Tag Archives: 1 Chronicles 2-4

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2023 Bible Study — A Few Things Revealed By The Genealogies

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 2-4.

I don’t really know what to do with this passage, but I will write about a few things which I found noteworthy.  I have made note before that Joab, Abishai, and Asahel were King David’s nephews by his sister Zeruiah, and Amasa was David’s nephew by another sister named Abigail.  I mention this because Joab killed Amasa when David had offered Amasa Joab’s job as commander of his army.  I have written about all of that previously.  However, what I noticed today is that Amasa’s father is mentioned in this passage, but no father is mentioned for Joab and his brothers.  I am not sure what to make of those facts, but I want to think about whether or not the failure to mention a father for Joab and his brothers has any significance.  In addition I want to think about whether the significance of Amasa’s father is that he was known, or that he was an Ishmaelite, rather than an Israelite?  This passage also implies that the Line of David after the Exile consisted solely of the descendants of Jehoiachin.  I am not entirely sure why that is important, but its presence here means that it has significance.  The list of descendants of Jehoiachin also gives us an idea about when this book was compiled, which was a generation or three after Zerubbabel, who was governor of Jerusalem after the Israelites returned from Exile.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2022 Bible Study — Things To Be Learned From Reading The Genealogies In The Bible

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 2-4.

I have written time and again that I get little out of the genealogies in the Bible, nevertheless I believe they have value and seek to find it each time I come to them.  Today, reading this passage I received confirmation of something that had gradually been rising in my awareness.  The family of Jesse, King David’s father, was prominent in the tribe of Judah, and thus in all of Israel, before David rose to prominence.  Jesse was descended from Boaz, who was descended from Nahshon.  Nahshon was the leader of the tribe of Judah during the Exodus.  That fact is not terribly important, but it does help us understand why King David’s nephews (Joab, Amasa, and a few others) kept cropping up in the accounts of his reign as people he had to negotiate with rather than just command.  Again this demonstrates the value of reading and re-reading the Bible, even the “boring parts”.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2021 Bible Study Understanding Old Testament Genealogies

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 2-4.

Today’s passage consists of more genealogies.  One thing we learn about the genealogies in the Old Testament is that we need to be careful about interpreting the number of generations between “father” and “son”.  This is not to dismiss these genealogies.  For example, it tells us that Achar (an alternate spelling of Achan) was the son of Kami, the son of Judah.  Assuming this is the Achan mentioned in the Book of Joshua, which is probable, we know he was more generations from Judah than his grandson.  This genealogy also tells us that Caleb was Judah’s great grandson, but we know that Caleb was more generations removed from Judah than that.  Now, the key here is that we know that the Hebrew words used to indicate that Caleb was the  son of Hezron and that Achar was the son of Karmi, can also just mean that they are descended from them.  We need to remember that Ancient Hebrew had very few words when compared to modern languages.  But even in modern English, we sometimes use the expression “child of” to indicate that someone descended from that person rather than to indicate that they are the following generation.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2020 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 2-4.

There is a line of thinking which postulates that the Old Testament was put together by post-Exile Jews in order to justify their rule over the territory around Jerusalem.  Many of those who take this position believe that those who came to rule Jerusalem in the post-Exile period were not actually descended from people who had lived in and around Jerusalem.  There is some merit to the first position in that 1 and 2 Chronicles were certainly compiled at least partially for that purpose.  We can see that to an extent in the genealogies in today’s passage.  However, the first thing we see is that this list of genealogies is designed to allow confirming whether or not a returning Exile was indeed descended from those taken into Exile.  In this passage we see evidence that the Jewish people in Exile (and quite likely before that) had maintained genealogical records similar to the family Bibles which many people had maintained from colonial times up until recently in which a record was kept of family births and deaths.  Further, I believe that the stories about what certain individuals did was to allow those whose record had used alternate names, or where the name was copied incorrectly at some point, to show that they were indeed genuinely descended from the people of Israel.

What makes this important is that it shows that those who compiled 1 and 2 Chronicles had actual records from which they put these books together.  They did not just base it on family stories they vaguely remembered Grandpa and Grandma telling.  They had things which had been written down and passed from one generation to the next.  Here they brought those records together and made a systematic compilation of them, just as the compilers of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings had done.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2019 Bible Study — The Generations Before David

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 2-4.

This is a passage that I would never spend any time on if I was not writing this blog. One thing which struck me initially is that the number of generations listed here from Judah to David does not seem to fill the time between them. In particular, there does not seem to be enough generations to fill both the time spent in Egypt and the time from when they left Egypt until David rules. Part of the reason for this was that I was under the impression that the Israelites were in Egypt for 400 years )approximately). However, as I did a little research I discovered that the 400 years was approximately the time from Abraham’s feast when Isaac was five years old until Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. This shortens the time in Egypt to a little more than 200 years. While it still seems to me like a few generations are missing from this genealogy, that change in timing means that perhaps not.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2018 Bible Study — It Is Possible to Overcome Our Past

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 2-4.

    Today’s passage continues tracking the genealogy of the people of Israel. In particular it tracks some of the descendants of Judah. Even more specifically it tracks the ancestry of King David and his descendants through Solomon. It is likely that the genealogy contained here was placed here to provide a base for those who returned from Exile to trace themselves back to Jacob. Of course, this genealogies were almost certainly based on that of some of those who returned from the Exile. I have read through this several times this year, and in previous years, but am unable to see a lesson here for us to learn from.
    In the middle of this passage (1 Chronicles 3:9-10) we have the mention of Jabez and his prayer. What I find interesting is that Jabez is mentioned in the middle of a genealogy, but no mention is made of who is father was, nor of any children he may have sired. Jabez’ appearance here reminds me of when an author offers up being mentioned in his next novel at a charity auction. Others have made a big deal out of his prayer and what that means for us. However, as I was looking up information on him I cam across a comment which I think is more important than God’s answer to his prayer. Jabez was given that name because his mother experienced extreme pain giving him birth. Such a name would have marked him as someone who life was stacked against. Despite that fact, Jabez was honorable and faithful in serving God. Jabez overcame his childhood.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2017 Bible Study — Genealogy (continued)

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 2-4.

    Today’s passage continues the genealogy by discussing that of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. It goes into much greater depth on the tribe of Judah, following the Davidic line to the Exile and several generations after the Return (Zerubbabel, who is listed here along with his descendants, began rebuilding the Temple after the Return from Exile). There is also mention of Jair, one of the early Judges of Israel. According to this passage Jair was a descendant of Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, and of Makir, of the tribe of Manasseh. I am not sure that that is significant, but I am only now starting to notice these connections after reading this passage every year for six years now. Since I am just now starting to see these connections, I regret not starting to read through the Bible every year sooner.

    Also in this passage is the prayer of Jabez, about which a book was written some years back. I continue to believe that the book made too much of this prayer, but we can indeed learn something from reading the short reference to Jabez, and his prayer. A side note on that which is worth mentioning is that despite being in the midst of a list of genealogies, we do not know who Jabez’ father was, nor do we know who any of his children were. Perhaps the most important thing we know about Jabez is that he was more honorable than any of his brothers. (Actually, now that I think about it, Jabez’ presence here reminds me of today auction off being a character in their next book at a charity auction. It is almost as if the writer here mentions Jabez because he personally knew him and owed him a favor.)
    If we want to model ourselves after Jabez we need to start by looking at the second sentence of his prayer “Please be with me in all that I do,…” which is kind of the reverse of the way we should look at it because all that we do should be with God. However, we can work with the phrasing as it is. The only way that God will be with us in all that we do is if we make sure that everything we do is God’s will. Or to put it another way, the only way to be sure that God is always on our side is to make sure that we are always on God’s side. And that is indeed something we should, and need to, pray for because it is only with God’s guidance and direction that we will know what His side is in any given conflict or situation. Going further, even when we know what God’s will is, unless God’s Spirit intervenes we will find ourselves going our own way.
    Whenever I look at a prayer like this, or other passages which seem to promise us the possibility of great success, I am reminded of reading the Martyrs’ Mirror growing up. To this day I cannot help but think of those martyred for their faith during the period of the Reformation. The government authorities tortured them to death. Yet, their joy was so great as this was happening that the authorities took to cutting out their tongues before bringing them out to be publicly executed in a painful manner. The relevance of this to today’s passage is that those martyrs were joyful because they viewed what was happening to them as a great honor: God had deemed them worthy to suffer as Jesus had suffered. If we are truly faithful to God, we will have great success in this life. That success may be great wealth and power, such as King Solomon, or it may be to die in pain, such as most of the Apostles. Yet, when we look at those stories, the Apostles were close to God as death approached whereas Solomon seems to have moved away from God as his life went on.

Daily Bible Study

May 9, 2016 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 2-4.

    This is another passage which I have trouble with reading. However, I can see why it is here. This list is clearly not a comprehensive list. Rather it is a list of relatively important persons. I need to remember to refer back to here when reading about personalities elsewhere in the Bible. For example, it is here that it most clearly lays out that Joab and his brothers were David’s nephews. We, also, learn here that Amasa, whom David appointed to replace Joab as commander of his army, and whom Joab subsequently killed, was David’s nephew and Joab’s cousin. Understanding that puts a whole new light on both David’s selection of Amasa and of Joab’s killing him.