:29). This Ram is Jerahmeel's son, not the ancestor of David.

The second wife is named, Atarah, meaning crown, while the first wife is not. Onam's line, not the firstborn's, is the one the genealogy follows in detail.

Maaz, Jamin and Eker are named nowhere else. Eker means offshoot or root, a fitting name in a list of branching descent.

Shammai carries a name that became famous much later through the rabbi Shammai of Hillel's day. Nadab shares his name with Aaron's son who offered strange fire (Leviticus 10:1).

Abihail means “my father is might”, a name borne by both women and men; Esther's father had the same name. Wives rarely appear in this register, so her mention may preserve a clan tradition.

The first note of a childless death. Seled's line ends where it begins, and the genealogy records the dead end rather than dropping him. Appaim is a dual noun, “nostrils”, a strange personal name.

“The children of Sheshan; Ahlai” clashes with verse 34, which says Sheshan had no sons. Ahlai may be the daughter given to Jarha: 11:41 lists a Zabad son of Ahlai among David's warriors, and a Zabad is Jarha's grandson in verse 36.

Jether, like Seled two verses earlier, dies childless. Jada, brother of Shammai, therefore continues only through Jonathan.

Peleth and Zaza close Jerahmeel's line with a summary, though Sheshan's descendants still follow. Peleth was also the name of a Reubenite whose son On joined Korah's rebellion (Numbers 16:1).

Sheshan's problem is Zelophehad's, whose daughters were allowed to inherit so that his name would not vanish (Numbers 27:1–8). Jarha is the only Egyptian named in Judah's genealogy, and a slave.

Marrying a daughter to a household slave kept the property and name in the family, a solution Abraham once contemplated in making his servant Eliezer his heir (Genesis 15:2–3). Attai's descendants are counted as Sheshan's.

Zabad may be the Zabad son of Ahlai among David's mighty men (11:41). If so, a grandson of an Egyptian slave fought in David's elite guard.

Obed, “servant”, repeats the name of David's grandfather in verse 12. Ephlal, perhaps “judge”, is found nowhere else.

Jehu and Azariah are also names of a king of Israel and a king of Judah, but these men are private citizens of Sheshan's line. The chain runs on without a single comment.

Helez was the name of one of David's thirty mighty men (11:27), and Eleasah may be the same name as Elasah son of Shaphan, Jeremiah's messenger (Jeremiah 29:3). Nothing but the names connects them.

Sisamai is a puzzling name, perhaps containing the name of a Phoenician god, Sasam, which would suit a family of mixed origins. Shallum is common, borne by a king of Israel and a king of Judah.

Thirteen generations run from Attai to Elishama, the longest unbroken father to son chain in the chapter. Some have suggested this Elishama is the grandfather of Ishmael who killed Gedaliah (2 Kings 25:25), but that is a guess.

This Caleb is the Chelubai of verse 9. Ziph is the town where the Ziphites twice betrayed David to Saul (1 Samuel 23:19; 26:1), and Mareshah was a Shephelah town fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:8).

Hebron's sons are partly towns: Tappuah, “apple”, was a town of Judah (Joshua 15:34). Korah here is not the Levite rebel, and Rekem shares a name with a Midianite king (Numbers 31:8).

Jorkoam may be Jokdeam, a town in Judah's hills (Joshua 15:56). This Shammai is a different man from the Jerahmeelite of verse 28, showing how names repeat across neighbouring clans.

Maon was Nabal's town, where David met Abigail (1 Samuel 25:2). Beth-zur, “house of the rock”, commanded the road north of Hebron and was later a Maccabean fortress.

Ephah, a woman's name here, is borne by a man in the next verse and by a Midianite in 1:33. Gazez appears as both son and grandson of Ephah, perhaps a boy named after his uncle.

Jahdai appears without any link to what comes before, perhaps another concubine or a son of Caleb whose connection has dropped out. Ephah and Shaaph recur in nearby verses as different people.

Maachah was a common name; David's wife, Absalom's mother, bore it too (3:2). Sheber and Tirhanah are known only here.

Madmannah lay in the Negev (Joshua 15:31). Achsah was the daughter Caleb promised to whoever took Kirjath-sepher, and who asked her father for springs (Joshua 15:16–19); her name here may link the two Calebs or merge their clans.

The Hebrew is best read “These were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur”, making Shobal a son of Hur, not of Caleb son of Hur. Kirjath-jearim held the ark for twenty years (1 Samuel 7:2) until David brought it up (13:5–6).

Salma is named as father, or founder, of Bethlehem, and the name matches Boaz's father in verse 11. Beth-gader may be Geder, whose king Joshua defeated (Joshua 12:13).

Haroeh means “the seer”, possibly a garbling of Reaiah in 4:2. The other half of the Manahethites is counted under Salma in verse 54, so the clan straddled two lines.

The Zareathites and Eshtaulites came from Zorah and Eshtaol, the towns between which Samson grew up and was buried (Judges 13:25; 16:31). Two of David's heroes, Ira and Gareb, were Ithrites (11:40).

Netophah near Bethlehem was the home of two of David's mighty men (11:30) and of an officer who came to Gedaliah (2 Kings 25:23). “Ataroth, the house of Joab” is probably one place name, Atroth-beth-joab, crowns of Joab's house.

The Kenites were Jethro's people, non-Israelites attached to Judah since the wilderness (Judges 1:16). The house of Rechab later refused wine and houses in Jeremiah 35. Jabez is a place here, and a man with a famous prayer in 4:9–10.