1 Chronicles Chapter 7
D. The other tribes of Israel.
1. (7:1-5) The descendants of Issachar.
The sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron; four in all. The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house. The sons of Tola were mighty men of valor in their generations; their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred. The son of Uzzi was Izrahiah, and the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Ishiah. All five of them were chief men. And with them, by their generations, according to their fathers’ houses, were thirty-six thousand troops ready for war; for they had many wives and sons. Now their brethren among all the families of Issachar were mighty men of valor, listed by their genealogies, eighty-seven thousand in all.
a. Thirty-six thousand troops ready for war: “For Israhiah and his four sons, even with ‘many wives,’ to have ‘36,000’ warriors seems unlikely, as does the total (1 Chronicles 7:2-5) of 145,600 for just one tribe of the Twelve. This appears to be the first of nine passages in Chronicles where elep (‘thousand’) might be better interpreted as allup (‘chief’).” (Payne)
2. (7:6-12) The descendants of Benjamin.
The sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher, and Jediael; three in all. The sons of Bela were Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri; five in all. They were heads of their fathers’ houses, and they were listed by their genealogies, twenty-two thousand and thirty-four mighty men of valor. The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jerimoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. All these are the sons of Becher. And they were recorded by genealogy according to their generations, heads of their fathers’ houses, twenty thousand two hundred mighty men of valor. The son of Jediael was Bilhan, and the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tharshish, and Ahishahar. All these sons of Jediael were heads of their fathers’ houses; there were seventeen thousand two hundred mighty men of valor fit to go out for war and battle. Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir, and Hushim was the son of Aher.
a. Ehud: This was the famous leader for Israel noted in Judges 3:12-30.
b. The son of Aher: Many believe that is better rendered the sons of Aher and is a veiled reference to the tribe of Dan, who is not otherwise mentioned in this genealogy.
i. “The sons of Aher; but divers take the Hebrew word aher for a common, not proper name, and render the words this, another son, or the son of another family or tribe, to wit, of Dan, as may be gathered.” (Poole)
ii. There are at least four things that support the idea that this is a veiled reference to the tribe of Dan:
· In Genesis 46:23 Hushim is mentioned as the son of Dan.
· The next verse (1 Chronicles 7:13) mentions the sons of Bilhah, who was mother to both Dan and Naphtali, also mentioned in that verse.
· Otherwise, the genealogy of Dan is left out.
· Hebrew writers sometimes used the word another (aher) to describe “an abominable thing which the writer disdained to mention; whence they call a swine, which to them was a very unclean and loathsome creature, another thing.”
iii. “And it must be remembered that the tribe of Dan had made themselves and their memory infamous and detestable by that gross idolatry, which began first and continued longest in that tribe, Judges 18.” (Poole)
3. (7:13) The descendants of Naphtali.
The sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
4. (7:14-19) The descendants of the Western Tribe of Manasseh.
The descendants of Manasseh: his Syrian concubine bore him Machir the father of Gilead, the father of Asriel. Machir took as his wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose name was Maachah. The name of Gilead’s grandson was Zelophehad, but Zelophehad begot only daughters. (Maachah the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Peresh. The name of his brother was Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem. The son of Ulam was Bedan.) These were the descendants of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. His sister Hammoleketh bore Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah. And the sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
a. But Zelophehad begot only daughters: Zelophehad is the one mentioned in Numbers 26:33, 27:1-11 and 36:1-12 when the question came to Moses about female inheritance rights.
5. (7:20-29) The descendants of Ephraim.
The sons of Ephraim were Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eladah his son, Tahath his son, Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead. The men of Gath who were born in that land killed them because they came down to take away their cattle. Then Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him. And when he went in to his wife, she conceived and bore a son; and he called his name Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house. Now his daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon and Uzzen Sheerah; and Rephah was his son, as well as Resheph, and Telah his son, Tahan his son, Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, Nun his son, and Joshua his son. Now their possessions and dwelling places were Bethel and its towns: to the east Naaran, to the west Gezer and its towns, and Shechem and its towns, as far as Ayyah and its towns; and by the borders of the children of Manasseh were Beth Shean and its towns, Taanach and its towns, Megiddo and its towns, Dor and its towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph, the son of Israel.
a. The sons of Ephraim: “The Ephraimites were famous for their wealth, power, and prowess; but withal they are noted for insolent, proud, and quarrelsome.” (Trapp)
6. (7:30-40) The descendants of Asher.
The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. And Heber begot Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua. The sons of Japhlet were Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were the children of Japhlet. The sons of Shemer were Ahi, Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram. And the sons of his brother Helem were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. The sons of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Jithran, and Beera. The sons of Jether were Jephunneh, Pispah, and Ara. The sons of Ulla were Arah, Haniel, and Rizia. All these were the children of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, choice men, mighty men of valor, chief leaders. And they were recorded by genealogies among the army fit for battle; their number was twenty-six thousand.
a. Their sister Serah…. their sister Shua: “The rabbins say that the daughters of Asher were very beautiful, and were all matched with kings or priests.” (Clarke)
