For Teaching

1 Chronicles 2: What the Passage Says

199 claims across 55 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What 1 Chronicles 2 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter lists the twelve sons of Israel and then traces the family line of Judah in detail. It follows Judah's sons through Perez and Hezron down to Jesse and David, naming David's brothers, sisters, and nephews. The rest of the chapter records the descendants of Hezron's three sons (Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb) including the families and towns that came from them, ending with clans of scribes and the Kenites.

Claim by Claim

2:1
- These are the sons of Israel.
- Reuben was a son of Israel.
- Simeon was a son of Israel.
- Levi was a son of Israel.
- Judah was a son of Israel.
- Issachar was a son of Israel.
- Zebulun was a son of Israel.
2:2
- Dan was a son of Israel.
- Joseph was a son of Israel.
- Benjamin was a son of Israel.
- Naphtali was a son of Israel.
- Gad was a son of Israel.
- Asher was a son of Israel.
2:3
- Er was a son of Judah.
- Onan was a son of Judah.
- Shelah was a son of Judah.
- These three sons were born to Judah by the daughter of Shua.
- The daughter of Shua was a Canaanite woman.
- Er was the firstborn of Judah.
- Er was evil in the sight of the LORD.
- The LORD put Er to death.
2:4
- Tamar was Judah's daughter-in-law.
- Tamar bore Perez to Judah.
- Tamar bore Zerah to Judah.
- The sons of Judah were five in all.
2:5
- Hezron was a son of Perez.
- Hamul was a son of Perez.
2:6
- Zimri was a son of Zerah.
- Ethan was a son of Zerah.
- Heman was a son of Zerah.
- Calcol was a son of Zerah.
- Dara was a son of Zerah.
- The sons of Zerah were five in all.
2:7
- Achar was of the sons of Carmi.
- Achar brought trouble on Israel.
- Achar acted unfaithfully regarding what was devoted to destruction.
2:8
- Azariah was of the sons of Ethan.
2:9
- Jerahmeel was born to Hezron.
- Ram was born to Hezron.
- Chelubai was born to Hezron.
2:10
- Ram fathered Amminadab.
- Amminadab fathered Nahshon.
- Nahshon was a leader of the sons of Judah.
2:11
- Nahshon fathered Salma.
- Salma fathered Boaz.
2:12
- Boaz fathered Obed.
- Obed fathered Jesse.
2:13
- Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn.
- Abinadab was Jesse's second son.
- Shimea was Jesse's third son.
2:14
- Nethanel was Jesse's fourth son.
- Raddai was Jesse's fifth son.
2:15
- Ozem was Jesse's sixth son.
- David was Jesse's seventh son.
2:16
- Zeruiah was their sister.
- Abigail was their sister.
- Abishai was a son of Zeruiah.
- Joab was a son of Zeruiah.
- Asahel was a son of Zeruiah.
- Zeruiah had three sons.
2:17
- Abigail bore Amasa.
- The father of Amasa was Jether.
- Jether was an Ishmaelite.
2:18
- Caleb was the son of Hezron.
- Caleb fathered children by Azubah his wife and by Jerioth.
- It is unclear whether Jerioth was a second wife of Caleb or a daughter of Azubah.
- Jesher was one of her sons.
- Shobab was one of her sons.
- Ardon was one of her sons.
2:19
- Azubah died.
- After Azubah died, Caleb took Ephrath as his wife.
- Ephrath bore Hur to Caleb.
2:20
- Hur fathered Uri.
- Uri fathered Bezalel.
2:21
- Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir.
- Machir was the father of Gilead.
- Hezron married her.
- Hezron was sixty years old when he married her.
- She bore Segub to Hezron.
2:22
- Segub fathered Jair.
- Jair had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead.
2:23
- The towns of Jair were taken from them, along with Kenath and its villages, sixty cities in all.
- The Hebrew makes Geshur and Aram the takers, while the King James reads that he took Geshur and Aram along with the towns of Jair.
- All these belonged to the sons of Machir.
- Machir was the father of Gilead.
2:24
- Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah.
- After Hezron's death, Abijah his wife bore him Ashhur.
- Ashhur was the father of Tekoa.
2:25
- Jerahmeel was the firstborn of Hezron.
- Ram was the firstborn son of Jerahmeel.
- Bunah was a son of Jerahmeel.
- Oren was a son of Jerahmeel.
- Ozem was a son of Jerahmeel.
- Ahijah was a son of Jerahmeel.
2:26
- Jerahmeel had another wife.
- Her name was Atarah.
- Atarah was the mother of Onam.
2:27
- Ram was the firstborn of Jerahmeel.
- Maaz was a son of Ram.
- Jamin was a son of Ram.
- Eker was a son of Ram.
2:28
- Shammai was a son of Onam.
- Jada was a son of Onam.
- Nadab was a son of Shammai.
- Abishur was a son of Shammai.
2:29
- The name of Abishur's wife was Abihail.
- Abihail bore Ahban to Abishur.
- Abihail bore Molid to Abishur.
2:30
- Seled was a son of Nadab.
- Appaim was a son of Nadab.
- Seled died without children.
2:31
- Ishi was a son of Appaim.
- Sheshan was a son of Ishi.
- Ahlai was a child of Sheshan.
2:32
- Jada was the brother of Shammai.
- Jether was a son of Jada.
- Jonathan was a son of Jada.
- Jether died without children.
2:33
- Peleth was a son of Jonathan.
- Zaza was a son of Jonathan.
- These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.
2:34
- Sheshan had no sons.
- Sheshan had daughters.
- Sheshan had an Egyptian servant.
- The servant's name was Jarha.
2:35
- Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as a wife.
- She bore Attai to Jarha.
2:36
- Attai fathered Nathan.
- Nathan fathered Zabad.
2:37
- Zabad fathered Ephlal.
- Ephlal fathered Obed.
2:38
- Obed fathered Jehu.
- Jehu fathered Azariah.
2:39
- Azariah fathered Helez.
- Helez fathered Eleasah.
2:40
- Eleasah fathered Sismai.
- Sismai fathered Shallum.
2:41
- Shallum fathered Jekamiah.
- Jekamiah fathered Elishama.
2:42
- Caleb was the brother of Jerahmeel.
- Mesha was Caleb's firstborn.
- Mesha was the father of Ziph.
- Mareshah was the father of Hebron.
- The sons of Mareshah are counted among the sons of Caleb.
2:43
- Korah was a son of Hebron.
- Tappuah was a son of Hebron.
- Rekem was a son of Hebron.
- Shema was a son of Hebron.
2:44
- Shema fathered Raham.
- Raham was the father of Jorkoam.
- Rekem fathered Shammai.
2:45
- Maon was the son of Shammai.
- Maon was the father of Beth-zur.
2:46
- Ephah was Caleb's concubine.
- Ephah bore Haran.
- Ephah bore Moza.
- Ephah bore Gazez.
- Haran fathered Gazez.
2:47
- Regem was a son of Jahdai.
- Jotham was a son of Jahdai.
- Gesham was a son of Jahdai.
- Pelet was a son of Jahdai.
- Ephah was a son of Jahdai.
- Shaaph was a son of Jahdai.
2:48
- Maacah was Caleb's concubine.
- Maacah bore Sheber.
- Maacah bore Tirhanah.
2:49
- She also bore Shaaph.
- Shaaph was the father of Madmannah.
- She bore Sheva.
- Sheva was the father of Machbenah.
- Sheva was the father of Gibea.
- The daughter of Caleb was Achsah.
2:50
- These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur.
- Hur was the firstborn of Ephrathah.
- Shobal was the father of Kiriath-jearim.
2:51
- Salma was the father of Bethlehem.
- Hareph was the father of Beth-gader.
2:52
- Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had sons.
- Haroeh was among them.
- Half of the Manahethites were among them.
2:53
- The Ithrites were a family of Kiriath-jearim.
- The Puhites were a family of Kiriath-jearim.
- The Shumathites were a family of Kiriath-jearim.
- The Mishraites were a family of Kiriath-jearim.
- The Zorathites came from these families.
- The Eshtaolites came from these families.
2:54
- Bethlehem was among the sons of Salma.
- The Netophathites were among the sons of Salma.
- Ataroth of the house of Joab was among the sons of Salma.
- Half of the Manahethites were among the sons of Salma.
- The Zorites were among the sons of Salma.
2:55
- The families of the scribes dwelt at Jabez.
- The Tirathites were among these families.
- The Shimeathites were among these families.
- The Suchathites were among these families.
- These are the Kenites.
- These Kenites came from Hammath.
- Hammath was the father of the house of Rechab.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

2:1: "Israel" here is the man Jacob, who was given that second name in Genesis 32:28. His twelve sons are the ancestors of the twelve tribes, and the lists that follow work through their families tribe by tribe. Chronicles opens with nine chapters of such lists; they were a way of setting out who belonged to which family and which land, and of joining the writer's own generation to the past.
2:3: The events are told in Genesis 38. "The LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants that readers by custom did not say aloud; English Bibles since 1611 have marked it this way to distinguish it from the ordinary word for "lord." A Canaanite was a member of the peoples living in the land before Israel settled there; marrying outside the family line is worth the writer's mention.
2:4: Tamar was Er's widow. Genesis 38 tells the story: by custom a dead man's brother was expected to father a child by the widow, and that child counted as the dead man's heir and kept his name alive. When Judah held back his third son, Tamar disguised herself and conceived by Judah himself. Pharez (Perez) is the ancestor of the royal line traced in verses 5–15.
2:7: "What had been set apart for destruction" translates a term for goods from a captured city that were placed under a ban: given over to God and therefore forbidden as plunder, on pain of death. The story is in Joshua 7, where the man is called Achan; the form used here, Achar, sounds like the Hebrew word for "trouble," so the name and the description are a play on each other.
2:9: Chelubai and Caleb are two forms of the same name; the chapter uses both for this son of Hezron (see verses 18, 42). He is a different man from the better-known Caleb son of Jephunneh, one of the scouts sent into Canaan in Numbers 13.
2:10: In lists like this, "the father of" does not always mean the immediate parent; it can mean an ancestor several generations back, with intervening names left out. The line from Pharez to David in verses 5–15 covers many centuries in a handful of names. Nahshon appears in Numbers 1:7 as the head of the tribe of Judah during the years in the wilderness.
2:11: The King James Bible says "Salma." Other Bibles say Salmon. It is one name spelled two ways.
2:12: Boaz and Obed are the men of the book of Ruth: Obed was born to Boaz and Ruth, a woman of Moab. Jesse is David's father.
2:13: 1 Samuel 16 says Jesse had eight sons and that David was the youngest of them; here he is seventh. One brother may have died without descendants and so dropped out of a list whose purpose is to record surviving lines.
2:15: This is David, the shepherd boy who became king of Israel. The list has been building toward him. That is why the writer traces Judah's family so carefully.
2:16: Zeruiah and Abigail are David's sisters, so their sons are his nephews. Throughout the books of Samuel these three men are named after their mother rather than their father, which is unusual; Joab commanded David's army, and Abishai and Asahel were among his leading fighters.
2:17: An Ishmaelite was a descendant of Ishmael, Abraham's son by Hagar, whose people lived on the desert margins east and south of Israel. 2 Samuel 17:25 calls the same man an Israelite, a difference the ancient texts never resolved. Amasa later commanded the army of Absalom against David.
2:18: The Hebrew is unclear about who Jerioth is: a second wife alongside Azubah, another name for Azubah herself, or a daughter. Translations differ, and the sentence cannot be settled from the words alone.
2:20: Bezaleel (Bezalel) is the craftsman chosen in Exodus 31 to make the tent-sanctuary and its furnishings; the note of his descent is what makes this short line worth recording.
2:21: Gilead is the hill country east of the Jordan river. "Father of Gilead" uses a common idiom of these lists: a man is called the father of a place when the people living there traced their descent from him, or when he was remembered as its founder. The same idiom runs through verses 24 and 42–55. Machir belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, so this marriage links Judah's family to the tribes settled east of the Jordan.
2:22: Elsewhere these are called the "tent-villages of Jair" (Numbers 32:41): small unwalled settlements rather than fortified cities.
2:23: Geshur and Aram were small Aramean kingdoms to the north and northeast of Israel. The Hebrew does not make clear who takes the towns from whom, and translations divide over whether it is a capture by these kingdoms or an acquisition by Jair's family.
2:24: This verse is one of the hardest in the chapter. "Caleb-ephratah" is a place named nowhere else, and the ancient Greek translation reads the line differently, as Caleb going in to Ephrath after his father Hezron's death. As the Hebrew stands, the child is born after his father has died.
2:25: The lists keep marking who was firstborn because the position carried legal weight: the eldest son normally received a double share of the inheritance and became head of the family after his father.
2:30: "Died without children" is not an aside but the point of the entry: the line stops there, and his share of family land and name passed to relatives. The same is said of Jether in verse 32.
2:31: The Hebrew uses the plural "sons of" as a fixed formula even when only one name follows. Verse 34 says Sheshan had no sons, so Ahlai is usually taken to be a daughter, or else a descendant reached through the marriage described in verses 34–35.
2:34: The servant is a slave, and an Egyptian, that is, a foreigner in the household rather than an Israelite.
2:35: A man with no sons could keep his family line and land in his own name by marrying a daughter to a household slave: the children were reckoned to the grandfather's line rather than the slave's, and the husband commonly gained free or adopted standing. The fourteen generations that follow are the result.
2:42: The Hebrew of this verse is damaged or compressed; as written it says "the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron," which does not fit the pattern. Some translations read "Mareshah his second son." Ziph and Hebron are towns in the southern hill country of Judah.
2:46: A concubine was a secondary wife, usually a slave or a woman brought into the household without the property settlement that backed a full marriage. The relationship was recognized and her children were counted as the man's, though they ranked below the children of a chief wife.
2:49: A daughter of the same name, Achsah, belongs to the other Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, in Joshua 15:16.
2:50: Ephratah (Ephrath) is both a woman's name, in verse 19, and the older name for the district around Bethlehem, which is why the two are used interchangeably in the Bible. The Hebrew here can be punctuated either as closing the previous list or as opening this one, so translations differ over whether these are Caleb's sons or Hur's.
2:51: Bethlehem was a small town a few miles south of Jerusalem. David was born there, and much later, so was Jesus.
2:52: Kirjath-jearim was a town west of Jerusalem. From here to the end of the chapter the lists shift from persons to communities: names ending in -ite are clan or settlement groups, usually named after the town they came from, so "the father of Kirjath-jearim" means the ancestor from whom its people reckoned their descent.
2:53: Names ending in ites mean a whole family group or clan. They were usually named after an ancestor or after the town they came from.
2:54: "Ataroth of the house of Joab" is a place name in the Hebrew, Atroth-beth-Joab, rather than a description of who lived there.
2:55: Scribes were professional writers and record-keepers, a trade passed down within families. The Kenites were a non-Israelite people connected in Exodus with Moses' father-in-law; they lived among the tribe of Judah without merging into it. The house of Rechab appears in Jeremiah 35 as a family that refused wine, houses and farming and lived in tents. Jabez is a place here, though the same name belongs to a man in 1 Chronicles 4:9.

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