Tag Archives: 1 Chronicles 7-9

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2023 Bible Study — We Act For Our Personal Reasons, But God Wills The Outcome For His Reasons

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

This is one of those passages which I struggle with what to write every year.  As with last year the things I am going to write about are things which I would not even have noticed if I did not need something to write about.   I found it curious that, after writing about the sons of Benjamin, but before discussing the sons of Naphtali, the writer mentions that the Shuppites and Huppites were descendants of Ir, and the Hushites were descendants of Aher.  However, at no place does he tell us from whom Ir and Aher were descended.  From the placement, I assume that the Shuppites, Huppites, and Hushites were all descendants of Benjamin, but I do not know for sure.  The Shuppites and Huppites have additional significance in that Makir, a descendant of Manasseh married a woman from their number.

I also want to note that we again have a portion in this passage which tells us that this book was compiled by those who returned to the Land of Israel after the Babylonian Exile.  Many scholars hold that the entire Old Testament was compiled at around that time.  In fact, some people have concluded from the genealogies included here, and the way that they are presented, that the Old Testament was compiled from other sources in order to provide support for the idea that those who returned from Exile should rule the land.  I think those people are on to something when it comes to the motivation in compiling the books of Chronicles.  However, I think that the way in which the “Chronicler” made his bias in favor of those whose genealogies were “pure”, while most of the other Old Testament books lack that clear bias suggest other origins for those books.   I will also point out that while the “Chronicler” had his own agenda in compiling these two books, God had His purposes for them.  I believe that God made use of the “Chronicler’s” personal motives to accomplish His greater purpose.

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

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2022 Bible Study — More Genealogies And What They Tell Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

The genealogies continue today and once again I noticed a couple of things only because I had to find something to write about this passage.

Note: I am not saying that these things are only worth noticing because I need something to write, only that I would not have noticed them if I did not need something to write.

First, the passage mentions that two of Ephraim’s sons were killed when they raided livestock from Gath.  One might easily pass that by, after all Gath is more or less part of the Land of Canaan and most of Jacob’s sons and grandsons grew up near there.  However, Ephraim was born in Egypt and never lived in Canaan.  This is not an important thing, but it tells us that the Israelites raided into Canaan after Jacob’s family moved to Egypt.  Second, I noticed that the writer tells us that complete genealogies were kept in the records of the kings of Israel and Judah.   Or, at least, that is how I read chapter 9 verse 1.  At some point I may look into whether Hebrew scholars agree with my understanding of what is written here.  The other thing I noticed was that after listing genealogies for all of the tribes, the writer writes about those who first resettled in the land after the Exile.  This tells us that the Books of Chronicles were compiled after the Israelites returned from Exile.  I know some people who conclude from this that ALL of the Old Testament was compiled after the Exile.  However, that does not follow and we have portions of the Torah from before the Exile.  The fragile nature of paper and parchment makes it somewhat surprising we have even that.

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

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2021 Bible Study Thoughts On What We Can Learn From These Genealogies

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

Today’s passage is more genealogies and a large part of why I am writing this blog.  If I was not writing this blog, this passage would be where my “reading the Bible in a year” would come to an end, if it hadn’t yesterday.  However, there are some useful names mentioned here which are mentioned elsewhere.  While I do not get much out of reading this passage, there is value in cross referencing to here from the other passages where these people are mentioned.  We also get a little bit more of an understanding about the early days in Egypt from this passage.  It mentions that two of Ephraim’s sons were killed when they went on a cattle raid against men born in Gath.  The other relevant thing which we learn from this passage is that this book was compiled after the return from Exile from other sources, sources which were still available for some time after this book was compiled.

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

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 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 7-9.

I said yesterday that it seemed as if possibly the less detailed genealogical list for the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh were because few had returned from those tribes.  Today’s passage suggests and alternate explanation.  Perhaps their detailed genealogies derived from the records of a census taken before the Exile.  The most likely candidate would be the census which King David took, but nothing here would allow someone to reach a definitive conclusion on that.  Once again, the general tone of the passage indicates that it was a summary of information taken from another record which was available to the compiler.  While it is certainly likely that a good part of the reason for creating this document was to provide justification for the Returned Exiles to exert control over Jerusalem and the area around it, it also seems likely that it was based on pre-existing documents.  That is, the people who compiled this document did not make their claim up at the time, but instead compiled here the arguments for a claim which had been made by their ancestors for several generations going back to the Exile itself.

In fact, they seem to have included people in that claim who had not yet joined them.  In fact, it seems similar to what the modern state of Israel has done in seeking out those of Jewish descent throughout the world and inviting them to join them in Israel.  An example would be the Ethiopian tribe which had claimed for as long as we have a record of them to be descended from Jews who fled to Egypt with Jeremiah.  The Israeli government investigated their claim, and then arranged an emergency airlift to rescue them from persecution in Ethiopia.

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2019 Bible Study — Tidbits From the Genealogies

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 7-9.

I have mentioned before that I do not like reading these genealogies and do not get much out of them. However, others find more in them than I do, and I have heard sermons and read messages which show how they sometimes teach us important lessons. I found a couple of interesting things as I read today. This account was written sometime after the Exiles returned, since it lists some of those who returned. However, the writer had access to records from when David was king. He specifically tells us that one of his number of descendants of Issachar was from the time of David (I would suspect it was from the census David took). The writer does not say, but I believe that the other numbers of fighting men he lists as descended from one or another of Jacob’s sons come from the same source. I wonder whether those records were preserved by the Exiles and brought back with them, or were they uncovered while the Returned Exiles were rebuilding Jerusalem? We know from other passages that some of the information contained here could have come from documents the Returned Exiles brought back with them.

I find it interesting that this account tells us that two of Ephraim’s sons died on a cattle raid near Gath. Now we know that Ephraim was born to Joseph in Egypt and his sons would have lived in Egypt. From this we can conclude that in the early period while the Israelites were in Egypt they went on raids to the land of Canaan. In the same portion we are told that one of Ephraim’s granddaughters founded two towns in what became Israel. These two things suggest that in the early years after Jacob’s family went to Egypt they still were active in the Land of Canaan.

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2018 Bible Study — Historical Tidbits Mixed In Among the Genealogies

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 7-9.

    In today’s passage we come to the reason why these extensive genealogical lists are included, the list of the families of those who returned from Exile. The genealogical lists contained up to here were designed to establish the connection of the returning Exiles to the people who lived in the land before the Exile. However, in addition to these genealogies we learn a few interesting things.

    The passage mentions that two of Ephraim’s sons were killed while on a livestock raid near Gath. Ephraim was the son of Joseph and lived his entire life in Egypt. Yet two of his sons went on a livestock raid up near Gath. This tells us that the Israelites did some far ranging raiding from their base in Egypt, at least in the early days. There is no hint of this in either Genesis or Exodus, but it explains why the Pharaoh got nervous about this numerous people living in his land. This mention provides evidence that the Israelites living in Egypt were a warrior people before being enslaved by the Pharaoh.

    Later in this passage, when it lists Saul’s family it mentions that the members of Saul’s clan all lived close to each other in Jerusalem. This intrigues me because we are led to believe that the Israelites did not control Jerusalem until David conquered the city after Saul’s death. This raises a couple of questions about when the members of Saul’s clan moved to Jerusalem. One possibility is that they moved there after the death of Saul but before David conquered the city. We know that Shimei, a member of Saul’s clan, was a politically influential person in Jerusalem by the time Absalom rebelled against David. It seems strange that David would allow members of Saul’s clan to rise to such prominence in his capital city. However, perhaps they were already living there and had some prominence when he captured it?

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2017 Bible Study — Yet More Genealogy

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 7-9.

    Today’s passage contains more genealogy. Interestingly enough it contains two separate accounts of the descendants of Benjamin and two separate lists of Saul’s family tree. There are discrepancies between the two accounts of Benjamin’s descendants, but I am not fascinated enough by genealogies to attempt to figure out what purpose those separate lists serve. Perhaps as I continue to read this passage again from year to year I will notice something here which relates to something elsewhere in the Bible. Another point worth noting is that the passage tells us that the families descended from Saul’s great grandfather lived near each other in Jerusalem, which may explain why David was so forgiving of Shimei (who was apparently part of that clan) when he returned to Jerusalem after Absalom’s rebellion. The final thing I note from today’s passage is that a disproportionate number of those who returned from Exile were the descendants of priests and Levites.

Daily Bible Study

May 11, 2016 Bible Study — Hints About How the Bible Was Composed

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. As I have been reading through the Book of 1 Chronicles this time I realized that finding spiritual truths is not the only reason for reading the Bible. Some sections, such as today’s passage, reveal things about how the Bible was put together. Knowing that can help us understand the message God has for us in other parts of the Bible.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 7-9.

    This passage continues the genealogies of the sons of Jacob. It contains a list of those who returned to Jerusalem and surroundings after the Babylonian Exile. This makes it clear that this book was compiled around that time. Now I know that there are those who claim that this book was compiled as part of the effort by those coming to Judea from Babylon were the rightful inhabitants and rulers of the area around Jerusalem. There is certainly some truth to that. However, those whom I have heard make that argument go on to imply that those who came from Babylon were not who they claimed to be and that these writings should be taken with a grain of salt. My problem with that argument is that these genealogies would be arranged in a more consistent manner if they were made up in order to support the claim. As a point on this, some of the tribal genealogies contain a total number of warriors, others are merely the lists of descendants of a particular patriarch. This suggests that these genealogies were compiled from other sources, some of which retained the number of warriors, others of which over the years had had that left out.