And the sons of Hezron, who were born to him Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.
Hezron has already appeared in the line from Judah. Now the record pauses to name his three sons. Only one of them carries the royal line, yet Scripture keeps all three names. Why record men who lead nowhere? And why is the firstborn not the chosen one?
These names sit at the centre of the chapter. The chapter has one aim: to trace one family down to one man.
In 1 Chronicles 2:9-16 we meet the genealogy of David. This is in fact the main point of that chapter. David comes from Judah, and the line runs back through the ages by way of Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Shem, and Noah to Adam.
Birth order decides who heads the list. It does not decide whose line God uses.
Fruitlessness is the mark of Jerahmeel's line above all. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he stands in last place again (v. 25)... The traits of the natural man pass on just as surely as the traits of a man of faith like Caleb; the difference is that the traits of faith pass on by grace. David's line does not come from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
Another writer finds the same order running through the whole opening section of Chronicles.
The first nine chapters form an opening section. In them we find the principle that the apostle Paul put into words long afterward: not the spiritual first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. Even the general genealogy of 1 Chronicles 1 serves this purpose of God. The genealogy of the sons of Israel, starting in 1 Chronicles 2, follows the same rule.
The third son is the one who raises questions. Rossier sees a purpose in the unusual form of his name.
Verse 9 calls Caleb by the name Chelubai, and I think there is a purpose in that. He is the son of Hezron and the great-grandson of Judah. We find his genealogy in verses 18-20... The record calls him the brother of Jerahmeel (the son of Hezron, v. 9). But right at the end of this list we suddenly meet Achsah — the daughter, as we know, of Caleb the son of Jephunneh (Joshua 15:16).
Commentators differ over how far to press the link between the two Calebs. Rossier reads the overlap as deliberate — the son of Jephunneh, who "by his origin really had no right of citizenship in Israel," being grafted into this family by faith. Darby is more cautious: "There is no proof that Caleb was the son of Hezron, son of Pharez; if it was the same Caleb as in Numbers, he was the son of Jephunneh."
Ram carries the crown. Jerahmeel and Chelubai carry nothing — and yet the Spirit stops the march toward David to name them.
Having brought the line down to David, the Holy Spirit pauses, as it were, and notes the sons of Hezron (Esrom in older versions of Matthew 1) other than Ram (Aram there) — that is, Jerahmeel and Chelubai, who is also called Caleb (see verses 9 and 18). The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural relatives have a place in the records of Judah... Even Segub is named, though he was only half-brother to Ram. Is that not because of his link with David's ancestry, with that line which was always so precious to God that even the slightest tie to it earns a place in these genealogies?
The ten tribes vanished among the nations. Judah did not, and there was a reason for the difference.
God had set David on the throne, and that was a pledge that Christ must sit there too... So God keeps the tribe the King was to come from until the appointed time, when Jesus is born in Bethlehem. He keeps this tribe while the ten are hidden in the dust of the earth... During the captivity, when Gentile rulers held the throne, God carefully guarded the line of the true heirs. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, and in Him it ends.
- Aim — Verses 9 to 16 are the heart of the chapter. They trace David back through Judah, Jacob, Abraham and Noah to Adam.
- Order — The natural comes first, then the spiritual. Jerahmeel is named first as the eldest and ends up last; the line runs through Ram, the younger brother.
- Grace — A man of faith passes on his character only by grace; the natural man passes on his by birth. That is why Jerahmeel's branch is marked by unfruitfulness.
- Reach — Chelubai is the Caleb of verse 18. Judah's records also hold relatives who carry no crown, because the least tie to David's line earns a place.
- Result — God keeps the tribe and the family safe through Babylon. Matthew then carries the same line on to Christ, and in Him it ends.
And Ram begot Amminadab; and Amminadab begot Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;
The names from Judah down to David can read like dead weight. Then you notice which ones the Spirit stops to describe. This verse holds two of them: Amminadab, and his son Nahshon, singled out as leader of the tribe of Judah.
Ram, named at the head of this verse, was not the eldest of his family. One writer compares the two brothers:
Unfruitfulness especially marks the line of Jerahmeel. He was Hezron's eldest son (v. 9), yet here he is put in last place again (v. 25). This fits what we have already seen of Chronicles in chapter 1. The features of the natural man pass down just as surely as the features of a man of faith like Caleb. The difference is that Caleb's pass down by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (vv. 9-16).
Most of the men between Judah and David get no description at all. Nahshon is a rare exception, and the other two exceptions are remembered for their sin:
From Judah to David there is only a run of names with no distinguishing mark. There are three exceptions, and two of them stand out because of their sin. Er, whom the Lord killed; Achar, the troubler of Israel; and Nahshon, the prince of the children of Judah. Having brought the line down to David, the Holy Spirit pauses and notes the sons of Hezron other than Ram. The honoured line passed through Ram, but his natural relatives have a place in the records of Judah.
So Nahshon's title is not decoration. In a chapter where silence is the norm, the words "prince of the sons of Judah" carry the Spirit's own emphasis.
One commentator ties both names in this verse to the meaning of Judah itself:
Nahshon means "a diviner." Satan inspired some diviners, but God inspired others, and the second kind is meant here. Judah's name means "praise," and God gives the true worshipper grace to discern all things, even the future, as he takes in the word of God... Amminadab (the father of Nahshon) means "the people of the liberal giver." God is indeed the Liberal Giver. Praise and discernment of God's ways always go with knowing that God's grace freely gives us all things to enjoy.
The two men in this verse are not obscure. Their family sat at the meeting point of Israel's royal line and its priestly line:
Ram is sometimes called Aram (Matt. 1:3). Amminadab was the father of Elisheba. She married Aaron, the brother of Moses. Aaron was the first high priest of Israel, and the office then passed down through his family (Ex. 6:23). Nahshon (Naason) was the brother-in-law of Aaron (Ex. 6:23), and prince or head of the tribe of Judah (Num. 1:7; Num. 2:3; 1 Chron. 2:10). Salmon (Salma), son of Nahshon, married Rahab the prostitute and was the father of Boaz (Matt. 1:5).
Nahshon's rank showed itself in the march: his tribe went first. It also opened a door for Rahab, a woman with no claim on Israel at all:
She married Salmon (Matt. 1:5), who was the son of Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah (1 Chron. 2:11), the leader of the tribe that had marched first through the wilderness (Num. 10:14). And so she came straight into the royal line of Israel. She entered one of the most honoured families of all, and became an ancestor of the promised Messiah. She is one of the four women mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord.
Why record any of this? Because the list had a destination, and God was watching over it:
The pedigree shows the distinct line of constitutional royalty promised to the nation. The names given in it are not always those of the eldest in the family. David himself, for instance, was the seventh son of Jesse (1 Chron. 2:15). God decreed that the line of descent from Pherez would end with the Messiah. So He watched over it without a break.
- The line chosen. The royal line skips the firstborn Jerahmeel and runs through Ram, his younger brother. What passes down here passes down by grace.
- The line marked. Between Judah and David only three men get a description, and Nahshon's title, prince of Judah, is one of them.
- The line named. Amminadab means "the people of the liberal giver." Nahshon means "a diviner." Praise and discernment rest on a God who gives freely.
- The line opened. Nahshon led the tribe that marched first. Through his son Salmon, Rahab entered the royal family and the genealogy of the Lord.
- The line kept. The eldest was not always chosen. Yet God Himself guarded this line all the way to the Messiah.