And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, of Ahijah.
Verse 25 turns aside from David's royal line to list the sons of Jerahmeel, Hezron's firstborn. Their names are almost all we are told. So why does the record pause here, and why does it treat the family's firstborn this way?
Jerahmeel had the birthright as the eldest son. Yet the chapter traces David's line to its end before it turns back to him. One writer links his last place to the fruitlessness of his line:
Unfruitfulness especially characterizes the line of Jerahmeel. Although he was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), he is once again in last place here (v. 25)... The features of the natural man pass down just as readily as the features of a man of faith like Caleb; only in Caleb's case they pass down by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
So part of the point lies in what the verse leaves out: the eldest son passes on what he is by birth, and no more.
Chronicles keeps this order right through its genealogies. It sets the natural connection down first, before the chosen line appears:
The Spirit of God goes farther back. He gives us the family line from Adam of the generation blessed by grace, according to God's sovereignty, together with what belonged to that generation outwardly, or after the flesh. He makes the part owned in grace stand out clearly enough to be seen. That part stood outwardly connected with what was merely outward and natural. And He always puts the natural first, as the apostle tells us.
The same pattern shows up earlier, with Shem, and again with Abraham's two sons:
In God's eyes, Shem, chosen by grace, has the preeminence, but in the natural order what is spiritual is not first... "The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael" (v. 28); Isaac is named first, seen as first in God's thoughts, but Ishmael, the elder, is listed first (v. 29) as the seed according to the flesh.
Verse 9 also named a Ram — the ancestor of David. This Ram is a different man:
Of the family of Jerahmeel there is little but the names. The Ram here (1 Chron. 2:25) is nephew to the Ram, son of Hezron, and brother to Jerahmeel (1 Chron. 2:9).
So a shared name does not put a man in David's line.
Jerahmeel's branch is not the line that leads to David, yet the record keeps it:
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 given to them that would make them stand out even more.
The same writer points to one man in this branch:
In this branch of Hezron's descendants there is one man who stands out for what he was and what he became through God's favour. It happened in such a sovereign way that, while Israel is under law, a Gentile is honoured and prominent in Israel. Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. Would his name and family not soon be lost among the thousands of Judah? No. His daughter, though given to his Egyptian servant, stands at the head of thirteen generations (1 Chron. 2:35-41).
One writer draws a personal lesson from reading such a list:
It deeply sobers the soul to be allowed to go over such a record of names. People forgot them long ago, but God has remembered every one of them, along with every detail of their path through this world. Some day our names likewise will be lost to mankind, but neither we nor our ways will be forgotten by God.
That fits the whole book. One writer describes Chronicles as "God's history of His people, recorded by the Holy Spirit, as He loved to remember it" (J. N. Darby).
- Firstborn — Jerahmeel had the birthright as Hezron's eldest. Yet the chapter puts him last and gives his family little but names.
- Nature — What a man is by nature passes on to his children. Faith's likeness passes on too, but only by grace.
- First-listed — Chronicles names the natural line before the chosen one, as with Ishmael before Isaac. God's order is not nature's order.
- Namesake — The Ram of this verse is nephew to the Ram of verse 9. The right name is not the same as a place in the chosen line.
- Remembered — God keeps the names the world forgot, and He will forget neither us nor our ways.
And Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.
A single line in the middle of Judah's family register names a second wife of Jerahmeel and the one son she bore. Why does Scripture pause over a wife who is never named again? And why does the record list this branch of the family at all?
Atarah appears nowhere else in the Bible. This one verse holds everything Scripture says about her. A Bible dictionary sums her up in a single line:
Wife of Jerahmeel, and mother of Onam. 1 Chr. 2:26.
Her son's name carries a meaning worth noticing. One list of the meanings of Bible names renders it this way:
Onam — Vanity; Iniquity.
Jerahmeel was Hezron's eldest son. Yet his family comes last in the chapter, after the record traces the younger brothers. One writer sees a pattern in that placement:
Unfruitfulness is the mark of Jerahmeel's line. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he is put last again (v. 25). That fits what we have already seen of the character of Chronicles in 1 Chronicles 1. The traits of the natural man pass down just as readily as the traits of a man of faith like Caleb. The difference is that faith's traits pass down by grace. David's line does not come from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
So Atarah's son, whose name means "vanity," heads a branch of his own. But the line to David runs elsewhere, through Ram.
The order is not accidental. One writer finds a principle running through these opening chapters, one the apostle Paul later put into words:
The nine chapters that make up this opening section follow the principle the apostle Paul stated much later: not the spiritual first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. Even the general genealogy in 1 Chronicles 1 serves this divine purpose. The genealogy of the sons of Israel, from 1 Chronicles 2 on, follows the same rule.
Read that way, Jerahmeel's second wife and her son fit the plan. The record gives the natural line first, then the line God chose.
This part of the chapter records little beyond who fathered whom. One story still stands out from the bare list:
In the family of Jerahmeel there is little but the names. Yet in this branch of Hezron's descendants there is one man who stands out, because of what he was and what he became through the favour of God. God acted so freely that, while Israel was under law, a Gentile was honoured and given a place of prominence in Israel. Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. Would his name and family not soon be lost among the thousands of Judah? No; for his daughter, though given to his Egyptian servant, stands at the head of thirteen generations (1 Chron. 2:35-41).
That happens inside Jerahmeel's family — the branch verse 26 belongs to. The line that looks barren is where God brings in an outsider and keeps a family with no sons from dying out.
Some readers ask what a verse like this can teach them. One writer puts that question plainly and then answers it:
Someone may still challenge us with a question like this: "Do you believe that the long string of names in the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles — those genealogical tables — are inspired by God? Were they written for our instruction? And if so, what are we to learn from them?" We say without hesitation that we reverently believe God inspired every one of them. And we have no doubt at all that their value, interest and importance will be proved in full, in time, in the history of the people they apply to.
- Named. This verse is all we know of Atarah: one wife, one son, Onam, whose name means "vanity; iniquity."
- Last. Jerahmeel was Hezron's eldest, yet Chronicles puts his family last. Unfruitfulness marks his line.
- Bypassed. David descends from Ram, the younger brother. Natural features pass down as surely as faith's do, but faith's come by grace.
- Ordered. The whole register follows one rule: not the spiritual first, but the natural, then the spiritual.
- Kept. This branch has "little but the names." Yet here an Egyptian servant and a daughter with no brothers head thirteen generations — and God inspired the record, its full value still to be proved.
And the sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel, were Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker.
This verse sits inside a long list of names in Judah's family record. It names three sons of a Ram — but not the Ram who leads to David. Why keep such a bare list? And why does the firstborn branch get so little room?
The chapter uses the same name twice. Verse 9 names a Ram who was Hezron's son and Jerahmeel's brother. The Ram of this verse is Jerahmeel's own son.
Of the family of Jerahmeel there is little more than the names. The Ram here (1 Chron. 2:25) is the nephew of the Ram who was son of Hezron and brother of Jerahmeel (1 Chron. 2:9).
Jerahmeel was Hezron's eldest son. Yet Chronicles lists his descendants after the others, and his own firstborn's family stops at three names.
Unfruitfulness especially marks the line of Jerahmeel. Although he was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), he is once again in last place here (v. 25). This fits what we have seen of the character of Chronicles in 1 Chronicles 1. The features of the natural man pass on just as readily as the features of a man of faith like Caleb — only the latter pass on by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
Jerahmeel's line is thin. Yet it holds a surprise.
In this branch of Hezron's descendants one man stands out for what he was and what he became through God's favour — and in so sovereign a way that, while Israel is under law, a Gentile is honoured and prominent in Israel. Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. Would his name and family not soon be lost among the thousands of Judah? No — for his daughter, though given to his Egyptian servant, stands at the head of thirteen generations (1 Chron. 2:35-41).
This is not just how one book keeps records. It follows a rule that runs through the whole Bible.
There is something else here too. It shows not only God's general way in this book but His principle right through Scripture: "It is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual." We find exactly the same thing here. Scripture brings Japheth and Ham, with their sons, before us first, and only then introduces Shem and the line of God's promise in Shem… God's purposes ripen latest. God lets the world take its own way, and the world exalts men on the earth. God means to exalt the Man who humbled Himself.
Maaz, Jamin and Eker did nothing that this record tells us about. What earns them a line is where they stand in relation to the family the king came from.
The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural connections have a place in the archives of Judah. Is it not because of a connection with the ancestry of David, with that line which was always so precious to God that even the slightest link with it earns a place in these genealogies?
These lists are patchy, and commentators say so plainly. The gaps raise a fair question about the book.
Must we conclude from all this that the text of Chronicles is a human and random compilation? Does the book then have no historical value at all? That is what the rationalists claim. But thank God, their reasoning always fails when it attacks His Word. No informed Christian will deny that these genealogies are fragments gathered while everything was in confusion. Yet God sets His seal of approval on these documents.
For the first readers, a name in the register was not sentiment. It was a claim on land.
The Jews had refused to believe the destruction would come until it came. Disheartened, they might have thought, "What is the use of a genealogy? What is the use of caring now about our lands or houses? Everything is ruined. All is gone." But the man who believed God knew that seventy years would see them return from captivity. So care for God and confidence in His Word made them guard their genealogies with care. Then, when they did return, they could enter on the allotment God had given. This was what made every homestead in Israel so precious — that it was God who gave it.
- Recorded. Jerahmeel's branch gives us "little more than the names." The Ram here is the nephew of the Ram in verse 9, not David's ancestor.
- Ranked last. Jerahmeel was Hezron's eldest, yet his line comes last and shows unfruitfulness. The royal descent runs through his younger brother.
- Reversed. This order is God's settled principle: the natural first, then the spiritual. God's purposes ripen latest, because He means to exalt the Man who humbled Himself.
- Reached. The smallest link with the line God treasured earns a place in Judah's record. In this same branch, a daughter given to an Egyptian servant heads thirteen generations.
- Reliable. The registers are fragments gathered in confusion, yet God has sealed them. The names a reader might skip were the papers that let a returning exile claim the gift God gave him.
And the sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. And the sons of Shammai Nadab and Abishur.
This verse sits deep inside a long list of Judah's families, in the branch of Hezron's eldest son, Jerahmeel. Two questions press on a reader: why does God record men we know nothing about, and why does the royal line pass by the eldest branch?
Kelly explains why Judah, and not the elder tribes, gets the long treatment:
But this chapter brings the sons of Judah before us in detail — not those of Reuben or Simeon. The aim of the book is God's purpose. Judah was the tribe first chosen for the kingdom, and chosen with the Messiah in view. So we can understand why his sons are traced out first, and at such length.
Onam, whose two sons open this verse, sits in one particular family:
Onam. Son of Jerahmeel. 1 Chr. 2:26, 28.
That matters. Rossier sees a pattern in where this branch is placed:
Unfruitfulness marks the line of Jerahmeel above all. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he is put in last place again (v. 25)… The traits of the natural man pass down just as surely as the traits 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 (vv. 9-16).
Shammai's sons Nadab and Abishur carry the family forward. Rossier points to men in these lists who died leaving no sons:
Other members of the family of Caleb the son of Hezron bear witness to the grace given to faith, and yet at the same time they are unfruitful, which is the result of ruin. Take Seled, Jether, and Sheshan, who died without sons (vv. 30, 32, 34).
This order is not accidental. Kelly finds the same pattern all through Scripture:
There is another thing here too. It shows not only God's general way in this book, but His principle right through Scripture — first the natural, and then the spiritual… God's purposes ripen last. God lets the world take its own way, and the world lifts men up on the earth. God means to lift up the Man who humbled Himself.
The honoured line ran through Ram, so why keep his relatives at all? One writer points to their nearness to that line:
The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural relatives have a place in the records of Judah. No doubt every one named stood out for some quality or excellence, or for some special blessing given to him… Even Segub is named, though he was only Ram's half-brother. Is it not because of his link with the ancestry of David — with that line which was always so precious to God that even the slightest connection with it earns a place in these genealogies?
Further down this same branch, the record takes a surprising turn:
But in this branch of Hezron's descendants one man stands out, because of what he was and what he became through God's favour. God acted so freely that, while Israel is under law, He honours a Gentile and gives him a place of prominence in Israel. Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. Would his name and family not soon be lost among the thousands of Judah? No — his daughter, though given to his Egyptian servant, stands at the head of thirteen generations (1 Chron. 2:35-41).
Knapp turns this list toward the reader:
There is something deeply sobering in being allowed to go over such a record — names long ago forgotten by man, yet God has remembered every one of them, with every detail of their path through this world. One day our names too will be lost to mankind. But God will not forget us, or our ways.
- Purpose. This book follows God's purpose. That is why Judah is traced so fully: the kingdom, and the Messiah, come from his tribe.
- Last. Jerahmeel was the eldest, yet his branch comes last. The natural comes first in Scripture; God's purpose ripens last.
- Unfruitful. Unfruitfulness marks this line — households that stop, which is the result of ruin.
- Kept. Even so, God keeps the names: nearness to David's line earns a place in the record.
- Reached. Grace breaks into this same failing branch: a daughter and an Egyptian servant head thirteen generations. God remembers names the world has long forgotten.
And the name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid.
One line in a long list names Abishur's wife and her two sons, and then says nothing more about them. Why does Scripture keep names whose story is never told?
Abishur belongs to the family of Jerahmeel. One commentator notes where that family stands in the chapter, and where the royal line runs instead.
Unfruitfulness marks the line of Jerahmeel above all. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he stands in last place again (v. 25). This fits what we have seen of the character of Chronicles in 1 Chronicles 1. The traits of the natural man pass down just as readily as the traits of a man of faith like Caleb. Only the traits of faith pass down by grace. David's line does not come from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
This branch of the family gives us almost no deeds at all. Yet one writer shows how God lifted a household inside it.
Of the family of Jerahmeel there is little but the names. Yet in this branch of Hezron's descendants there is one man who stands out above the rest because of what he was and what he became through God's favour. God acted so sovereignly that, while Israel was under law, a Gentile was honoured and prominent in Israel. Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. Would his name and family not soon be lost among the thousands of Judah? No; for his daughter, though given to his Egyptian servant, stands at the head of thirteen generations (1 Chron. 2:35-41).
A place in these records was itself a mark of value.
The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural relatives have a place in the archives of Judah… Even Segub is named, though he was only half-brother to Ram. Is this not because of his link with the ancestry of David? That line was always so precious to God that even the slightest connection with it earns a man a place in these genealogies.
Genealogies normally run father to son. The naming of Abihail follows a pattern found right through these chapters, and one commentator links it to Israel's broken state after the captivity.
Here, as elsewhere in these genealogies, women are mentioned again and again. This is one more proof that people only put these genealogies together after the captivity, amid the disorder that marked Israel's ruin. The female line of descent gave markers that made it possible to trace a family tree again. In normal times no one would have needed such mentions.
Verses like this one look like scraps — a wife here, two sons there, no story. One commentator admits as much, and still calls these lists God's own documents.
Must we conclude from all this that the text of Chronicles is a human and haphazard compilation, and so that this book has no historical value? That is what the rationalists claim. But thank God, their reasoning is always at fault when it attacks His Word. No clear-sighted 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.
Abihail, Ahban and Molid are names no one on earth recalls now. One writer weighs what that means for us.
There is something deeply solemn for the soul in being allowed to read a record of names that people forgot long ago. God has remembered every one of them, with every detail of their path through this world. Some day the world will lose our names too. But God will never forget us or our ways.
One writer names the purpose that runs behind all these lists.
God shows that nothing will stop the course of His eternal purposes for those they concern. Wherever evil rules, God hurries to bring in good. As one servant of God put it, "we may always have before our eyes the good He has produced instead of the evil produced by man". So He prepares everything for the full display of the future glory of His Anointed.
- Placed. Abishur stands in Jerahmeel's branch. It is the eldest son's line, yet it comes last and carries the mark of unfruitfulness. The royal descent ran through the younger brother, Ram.
- Name. Scripture keeps Abihail's name because people rebuilt these lists after the captivity. A wife's name was sometimes the only thread left for tracing a family.
- Kept. These lists are fragments, gathered in the middle of confusion. God still set His seal of approval on them.
- Remembered. Nearness to David's line won a man a place in the archives. The God who kept these names will not forget ours when the world has.
- Purpose. Every list points one way. Nothing stops God's eternal purpose. He brings in good where evil has ruled, and prepares all things for the glory of His Anointed.
And the sons of Nadab Seled and Appaim; and Seled died without sons.
reason: watery, very hard sentence
reason: single writer, claim beyond quote
Other members of the family of Caleb the son of Hezron, while bearing witness to grace given to faith, are at the same time unfruitful, which is the result of ruin. Consider for example Seled, Jether, and Sheshan who died without sons (vv. 30, 32, 34).
These verses fall inside the record of Jerahmeel's family. Where that family stands in the list, and which brother the kings came from, both matter.
Unfruitfulness especially characterizes the line of Jerahmeel. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he stands in last place again (v. 25). This fits what we have seen of the character of Chronicles in 1 Chronicles 1. The features of the natural man pass down just as easily as the features of a man of faith like Caleb. But the features of faith pass down by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
That order runs through the whole opening of 1 Chronicles. One commentator ties it to a principle from the apostle Paul.
The first nine chapters make up an opening section. In them we have the principle the apostle Paul put into words long afterwards: not the spiritual first, but the natural first, then the spiritual. Even the general genealogy of 1 Chron. 1 is governed by this divine purpose. That of the sons of Israel from 1 Chron. 2 follows the same rule.
These lists are uneven. A name appears, a branch breaks off, a detail gets added and then dropped. One commentator asks what that unevenness proves.
Must we conclude from all this that the text of Chronicles is a human and arbitrary compilation? Does the book therefore have no historical value? This is what the rationalists claim, but thank God, their reasoning is always at fault when it attacks His Word. No well-taught 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.
Part of the reason for the unevenness is simply what could still be verified when the book was compiled.
As soon as we approach Israel's history in 1 Chronicles 2, gaps appear, for when Chronicles was written the genealogies of many members of this people remained undetermined, since they could not be proven.
Even a man with no children gets his name here. One writer links these lists to God's own memorial of His people.
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. Here it is only the outward picture of this blessed memorial of the people of His grace. But in fact this is what we find here. All Israel is not there; not all who are of Israel are Israel.
The writer of Chronicles worked long after the nation had fallen apart. That timing changes how these lists read.
It is all the more striking to find in Chronicles the picture of grace working in the heart of man. These books come, as we have seen, after the final ruin of the people and of the rule of the kingdom. But what comfort for the poor remnant, back from Babylon in servitude and contempt! Here they find their own history, written in those disastrous times by the Spirit of God Himself. It shows on every page that no unfaithfulness on the part of the people could change God's counsels. Nor could it alter the grace by which He would establish, in relation to His people, His eternal purposes in the person of Christ.
- Ruin — Seled dies without sons. One commentator calls that unfruitfulness "the result of ruin," and names Jether and Sheshan beside him.
- Order — Jerahmeel was Hezron's eldest, yet he stands last. In these chapters the natural comes first, then the spiritual.
- Grace — Natural traits pass down easily. The marks of a man of faith like Caleb pass down too, but by grace.
- Record — The lists are fragments gathered in confusion. Yet God set His seal on them, and He keeps the names not blotted out of the book.
- Goal — Chronicles came after the nation collapsed. It shows that no unfaithfulness could change God's purposes in Christ, and that the royal line runs through Ram, not Jerahmeel.
And the sons of Appaim Jishi; and the sons of Jishi Sheshan; and the sons of Sheshan Ahlai.
Four names sit in a row here: Appaim, Ishi, Sheshan, Ahlai. This short line belongs to a branch of Judah where a family runs out of sons, and where the next verses hand its future to an Egyptian slave.
These names come down from Jerahmeel. One writer notes where his line is placed in the chapter, and what marks it.
Unfruitfulness marks the line of Jerahmeel above all. Although he was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), he is once again in last place here (v. 25)... The features of the natural man pass down just as readily as the features of a man of faith like Caleb; but in Caleb's case they pass down by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
Three verses later the record says Sheshan had no sons. The same writer names him with other relatives in Hezron's family whose line stops.
Other members of the family of Caleb the son of Hezron, while they bear witness to grace given to faith, are at the same time unfruitful, and that unfruitfulness is the result of ruin. Take Seled, Jether, and Sheshan, who died without sons (vv. 30, 32, 34).
Commentators differ over whether Ahlai is Sheshan's son or his daughter. The question matters, because the verses just after say Sheshan had no sons. One reference work takes the daughter view:
Ahlai. Daughter of Sheshan. 1 Chr. 2:31.
Either way, the name appears again later, attached to one of David's mighty men:
Zabad. Son of Ahlai and one of David's mighty men. 1 Chr. 11:41.
A family with no male heir in Israel faced losing its name. One writer puts the anxious question, then answers it from the verses that follow.
Of the family of Jerahmeel there is little but the names... But in this branch of Hezron's descendants one man stands out most, because of what he was and because of what he became through the favour of God. God acted so freely, as He alone chooses, that while Israel is under law He honours a Gentile and gives him a prominent place in Israel. Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. Would not his name and family soon be lost among the thousands of Judah? No; for his daughter, though given to his Egyptian servant, stands at the head of thirteen generations (1 Chron. 2:35-41).
The Egyptian who married into this house came out of Egypt with the crowd that gave Israel trouble. He went a different way.
When Israel came out of Egypt, a mixed crowd came with them. They tempted Israel and led the people to complain (Num. 11:4). But one of the Egyptians who followed Israel had learned to bow to the Lord, and counted it an honour to be a servant in the house of Sheshan. Later he is raised to be a son in the house where he had been a slave. So a Gentile slave enters the commonwealth of Israel, receives an inheritance among them, and comes into a link with the family of David that is not far removed.
The same writer asks whether this small household event is a sample of something larger. He notes that the blessing now flows the other way.
Is this a sample of the grace that will come on the Gentile, even on Egypt, when the Son of David reigns over the whole earth? For here it is not Egypt oppressing Israel, as in the past, but Israel letting Egypt share in his blessing. The day is coming when the Egyptian and the Assyrian will serve, and Israel will be a blessing in the middle of the land (Isa. 19:24).
The chapter reaches David by verse 16, then turns back to cover his relatives. One writer suggests why they are worth naming.
The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural relations have a place in the records of Judah. No doubt every one named here stood out for some quality or excellence, or for some special blessing given to him... But even Segub is named, though he was only half-brother to Ram. Is it not because of his link with the ancestry of David? God always held that line so dear that even the slightest connection with it earns a place in these genealogies.
- Last place. Jerahmeel was Hezron's firstborn, yet his line comes last. The royal line runs through Ram, the younger brother.
- Dead end. Sheshan, in this same line, died without sons. One writer calls that unfruitfulness the result of ruin, not of blessing.
- Grace steps in. The name that should have vanished survives. A daughter given to an Egyptian servant stands at the head of thirteen generations.
- Slave to son. One Egyptian bowed to the Lord. He rose from servant to son, received an inheritance in Israel, and came near to David's family.
- Preview. One household points ahead to the day when the Son of David reigns. Then Israel will bless Egypt, not suffer under it.
And the sons of Jada, the brother of Shammai Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died without sons.
This verse sits inside a long list of Judah's descendants. It names two brothers, then adds one closing fact: Jether left no children. Commentators treat that small note as deliberate, and ask why the Spirit of God recorded a man whose line stopped.
Judah is not the only son of Israel named here, yet this tribe fills the chapter. The reason lies in where the book is heading.
The sons of Judah are very particularly brought before us in this chapter — not of Reuben nor of Simeon. The object of the book is purpose. Judah was the tribe first chosen for the kingdom, and chosen with the Messiah in view. So we can understand why his sons are traced out first, and at great length.
Jada, Jether and Jonathan belong to Jerahmeel's family. One writer reads that whole branch as a study in fruitlessness, and finds the proof in where it sits on the page.
Unfruitfulness especially characterizes the line of Jerahmeel. Although he was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), he is once again in last place here (v. 25)... The features of the natural man pass down just as surely as the features of a man of faith like Caleb. But in Caleb's case they pass down by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
To a reader in Israel this was not a neutral detail. The law itself made room to keep a family name alive — and later the Sadducees, a group who denied the resurrection, misused that law.
The law made a merciful provision (Deuteronomy 25:5-10). No man's family was to die out while a brother was still alive to carry on the line. In Israel, to be childless was a reproach. If a man's name was blotted out and his family died out, people took it as a special mark of God's displeasure. In our Lord's day the Sadducees used this merciful provision to try to make the truth of resurrection look absurd. They only showed their ignorance of "the Scriptures and the power of God." God had made the provision for the earthly life, not the future one.
Jether is not alone in the chapter. Twice more the record stops the same way. One commentator gathers the three together, and reads them as marks of ruin in a family where grace was also at work.
Other members of the family of Caleb the son of Hezron, while witnessing grace given to faith, are at the same time unfruitful, which is the result of ruin. Consider for example Seled, Jether, and Sheshan who died without sons (vv. 30, 32, 34).
Set against these closed lines is the name the chapter lifts up at its end. Caleb counted on God when Israel looked far too weak to take the land.
At the end of the chapter, the Spirit of God singles out Caleb's family. Of all Judah in these early days, he was the man who answered to God's purpose... Their cities might be strong. Their men might be brave. Israel might be weak. The one difference was this: God was with Israel and against the Canaanites. So here we find the result, for faithfulness is fruitful even in this world — much more to life everlasting.
The lists in Chronicles are patchy, and critics have used that against the book. One writer answers the charge.
Must we then conclude that the text of Chronicles is a human and random compilation, with no historical value at all? That is what the rationalists claim. But thank God, their reason is always at fault when it attacks His Word. No well-taught 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.
Jether left nothing behind that history could trace. Scripture still keeps his name.
There is something deeply sobering to the soul in being allowed to go over such a record of names. Man forgot them long ago. But God has remembered every one of them, with every detail of their pathway through this world. Some day our names likewise will be lost to mankind, but neither we nor our ways will be forgotten by God.
- Purpose — Judah fills this chapter because the book is following the kingdom and the Messiah, not just keeping records.
- Fruitlessness — Jether belongs to Jerahmeel's branch, which one writer reads as marked by unfruitfulness. The royal line runs through Ram, Jerahmeel's younger brother.
- Reproach — in Israel a name blotted out was a reproach and a mark of God's displeasure. The law made provision against it.
- Fruit — the same chapter closes on Caleb, the man who answered to God's purpose. Faithfulness bears fruit even in this world.
- Remembered — these lists are fragments gathered out of confusion, yet God set His seal on them. Names the world has lost, He has kept.
And the sons of Jonathan Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.
This verse closes the long branch of Jerahmeel, Hezron's eldest son, with two bare names: Peleth and Zaza. Why did God keep a record like this at all, and why does this family line sit where it does?
Jerahmeel's line runs for nine verses and then stops. One writer finds the point in where that line sits, not only in what it says:
Fruitlessness is the mark of the line of Jerahmeel above all. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he is put in last place again (v. 25). That fits what we have already seen of the character of Chronicles in 1 Chronicles 1. The features of the natural man pass down a family just as readily as the features of a man of faith like Caleb. The difference is that the latter pass down by grace. David's line does not come from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
The same writer points to others nearby who left no sons at all:
Other members of the family of Caleb the son of Hezron bear witness to grace given to faith, and yet at the same time they are fruitless, which is the result of ruin. Take Seled, Jether, and Sheshan, who died without sons (vv. 30, 32, 34).
That order shapes more than Jerahmeel's family. It runs through the whole opening section of the book:
In the nine chapters that make up this opening section we have the principle that the apostle Paul put into words long afterwards: not the spiritual first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. Even the general genealogy of 1 Chronicles 1 is governed by this divine purpose. The genealogy of the sons of Israel from 1 Chronicles 2 follows the same rule.
The two closing names carry no story of their own. A dictionary entry gives all there is — their place in the family:
Zaza. Son of Jonathan, a son of Jada. 1 Chronicles 2:33.
Reading these verses as a straight father-to-son family tree creates puzzles. One writer lists this very block of verses as material of another kind:
Sometimes the genealogies of Chronicles hold very old names that we do not find anywhere else in the Old Testament. Many names are not those of people, but of clans or families. Others are genealogies we might call geographic. Since no other source material was available, they take in the names of tribes, of districts, of cities... We find this again in 1 Chronicles 2:18-24, 25-33, 42-55; 1 Chronicles 4:1-23, 28-33.
Behind that patchwork lies a real situation — the return from exile in Babylon:
In Chronicles the accuracy of the genealogies depends largely on how much importance the Jews placed on them during their captivity. The disorder these lists show matches the state of the Remnant as we find them in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Quite a number of the people, and of the priests, could not prove their genealogy. They had no family heads to point to, yet the names of their families, groups and cities still identified them.
That admission raises an obvious challenge. The same writer meets it head on:
Must we conclude from all this that the text of Chronicles is a human and arbitrary compilation, and that the book therefore has no historical value? That is what the rationalists claim, but thank God, their reasoning always fails when it attacks His Word. No well-taught Christian will deny that the genealogies of Chronicles are made up of fragments gathered while everything was in confusion. Yet they are documents on which God sets His seal of approval.
Another writer turns pages of names like these toward the reader:
It sobers the soul deeply to be allowed to read through a record of names that people forgot long ago. God has remembered every one of them, with every detail of their path through this world. One day our names too will be lost to mankind, but God will forget neither us nor our ways.
reason: two bullets titled "Remembered"; no progression; three hard sentences