And these are the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jizreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;
1 Chronicles spends its first nine chapters on names, and chapter 3 narrows to one family: David's. David had these sons at Hebron, before he ruled all Israel, and the second one carries two names in Scripture.
One writer calls this chapter the great object the whole genealogy aims at, and finds meaning in the order of the names.
Then comes the third chapter — the grand object, the genealogy of David. "Now these were the sons of David" (v. 1) — himself singled out from among all the line of Judah... Saul is passed over completely. David came later in time, but in God's purpose he came before Saul; and even during Saul's reign, Samuel the prophet anointed him. So we find here the sons of David. Here again too, "that which is natural" — these born in Hebron. They never came to the throne... No flesh shall glory in His presence. The last becomes the first. The purpose of God alone triumphs.
David's throne stood in Hebron first, and that town already had a history.
All this time (seven and a half years) his throne is in Hebron. That place holds many treasured memories, and it is linked forever with the faith of his wandering fathers, from Abraham to Jacob. "Communion," with all that it means, must be the power of a kingdom. There is meaning in the fact that the tribes come up here, Judah first and then all Israel together, to make David king.
This verse names two of David's wives, and more follow in the next verses. One writer asks what David would have found if he had checked God's Word first.
David takes several wives at Hebron besides Ahinoam and Abigail, his companions in his wanderings. Had he inquired of the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have replied? Read My Word!... Does Deuteronomy 17:17 not say about the king, "And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"? By human reasoning he could give all sorts of good reasons for what he did — to secure a royal line, and so on. But this was not God's way. To be sure of this, you need only trace the children of his wives. If godly Abigail had been his only companion, would he have seen an Amnon bring shame on his house? Or an Absalom rebel against his own father? Or an Adonijah try to seize the kingdom?
Amnon's name and Amnon's life pull in opposite directions.
Amnon means "faithful." That is what he should have been, but he is the very opposite. He grew up surrounded by loose living, as it must have been in David's harem. The lust of the flesh gets the upper hand, and he commits the terrible deed.
The second son goes by two names, Daniel and Chileab, and Scripture tells us nothing more about him. One writer draws a conclusion from that silence.
By Abigail he had Daniel, or Chileab, of whom we read nothing. He probably died young, for, on Amnon's death, Absalom, the third son, looked forward to the throne. After Absalom's wretched end, Adonijah, the fourth son, regarded the throne as his right by birth. The Lord did build David a sure house, but Abigail had no share in the building of it.
The sons born at Hebron share one outcome. The throne went elsewhere.
Amnon, the son according to the flesh, the shame of his father's house, comes first. Then he is cast off, like everything that springs from nature... The sons born before the kingdom was fully set up — at least the ones whose history we have — all share one condemnation. Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah: corruption, rebellion, and pride that claims the throne and would push Solomon aside. All of them come under judgment. You have to reach the kingdom firmly established at Jerusalem... Once again, nature's order counts for nothing.
- Purpose — Chapter 3 is where the whole genealogy was heading: David's line. Saul is skipped, because God's purpose ran through David before Saul ever reigned.
- Place — Hebron held David's throne for seven and a half years. That town was tied to the faith of Abraham and Jacob, and there Judah and then all Israel crowned him.
- Cause — More wives at Hebron went against a command the king could have read for himself. Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah were the harvest.
- Sons — Amnon's name means "faithful," and he lived the opposite. Daniel, also called Chileab, left no record at all.
- Result — God set aside every son born at Hebron. The throne waited for Jerusalem and for Solomon, the youngest, so that no one could boast in birth order.
the third, Absalom the son of Maachah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;
This verse names two more of David's sons born at Hebron, and it names their mothers. Both sons later turned against their father, and one of these mothers came from a Canaanite royal house.
Chronicles opens David's family line at Hebron. One writer weighs what that place means.
Here, this line of descent begins at Hebron, the place where the tribes first acknowledged the kingship of the son of Jesse. Above all, Hebron was the place of death. The tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Jacob and the patriarchs were there… So this place speaks in a striking way of the cross. The cross is the foundation of royal glory and the basis of all our blessings.
One writer measures David's marriages at Hebron against a command he already had in his hands.
David takes several wives at Hebron besides Ahinoam and Abigail, his companions in his wanderings. Had he inquired of the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have replied? Read my Word!… Does it not say in Deuteronomy 17:17 about the king: "he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"? By human reasoning he might have had all sorts of good reasons for what he did — to secure a royal line, and so on. But it was not what God wanted. To be convinced of this we need only trace the descendants of his wives. Suppose David had only had godly Abigail as his companion. Would he then have seen an Amnon shame his house, an Absalom rebel against his own father, or an Adonijah try to seize the kingdom?
Maacah was no Israelite. One writer traces trouble back to the marriage itself.
David's marriage to Maacah, the daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur, was already a transgression. Absalom had taken refuge with his grandfather. Talmai was one of the Canaanite kings whom the people spared through their unfaithfulness (Joshua 13:2-3). God had forbidden Israel to marry into these nations (Exodus 34:15-16)… David had used his sovereign power to violate this ordinance instead of obeying the law.
Another writer weighs the meaning of Absalom's name against the marriage he was born from.
David's third son was Absalom, meaning "Father of Peace." That name tells us how David's heart longed for peace after the long weary years of war and wandering… It was little use giving this wife's son a name with such a beautiful meaning. He was born of a marriage made in deliberate disobedience to the clear Word of God.
One writer sets three of these sons' names beside the lives they actually lived.
Soon, in the history that follows, we find Amnon ("faithful"), Absalom ("father of peace") and Adonijah ("my Lord is Jah") all acting in clear and undoubted contradiction to their names.
The same writer reads this son's name together with his mother's.
The third son is Absalom, the "father of peace."… He is the son of Maachah, which means "bruising." For "He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him" (Isaiah 53:5). How surely the question of peace finds its answer in the work of the Cross!
(This writer quotes an older translation. The ESV reads "he was crushed for our iniquities… upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.")
This verse gives Adonijah little more than a name. One writer traces his later faults back to his father.
His father's weakness had fed his flaws. That same weakness had done so much to bring on the disasters of David's own life… "His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, 'Why have you done thus and so?'" Families of believers often see their testimony ruined through the weakness of the parents. In sparing the rod with their children they bring the rod upon themselves, as well as dishonour upon Christ. God never acts like this. He proves His love toward us by His discipline. Weakness in parents does not prove their love. It proves their selfishness: in sparing their children they spare themselves.
None of these sons ends up on the throne. One writer takes that as the point of the whole list.
All the sons born before the kingdom was fully established share one condemnation — at least all those whose history is recorded. Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah all come under judgment: corruption, rebellion, and pride that claims the throne and would push Solomon aside. Once again, nature's order is of no value.
- Hebron — the line starts where the tribes first crowned David. It is a burial place, and it speaks of the cross as the foundation of royal glory.
- Many wives — David's marriages broke a command written for kings. The sons of those marriages became his own sorrows.
- Geshur — Maacah's father was a Canaanite king. God had forbidden such marriages, and her son later fled to that same house for shelter.
- Names — David gave sons names like "father of peace" and "my Lord is Jah," and their lives denied them. Yet "bruising," the mother's name, points ahead to the One bruised to make peace.
- Grace — every son born at Hebron comes under judgment, so the throne does not pass by nature's order.
the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah his wife
Verse 3 ends the list of David's sons born at Hebron, naming the fifth and sixth with their mothers. Why does Chronicles start the royal family here, and why does it note six sons by six different women?
One writer finds meaning in where this list starts.
1 Chronicles 3 presents the descendants of David until just a few generations before Christ. Here, this line of descent begins at Hebron, the place where the tribes first acknowledged the kingship of the son of Jesse. Chronicles passes over David's history and afflictions as the rejected king in complete silence. It presents David as the object of God's purposes about the kingship — purposes that Christ, the Son of David, will fully carry out. Yet, while omitting his sufferings, Chronicles shows us Hebron as the starting point of his glory. Hebron was above all the place of death, for the tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Jacob, and the other fathers of Israel were there... Hebron later became a city of refuge from the avenger of blood. It pictures the cross, which shelters a guilty people.
Commentators see in this list of mothers a step David took without asking the Lord.
David takes several wives at Hebron besides Ahinoam and Abigail, his companions in his wanderings. Had he inquired of the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have replied? Read my Word! Does it not say about the king in Deuteronomy 17:17, "He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"?... He might have all sorts of good reasons according to man's mind for doing as he did: to secure a royal posterity and so on, but this was not according to God. To see this, we need only trace the descendants of his wives. Suppose godly Abigail had been his only companion. Would he then have seen an Amnon bring shame and dishonor on his house, an Absalom rebel against his own father, or an Adonijah try to seize control of the kingdom?
One writer takes the six sons of Hebron together as a picture.
David's sons in Hebron are six, by six mothers. A son represents his father. So these sons seem to represent the various characters of Christ in His rule as king, and the principles those characters show, or which bring them out.
So the fifth name in our verse speaks of judgment, and the mother's name of what judgment gives.
The fifth son shows his number in his name, Shephatiah, "Jah judges." He is the son of Abital, "father (or source) of cover," or "protection."... This is what true judgment is for. When judgment returns to righteousness, this is what it will give: the protection of man from man — sad that it should be needed. When Jehovah judges in the earth openly and manifestly, as He will do, how will the earth rest and be secure?
The last name gives the outcome of all the rest.
Finally the sixth son gives us the effect of all this in blessing. Ithream means "the abundance of the people," for "in a multitude of people is the glory of a king" (Proverbs 14:28). But this "abundance" means more than "multitude." Ithream is also the "son of Eglah," which means "heifer" — a double picture of labour and of fruitfulness. And so Eglah is in some special sense called "David's wife"! Yes, our David has indeed linked Himself in a special way with service — service in which all fruit is found!
Not one of the six Hebron sons received the throne. One writer finds the same order running through these opening chapters.
These nine opening chapters show the principle the apostle Paul stated later: not first the spiritual but the natural, then the spiritual.
Another writer traces that order in David's own family.
All the sons born before the kingdom was fully established — at least all those whose history is recorded — come under one common condemnation... Only when the kingdom stands firmly established at Jerusalem, the place of free election according to grace (Psalm 132:13), do we meet Solomon... Once again, nature's order is of no value.
One writer notes what God did with this failure.
Yet under law God bore with bigamy and polygamy because of the hardness of men's hearts... Also, far above men's natural thoughts, God used this occasion to show distinct features of the Lord Jesus in His coming kingdom... This drives home a striking truth: God can overrule man's failure to serve the greater purpose of exalting His beloved Son on high.
- Place. The royal line is dated from Hebron, a place of tombs and a refuge from the avenger of blood — glory built on death.
- Failure. Six sons by six mothers records disobedience to a command David already had in writing. Shame, rebellion, and ambition followed in those mothers' children.
- Overruling. God did not sanction the failure, yet used it to display features of Christ's coming reign — judgment that shelters, service that bears fruit.
- Election. Not one son of Hebron inherited the throne. The natural comes first, then the spiritual — and Solomon appears only at Jerusalem.
- Outcome. The list ends on "abundance of the people." The true David's glory is a multiplied people, the fruit of His own labour.
six were born to him in Hebron. And there he reigned seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years.
The record of David's sons stops to name a city and count years. His reign falls into two unequal parts: a short stretch at Hebron, a long one at Jerusalem. Why does a genealogy stop to tell us where the king lived, and what do those two places mean?
Chronicles does not tell David's story the way Samuel does. It leaves out his years of rejection.
1 Chronicles 3 gives the descendants of David down to just a few generations before Christ. Here the line starts at Hebron, the place where the tribes first acknowledged the son of Jesse as king. Chronicles says nothing at all about David's history and his suffering as the rejected king. It presents David as the object of God's purposes for the kingship — purposes that will be fully accomplished in Christ, the Son of David. Yet, while it leaves out his sufferings, Chronicles shows us Hebron as the starting point of his glory. Hebron was above all the place of death, for the tombs of Sarah, Abraham, Jacob and the other patriarchs were there. Hebron then became a city of refuge from the avenger of blood, a picture of the cross that shelters a guilty people. So this place speaks in a striking way of the cross as the foundation of royal glory and as the basis of all our blessings.
David asked God which city to go to. The answer carried a lesson in the name itself.
God's answer, "Hebron," was not just meant to point out a good location. Its name means "communion," and that would be a strong reminder to David: if he is to reign as king, he will need the place of constant communion with God.
The first figure in the verse covers years when David ruled one tribe only. He did not take the rest by force.
So far, though, he was only king in Hebron, accepted by the tribe of Judah alone, and he had to wait for God's time until all Israel would accept him. For seven years and six months he waited, and during that time there were long wars between the house of Saul and the house of David. Saul's house were the attackers, but every effort to block God's purposes failed. One by one, every obstacle to David receiving the loyalty of all Israel was taken away... In the end David was anointed king over all Israel, and all the tribes accepted the man of God's choice.
None of these six sons ever sat on their father's throne. The heir comes further down the list.
Then comes the third chapter, and its great subject is the genealogy of David... Here again we meet "that which is natural" — these sons born in Hebron. They never came to the throne. "And these were born to him in Jerusalem, Shimea and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon" — Solomon the last of these "four of Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel," as the Spirit of God takes care to say. No flesh shall glory in His presence. The last becomes the first. The purpose of God alone triumphs.
David's sons are listed in the order of birth. God's choice does not follow that order.
In fact, every one of David's sons, without exception, is listed between those two names, Amnon and Tamar. What is more, all the sons born before the kingdom was fully established — at least all those whose history is recorded — fall under one and the same condemnation. Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah stand for corruption, rebellion, and the pride that lays claim to the throne and would push Solomon aside. All of them come under judgment. You have to reach the kingdom firmly established at Jerusalem, the place of God's free choice in grace, before you are brought to Solomon, who, after his father David, is the man of God's purposes. Once again, the order of nature counts for nothing.
The two spans add up to a round number that carries weight across Scripture.
David reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem, forty years in all. That number always expresses the sufficiency and completeness of whatever it is used of.
Other kings reigned the same number of years.
FORTY = 10 × 4. Complete probation to bring to light good or evil... Saul, David, Solomon, and Jehoash were each tested by a reign of forty years.
- Hebron — the place of graves. Chronicles skips David's years of rejection. It starts his glory at the city of the tombs — death at the foundation of the throne.
- Hebron — the place of communion. God named the city Himself; its meaning told David that a king must reign out of constant nearness to God.
- Seven and a half years of waiting. One tribe accepted him while the rest held out. David waited, and God removed every obstacle.
- Six sons, no successor. Everyone born in the waiting years stood for what is natural, and not one of them reached the throne.
- Thirty-three years of purpose. The heir comes from Jerusalem, the place of God's free choice. The two spans together make forty — a full term of testing.
And these were born to him in Jerusalem Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel;
The verse opens the list of David's sons born in Jerusalem, with Solomon named last. Some names here differ from other lists of the same family, and the order raises one question: why does the throne pass to the youngest?
The four sons appear in birth order, yet the one who inherits stands at the end. One writer reads the whole chapter as a study in how God chooses. He traces the pattern from Amnon, David's eldest son, down to these four:
David himself was the lastborn of his father's house, and his family bears the same clear mark of election according to grace. Amnon, the son according to the flesh, the shame of his father's house, comes first, only to be rejected like all that springs from nature… One must reach the kingdom firmly established at Jerusalem, the place of free election according to grace (Ps. 132:13), before we meet Solomon. After his father David, he is the man of God's counsels. Once again, nature's order is of no value. Shimea, Shobab, and Nathan, mentioned first as sons of Bathsheba, disappear before Solomon, the youngest son. Likewise, all the other sons who come after him have no right to the kingship.
Readers comparing this verse with 2 Samuel meet different names for the same people. This verse calls the mother Bathshua; other books use a different name:
Another name for Bathsheba, the wife of David. 1 Chr. 3:5. The same Hebrew word is translated "daughter of Shua," Judah's wife in Gen. 38:12; 1 Chr. 2:3.
The same happens with her father. 2 Samuel and Chronicles give him different names:
Father of Bathsheba, or Bathshua. 2 Sam. 11:3. He is called Ammiel in 1 Chr. 3:5.
Four of David's royal sons came from the woman he took through adultery and murder. One writer sees grace at work in that:
The king is now able to comfort Bathsheba. Grace flows out to him again. He has a son whom he names Solomon (meaning Peaceable) and whom the Lord through Nathan calls "Jedidiah" (meaning Beloved of Jehovah). Defilement would have kept Bathsheba from any portion in God's blessings. Grace brings her into the Messiah's line of descent (Matt. 1:6). She becomes the mother of the king of peace and glory. Grace delights to work for fallen creatures, joining them to Christ so that it may show its "exceeding riches" in the ages to come.
Matthew's family tree keeps the story of Uriah's wife in the record. One writer sees God's hand in it:
A little further on, in Matthew, we read, "David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah." It is worthy of God to act like this. The Spirit of God is leading us along the line through which Christ came according to the flesh. In doing so He gives us Tamar and Bathsheba as links in the genealogical chain! How clear it is that there is nothing of man in this! No one could ever have designed such a genealogy. It is entirely divine.
Nathan and Solomon both appear in this verse. Both also appear in the New Testament, in two family lines that lead to Jesus. One writer explains why:
There was then a curse on the line of Solomon, and Joseph belongs to that line. There was no curse on the line of Nathan. So by His birth from Mary He is truly the Son of David. In the eyes of the nation He held that place legally through Joseph.
Another writer shows where Solomon's line stops:
Jeconiah stood for Solomon's line, and that king's childlessness barred its claim to David's throne (Jer. 22:30). So the succession passed to Nathan's line, represented by Salathiel, whose actual father was Neri.
The verse names Bathshua, but the book never tells her story. That silence is deliberate:
These chapters pass over David's crime in complete silence: the story of Bathsheba and Uriah, and the terrible results of corruption and revolt that these events brought on the king's house. Nothing helps us more to see the Spirit of God's purpose in Chronicles. This David is the king according to God's counsels, and he represents Christ. How could the book show him to us as a murderer?
- Grace chooses. Birth order decides nothing here. The three older sons step aside for Solomon, the youngest, born after the kingdom was settled at Jerusalem.
- Grace lifts. The same grace reaches the mother. Defilement would have shut Bathsheba out. Instead she becomes mother of the king of peace, and the Lord calls her son Beloved.
- Grace publishes. Matthew's family tree keeps her in the record instead of hiding her. No human writer would have designed such a line.
- Grace reaches Christ two ways. This one verse names both Nathan and Solomon. Both lines reach Jesus: the legal one through Joseph, the real one through Mary.
- Grace shields the type. Chronicles keeps the crime out of the record so David can stand as the picture of the king of God's purpose.
and Ibhar, and Elishama, and Eliphelet,
These three names belong to sons born to David in Jerusalem, once his kingdom was settled there — a list most readers skim past. Yet two other records spell some of these names differently, and none of these sons ever took the throne. So why did God keep the list at all?
Most of these sons leave no story behind them. One commentator, looking at the matching list elsewhere, notes how few of them left any trace — and still insists the names are here on purpose:
David made still more marriages, and more sons and daughters were born to him in Jerusalem. Eleven of them are named, but the record does not name their mothers. Only two have anything recorded about them later, and only one in this history. Even so, there must be a purpose in listing them here.
The first name points away from David's household and toward God's will:
The first son now is Ibhar, "election," or "He chooses." The source of all blessing is in God Himself, in His will alone. This is clearly the basic need, if He is to be glorified at all. Whatever happens by chance, or comes about some other way, we cannot trace back to Him and cannot give Him glory for: this needs no argument.
The same commentator handles both forms of the second name. The other list reads Elishua, and that form says God supplies the way of rescue, not only the will to rescue:
The second son is Elishua, "my God is salvation": the method comes from Him as well as the will. This is the blessing of the gospel — that God is exalted in it this way.
The form in this verse, Elishama, points to a conversation that goes both ways and never ends:
Elishama, "God hears": the creature, taken hold of by His love in this way, belongs to Him. Having heard His creating voice, the creature may now answer Him and be heard in return. So the joy of that fellowship begins, and it never ends.
The third name speaks of the outcome:
Eliphelet, "my God is escape," or complete deliverance. How the finished outcome, once gained, will bring out the greatness of that escape! All words are far too weak here.
Both Elishama and Eliphelet appear again in verse 8, and the other lists spell them differently. A Bible dictionary counts two sons of David named Elishama, and links one of them to a second form of the name:
Two sons of David born at Jerusalem. 2 Sam. 5:16; 1 Chr. 3:6, 8; 1 Chr. 14:7. One of them seems to be called ELISHUA in 2 Sam. 5:15; 1 Chr. 14:5.
The Eliphelet of this verse is likewise matched with the name Elpalet in the other record:
Another of David's sons born in Jerusalem. 1 Chr. 3:6. He seems to be called ELPALET in 1 Chr. 14:5.
These names stand after Solomon's in the chapter. One writer reads the whole family list as a lesson that birth order settles nothing:
We do not meet Solomon until the kingdom is firmly established at Jerusalem, the place of free election according to grace (Ps. 132:13). After his father David, Solomon is the man of God's purposes. Once again, nature's order counts for nothing. Shimea, Shobab, and Nathan, named first as sons of Bathsheba, drop out of sight before Solomon, the youngest son. In the same way, all the other sons who come after him have no right to the kingship.
- Chosen — Ibhar means "He chooses." Every blessing starts in God's will alone, because nothing that came another way could give Him glory.
- Saved — Elishua, the other form of the second name, means "my God is salvation." God supplies both the will to save and the way of saving, and the gospel exalts Him for both.
- Heard — Elishama means "God hears." The one God has taken hold of may answer Him and be heard, in a conversation that never ends.
- Delivered — Eliphelet means "my God is escape." It names the finished outcome: a complete deliverance that words are too weak to describe.
- Passed over — none of these sons had a claim to the throne. The kingdom went to the youngest son, so the list teaches that natural order counts for nothing where God chooses.
and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
This verse is three names and nothing more. They are sons born to David after his throne moved to Jerusalem. Scripture tells no story about any of them. So why does God take the trouble to write them down?
One writer reads the whole family list as a lesson in how God chooses. Birth order counts for nothing:
David's family bears the clear mark of election according to grace, just as its head did, for David was the lastborn of his father's house. Amnon, the son according to the flesh and the shame of his father's house, comes first, only to be rejected like everything that springs from nature… You must reach the kingdom firmly set up at Jerusalem, the place of free election according to grace (Ps. 132:13), before Solomon is introduced… Again, nature's order is worth nothing. Shimea, Shobab, and Nathan are named first as sons of Bathsheba, yet they drop from view before Solomon, the youngest son. In the same way, all the other sons who come after him have no right to the kingship.
So these three stand outside the royal line. They are real sons of the king, yet the crown does not pass through them.
The same names appear again later in 1 Chronicles. Two of them, including Nogah, are missing from the matching list in 2 Samuel. One writer explains what the repeat is for:
This book gives us the full list of David's children at Jerusalem for the second time (1 Chron. 3:5-8; 1 Chron. 14:3-7). 2 Samuel 5:14-16 does not mention Elpelet and Nogah. The repeat shows us that God is carrying out His purposes for the kingship at the very moment the king is finding a resting place at Zion for the ark of God.
The meanings of these Hebrew names are not accidental. Commenting on the same list in 2 Samuel, one writer sets them out:
The Hebrew names of the eleven sons of David are of deep significance. These names seem to make known the story of the redemption that is in Him whom David foreshadows… Ibhar (the Lord chooses); Elishua (my God is salvation); Nepheg (budding); Japhia (glorious); Elishama (God hears); Eliada (whom God knows); Eliphalet (my God is escape). What a blessed revelation is contained in those names — and some Christians can say there is no meaning in names! Read them in their meaning and ponder over each as telling forth the very gospel story from start to finish.
Another writer takes the names one at a time. He finds more in Japhia than the bare name suggests:
The fourth son, Japhia, is "lustrous, shining" — the creature clothed with the glory of the light, the reflection of what has shone upon it. Christ Himself is the pledge and assurance of this, and it is produced by being occupied with Him… And what a testimony to His grace that He can stoop like this, in the delight of His love, to glorify the ones He has chosen!
Three unknown names make sense only when you see what the whole list is for. One writer names the aim of these chapters, and it is not history:
the aim of the Holy Spirit in Chronicles is not history, except as a side matter. It is the bringing in of the Son Who is to reign over all. The sin and failure of man, and Satan's determined opposition seen in Saul, are only occasions for the display of sovereign grace and Almighty power… Other names come in and shine among their fellows, and side purposes are carried out, but the great purpose of God centres in His Son. The genealogy points to Him.
Three men lived, and all that is left of them is three words in a list. One writer finds comfort in that:
It sobers the soul deeply to be allowed to read such a record of names. Man forgot them long ago, but God has remembered every one of them, 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.
- Recorded by grace. David's family list bears "the clear mark of election according to grace." Nature's order counts for nothing: the firstborn is passed over, the youngest wears the crown.
- Recorded, not crowned. These three are listed after Solomon, and the sons who come after him "have no right to the kingship." They are real sons of the king, outside the royal line.
- Recorded twice. The repeat shows God's purposes for the kingship moving forward just as the ark finds rest at Zion.
- Recorded with meaning. Writers read the names as the gospel story in miniature — Nepheg "budding," Japhia "glorious," the creature clothed with a light it did not make.
- Recorded for Christ. The genealogy exists to bring in "the Son Who is to reign over all." Man forgets these names; God remembers every one.
and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine
Verse 8 ends the list of sons born to David in Jerusalem with a plain total: nine. The history says almost nothing more about these three men, which raises a question: why does God have their names written down at all?
Long lists of names look like filler. One writer starts from what these lists leave out.
The tables do not mention all the names; many are left out. That shows at once the purpose of these long lists of names. They record only those who had a part in carrying out the purpose of God — the channels God chose, through whom the Lord worked out His purpose. Many lessons can be drawn from these genealogies, which people so often think are unprofitable.
Of all the sons born in Jerusalem, only a couple leave any further trace in the history. That silence is itself worth noticing.
David makes still more marriages, and sons and daughters are born to him in Jerusalem. Eleven are named, but their mothers are not mentioned. Only two of them have anything recorded about them afterwards, and only one in the present history. Even so, there must be a purpose in listing them here.
This verse counts nine. The parallel lists of David's sons born in Jerusalem do not match name for name.
The chapter splits David's family in two: the sons born at Hebron, and the sons born later at Jerusalem.
Here again we meet "that which is natural" — those born in Hebron. They never came to the throne... Solomon was the last of these four, the sons of Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel, as the Spirit of God takes care to say. No flesh shall glory in His presence. The last becomes the first. The purpose of God alone triumphs.
In the text, these three names come after Solomon. One writer reads the whole family list as a lesson in how little birth order counts.
Like its head — for David was the lastborn of his father's house — the family of David carries the clear mark of election according to grace. Amnon, the son according to the flesh, the shame of his father's house, comes first, only to be rejected like everything that springs from nature. And all the sons born before the kingdom was fully established, at least all those whose history is recorded, come under one condemnation. Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah — corruption, rebellion, and pride that lays claim to the throne and would push Solomon aside — all come under judgment. You have to reach the kingdom firmly established at Jerusalem, the place of free election according to grace (Ps. 132:13), before you are introduced to Solomon, who after his father David is the man of God's counsels. Once again, nature's order is worth nothing. In the same way, all the other sons who come after Solomon have no right to the kingship.
The first of the three names speaks of a God who listens.
Elishama means "God hears." The creature, taken hold of like this by His love, is for Himself. Having heard His creative voice, the creature is allowed to answer and to be heard in return. So the joy of that exchange begins, never to end.
The last of the three names is about rescue.
Eliphelet means "my God is escape," or complete deliverance. When that end is fully reached, how it will emphasize that escape! All words are far too weak here.
Readers comparing this list with the one later in the same book meet a puzzle at the middle name.
Beeliada: a son of David, 1 Chr. 14:7. He is also called Eliada in 2 Sam. 5:16 and 1 Chr. 3:8.
- Recorded — Chronicles keeps only the names tied to God's purpose. A list of nine little-known sons is selection, not padding.
- Remembered — Most of these nine leave no further mark in the history. Their bare mention still has a reason behind it.
- Repudiated — The sons who grabbed at the throne by birth or by force came under judgment. Nature's order counts for nothing.
- Replaced — Solomon, the youngest son, takes the throne the older ones wanted. No one can boast before God.
- Renamed — One son is called Eliada here and Beeliada elsewhere. The names still speak: God hears, and my God is escape.
all were sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.
David's family record closes with one summing-up line. It gives a total, a group left uncounted, and one daughter's name. Why does a list tracing the royal line end this way? And why name Tamar, whose story is one of the darkest in David's house?
The chapter lists the sons born at Hebron first. Not one of them ever reached the throne.
Here again too, "that which is natural" — these born in Hebron. They never came to the throne. "And these were born to him in Jerusalem, Shimea and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon." Solomon was the last of these four. He was the son of Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel, as the Spirit of God takes care to say. No flesh shall glory in His presence. The last becomes the first. The purpose of God alone triumphs.
This closing line holds the whole household between two names — Amnon at the start, Tamar at the end. One writer reads that frame as the point.
David, the head of this family, was the lastborn of his father's house. His family bears the same clear mark of election according to grace. Amnon, the son according to the flesh, the shame of his father's house, comes first, only to be rejected like everything that springs from nature. In fact, those two names, Amnon and Tamar, enclose every one of David's sons without exception. Moreover, all the sons born before the kingdom was fully established undergo a common condemnation — at least all those the record tells us about. Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah: corruption, rebellion, and pride which claims the throne and would supplant Solomon. All come under judgment.
Why were there so many sons to count? One writer traces it back to a command David held in his own hands and never read.
At Hebron, David takes several more wives. Ahinoam and Abigail had been with him through his wanderings. Had he inquired of the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have replied? Read my Word! Dependence on God and dependence on His Word are one and the same thing. David had the books of the law in hand, and he needed only to meditate on them to see his path. Does not Deuteronomy 17:17 say of the king: "He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"? By man's way of thinking he might have had all sorts of good reasons for what he did — to secure a royal line, and so on. But it was not according to God. To see this, we need only trace the descendants of his wives. Suppose David had had only godly Abigail as his companion. Would he then have seen an Amnon bring shame and dishonour on his house? Would he have seen an Absalom rebel against his own father, or an Adonijah try to seize control of the kingdom?
The list of sons ends with one daughter's name. This is who she was.
Daughter of David and Maacah, violated by Amnon, and avenged by Absalom in the death of Amnon.
Her name in the family list keeps that wrong in view. One writer pictures her flight, and what the king's own house failed to be for her.
Across this scene flees Tamar, with ashes on her head and her torn robe of many colours. She is a childlike figure of wronged innocence, running to her refuge in her brother's house. A king's court is no refuge, no safeguard. The king may be angry, but it does no good. Has he not himself brought in this shadow of unrepaired wrong that now pursues him? Did he not bring the first dishonour into his own home, and dig through its wall with his own hands?
The genealogy does not stop with David's household. One writer sees the whole record of Chronicles aimed at one person still to come.
The object of the Holy Spirit in Chronicles is not history, except as something secondary. It is the bringing in of the Son who is to reign over all. The sin and failure of man, and Satan's determined opposition seen in Saul, are only occasions for the display of sovereign grace and of Almighty power. As Son of David He is King of the Jews, and as Son of Abraham the heir of the promises. But He is more: as Son of Man He will be King of kings and Lord of lords... Other names come in and shine among their fellows, and side purposes are carried out. But the great purpose of God centres in His Son. The genealogy points to Him.
- Cause. David held the command about not taking many wives, and never read it. That is where this long family list begins.
- Consequence. Amnon, Absalom and Adonijah stand in the list. They became the very sorrows that disobedience produced.
- Counted. The verse acknowledges the sons of the concubines, but it does not name them.
- Named. The one daughter named is the one who suffered wrong. Scripture keeps her in the record instead of tidying her out.
- Christ. Through a household this damaged, the line still runs on to the Son who is to reign. Man's failure becomes the occasion for sovereign grace.
And Solomon's son was Rehoboam; Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,
Four names in a row — Rehoboam, then Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat — open a list of kings that runs from Solomon down to the exile. Why would God record a chain of fathers and sons at all? And what was He guarding by keeping it unbroken?
Many readers skip a chapter like this. One writer faced that objection head-on:
But someone may still challenge us like this: "Do you believe that God inspired the long string of names in the opening chapters of 1 Chronicles — those family lists? Were they written for our learning? 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 later on, the history of the people these lists specially belong to will fully prove their value, interest and importance.
The list starts with Solomon, and Solomon had no natural right to that place:
"And these were born to him in Jerusalem, Shimea and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon." Solomon was the last of these "four by Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel." The Spirit of God takes care to say so. No one may boast in God's presence. The last becomes the first. The purpose of God alone triumphs. Solomon, the last of the four, son of the woman who had been the wife of Uriah, is the man chosen for the throne.
The phrase "his son" repeats down the whole line of kings. One writer explains what that repetition marks out:
Verses 10 to 24 give us Solomon's direct descendants. The words "his son" repeat again and again down to Zedekiah. They underline the contrast between descendants who come by grace and descendants who come by nature, as we have seen in the history of Edom.
The line ran unbroken from David to Josiah. What happened when it snapped told the nation where it stood with God:
In 1 Chronicles 3 we return to 1 Chronicles 2:15. The chapter lists David's sons and successors down to Josiah, in regular succession from father to son. It was God's order, and it held even when conspirators killed the father. So a break in this succession would be strong evidence that God had cast off the nation. And in fact that order did break after the death of Josiah, and the wrath began to fall as it had not before. As soon as God stops appointing to the throne, Satan steps in. Through his agents, the kings of Egypt and of Babylon, he sets up men on the throne whom God rejected and gave up to judgment.
The line had to survive, because a promise hung on it:
This future Son was to be "the offspring of David," so David's line had to last until He appeared. That is why God had promised David "to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons" (2 Chron. 21:7). Now, how was this lamp going to shine in the royal house until the appearing of the promised Son? How was it to pass through man's poisoned air and moral darkness without going out? Had it gone out, David's true Heir could never have appeared. Satan understood this. If he could manage to put out the lamp, all of God's counsels concerning the "Just Ruler over men" would come to nothing. The enemy did everything he could to crush this light. He failed. The Son of David appeared in the world and won the victory over Satan.
These names are not only a record of the past. They trace a purpose God had for the earth from the start:
The purpose of God is traced down first from nature in Adam, down to the kingly purpose in David and his line. Such was God's intention for the earth. It had come under a curse, but God always meant to reconcile, as we know, all things; so the Jew is here given to understand. Here is the certainty that God would recover the kingdom; He would restore the kingdom to Israel. Yet they misunderstood the timing. The disciples did the same.
- Grace chooses. Solomon, the youngest of four brothers, heads the royal list. Birth order counted for nothing; God's purpose alone triumphs.
- Grace records. The repeated "his son" marks out a line held by grace rather than by natural right.
- Grace orders. Father-to-son succession was God's own arrangement. When it collapsed, the break showed that God had set the nation aside.
- Grace protects. God promised David a lamp that would always burn, and Satan's attempts to put it out failed.
- Grace arrives. The list runs toward a King still to come, and carries the certainty that God will yet restore the kingdom.
Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,
This verse is a bare link in a chain: three kings of Judah, each named as the son of the one before. Yet two of these names go missing when Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus. Why does Chronicles keep what the New Testament drops?
The phrase "his son" repeats all the way down the list. One writer finds meaning in that repetition:
Verses 10 to 24 give us Solomon's direct descendants. The words "his son" repeat again and again down to Zedekiah. They stress the contrast between the descendants according to grace and those according to nature, as we have seen in the history of Edom (1 Chron. 1:43-54).
Ahaziah, named second in this verse, took his direction from his mother:
He reigned, and "he also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab." His mother was that infamous Athaliah, the daughter of Omri. "His mother was his counselor in doing wickedly." … That is, the first evil begun by a godly king continues. The practice of his son is far from godly, for the bad example of a good man has immense influence, especially with those who are not good.
Matthew 1:8 runs straight from Joram to Uzziah. That skips the two kings named here, and Amaziah after them. Commentators treat the gap as deliberate:
It is evident that the omission was not careless or ignorant, but intentional. I do not doubt myself that the design was to signal God's solemn sentence on the connection with Athaliah, of the wicked house of Ahab, the wife of Joram. (Compare verse 8 with 2 Chron. 22 - 26.) Ahaziah vanishes, and Joash, and Amaziah, when the line reappears here in Uzziah. These generations God blots out along with that wicked woman.
If the reason were simply personal wickedness, other names would have gone too. One writer raises that objection and answers it from the second commandment:
The list includes Ahaz, Manasseh and Amon, each one infamous for very great wickedness. That seems to rule out the idea that wickedness is why these three were left out. So why are they excluded? Here we have a striking example of the principle so clearly expressed in the second commandment: "I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me." … Jehoshaphat was personally a good man. But by marrying his son Jehoram to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, he brought down on his own descendants, to the third generation, the curse that rested on the house of Ahab.
The same writer draws a practical lesson from what followed:
For three generations we read of wholesale massacres in cold blood. … Athaliah, when her son Ahaziah died, killed all the royal children of the house of Judah except Joash. … Those who think it a light thing to be unequally yoked with unbelievers should look carefully at the sad history of the house of Jehoshaphat down to the fourth generation.
Joash is the third name here. He survived, and commentators see God's own faithfulness in that:
The royal house of Israel is destroyed without leaving a single man, and God begins the trial of His patience again with a new dynasty, that of Jehu. But it is not so with the house of Judah. The faithful God keeps His word, for He had promised David "a lamp to him and to his sons forever" (2 Kings 8:19). In the person of Joash He keeps alive for Himself a feeble candle stub which He does not put out.
The rescued king did not stay faithful to the end:
Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord in his young years, and for as long as Jehoiada the priest lived. But once that faithful counsellor was gone, he fell prey to the flattery of his princes. He let them bring back groves and idols. He killed Zechariah, the son of his old friend, when Zechariah testified to the truth. In the end he died at the hands of his own servants.
One writer says what Chronicles is really tracing:
It sets David before us as the object of God's counsels about the kingship. Those counsels find their full accomplishment in Christ, the Son of David.
- Son — the repeated "his son" marks this out as a line held by grace, not by natural right.
- Marriage — Joram's marriage to Athaliah brought Ahab's house into David's. Ahaziah then followed his mother's counsel, and no unequal yoke is a small thing.
- Erased — Matthew leaves Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah out. God's sentence on that connection reached the third generation.
- Lamp — yet Joash survives, because God had promised David a lamp, and He kept a feeble flame burning.
- Christ — Chronicles keeps the names for the sake of the throne, and that throne finds its full accomplishment in Christ, the Son of David.
Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,
Three names pass by in a single breath here: a father, a son, and a grandson in the royal line of Judah. Each name carries its own story, and one of the three never appears in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.
The words repeated after each name carry as much weight as the names. One writer reads the whole point of the chapter out of that repetition:
Verses 10 to 24 give us Solomon's direct descendants. The words "his son," repeated again and again down to Zedekiah, stress the contrast between descendants who come by grace and descendants who come by nature. We saw the same contrast in the history of Edom.
The same writer points to where this royal line is heading:
It presents David as the object of God's plans for the kingship — plans that Christ, the Son of David, will fully carry out.
Amaziah's verdict carries a reservation inside it:
"He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart." "Yet not like David his father," we read; "he did in all things as Joash his father had done." The children of God show this same lack of heart-devotion.
That reservation was not harmless. It showed itself at the close of his life:
Amaziah did right in the sight of the Lord at the beginning of his reign, but not with a whole heart. In the end he worshipped the gods of Edom and would not listen to God's prophets.
The Azariah of this verse is the king better known as Uzziah. Commentators explain his two names in more than one way. One writer ties the change to the day he forced his way into the temple:
Neither usual explanation satisfies: that a scribe confused similar letters, or that he carried two names. The two names do not even mean quite the same thing. Azariah means "Jehovah helps," Uzziah means "My strength is Jehovah." Perhaps Azariah was his real name. Then, after he dared to force his way into the sanctuary and leprosy struck him for life, his name was changed to the related Uzziah — "My strength is Jehovah" — to mark that the "help" he had received had depended on his relation to the LORD.
A Bible dictionary draws the warning out of his reign:
Uzziah is a solemn example of a man who walked well until he was "strong," and of a man not chosen by God trying to take up the work of a priest.
The third name is Jotham. His short record draws a contrast with his father:
The words "he did not enter the temple of the LORD" mean that he did not act as his father Uzziah did, when he pushed his way into the work of the priests… "He became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the LORD his God." That statement is the key to all his success and prosperity. He lived and walked in the presence of the Lord. He was guided, strengthened, and kept by Him. This is what all God's people need. Preparing our ways before the Lord is still the way, the only way, to blessing and success.
Yet one blot remained on his reign, and it was not his own:
How good it is to find a king of Judah ending well, when so many who began well finished badly. There is only one blot on his reign, and it is not a personal one: "the people still followed corrupt practices."… Jotham walked well before God, but he did not have the moral power to put the people right.
Set this verse beside Matthew's genealogy and something is gone:
Names are left out of Matthew's list, and this brings the whole into the three divisions of "fourteen generations." Ozias is placed as the son of Joram. But look at 1 Chronicles 3:11-12, where Ozias is called Azariah, as he also is in 2 Kings 14:21, and you will see that three kings are left out: Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah. Such omissions are found in the genealogies of the Old Testament.
Commentators differ over the reason. One writer reads a deliberate judgment in the gap:
So the omission was clearly not careless or ignorant, but intentional. I have no doubt that the aim was to mark God's solemn sentence on Joram's connection with Athaliah, of the wicked house of Ahab. Ahaziah vanishes, and Joash, and Amaziah, and then the line reappears here in Uzziah. These generations God blots out along with that wicked woman.
Another writer declines to settle the motive at all, insisting only that nothing is lost by it: "What was his motive in omitting them may or may not be discoverable; but it does not affect the descent."
- Grace, not nature. The repeated "his son" marks a line carried by God's choice rather than natural right — a kingship aimed at Christ, the Son of David.
- Amaziah, the halved heart. He did right, but not with a whole heart, and a divided start ended in Edom's gods and a refusal to hear God's prophets.
- Azariah, the strong man. Also called Uzziah, he walked well until he was strong, then reached for a priesthood that was not his.
- Jotham, the ordered way. He would not repeat his father's intrusion; he became mighty because he prepared his ways before the LORD.
- The blotted name. Chronicles keeps Amaziah, but Matthew 1 leaves him out. Commentators differ: one traces the gap to Matthew's three sets of fourteen, another to God's sentence on Joram's marriage to Athaliah.
Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,
Three names stand side by side here: Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh. A faithless father, a son who reopened the house of God, and a grandson who became the worst king Judah ever had — the verse says nothing but "his son," and leaves us asking how such a line survived at all.
One phrase holds this list together from Solomon onward.
Verses 10 to 24 give us Solomon's direct descendants. The words "his son," repeated again and again down to Zedekiah, highlight the contrast between the descendants according to grace and those according to nature.
The same writer notes that the family of David carries the mark of God's choice from the start: Amnon the firstborn heads the list only to be set aside, and Solomon, a younger son, receives the throne — "nature's order is of no value."
The first name belonged to a king who lacked nothing except godliness.
He does not seem to have been a persecutor. Unlike his grandson Manasseh, he did not shed innocent blood or put the prophets to death. He had much that people admire and celebrate today — his name, Ahaz, means possessor. But all this, without godliness, is worth absolutely nothing. It seems he never repented. He died as he had lived: "and Hezekiah his son reigned in his place."
The middle name is the surprise. Nothing in Ahaz explains Hezekiah.
If piety is not passed down from father to son, grace can work in the heart and direct the steps of someone who had the most wicked father. This was the case with the son of Ahaz. The way Hezekiah sought the glory of his God shows remarkable faith and energy.
Look at what he grew up seeing.
The Lord's power and goodness show in this: Hezekiah was a good king, and his father was the worst who had yet sat on the throne. Ahaz had surrounded him with idolatry. He had idols in every separate city, in every grove, on every high hill; he had shut the doors of the Lord's house. Wherever Hezekiah looked, an idol met his eye. And yet in the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord.
The third name reverses the second. It carries a warning for any parent who trusts in good teaching alone.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he succeeded his father Hezekiah. So he was born during the fifteen extra years of life that Hezekiah received in answer to his prayers and tears. There can be no doubt that Manasseh was taught the ways of God with care. Hezekiah himself said, "the father makes known to the children Your faithfulness." … Despite his early advantages Manasseh became the wickedest king Judah had ever known.
The same writer adds that the king of Assyria dragged Manasseh away to a prison in Babylon. There "Manasseh's downfall brought him to his senses," and he humbled himself and prayed.
Why does a line this damaged keep going? A promise held it, and a Person was coming through it.
This future Son had to be "the offspring of David." So David's line had to last until He appeared. That is why God had promised to give David a lamp always, and to give one to his sons. Now, how was this lamp going to shine in the royal house until the appearing of the promised Son? How was it to pass through man's poisoned air and moral darkness without going out? If it went out, David's true Heir could never appear.
God did not choose good men to carry this line.
But when it is a question of grace, God does not take perfect men to make up Christ's lineage. He chooses sinful men — often from among the worst of them — or sinful women. This shows the freedom of His choice.
- "His son" — the repeated phrase carries the line forward. It marks descent by grace, not by nature.
- Ahaz — he had much that people admire. Without godliness it was worth nothing, and he died unrepentant.
- Hezekiah — faith is not inherited. He grew up among his father's idols, yet opened the doors of God's house in his first month.
- Manasseh — teaching alone does not save. The best-taught son became the worst king, until trouble brought him to his senses.
- The lamp — through all three, God kept His promise of a lamp for David's sons. Grace chose the worst of men to carry the line to Christ.
Amon his son, Josiah his son.
1 Chronicles 3 traces David's royal line as a chain of fathers and sons. Here two links sit side by side: one of Judah's worst kings, and the son God used to bring revival.
The list is not just a record of births. One commentator points to the phrase repeated from Solomon down to the last king before Babylon:
Verses 10 to 24 give us Solomon's direct descendants. The words "his son" are repeated again and again down to Zedekiah. They point up the contrast between the descendants according to grace and those according to nature.
Amon did not die in his bed, yet the throne still passed to his own son. One writer treats that unbroken order as the test of whether God had given up on the nation:
In 1 Chronicles 3 we return to 1 Chronicles 2:15. The chapter gives David's sons and successors down to Josiah in regular succession, father to son. It was God's order, and it held even when conspirators killed the father. So a break in this succession would be strong evidence that God had cast off the nation. And in fact that order did break after Josiah died, and God began to pour out His wrath as He had not before.
So this verse holds the last links before the chain breaks. Josiah is the final name in God's order.
Amon gets one word in this verse. He was as far from God as his father Manasseh. A commentator sees even his violent end turned to good:
But first notice this. The early death of the wicked king Amon was an event full of blessing for Judah. The throne was suddenly left empty, and a child now filled it. Several hundred years earlier, the man of God who spoke against the altar of Jeroboam had announced that child's name at Bethel (1 Kings 13:2).
Others add that the people themselves acted to keep the throne in David's family:
However, Amon's servants were not able to take control of the government. The people of the land intervened and executed the servants responsible for Amon's death. This appears to be the energy of faith, for they made sure that one of the true line of David took the throne, even though he (Josiah) was only eight years old.
Nothing in Josiah's upbringing explains what he became. One commentator traces the family line to show where his revival came from:
The main mark of these revivals is that they are entirely the fruit of the grace of God. No one sees them coming. No preparatory work leads into them. No sign of repentance in the people comes first. They are the direct work of the Spirit of God, and they break out in a brilliant way while Judah lies in ruin. Hezekiah is the son of a godless father, Ahaz, who gave himself to idol worship. Hezekiah's son Manasseh turned even further from God than Ahaz had. Manasseh's son Amon was just as far from God, but Amon's son — Manasseh's grandson Josiah — is the instrument of the second revival in Judah.
The same principle runs the other way too. A godly father cannot hand faith on as an inheritance:
There is no such thing as succession in grace. The son of the most faithful father needs to be born again just as much as the most degraded of mankind. This is written clearly on many a page of the word of God. "You must be born again."
Behind this bare father-and-son notice stands a promise. One commentator explains what was at stake in every generation:
But for this future Son to be "the offspring of David," David's line had to continue until He appeared. That is why God had promised David "to give to him always a lamp, and to his sons." Now how was this lamp going to shine in the royal house until the promised Son appeared? How was it to pass through man's poisoned air and moral darkness without going out? Had it gone out, David's true Heir could never have appeared. Satan understood this. If he could put out the lamp, all of God's counsels concerning the "Just Ruler over men" would come to nothing. But despite all the enemy's efforts to put out this light, the Son of David appeared in the world, won the victory over Satan, and became for the Church the Yes and Amen of all God's promises.
- Lamp — God promised David a lamp in his house, because the promised Son had to come from his line. Every "his son" in this chapter is that lamp still burning.
- Air — The lamp had to pass through poisoned air. Amon is that air: a king as far from God as his father Manasseh, killed by conspirators.
- Order — The lamp was handed on anyway. Father-to-son succession held even through a palace murder. When it finally broke, that break showed God had cast off the nation.
- Grace — The lamp is never inherited. Nothing prepared Josiah's revival, and it came out of the worst home in the list. There is no succession in grace: every son needs new birth for himself.
- Christ — The lamp reached its goal. Despite every effort to put it out, the Son of David appeared and won the victory over Satan. That is why this line of names was kept.
And the sons of Josiah the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
The verse pauses the royal line to name four sons of Josiah, the last real king of Judah, and three of them sat on a collapsing throne. So why does Chronicles list the family in this order, and not in the order they reigned?
One writer sets three records side by side: Chronicles, Kings, and Matthew.
Here in 1 Chronicles 3 we appear to have all the sons of Josiah. 2 Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 36 name only those who were made kings. But Matthew gives the right line from Josiah, leaving out the side branches, down to Joseph the husband of Mary. The firstborn died in Egypt, so it is the second son who carries on the line. He is carried to Babylon, and so is his son Jeconiah, who was born before the carrying away.
The fourth name is the puzzle. Shallum does not appear under that name in Kings or Chronicles. Writers differ over which son died in Egypt: one names the firstborn, while this reference work names Shallum and also says why "the fourth" does not mean "the youngest."
Son of Josiah king of Judah: he succeeded his father, but he reigned only three months. Pharaoh-necho then removed him from the throne and took him to Egypt, where he died. 1 Chr. 3:15; Jer. 22:11-12. He is called JEHOAHAZ in 2 Kings 23:30-34; 2 Chr. 36:1-4. The margin of 1 Chr. 3:15 identifies Johanan with Jehoahaz, but Jer. 22:11-12 shows it was Shallum who reigned under the name of Jehoahaz. He was evidently not the youngest son, though last on the list.
Up to this verse the line has run father to son. Now it runs brother to brother, and foreign kings do the appointing. One writer reads that break as a signal.
In 1 Chronicles 3 we return to 1 Chronicles 2:15. The list runs through David's sons and successors down to Josiah, in regular succession from father to son. This was God's order, and it held even when conspirators killed the father. So a break in this regular succession would be strong evidence that God had cast off the nation. And in fact the break came after the death of Josiah, and God began to pour out His wrath as He had not before. The moment God stops appointing kings, Satan steps in. Through his agents, the kings of Egypt and of Babylon, he sets up men on the throne whom God rejected and gave up to judgment.
One writer places Josiah's sons alongside other famous sons who went wrong.
For a time, the godly influence of Josiah touched the priests, the Levites and the people. But his own sons do not seem to have taken in the life and deeds of their father. If Josiah could have foreseen the evil ways of his sons, he would have had to say with David, in the words of an older translation, "My house is not so with God." Think of the sons of Aaron, the sons of Eli, the sons of Samuel, and the sons of Josiah. Their evil ways are a solemn warning to every godly father. He must watch his own house, in case the evils he hates and condemns in others turn up in his own family.
The prophets say more about these men than the history books do, and what they say about Shallum is bleak.
The prophetic books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel tell us more about the evil ways of the sons of Josiah than the historical books of Kings and Chronicles do. About Shallum we read in Jer. 22:10-12: "Weep not for him who is dead [Josiah], nor grieve for him, but weep bitterly for him who goes away [Shallum], for he shall return no more to see his native land." This suggests that something worse than mere deportation was in store for Josiah's worthless successor.
These sons take the royal line into captivity. One writer shows what the Spirit of God still does with it there.
There was great confusion when the people were driven as captives to Babylon. Yet in it the Spirit of God connects the last real king of Judah — Josiah — with his descendant born in Babylon. So Matthew has Josiah, Jeconiah, Salathiel; the dark time of Josiah's sons is shortened. Compare 1 Chron. 3:15-17 with Matthew 1:11-12. In Matthew the promised Seed appears, the last of the line. He will have no successor, for He lives for ever.
- Four named. Chronicles gives Josiah's whole family. Kings and 2 Chronicles name only the sons who reigned. Matthew keeps only the line that leads to Christ.
- Order broken. Father-to-son succession held all the way down to Josiah. After him brother follows brother. One writer reads that break as evidence God had cast off the nation.
- Powers step in. Once God stops appointing kings, Egypt and Babylon appoint them — men set up only to be given up to judgment.
- Legacy lost. Josiah's godly influence did not reach his own sons. Evil held in check in public can still be alive at home — a warning to every godly parent.
- Line kept. Through the ruin the Spirit still traces the royal line to the promised Seed. He is the one King who needs no successor, because He lives for ever.
And the sons of Jehoiakim Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.
In 1 Chronicles 3:16 the royal list of Judah stops recording reigning kings and starts recording captives. It names Jeconiah and Zedekiah. Jeconiah carries both a sentence from God and the line that runs on to the Messiah.
Chronicles traces David's family from Solomon down. From verse 15 the names belong to the kingdom's collapse.
From verse 15 onward, after faithful Josiah's reign, we find the kings who reigned at the time of Judah's final ruin. The list ends with Zerubbabel, back from captivity but no longer holding the title of king.
Until Josiah the crown had passed from father to son without a break. One writer reads the end of that pattern as proof of something worse:
So a break in this orderly succession would be strong evidence that God had cast off the nation. And in fact that order was broken after the death of Josiah, and God's wrath began to pour out as it had not before. The moment God stops appointing men to the throne, Satan steps in. Through his agents, the kings of Egypt and of Babylon, he sets up men on the throne whom God rejected and gave up to judgment.
The verse says "his son" twice. One writer finds a point in that repeated phrase:
The words "his son" are repeated again and again down to Zedekiah. They bring out the contrast between descendants given by grace and descendants who come by nature, as we saw in the history of Edom.
The succession did not run through Josiah's eldest son.
The line goes on not through the first-born, who died in Egypt, but through the second son. Babylon takes him away, and with him his son Jeconiah, who was born before the exile. Out of all Josiah's sons and grandsons, the Spirit of God picks out this grandson to keep the true genealogy from David to the Messiah.
Jeconiah is also called Coniah and Jehoiachin. Jeremiah said of him: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah" (Jer. 22:30). Yet he did have children, so the word "childless" needs care.
The point of this verse is not that he would have no family, for it speaks of his offspring, and Matthew 1:11-12 shows his descendants. What we are told is that God had decreed him childless as far as the throne of David was concerned, because none of his offspring would rule in Judah any more. God had determined the end of this sinful line.
If a curse rests on the reigning line, how can a Son of David ever reign? One answer separates the legal right to the throne from the power to use it:
The genealogy shows a ruin that is hopeless except to God, because it shows Joseph, the last in this line before Christ, to be Jeconiah's son... The direct line of descent lies under a curse, yet it did not lose the legal title. So it could hand on to another what was of no use to itself. In the wisdom of God, the marriage of Joseph and Mary was the means of doing this. The Lord's birth from Mary made Him the real Son of David, while His mother's marriage made Him David's legal heir.
Commentators differ here. Others trace Mary through a different son of David: "The Messiah, the Son of David, could not come from the line of Solomon; He must come from the line of Nathan" (Arno Clemens Gaebelein).
Some names in this part of Chronicles do not match Matthew's list. One writer sees a reason behind that:
As a matter of policy the king of Babylon might change their Hebrew names to Babylonian ones, just as he did with Daniel and his three friends. He would naturally try to wipe from their minds every memory of who they were... and if so, it was just as much an attempt by Satan to lose God's line of kings in the common mass of Gentile names.
The Zedekiah named here is not the famous king. A Bible dictionary separates the last king of Judah, "the name given by Nebuchadnezzar to Mattaniah, son of Josiah," from a second man: "Son of Jeconiah, or Jehoiachin, king of Judah. 1 Chr. 3:16" (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
- Break. The father-to-son order that held from David to Josiah snaps here. That break marks a nation under judgment.
- Line. Out of all Josiah's sons and grandsons, the Spirit keeps Jeconiah as the link from David to the Messiah.
- Curse. "Childless" does not mean without children. It means no descendant of his would ever reign in Judah again.
- Title. The cursed line kept a legal right it could no longer use, and handed it on. Born of Mary, Christ is the real Son of David; through Joseph He is the legal heir.
- Grace. Babylon changed names and emptied the throne, but the record of David's family came through captivity intact, and it runs to the Messiah.
And the sons of Jeconiah Assir; Salathiel his son,
This verse names the sons of a king who was already a prisoner in Babylon, and carries his line on to Shealtiel. Behind the bare names lies a hard question — God had said no descendant of this man would ever sit on David's throne, so how does the promised King still come?
Jeconiah appears in Scripture under several names, and his story is short and bitter.
Son and successor of Jehoiakim king of Judah. According to 2 Kings 24:8 he began to reign when he was eighteen years old... He reigned only three months. Then Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem, and the great captivity of Judah was complete. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon and held in prison for thirty-six years. When Evil-merodach came to the throne, he set Jehoiachin free and gave him a higher place than the other captive kings, and he ate at the king's table for the rest of his life. He is called JECONIAH in 1 Chronicles 3:16-17... He is also called CONIAH in Jeremiah 22:24, 28, and JECHONIAS in Matthew 1:11-12.
That is why this verse adds "the captive" to his name. Older translations read the same word as a personal name, Assir.
The kings listed just before this verse belong to Judah's last days.
From verse 15 on, after faithful Josiah's reign, we find the kings of the time of Judah's final ruin. The series ends with Zerubbabel, who came back from captivity but no longer carried the title of king.
Yet the list does not stop. Set it beside the list of the priests, and a difference stands out:
The priestly genealogy matches the royal genealogy (1 Chronicles 2, 3). But it ends here at the captivity. It does not run on past it, as the line of David does (1 Chronicles 3:19-24).
Jeremiah's sentence on Jeconiah sounds like the end of his family. This verse shows otherwise, and it may also explain a name missing from Matthew's list.
"Childless" here does not mean without descendants, for the prophecy itself mentions "his seed." It means "no direct heir of his own line to the throne" (Fausset). Matthew 1:12 shows plainly that he had descendants ("Jechonias begat Salathiel"), and so does 1 Chronicles 3:17 ("The sons of Jeconiah; Assir," etc.). The prophecy probably refers to his uncle taking the throne after him instead of his son Assir, who was likely his firstborn; or it may have been a prophecy that Assir would die young. That may be why Assir is not named in the genealogy in Matthew.
The ban fell on ruling, not on having children — and it ended the dynasty:
God had decreed that, as far as David's throne was concerned, he was to be written down as childless, because none of his seed would ever rule in Judah again. God had determined the end of this sinful line.
Matthew's line runs through this verse: Jeconiah, then Shealtiel. Long ago writers drew a strange conclusion from it.
As far back as Irenaeus, people pressed this conclusion: the direct line of descent here lies under a curse, and yet it did not lose the legal title. So it could hand on to someone else what could be of no use to itself. In the wisdom of God, the marriage of Joseph and Mary was the means of doing this. The Lord's birth from Mary made Him the real Son of David (Luke 1:32), while His mother's marriage made Him David's legal heir.
One writer follows the living descent through a different son of David. Luke names a different father for Shealtiel:
The line of descent from David through Solomon came to an end by God's sentence on the childless Jehoiachin... So Jechoniah was not the actual father of Salathiel. Matthew gives the succession, not the strict line of birth. We must now look for the heir to David's throne in the line of another of David's sons. Turn to Luke 3:27, and we learn that Salathiel's actual father was Neri, a descendant of Nathan.
Jeremiah pictured Coniah as a signet ring pulled off God's right hand. Haggai takes up the same picture and turns it around.
Haggai 2:20-23 are still another message from God... It looks on to the time when God will take the true seed of David (here still called "Zerubbabel my servant", a picture of Christ as "the prince of the house of David"), and make Him like a signet ring. Coniah, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, was faithless, and God plucked that signet off His right hand (compare Jeremiah 22:24). Christ is the opposite. He is the signet on God's right hand, to seal all His purposes for the nations and for His chosen people Israel.
- Captive. Jeconiah — also called Jehoiachin, Coniah and Jechonias — reigned three months. He then spent thirty-six years in a Babylonian prison, until a new king set him free and honoured him.
- Cursed. "Childless" did not mean without children; it meant no heir of his would ever rule in Judah again.
- Continued. The priests' list stops at the captivity. David's line runs past it and ends with Zerubbabel, who came home but was no longer called king.
- Conveyed. The cursed branch kept a legal title it could not use, and passed it on. Joseph's marriage gave Christ the legal right; birth from Mary made Him the real Son of David.
- Crowned. God plucked the signet off His hand in Jeremiah. In Haggai the signet is back — Christ, the true Seed of David, sealing all God's purposes.
Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazzar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.
These names are more sons of Jeconiah, the king of Judah whom Babylon carried into exile. They are the register of a royal family with no throne left, which raises one question: why did God keep such a list at all?
A prophecy had declared this king childless. The names in the list look like a flat contradiction of it, so one writer explains what the word meant.
"Childless" here does not mean without descendants, for the prophecy itself mentions "his offspring." It means "no direct lineal heir to the throne" (Fausset). Matthew 1:12 shows that he had descendants: "Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel." ... Anyway, God made no mistake. He speaks, and it is done; He commands, and it stands fast. "And the word of our God will stand forever."
Another writer states what God had decided about this royal line.
What we are told is this. God had decreed that, as far as the throne of David was concerned, he was to be written childless. None of his offspring should rule any more in Judah. God had determined the end of this sinful stock.
Several names in this family list never appear in Matthew's genealogy. One suggestion is that the captors changed them.
The names matching Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have supposed that the Babylonian rulers may have changed them (compare Daniel 1:6-7) to wipe out every trace of kingship from the spirit of the Jews. That claim is not confirmed, but it could well be probable.
If that is what happened, the purpose behind it went deeper than Babylonian policy.
The king of Babylon would naturally seek to wipe from their minds all memory of what they were, and all thought of their country and of God's temple. If so, it was equally an attempt by Satan to swallow up God's line of kings in the common mass of Gentile names. God, who holds all in His hand, may have led the writer of Chronicles and the writer of Matthew to give, the one their own names as Jews, the other the names as they were known among the nations.
One name in this list, Pedaiah, creates a well-known puzzle. The next verse makes him the father of Zerubbabel, but other passages call Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. One writer explains this by the law that let a man marry his brother's widow.
In 1 Chronicles 3:19 he is called the son of Pedaiah, who was Shealtiel's brother. Pedaiah had probably married Shealtiel's widow, and that would explain the two different fathers.
Another writer calls such answers suppositions, and says why they are enough.
The truth is this. In these Jewish genealogies grandsons are called sons, and nephews and cousins are called brothers. Children are also raised up to a man by a brother taking his widow, and her offspring is then counted as her dead husband's. The registers we have are imperfect as mere human testimony. So no objection carries much weight, and answers can only be suppositions. But these last are quite enough. When a contradiction has to be proved, a case that is possible by supposition shows there is no contradiction.
Judah went into captivity, yet the royal line was not lost. One writer gives the reason.
Because God had a purpose of grace to carry out, and He delayed full judgment. God had set David on the throne, and that was a pledge that Christ must sit there also... He carefully preserved the line of true heirs through the captivity, while a Gentile held the throne. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, in Whom it ends.
The list itself shows where this royal line ran out.
From verse 15 onward, after faithful Josiah's reign, we find the kings who ruled at the time of Judah's final ruin. The series ends with Zerubbabel, who returned from captivity but no longer bore the title of king.
The line does not stop there.
In Matthew the promised Seed appears, the last of the line. He will have no successor, for He lives forever... The appointed time is coming when the Son of David will assert His rights to the throne and kingdom.
- Sentence. Jeconiah was "written childless" — yet this verse names his sons. The word meant that none of them would ever sit on David's throne.
- Erasure. Captors may have changed the names in this family to wipe out every trace of kingship. Behind that lay an attempt to lose God's royal line in a crowd of foreign names.
- Preservation. God kept the register anyway. He guarded the line of true heirs all through the captivity, while a Gentile held the throne.
- Destination. The list runs down to Zerubbabel, who came home without the title of king. Matthew carries it on to the One who needs no successor, because He lives forever.
And the sons of Pedaiah were Zerubbabel and Shimei. And the sons of Zerubbabel Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister,
Verse 19 comes near the end of a family list that starts with David's sons, and it names Zerubbabel, in whom the royal line reappears after Babylon. It raises two questions: why is he Pedaiah's son here but Shealtiel's son elsewhere, and why does the list keep going once the throne is gone?
One writer explains Zerubbabel's two fathers by levirate marriage — a brother married the dead man's widow and raised children in his name.
Zerubbabel was the leader of the returning captives. His name means "seed of Babylon." He is called the son of Shealtiel, who was the son or grandson of Jeconiah. So Zerubbabel was a descendant of David. His name appears in the two genealogies of Matthew (1:12) and Luke (3:27). In 1 Chronicles 3:19 he is called the son of Pedaiah, who was Shealtiel's brother. This double parentage may well be explained by Pedaiah marrying Shealtiel's widow under the levirate law.
Commentators differ on the exact answer. One argues that certainty is not needed: in these family lists "son" reaches further than we assume, and a possible explanation is enough to clear the charge of contradiction.
The truth is that in these Jewish genealogies grandsons are called sons, and nephews and cousins are called brothers. Children raised up to a man by a brother who takes his widow are then counted as the dead husband's seed. The registers we have are also defective as mere human testimony. So no objection carries much weight, and answers can only be suppositions. But these suppositions are quite enough. When someone must prove a contradiction, a case that is merely possible shows for certain that there is no contradiction.
Another writer makes Zerubbabel Pedaiah's son and Shealtiel's heir, not his child:
He was probably the son of Pedaiah, and the nephew and heir of Salathiel, or Shealtiel, though he is called his son. He was a 'prince of Judah'.
The list reaches Zerubbabel, and with him the royal title drops away. Hananiah and other names in this line are missing from Matthew's genealogy.
From verse 15 onward, after faithful Josiah's reign, we find the kings at the time of Judah's final ruin. The series ends with Zerubbabel, back from captivity but no longer carrying the title of king. After Zerubbabel, Chronicles records five more generations, down to Hodaviah and his brothers... The names corresponding to Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have suggested that the Babylonian rulers may have changed them (compare Dan. 1:6-7) to erase every trace of kingship from the minds of the Jews. That idea is not confirmed, but it could well be true.
Judah survived as a people while the ten tribes did not, and God's pledge about David's throne is the reason.
If Judah is worse than Israel, why is Judah in captivity preserved as a people? Why not dispersed and lost among the nations, as are the ten tribes? Because God had a purpose of grace to carry out, and He delayed full judgment. God had set David on the throne, and that was a pledge that Christ must sit there too... During the captivity, while the Gentile held the throne, God kept the line of true heirs safe as something sacred. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, and in Him it ends.
The same writer notes where each list stops.
The genealogy in Chronicles ends, of course, with the return from Babylon. In Matthew the promised Seed appears, the last of the line. He will have no successor, for He lives for ever.
Zerubbabel never wore a crown. The closing message in Haggai looks past him to the true seed of David, and calls Him a signet — the ring a ruler used to stamp his authority.
Haggai 2:20-23 is still another message from God. It points again to the future, when all nations will be shaken. Then God will take the true seed of David — here still called "Zerubbabel My servant", a picture of Christ as "the prince of the house of David" — and make Him as a signet. The faithless Coniah, or Jeconiah, king of Judah, was a signet plucked from God's right hand (compare Jer. 22:24). Christ, in contrast, is the signet on God's right hand, to seal all His purposes concerning the nations and concerning His chosen people Israel.
- Name — "Zerubbabel" means seed of Babylon. He was a prince of David's house, born in exile, called Pedaiah's son here and Shealtiel's son elsewhere.
- Puzzle — The two fathers fit either a levirate marriage or an heirship. In these lists "son" can mean grandson, nephew or heir, so the charge of contradiction fails.
- Loss — The list reaches Zerubbabel with the royal title gone. Hananiah and other names in this line are missing from Matthew's genealogy.
- Guarding — God kept Judah as a people and guarded the line of heirs under Gentile rule, because He had pledged David's throne to Christ.
- Promise — Haggai's last message looks past the uncrowned Zerubbabel to Christ, the signet on God's right hand. Jeconiah was the ring plucked off; Christ is the last of the line and needs no successor.
and Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, [and] Jushab-hesed, five.
This verse ends a group of five names in David's line, listed long after Judah's kings had lost the throne. Why does Scripture keep the names of men we know nothing else about?
The chapter walks down from David through the kings to the captivity, and then keeps going. One commentator follows the royal line down to Zerubbabel, who came home without his title, and then past him into names Matthew's genealogy never uses — with a possible reason why:
From verse 15 on, after faithful Josiah's reign, we meet the kings who ruled while Judah fell. The series ends with Zerubbabel, back from captivity but no longer carrying the title of king. After Zerubbabel, Chronicles records five more generations, down to Hodaviah and his brothers. The names matching Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have thought that the rulers of Babylon may have changed them (compare Daniel 1:6-7), to wipe every trace of kingship out of the minds of the Jews. Nothing confirms this, but it could well be true.
after
A reference work can say only this much about the third name in the list:
Berechiah. Descendant of the royal family of Judah. 1 Chr. 3:20.
These very verses help date the whole book:
1 Chron. 6:15 shows that the book was written after the captivity. We also find the names of Zerubbabel's descendants in 1 Chron. 3:19-24. Zerubbabel was one of the leaders of the exile who returned from the captivity, and his descendants are listed here. So Chronicles must date from some time after the return from Babylon.
after
The lists are selective, and that selection is the point. Names enter the record because of their place in God's plan, not because of their fame:
The tables do not mention all the names; many are omitted. This makes clear at once the object of these long lists of names. It records only the men who had a part in accomplishing God's purpose — the channels God chose, through whom the Lord carried out that purpose. People often think these genealogies are useless, yet they teach many lessons. What 2 Timothy 3:16 says covers even these opening chapters of Chronicles: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."
after
In exile a family record looked worthless. What a family did with its own papers showed where its faith stood:
These genealogies were imperfect. Israel's condition still carried the marks of the ruin that had fallen on them. It also carried the marks of God's goodness. He had brought back a remnant, and He had kept safe everything needed to enter those who made up that remnant in the record of His people. Happy the man who kept his own record, who valued the Lord's heritage enough to treasure it! It was a proof of faith. Someone might have said: what use are these genealogies in Babylon?
after
One purpose lies behind the survival of these five men. God kept Judah, and David's family inside it, until the promised King was born:
God had set David upon the throne, and it was a pledge that Christ must sit there also. For Christ on the throne of David is God's centre of blessing for this earthly sphere. So God keeps the tribe the King was to come from, right up to the appointed time when Jesus is born in Bethlehem. During the captivity, while a Gentile held the throne, God guards 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.
after
- Kept through ruin. The kings' line ends in disaster, yet the list does not stop: Zerubbabel came home without the royal title, and five more generations of David's family follow him.
- Kept in writing. These descendants lived after the exile, so Chronicles itself dates from after the return from Babylon.
- Kept by choice. God's purpose, not a man's achievements, puts a name in this record. Even name lists are profitable Scripture.
- Kept by faith. In Babylon a family record looked useless. Keeping one anyway valued the heritage God had given.
- Kept for Christ. The throne is the whole point. God guards the royal family until Matthew can carry the line to Jesus, where it comes to rest.
And the sons of Hananiah Pelatiah and Isaiah; the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah.
These names come after Zerubbabel, the leader who brought the exiles home from Babylon, in a royal family tree that had no throne left. Why does Scripture record such obscure heirs of David, and what were they still waiting for?
Chronicles does not stop at the captivity, as the other history books do. It carries David's family past the return — and one man named here, Shecaniah, has a son who may turn up again in Nehemiah.
The Chronicles, with Ezra and Nehemiah as their immediate sequel, go much further... So we see in them that the family line of David does not end with Zerubbabel, the royal head of Judah who returned from captivity. It continues past him to the fifth generation, Hodaviah and his brothers (1 Chron. 3:19-24). In the same way we meet Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah (1 Chron. 3:22), of the third generation after Zerubbabel, who — if this is the same person — returned from Babylon in Nehemiah 3:29.
Hananiah, whose sons open the verse, was Zerubbabel's son. He may also stand in Luke's genealogy of Jesus under a different name:
Son of Zerubbabel. 1 Chr. 3:19, 21. Some think this Hananiah is the Joanna of Luke 3:27 in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus.
That link is not certain, and Matthew's genealogy raises a harder question:
The names matching Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have supposed that the Babylonian rulers may have changed them (cf. Dan. 1:6-7) to erase every trace of kingship from the mind of the Jews. No one has confirmed this claim, but it could well be probable.
The second half of the verse is harder to follow. Some translations read it as a list of separate families — "the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah" — not as one father-to-son chain. One writer gives two possible explanations:
The sons of Rephaiah are either separate family stocks, as Chronicles gives again and again. Or they link to the royal race just mentioned through daughters or unnamed sons of one branch or another. Hattush, a grandson of one of them, returned with Zerubbabel, and that confirms it. So as a genealogy these branches date from before Zerubbabel's return — side branches of the royal race alongside Zerubbabel.
These men were royal heirs with no crown. Chronicles keeps listing them, and the line runs on to the birth of Christ:
The kingdom sinks under waves of judgment. Yet, as we have seen in the genealogies (1 Chron. 3:19, 24), feeble representatives of the royal line still exist — without titles, without privileges, without authority and without a kingdom. After them the line grows ever more obscure and low. It carries on in silence until we reach a poor carpenter who becomes the supposed father of the "woman's Seed." Christ is born!
Judah came home from exile while the ten tribes vanished. One writer explains why:
If Judah is worse than Israel, why is Judah in captivity preserved as a people? Why not scattered and lost among the nations, as the ten tribes are? Because God still had a purpose of grace to carry out, and full judgment waited. God had set David upon the throne, and it was a pledge that Christ must sit there also... During the captivity, when Gentile rulers held the throne, the line of true heirs was guarded with care. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries it on to the birth of Christ, in Whom it ends.
These records also served a purpose for the people who came home:
These genealogies served as a means to recognise the people. Happy is the man who had preserved his own, and who so valued the heritage of Jehovah that he attached worth to it! It was a proof of faith; for someone might have said, What use are these genealogies in Babylon?
- Record. Only Chronicles carries David's family past the captivity. It lists five generations after Zerubbabel, and this verse is one link in that chain.
- Remnant. These men held a royal name with no throne, no titles and no kingdom, yet God kept registering them.
- Faith. Guarding a family record in Babylon looked pointless. The people who did it still counted God's promised inheritance as real.
- Grace. God kept Judah together instead of scattering her. His purpose of grace was still running, and David's throne was a pledge that Christ must sit on it.
- Christ. The line sinks lower and lower until it reaches a carpenter's home. There the record finds its point and stops.
And the sons of Shechaniah Shemaiah; and the sons of Shemaiah Hattush, and Jigeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.
This verse belongs to the last stretch of David's family record, the part that runs on past Zerubbabel, the leader who brought Judah home from Babylon. Three questions sit behind these strange names: when was the list written, why did anyone keep it, and what was it guarding?
This part of the chapter is one of the clearest clues to when Chronicles was written:
Chronicles, with Ezra and Nehemiah following straight on, carries the account well past the captivity. Every part of the text also bears the mark of a later date, after the return from the captivity in Babylon. So the family record of David does not end with Zerubbabel, the royal head of Judah who came back from captivity. It carries on past him to the fifth generation, Hodaviah and his brothers. In the same way we meet, in 1 Chronicles 3:22, Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, of the third generation after Zerubbabel — and if he is the same man, he is the one who came back from Babylon in Nehemiah 3:29.
If the Shemaiah of Nehemiah 3:29 is the man named here, his name and his father's are worth reading. One writer gives the meaning of both:
The east gate was repaired and kept by Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah. From Ezekiel's prophecy we learn that the glory of the Lord left by the east gate, and that it will enter by that gate again when it returns to the temple of Ezekiel's vision. The east gate faces the rising sun. It suggests the coming of the Lord for His people. And here the two names fit in beautifully. Shemaiah means "heard of the Lord"; even so He will hear His people and some day will answer their prayer for His coming. Shechaniah means "habitation of the Lord." We shall be with Him.
Hattush, the first son listed here, also appears among those who came up from Babylon with Zerubbabel. One writer uses him to place these branches of the family:
The sons of Rephaiah are either separate family lines, which Chronicles often gives, or they are joined to the royal line just named through daughters, or through sons who are not named, in one branch or another. Hattush, the grandson of one of them, confirms this by coming up with Zerubbabel. So as a genealogy they are earlier than Zerubbabel's coming up. They are branches of the royal family running alongside Zerubbabel, sons of some of Salathiel's sons or of others.
Look for Shecaniah and Neariah in Matthew's opening genealogy and you will not find them. One writer reports a possible reason, and marks it as unproven:
The names matching Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have supposed that the rulers of Babylon changed them (compare Daniel 1:6-7), to wipe every trace of kingship out of the mind of the Jews. No one has proved this claim, but it could well be true.
One writer starts from a question about Judah in exile:
Why is Judah kept as a people while in captivity? Why not scattered and lost among the nations, as the ten tribes are? Because God still had a purpose of grace to carry out, and He held full judgment back. God had set David on the throne, and that was a pledge that Christ must sit there too. So He keeps the tribe the King would come from until the appointed time, when Jesus is born in Bethlehem. Through the captivity, while the Gentile held the throne, God guards the line of the true heirs as something holy. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, in Whom it comes to an end.
There was also a practical reason to hold on to such a list:
The Jews had lost heart at a destruction they would never believe in until it came. 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 their captivity. So care for God and confidence in His Word would make them guard their genealogies with care, so that when they did return they might enter on the portion God had allotted them.
- Kept for a reason. God carried Judah through exile because a purpose of grace was still unfinished. He guarded David's family until Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
- Kept in hope. Families guarded their genealogies while everything else lay in ruins. God's word promised a return, and with it a portion of land from Him.
- Kept past Zerubbabel. The line does not stop with the leader who came home. It runs on through Shecaniah and Shemaiah to a fifth generation, so Chronicles came together after the exile.
- Kept though the names changed. Some of these names are missing from Matthew's list. One writer suggests Babylon renamed the heirs to wipe out any memory of kingship, and calls it likely, not proven.
- Kept to the very edges. Chronicles records even the side branches. Hattush of this household came up with Zerubbabel, so the royal family mattered down to its smallest shoots.
And the sons of Neariah Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.
These three sons of Neariah close the last stretch of David's family line recorded in the Old Testament. Why does God keep count of heirs who never wore a crown?
Zerubbabel led the Jews back from exile in Babylon, but he held no royal title. The list keeps going after him, down to Neariah and his three sons. One writer notes how far the record reaches, and a puzzle about these names:
From verse 15 onward, after faithful Josiah's reign, we find the kings who reigned at the time of Judah's final ruin. The series ends with Zerubbabel, back from captivity but no longer holding the title of king. After Zerubbabel, Chronicles records five more generations, down to Hodaviah and his brothers. If we knew the dates of one of these men, that would give us the approximate date when Chronicles was written. The names matching Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have supposed that the Babylonian rulers changed them (compare Dan. 1:6-7) to wipe every trace of kingship out of the minds of the Jews. That claim is not confirmed, but it could well be true.
Neariah's three sons inherited a name and nothing else. The kingdom had collapsed, and what survived was a family, not a government:
Yet a time comes when the ruin looks beyond repair, and Satan's victory in the struggle seems certain. The kingdom sinks under waves of judgment. Even so, as we have seen in the genealogies (1 Chron. 3:19, 24), weak representatives of the royal line live on — with no titles, no rights, no authority and no kingdom. After them the line grows more obscure and more lowly, and carries on in silence, until we reach a poor carpenter who becomes the supposed father of the "woman's Seed." Christ is born!
The ten northern tribes were scattered and lost. Judah went into exile too, yet Judah's family records survived. One writer gives the reason:
Because there was a purpose of grace to carry out, and full judgment was put off. God had set David on the throne, and that was a pledge that Christ must sit there too... So the tribe the King would come from is kept until the appointed time, when Jesus is born in Bethlehem. This tribe is kept while the ten are hidden in the dust of the earth. It holds the leading and only place in the books of Chronicles, and David's family stands first in that tribe. During the captivity, when the Gentile held the throne, God carefully guarded the line of true heirs. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, in Whom it ends.
Someone had to keep these names safe while living as a captive in Babylon. Darby sees that effort itself as faith:
These genealogies were imperfect. Israel's condition carried the mark of the ruin that had come on them. It also carried the mark of the goodness of God, who had brought back a remnant, and who had kept everything needed to place those who made up that remnant in the record of His people. For these genealogies served as a means of recognising the people. Happy is the man who had kept his own record, and who valued the heritage of Jehovah enough to treasure it! It was a proof of faith. Someone might have said, What use are these genealogies in Babylon?
We learn nothing about these three men beyond their names and their number. That silence is worth pausing over:
It deeply sobers the soul to be allowed to read through such a record of names. Man forgot them long ago, but God has remembered every one of them, 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.
Anyone comparing these names with other lists runs into apparent contradictions. One writer answers with a caution, not a dismissal:
What has been said already should be enough to warn Christians who try to study the genealogies and stumble over apparent contradictions at every step. The subject itself does build us up, as the whole Word of God does. But it is useless to take it up with nothing more than our own intelligence.
One word holds this verse together: kept.
- Kept counting. The list does not stop at the fall of the kingdom, or even at Zerubbabel. It runs five generations further, down to Neariah's three sons.
- Kept without a crown. These heirs had "no titles, no rights, no authority and no kingdom" — the family survived while the kingdom lay in ruins.
- Kept for Christ. God set David on the throne as a pledge that Christ would sit there too. So He guarded the royal family until Bethlehem, where Matthew's line ends.
- Kept by faith. Keeping a genealogy in Babylon looked useless. Doing it anyway valued God's inheritance when nothing visible backed it up.
- Kept in God's memory. He remembers names the world forgot, with every detail of their path — and He will remember ours.
And the sons of Elioenai Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven.
David's family list in this chapter ends with seven obscure names, born long after the throne had fallen. Why does Scripture keep counting a royal family that no longer rules, and why should anyone read a list like this?
The last names in the chapter come long after the exile. Writers use them to date the book, because the list does not stop at Zerubbabel, who led the return from Babylon:
All through its text, Chronicles carries the mark of having been written later, after the return from the Babylonian captivity. So we see that the genealogy of David's family does not end with Zerubbabel, the royal head of Judah who returned from captivity. It continues past him to the fifth generation, made up of Hodaviah and his brothers (1 Chron. 3:19-24).
Judah went into captivity and came back as a people. The ten tribes were scattered and lost. One writer asks why, and points to God's pledge about David's throne:
If Judah is worse than Israel, why did Judah survive the captivity as a people? Why were they not scattered and lost among the nations, as the ten tribes are? Because God had a purpose of grace to carry out, so He held back full judgment. God had set David upon the throne, and that was a pledge that Christ must sit there also... God carefully kept the line of true heirs through the captivity, while Gentile rulers held the throne. After the return from Babylon, Matthew carries that line on to the birth of Christ, in Whom it ceases.
A claim to a throne needs proof on paper. The same writer sees these records giving that proof in two ways at once:
God kept these family records in a wonderful, indeed divine, way. So the title of Jesus of Nazareth to the throne stands firm in both law and birth: by law the Son of Joseph, by birth the Son of Mary. Then, once the Christ had appeared, full judgment overtook Judah. There was no reason for further delay.
Set Matthew's genealogy beside the end of this chapter and the names do not match. One commentator notes the gap and passes on a suggested reason, without backing it:
The names matching Hananiah, Shechaniah, Neariah, Elioenai, and Hodaviah do not appear in the genealogy of Matthew 1. Some have supposed that the Babylonian rulers may have changed them (compare Dan. 1:6-7) to wipe out every trace of kingship from the minds of the Jews. That claim is not confirmed, but it could well be likely.
The verse ends by counting the sons of Elioenai: seven. That number mattered in family life, and this verse is listed among the passages that show it:
To be the mother of seven or more sons counted as a clear honour in family life (see Gen. 46:25; 2 Sam. 1:8; 2 Sam. 2:5; Job 1:2; Job 42:13; 1 Chron. 3:24; Jer. 15:9).
Chronicles came together when everything looked finished. Faith is what made people guard their family records through the ruin:
The Jews... 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 their captivity. So care for God and confidence in His Word would make them guard their genealogies closely, so that when they did return they could take up the portion God had allotted them.
Anani and his brothers left no recorded deeds, yet Scripture keeps their names. One writer turns that into comfort for every ordinary reader:
There is something deeply sobering to the soul in being allowed to read through a record of names that people forgot long ago. Yet 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.
- Kept beyond exile. David's line runs on past the captivity. It reaches five generations beyond Zerubbabel, down to Hodaviah and his brothers.
- Kept for a pledge. Judah survived the captivity as a people because God had set David on the throne. That was a pledge that Christ must sit there too.
- Kept as a title deed. These records prove Jesus of Nazareth's right to the throne: by law through Joseph, by birth through Mary. The line ceases in Him.
- Kept though disputed. Several names here are missing from Matthew 1. Some suggest Babylon renamed them to wipe out Israel's kingship, though that idea stays unconfirmed.
- Kept by God. Faith guarded these lists when all seemed ruined. People forget names; God remembers them, and He will remember ours.