and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.
This verse sits in a long list of names running from Judah down to David. It stops to record two women and three fighting men: the king's sisters, and the nephews who would command his army. Why does a record built around the throne pause for them?
This verse ends the chapter's opening run of names. One writer traces where that line comes from.
In 1 Chronicles 2:9-16 we have the genealogy of David — in fact this is the main thrust of that chapter. He is descended from Judah, and the line runs back through the ages via Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Shem, and Noah to Adam.
The list makes David the seventh son of Jesse. One writer reads that number as deliberate.
Notice the care and precision: the sons of Jesse are given, named and numbered in their order. This plainly tells us that David is the seventh. He alone fills the mind of the inspired writer. The six are numbered only so that David might appear as the seventh, because God's purpose is bound up with that. So "David the seventh" carries a meaning far beyond the simple fact that he came seventh in order. In fact David was the eighth son, not the seventh. Before God he was both.
Commentators differ. Another writer offers only a guess:
Keil supposes that one of Jesse's sons may have died without children, and so was left out of the later list. I have nothing better to offer.
The verse names two sisters. One reference work gathers what Scripture says about Zeruiah — and what it never says.
Zeruiah is described together with Abigail as "sisters of the sons of Jesse." They may have been half-sisters (Abigail was the daughter of Nahash, 2 Sam. 17:25). Zeruiah had three sons, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, the leaders of David's army; but it is not stated who her husband was. David declared, after the murder of Abner, that the sons of Zeruiah were too hard for him.
So the sons are known by their mother, and through her by the king.
Abishai, Joab and Asahel were David's nephews. One writer draws out what that nearness produced in them.
David's three nephews — Joab, Abishai and Asahel — were bound to God's anointed by ties of family and affection. They shared his trials when everything seemed to go wrong for David. Devotedness to Christ — known and loved in closer and lasting relationships — will keep us on the path that leads to glory in this present time. Joab was the "chief and captain" of them all. His brother Abishai was chief of the second three. Asahel's career was cut short by too much zeal, unbalanced by the grace and wisdom he needed. The spear of one of God's own people suddenly ended what might have been a brilliant path of service. Asahel had insisted on chasing that man, in spite of a timely warning. It is not for the servants of Christ to seek the hurt of any of God's children.
Nearness to the king could also be pressed as a claim to rank. One writer weighs what that claim was worth.
The sons of Zeruiah might claim this rank according to the flesh, but according to God they had no greater claim to it than the others — quite the opposite. Abishai did not reach the "first three"; Asahel was among "the thirty." Joab is not even named among the mighty men.
One writer notices what this book does not say about Joab.
Here he is not the ambitious, vindictive man, but the man appointed, according to God's counsels, to conquer the fortress of Zion for the king. Not a word about his character, or about anything he had done up to this moment. His struggle with Abner, his revenge on that noble captain, the murder he committed — all are passed over in silence. If we had read only the account in Chronicles, would we not say that Joab was an upright man beyond reproach? The truth is simple. Here Joab is only the instrument prepared to install the Lord's anointed at Jerusalem — the king according to God's thoughts.
Earlier in the chapter, the line to David passes over an eldest son.
Although Jerahmeel was Hezron's eldest son, he is placed last here once again. This agrees with what we have seen of the character of Chronicles in chapter 1. The features of the natural man pass down just as readily as the features of a man of faith like Caleb — only the latter pass down by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother.
- Line. Verses 9-16 are the chapter's main thrust: the genealogy of David traced back through Judah, Abraham and Noah to Adam.
- Grace. The throne skipped the eldest. Jerahmeel is placed last, and David comes from the younger brother, Ram — grace, not birth order.
- Names. Zeruiah and Abigail are named; their husbands are not. The sons are known by their mother, and through her by the king.
- Nearness. The three nephews were bound to God's anointed by family and affection, and shared his trials. Yet family ties gave them no rank before God, and Asahel's zeal cut his service short.
- Silence. Chronicles leaves out Joab's revenge and his murder. It shows him only as the instrument prepared to seat the Lord's anointed in Jerusalem.
And Abigail bore Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
David's sister Abigail appears here for her son Amasa, and his father was not an Israelite. So why does a foreigner's name stand in the register of Judah's royal tribe, and what became of his son?
Scripture names this man in two different ways. One dictionary entry sets the two side by side and offers a possible explanation.
An Ishmaelite, father of Amasa. 1 Kings 2:5, 32; 1 Chr. 2:17. He is called ITHRA, an Israelite, in 2 Sam. 17:25. He may have been an Ishmaelite by birth, and have become a proselyte.
Ishmaelites descended from Ishmael, a son of Abraham. A proselyte is an outsider who turned to Israel's God and joined His people.
The verse before calls Zeruiah and Abigail the sisters of Jesse's sons, not his daughters. 2 Samuel adds the name Nahash, and commentators differ on how that fits.
Apparently father or mother of Abigail and Zeruiah. 2 Sam. 17:25. In 1 Chr. 2:16 the record calls Abigail and Zeruiah the sisters of Jesse's sons. The Rabbis say Nahash was another name for Jesse, as the margin has it. Others suppose Nahash was Jesse's wife. Still others judge that Nahash was a former husband of Jesse's wife.
The main line of descent runs through Ram to David. Yet the chapter keeps naming relatives outside that line, and one writer finds the reason in how precious that line was to God.
The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural connections have a place in the archives of Judah. No doubt everyone named stood out for some quality or excellence, or for some special blessing he had received… But the list names even Segub, though he was only Ram's half-brother. Is this not because of his link to the ancestry of David? That line was always so precious to God that even the slightest connection with it earns a place in these genealogies.
Jether was a Gentile, an outsider to Israel. One writer reads his name here as God's own choice.
How sovereign the grace which will not overlook the outcast Gentile! The Gentile element is found in the direct line of David's ancestry, for Boaz is the son of Rahab and the husband of Ruth. But the side line has its Jatha (Jether)… God would not limit Himself to Israel when it came to showing grace. He did limit Himself to Israel in the matter of law. Yet even under the old covenant, which belonged to Israel alone, He chooses from among the Gentiles those whom He will bless.
Boaz married Ruth, a woman from Moab. Rahab came from Jericho, the city Israel destroyed.
Amasa grew up to hold high command — first against David, then under him.
Amasa was the son of Ithra, or Jether, by David's sister Abigail. In his revolt, Absalom made Amasa captain of his army. David forgave him and promised him command of the army, but Joab killed him by treachery. David left it to his son Solomon to avenge this act.
Joab, named in the verse before as the son of David's other sister, was Amasa's cousin. One writer lists what Joab would never forgive.
Amasa replaces Joab at the head of David's rebellious son's army. He was a cousin to Joab — cousin through his mother, but also through his mother's dishonour. Joab never forgives anything: a stain on his family, someone seizing his position, or the danger of a rival for the top command.
Amasa's murder was not left unsettled. Solomon dealt with it, and one writer sees in it a picture of Christ's coming thousand-year reign.
Solomon's kingdom could only be established if Joab answered for the innocent blood of Abner and Amasa. Joab had shed that blood without David's knowledge… His motives in killing Abner and Amasa were selfish too. Joab's execution is a symbol: the Lord Jesus will establish His millennial kingdom in righteousness, and that righteousness brings peace.
- Named — Judah's register calls Jether an Ishmaelite, and 2 Samuel calls him an Israelite. He may have been an Ishmaelite by birth who later turned to Israel's God.
- Numbered — The record still names relatives outside the royal line. The slightest link with David's ancestry earns a place.
- Nations — A Gentile stands here, as Rahab and Ruth stand in the direct line. God never limited His grace to Israel.
- Nephews — David's two sisters gave him his commanders. Joab killed his own cousin Amasa to keep the top command.
- Necessity — Solomon avenged that innocent blood before his throne stood secure, a picture of Christ's kingdom founded in righteousness that brings peace.