1 Chronicles 5

These are the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel. Reuben was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, the rights of the firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph, another son of Israel. So the family record does not list Reuben first as the firstborn.

1Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.

Note"Israel" here is the man Jacob, who was renamed Israel; his twelve sons became the twelve tribes. "Defiled his father's bed" refers to Reuben sleeping with Bilhah, his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22). The "rights of the firstborn" (birthright) meant a double share of the inheritance and leadership of the family; transferring them to Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, is why those two count as separate tribes. The last sentence is compressed in the Hebrew and hard to pin down: the point is roughly that although Reuben was firstborn, the official records do not give him the firstborn's place.

2Judah became stronger than his brothers, and the chief ruler came from his family, but the rights of the firstborn belonged to Joseph.

2For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s:)

NoteJudah produced the royal line, David and his descendants, while Joseph's sons got the firstborn's double portion of land. The verse is noting that the two privileges, rule and inheritance, went to different brothers.

3So, as I said, the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

3The sons, I say, of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were, Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

4The descendants of Joel were: Shemaiah his son, Gog the son of Shemaiah, Shimei the son of Gog,

4The sons of Joel; Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,

NoteThe text does not say how this Joel connects to the four sons just listed. Ancient genealogies routinely skip generations and jump between branches; the gaps are normal, not errors in copying.

5Micah the son of Shimei, Reaia the son of Micah, Baal the son of Reaia,

5Micah his son, Reaia his son, Baal his son,

6and Beerah the son of Baal. Tilgathpilneser, king of Assyria, carried Beerah away as a prisoner. Beerah was a leader of the people of Reuben.

6Beerah his son, whom Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.

NoteTilgathpilneser is Tiglath-pileser III, king of Assyria roughly 745–727 BC. Assyria was the dominant empire of the day, based in what is now northern Iraq, and it deliberately deported conquered populations to distant provinces to break their ability to rebel.

7His relatives, listed by their families in the family record, were Jeiel the chief, Zechariah,

7And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

NoteIsraelite families kept written genealogies because they determined who held which land, who owed military service, and who could claim a share of an inheritance. A list like this was closer to a land registry than to a family scrapbook.

8and Bela son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel. They lived in Aroer, and their land reached as far as Nebo and Baalmeon.

8And Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and Baalmeon:

NoteAroer, Nebo and Baalmeon are towns east of the Dead Sea, in what is now Jordan, territory Israel and Moab contested for centuries.

9To the east they settled as far as the edge of the desert that stretches to the Euphrates River, because their herds had grown large in the land of Gilead.

9And eastward he inhabited unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river Euphrates: because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead.

NoteGilead is the highland region east of the Jordan River, good grazing country. "The edge of the desert that stretches to the Euphrates" means the Syrian desert, not that they settled at the river itself.

10In the days of King Saul they made war against the Hagarites and defeated them. Then they lived in the tents of the Hagarites throughout all the land east of Gilead.

10And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east land of Gilead.

NoteThe Hagarites (Hagrites) were nomadic herding tribes east of Gilead. The name links them to Hagar, Abraham's Egyptian slave and the mother of Ishmael. "Lived in the tents of" means they took over the Hagarites' grazing grounds and encampments.

11The people of Gad lived across from them, in the land of Bashan, as far as Salcah.

11And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salcah:

NoteBashan is the fertile plateau east of the Sea of Galilee, in the modern Golan and southern Syria, famous in the Hebrew Bible for its cattle and oaks. Salcah marked its eastern edge.

12Joel was their chief, Shapham was second, and Jaanai and Shaphat also lived in Bashan.

12Joel the chief, and Shapham the next, and Jaanai, and Shaphat in Bashan.

13Their relatives, listed by their families, were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jachan, Zia, and Heber. There were seven of them.

13And their brethren of the house of their fathers were, Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jachan, and Zia, and Heber, seven.

14These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz.

14These are the children of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;

15Ahi son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was the head of their family.

15Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house of their fathers.

16They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its towns, and in all the open grazing land of Sharon, out to its borders.

16And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.

NoteThis Sharon is not the coastal plain of the same name in western Israel; it is a district east of the Jordan. The King James "suburbs" does not mean outskirts of a city in the modern sense: it translates a word for the open pasture belonging to a town.

17All of these were written down in the family records in the time of Jotham king of Judah and in the time of Jeroboam king of Israel.

17All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

NoteAfter Solomon's death the kingdom split in two: Judah in the south and Israel in the north. Jotham reigned in Judah and Jeroboam II in the north, so this dates the records to roughly the eighth century BC.

18The men of Reuben, the men of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 fighting men who went out to war. They were brave men who could carry shield and sword, shoot a bow, and fight skillfully.

18The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.

NoteManasseh's territory was divided by the Jordan River, half the tribe settling on the east bank with Reuben and Gad and half on the west, which is why the text repeatedly says "half the tribe." The King James "buckler" is a small round shield.

19They went to war against the Hagarites, and against Jetur, Nephish, and Nodab.

19And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab.

NoteJetur, Nephish and Nodab were Arab tribes of the same nomadic world as the Hagarites; Jetur and Nephish are named elsewhere as sons of Ishmael.

20They were given help against them, so the Hagarites and everyone allied with them were handed over to them. They had called out to God during the battle, and he answered them, because they trusted him.

20And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.

21They took the enemy's animals: 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 people captive.

21And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand.

NoteThe numbers are very large, as ancient battle and plunder figures often are; the Hebrew word for "thousand" can also mean a military unit or a clan contingent, so the scale is uncertain. The captured people would have become slaves or forced labor.

22Many others were killed, because the battle belonged to God. And these tribes lived in the land of the Hagarites until the time when they were taken away into exile.

22For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

Note"The battle belonged to God" is a standard Hebrew way of saying the war was fought at God's initiative and its outcome was his doing, not the fighters'. "Until the exile" points ahead to verse 26, when Assyria deported these tribes.

23The people of the half tribe of Manasseh lived in that land too. They grew in number and spread out from Bashan to Baalhermon and Senir, and to Mount Hermon.

23And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baalhermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon.

NoteMount Hermon is the snow-capped peak on the modern Lebanon–Syria border, the highest point in the region. Senir and Baalhermon are names for the mountain or parts of its range.

24These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were brave fighting men, well-known men, and heads of their families.

24And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.

25But they broke faith with the God of their fathers. They were unfaithful to him and chased after the gods of the peoples of that land, the peoples God had destroyed to make room for them.

25And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

Note"Went a whoring after other gods" is a fixed Hebrew image, not a description of sexual conduct: Israel's bond with its God is pictured as a marriage, so worshiping other gods is described as adultery.

26So the God of Israel stirred up Pul king of Assyria, that is, Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria. He carried away the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. He brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, where they still are today.

26And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

NotePul was the name Tiglath-pileser used as king of Babylon; the writer is noting that the two names are one man. Halah, Habor, Hara and Gozan are districts in upper Mesopotamia, several hundred miles from Gilead. "Where they still are today" means as of the writer's own time, centuries before ours.