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.