And Caleb the son of Hezron had children by Azubah [his] wife, and by Jerioth her sons are these Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.
The chapter traces Judah's line straight down to David. Then it stops at a side branch. Caleb, one of Hezron's other sons, appears with his wife Azubah, a second woman named Jerioth, and three sons we never hear of again. Why does Scripture slow down for a family outside the royal line, and which Caleb is this?
This is not the better-known Caleb of Numbers, the son of Jephunneh. Commentators place the Caleb here much earlier, and note that the chapter has already given him a second name.
Caleb is the son of Hezron and the great-grandson of Judah. He is called Chelubai in verse 9, and I think there is a purpose in that. We find his genealogy in verses 18-20, and the descendants of his two wives, Azubah and Ephrath. In verses 42-49 we again find descendants of this same Caleb by his concubines... In verses 50-55 we meet the descendants of Caleb, the son of Hezron, through Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah. That is the third time in this chapter.
Jerioth's place is less certain than Azubah's. A Bible dictionary calls Azubah "wife of Caleb, son of Hezron." It calls Jerioth "wife or concubine of Caleb, son of Hezron" — the text itself does not settle it.
The royal line did not run through Caleb. Yet his household is written down anyway, and one writer draws out why relatives of the chosen line are worth recording.
Having brought the line down to David, the Holy Spirit, as it were, pauses. Then He notes the sons of Hezron other than Ram — that is, Jerahmeel and Chelubai, who is also called Caleb (see verses 9 and 18). The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural relations have a place in the archives of Judah. No doubt everyone named was known for some quality or excellence, or for some special blessing given.
Two verses on, this same family produces two men whose work touched all Israel.
Hur: son of Caleb, the son of Hezron, and grandfather of Bezalel. Exodus 31:2; Exodus 35:30; Exodus 38:22; 1 Chronicles 2:19-20; 1 Chronicles 4:1; 2 Chronicles 1:5.
Hur held up Moses' hands in the battle with Amalek; Bezalel was the craftsman filled with wisdom to build the tabernacle. A verse listing three forgotten sons stands two steps away from both.
The repetitions and gaps in Caleb's family list are not tidied up. Writers connect that untidiness to the condition of the people who compiled it after the exile, when many could not prove their descent at all.
Must we conclude from all this that the text of Chronicles is a careless human compilation, with no historical value at all? ... No thoughtful Christian will deny that the genealogies of Chronicles are made up of fragments gathered in the middle of general confusion. Yet they are documents on which God sets His seal of approval.
The deeper reason for keeping this branch, one writer argues, is a second Caleb: the son of Jephunneh. He was not born into Judah at all.
Caleb the son of Jephunneh was not originally of the people of Judah... In Genesis 36:11 we learn that Kenaz is an Edomite name. So at some point the family of Kenaz, and therefore the family of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, was taken into the tribes of Israel. Many other foreigners came in the same way — Jethro, Rahab, and Ruth — who became members of the people of God because of their faith... So Caleb, who by his origin had no right of citizenship in Israel, received that right among Judah because of his faith. He was joined to the family of Caleb the son of Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:49)... This substitution is one of the important points the Spirit of God calls our attention to here.
Commentators differ. Darby is more cautious about linking the two men:
There is no proof that Caleb was the son of Hezron, son of Perez. If it was the same Caleb as in Numbers, he was the son of Jephunneh.
Whichever Caleb is meant, the name itself stands over the whole chapter.
To summarise, the name of Caleb is highlighted in this chapter. With this name goes the thought of "virtue." That means moral energy. With a goal in view, it lets the believer get over obstacles. It separates him from every weight and from the sin which so easily entangles him.
One writer looks past the names to the One who is recording them.
He records at the same time the names of those who had gone through the trials mentioned in this history without being blotted out of the book.
- Named. Caleb here is Hezron's son, also called Chelubai in verse 9 — not the later Caleb of Numbers. His wife is Azubah; Jerioth's place is less certain.
- Kept. The honoured line ran through Ram, not Caleb; yet Ram's natural relations still hold a place in the archives of Judah.
- Fruitful. Two verses on, this same household gives Israel Hur, who held up Moses' hands, and Bezalel, who made the tabernacle's furniture.
- Broken. The gaps and repeats are real — fragments gathered in a time of confusion — but God set His seal on them all the same.
- Opened. God writes an outsider into this patched-up family because of his faith. So the list ends up showing that faith, not birth, fixed his place in Judah.
And Azubah died, and Caleb took him Ephrath, and she bore him Hur.
This verse sits inside a long list of names in Judah's family record. One wife dies, Caleb marries again, and their son Hur begins a line that leads to the man who made the tabernacle furniture, and to the town where Israel's Ruler was to be born.
The Caleb in this verse belongs to Judah's line through Hezron. His family turns up in this chapter more than once, in pieces rather than in order.
Caleb's family record is a striking example of this disorder, and of how incompletely these family registers were kept. Caleb (who is, I think, called Chelubai in verse 9 for a reason) is the son of Hezron and the great-grandson of Judah. We find his genealogy in verses 18-20, along with the descendants of his two wives, Azubah and Ephrath... In verses 50-55 we meet the descendants of Caleb the son of Hezron for the third time in this chapter, through Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah. Part of that line was already given to us in verse 20.
Not everyone reads the family link the same way. Rossier makes this Caleb the son of Hezron; Darby is not sure the record proves it.
There is no proof that Caleb was the son of Hezron, the son of Pharez. If he was the same Caleb as the one in Numbers, he was the son of Jephunneh. One thing is certain: the Hezron in question died in Canaan, at Caleb Ephratah.
Either way, the place named in that note carries both names from this verse: Caleb and Ephratah.
The line of honour ran through another branch of the family, so Hur stands on a side path. The record keeps him anyway, and what he and his grandson did shows why.
The line of honour passed through Ram, but his relatives by blood also have a place in the archives of Judah. No doubt everyone named stood out for some quality or excellence, or for some special blessing given to him that would bring him still greater honour. Hur is the son of Caleb. This is the Hur who joined Aaron in holding up the hands of Moses when Israel fought and overcame Amalek. He also shared with Aaron the care of the people when Moses went up the mountain (Ex. 17:12). God named Hur's grandson Bezaleel and filled him with wisdom for a very special purpose: he was taught to make all the furniture for the tabernacle (Ex. 31). That gave him greater honour than all the riches of Jair, who had twenty-three cities and took sixty more.
Hur's grandson Bezaleel (Bezalel in the ESV) did the work on God's dwelling place, but that work did not come to him through the family tree. It came by God's call, and one writer draws a wider rule from it.
The opening of this brief chapter records how God called and qualified "Bezaleel and Aholiab" to do the work of the tabernacle... Whether it is "the work of the tabernacle" of old, or "the work of the ministry" now, the choosing, the call, the qualifying and the appointing should all be God's. And everything must be done as He commands. Man could not choose, call, qualify, or appoint anyone to do the work of the tabernacle. Neither can he for the work of the ministry.
The name of Caleb's second wife is also the name of a town, and that name changed over time.
It seems the town was first called Ephrath, Gen. 35:16, 19; Gen. 48:7; and later Ephratah, Ruth 4:11; Ps. 132:6. Once it is called Beth-lehem Ephratah, that is, the fruitful, because the ruler of Israel was to come from there. Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4, 15; John 7:42.
One writer finds a lesson in the order of the two words in that double name.
Nature's own power cannot hold anything up; it must come by the gift of grace and mercy. Ephratah, Bethlehem, is man's order — fruitfulness before blessing (Gen. 35:19). Blessing, then fruitfulness, Bethlehem-Ephratah (Micah 5:2), is God's way.
- Kept. The chapter gives Caleb's family three times over, in broken pieces. The record is untidy, and it still came down to us.
- Counted. Nobody in these archives is filler. Each name is there for some quality, excellence, or special blessing.
- Used. The son born of this marriage helped Aaron hold up Moses' hands when Israel beat Amalek. A name in a list turns out to be a man God used.
- Called. Hur's grandson Bezaleel made the furniture for God's dwelling. God named him and gave him wisdom for it; no man could choose, call, or appoint anyone to that work.
- Fulfilled. Ephrath means fruitful, and the same name marks the town Israel's Ruler was to come from. God's order there is blessing first, then fruitfulness.