1 Chronicles 3: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This chapter lists the sons born to David during his seven and a half years as king in Hebron, then the sons born to him during his thirty-three years in Jerusalem. It then follows the royal family line from Solomon through the kings of Judah down to Josiah and his sons, and on through Jeconiah and Zerubbabel to the sons of Elioenai. It is part of the long family record that opens 1 Chronicles, setting out David's line generation by generation.

Claim by Claim

1. 3:1
   • These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron.
   • The firstborn was Amnon.
   • Amnon's mother was Ahinoam of Jezreel.
   • The second was Daniel.
   • Daniel's mother was Abigail of Carmel.
2. 3:2
   • The third was Absalom.
   • Absalom was the son of Maachah.
   • Maachah was the daughter of Talmai.
   • Talmai was king of Geshur.
   • The fourth was Adonijah.
   • Adonijah was the son of Haggith.
3. 3:3
   • The fifth was Shephatiah.
   • Shephatiah's mother was Abital.
   • The sixth was Ithream.
   • Ithream's mother was Eglah, David's wife.
4. 3:4
   • Six sons were born to David in Hebron.
   • David reigned in Hebron seven years and six months.
   • David reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years.
5. 3:5
   • These sons were born to David in Jerusalem.
   • Shimea was born to him in Jerusalem.
   • Shobab was born to him in Jerusalem.
   • Nathan was born to him in Jerusalem.
   • Solomon was born to him in Jerusalem.
   • These four were sons of Bathshua.
   • Bathshua was the daughter of Ammiel.
6. 3:6
   • Ibhar was a son of David.
   • Elishama was a son of David.
   • Eliphelet was a son of David.
7. 3:7
   • Nogah was a son of David.
   • Nepheg was a son of David.
   • Japhia was a son of David.
8. 3:8
   • Elishama was a son of David.
   • Eliada was a son of David.
   • Eliphelet was a son of David.
   • These sons numbered nine.
9. 3:9
   • These were all the sons of David.
   • The sons born to David by his concubines are not included in this list.
   • Tamar was their sister.
10. 3:10
    • Solomon's son was Rehoboam.
    • Rehoboam's son was Abia.
    • Abia's son was Asa.
    • Asa's son was Jehoshaphat.
11. 3:11
    • Jehoshaphat's son was Joram.
    • Joram's son was Ahaziah.
    • Ahaziah's son was Joash.
12. 3:12
    • Joash's son was Amaziah.
    • Amaziah's son was Azariah.
    • Azariah's son was Jotham.
13. 3:13
    • Jotham's son was Ahaz.
    • Ahaz's son was Hezekiah.
    • Hezekiah's son was Manasseh.
14. 3:14
    • Manasseh's son was Amon.
    • Amon's son was Josiah.
15. 3:15
    • These were the sons of Josiah.
    • The firstborn was Johanan.
    • The second was Jehoiakim.
    • The third was Zedekiah.
    • The fourth was Shallum.
16. 3:16
    • These were the sons of Jehoiakim.
    • Jeconiah was his son.
    • Zedekiah was his son.
17. 3:17
    • These were the sons of Jeconiah.
    • Assir was a son of Jeconiah.
    • Salathiel was his son.
18. 3:18
    • Malchiram was among them.
    • Pedaiah was among them.
    • Shenazar was among them.
    • Jecamiah was among them.
    • Hoshama was among them.
    • Nedabiah was among them.
19. 3:19
    • These were the sons of Pedaiah.
    • Zerubbabel was a son of Pedaiah.
    • Shimei was a son of Pedaiah.
    • Meshullam was a son of Zerubbabel.
    • Hananiah was a son of Zerubbabel.
    • Shelomith was their sister.
20. 3:20
    • Hashubah was among them.
    • Ohel was among them.
    • Berechiah was among them.
    • Hasadiah was among them.
    • Jushabhesed was among them.
    • These numbered five.
21. 3:21
    • These were the sons of Hananiah.
    • Pelatiah was a son of Hananiah.
    • Jesaiah was a son of Hananiah.
    • The sons of Rephaiah are listed.
    • The sons of Arnan are listed.
    • The sons of Obadiah are listed.
    • The sons of Shechaniah are listed.
    • The verse does not state how Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, and Shechaniah are related to Hananiah or to one another.
22. 3:22
    • Shemaiah was the son of Shechaniah.
    • Hattush was a son of Shemaiah.
    • Igeal was a son of Shemaiah.
    • Bariah was a son of Shemaiah.
    • Neariah was a son of Shemaiah.
    • Shaphat was a son of Shemaiah.
    • These numbered six.
23. 3:23
    • These were the sons of Neariah.
    • Elioenai was a son of Neariah.
    • Hezekiah was a son of Neariah.
    • Azrikam was a son of Neariah.
    • These numbered three.
24. 3:24
    • These were the sons of Elioenai.
    • Hodaiah was a son of Elioenai.
    • Eliashib was a son of Elioenai.
    • Pelaiah was a son of Elioenai.
    • Akkub was a son of Elioenai.
    • Johanan was a son of Elioenai.
    • Dalaiah was a son of Elioenai.
    • Anani was a son of Elioenai.
    • These numbered seven.

Words Worth Explaining

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

3:1

Hebron was a town in the hill country south of Jerusalem. David ruled there over the single tribe of Judah for his first years as king, before the northern tribes accepted him and he took Jerusalem as his capital. Jezreel and Carmel here are small towns in that same southern region of Judah, not the northern Jezreel valley or the coastal Mount Carmel. Lists like this one traced who was descended from whom in the royal family; for readers after the exile, such a record settled who belonged to the line of David.

3:2

Geshur was a small Aramean kingdom east of the Sea of Galilee. A king's daughter was normally given in marriage to seal a treaty between two rulers, so Absalom's mother marks an alliance rather than an ordinary marriage.

3:3

Sons are listed by their mothers because David had several wives. That mattered later, since brothers with different mothers often argued over who would be king next.

3:4

The two figures together give the forty years traditionally counted for David's reign. The move from Hebron to Jerusalem marks the point where he ruled all the tribes rather than Judah alone.

3:5

Bathshua is another form of the name Bathsheba, and Ammiel is a reversed form of Eliam; the same woman and the same father appear under those spellings in 2 Samuel. Ancient Hebrew names often survive in more than one form.

3:6

Elishama here is Elishua in the parallel list in 2 Samuel; the name Elishama also appears again in verse 8, so one of the two is probably a copying slip in one of the lists.

3:8

Some names show up twice in this list. Back then many people shared the same name.

3:9

A concubine was a recognized secondary wife, legally attached to the household but of lower standing than a full wife, and her children ranked below the children of wives in matters of inheritance. That is why the chapter counts them separately rather than by name. Tamar is singled out because daughters were normally left out of such lists altogether.

3:10

From here the chapter follows the kings of Judah in order, each one succeeding his father on the throne. Abia is spelled Abijah elsewhere.

3:11

The list follows descent by blood, not who actually held power: between Ahaziah and Joash the queen mother Athaliah seized the throne for six years, and she does not appear here because she was not in the male line.

3:12

Azariah is the king called Uzziah in other books; both names are used of him in the Hebrew Bible.

3:15

Shallum is the son known elsewhere as Jehoahaz, and Zedekiah is the last king of Judah before Babylon destroyed Jerusalem. They are listed by order of birth, not by the order in which they reigned.

3:16

The Hebrew says only "Zedekiah his son," and it is unclear whether this is a further son of Jehoiakim, a second man of the same name, or the Zedekiah of verse 15 being noted as Jeconiah's successor on the throne. The wording leaves the relationship open.

3:17

Jeconiah is the king also called Jehoiachin or Coniah, who was carried off to Babylon as a prisoner in 597 BC. "Assir" may be a personal name, or it may be the ordinary Hebrew word meaning "the captive," in which case the verse reads "Jeconiah the captive: Shealtiel his son." Salathiel is the Greek-influenced spelling of Shealtiel.

3:18

Shenazar's name is sometimes connected with Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah who led the first group of exiles home from Babylon, though the identification is uncertain.

3:19

Zerubbabel led one of the returns from exile and oversaw the rebuilding of the temple. Here he is called the son of Pedaiah, while Ezra, Haggai and Matthew call him the son of Shealtiel; the discrepancy is unresolved, and may reflect a legal adoption, a levirate arrangement in which a man raised offspring for a dead brother, or simply the loose Hebrew use of "son" for a descendant.

3:21

The Hebrew here is ambiguous. It can be read as four separate families listed alongside Hananiah's sons, or as a continuous chain in which Rephaiah is Jesaiah's son, Arnan is Rephaiah's, and so on. Ancient translations went different ways, and modern ones still do.

3:22

The total of six does not match the five names that follow, so either Shemaiah himself is being counted with his sons or a name has dropped out in copying.

3:24

Anani stands roughly six generations after Zerubbabel, which places the end of this list well into the Persian period, later than most of the rest of Chronicles.