And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan, as far as Salcah
This part of 1 Chronicles records the tribes who settled east of the Jordan. Verse 11 gives Gad's address: beside Reuben, in Bashan, out to Salecah. The geography raises the question the chapter keeps pressing — what did they gain, and what did they lose, by settling there?
One reference work maps this district and names the town on its far edge:
Now best known for the Golan Heights, it is a large district east of the Jordan. Gilead lies on its south, and it reaches north to Mount Hermon and west to the Jordan valley. It is sometimes called the "land of Bashan," and it was the kingdom of Og the Amorite. Moses conquered it, and it became, with part of Gilead, the portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh. Salcah stood on its border.
One writer reads Gad's place in the list alongside the meaning of his name:
Gad lies next to Reuben: Gad, the picture of spiritual increase, and of a fighting condition too. Leah's cry, "A troop comes," holds both. In a world like this, spiritual increase almost never comes without conflict. And in David's time we find the men of Gad outstanding as warriors.
The record places these eastern tribes just before the tribe of Levi. Their land was good, and that was the trouble:
But before the tribe of Levi is listed, there is a brief mention of those who were content to stay outside the promised land. The rich soil east of the Jordan drew them, and they took no account of the promise. This was not falling in the wilderness, but it was failing of the grace of God... Far from working to enter that rest, they asked to be left outside — outside that good land Moses longed for so much.
They stayed Israelites, yet they gave something up. The same writer counts the losses:
Another writer names what held them on that side of the river, and turns it on the reader:
Notice that it is the cattle of the two tribes that keeps them east of the Jordan, on the wilderness side — we might say, right on the border of the world. How often business and worldly interests keep the children of God from entering their heavenly calling in a real, practical way!
Verse 11 begins a list that ends with Gad's names recorded in the reigns of two kings. One writer sees more in Gad than in his neighbour:
Gad (vv. 11-17) shows greater spiritual distinction than Reuben. Like Reuben, he also looked for pasture land (v. 16), but he had other interests as well... Gad truly cared about his genealogy. Being carried away captive later cancelled the result of his zeal. Even so, at least until the days of Jotham and Jeroboam, his place in Israel was clear and well established. It showed his sincere desire to belong to God's people, and that, despite everything, he would not disown Judah — and under Jotham Judah was the centre of the kingship.
These men of Gad, who we saw were so careful about the genealogy that joined them to God's people, are quick to own this people's leader... They lived on the far side of the Jordan, and the river blocked them as completely as it had blocked the people when they first stood opposite Jericho. "These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was overflowing all its banks" (v. 15). This time no miracle was needed to get them across. They knew the Jordan had already had to give way before the people of God. Strong in the conviction of faith, they overcame it to reach the one who drew them like a loving king.
- Place. Gad settled in Bashan as far as Salecah, a wide, fertile district east of the Jordan once ruled by Og.
- Choice. The pasture suited their cattle, but it was not the land God had promised.
- Cost. They stayed Israelites and still fought for their brothers. Even so, they lost the temple's privileges and became onlookers of Israel's victories.
- Care. Gad is still marked out above Reuben: his genealogy was kept, showing a real desire to be counted with God's people and not to disown Judah.
- Crossing. The same tribe later crossed the flooded Jordan to reach the leader of God's people — the care about belonging moved their feet.
Joel was the chief and Shapham the next, and Jaanai, and Shaphat in Bashan.
This verse names four leaders of the tribe of Gad, and one place: Bashan. Scripture tells no story about these men, so why keep their names? And what does their home east of the Jordan say about their tribe?
A Bible dictionary describes Bashan like this:
Now best known for the Golan Heights, it is a large district on the east of the Jordan. Gilead lies to the south, and it reaches north to Mount Hermon. It is sometimes called the "land of Bashan," and it was the kingdom of Og the Amorite. Moses conquered it, and it became, with part of Gilead, the portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh.
Gad's own portion lay in the same stretch of country, and its pasture is the reason the tribe is there at all:
Gad possessed a large district from a little above the north corner of the Dead Sea to near the south corner of the Sea of Galilee, then a very fertile plain suitable for their flocks and herds, including the highlands of Gilead.
One writer draws a lesson from where these tribes settled:
There is a lesson here for us. When Moses led the people out of Egypt, he said nothing about Gilead and Bashan. They were not part of "the mountain of the inheritance," which he and the people had sung about in their song. Nor were they the "place" he had said he and Israel were travelling to. But Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had cattle, and cattle could feed well in the plains on the eastern side of the river. They had no thought of rebelling, or of giving up their interest in the God of Israel. But they had cattle, and Gilead and Bashan suited them.
One writer compares Gad with Reuben, whose list comes just before:
Gad (vv. 11-17) has greater spiritual distinction than Reuben. Like Reuben, he also looked for pasture land (v. 16), but he had other interests too. Scripture says of him: "All these were recorded in genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel" (v. 17). Gad truly cared about his genealogy. The fruit of that zeal was undone when he was carried away captive. Even so, up to the days of Jotham and Jeroboam his place in Israel was clear and well established. It showed his sincere desire to belong to God's people and, despite everything, not to deny Judah, the centre of the kingship under Jotham.
One writer treats a preserved family record as a proof of faith:
These genealogies were imperfect. The state of Israel carried the mark of the ruin that had come on them. But it also carried the mark of the goodness of God, who had brought back a remnant, and who had preserved all that was needed to place them in the record of His people... For these genealogies served as a way to recognise the people. Happy is the man who had kept his own, and who valued the heritage of Jehovah enough to treasure it! It was a proof of faith, for someone might have said, "Of what use are these genealogies in Babylon?"
For those who came back from exile, the lists had a very practical use:
When they returned, these genealogies would be of great importance. They mattered so that the Israelites should not take what was not theirs, so that they should not be unjust, so that they should be content with what God had given to them, and so that they should link themselves with all that was great and glorious in God's sight in the past. These genealogies were of the greatest moment for this. In their weakness they would need every cheer and encouragement.
The same writer draws a wider principle from these lists:
But what has been preserved here of the genealogies of the people — a moving remnant, kept by grace, out of a people who had fallen under the sad sentence of "not pitied" and "not My people" — shows us something else. Wherever there has been faith, God has blessed His people one by one... The two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan also enlarged their territory, and took the gates of their enemies, "because they cried to God." Later they were carried away as captives, because they forsook God. So, although Israel had neither the power of the king nor the order of the kingdom, wherever there was faith God blessed those of His people who trusted in Him.
One writer sets the tribe's own choice against what God still did among them:
They had chosen what suited themselves and their flocks (Numbers 32), instead of the land flowing with milk and honey... In this way they had sunk far below the height of their calling. For that very reason it is all the more remarkable that God was still working in power among them.
- Place. Bashan and Gilead lay east of the Jordan. Moses took Bashan from Og, and he had never named it as Israel's inheritance.
- Choice. Gad had cattle, and this country suited them. The tribe kept its interest in the God of Israel, yet settled outside the land Moses had spoken of.
- Care. Gad still kept its family record in order. One writer sees in this a real desire to belong to God's people, and not to cut ties with Judah.
- Proof. Holding on to that record when it looked useless was an act of faith. It is how the people who came back from exile could be recognised as God's.
- Result. Even in a ruined nation, God blessed faith. The tribes beyond the Jordan enlarged their borders because they cried to God, and lost it all when they forsook Him.
And their brethren according to their fathers' houses were Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jaachan, and Zia, and Eber, seven.
This verse gives seven names, a father's house and a number — relatives of the Gadite families who settled east of the Jordan. Why would God keep such a list, and what does it say about Him that He did?
The verse sits inside a survey of the tribes that took their land east of the Jordan. One commentator shows how the chapter is put together:
Next we are given the genealogy of David's family, down to several generations after the return from the captivity. Then come the tribes in turn. But they are listed in relation to their position in Israel, with notes added about possessions gained either by families or by a whole tribe… Reuben (1 Chron. 5:1), Gad (1 Chron. 5:11), and the half tribe of Manasseh (1 Chron. 5:23) had stayed east of the Jordan.
These tribes share more than a location. Reuben was the firstborn, yet his birthright went to others:
Here we find the genealogy of the two and a half tribes that chose their portion beyond the Jordan: Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. But these tribes are not grouped together only because of that. As we have already seen, Reuben's sin decides his place in the genealogy. The birthright was his by right of birth, but he lost it (v. 1), and it passed to Joseph and his sons.
Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber are heads of households, not private individuals. A reference work sums up Zia in five words — "Head of a family in Gad" — and says the same of Meshullam:
Head of a Gadite family. 1 Chr. 5:13.
That is exactly what the verse is doing: fixing who belonged to whom. And the commentary reads this as a mark of something better in Gad than in his neighbour:
Gad (vv. 11-17) has greater spiritual distinction than Reuben. Like Reuben, he also looked for pasture land (v. 16), but he had other interests too… Gad truly cared about his genealogy. His zeal came to nothing in the end, because he was carried into captivity. Yet at least until the days of Jotham and Jeroboam his position in Israel was clear and settled. It showed his sincere desire to belong to God's people, and, in spite of everything, not to disown Judah, which under Jotham was the centre of the kingship.
To a modern reader a family register looks like dead weight. It was not. It decided who could claim land, and who could serve as a priest:
These were the records of generations: 'the genealogy of their generations' was counted up. 1 Chr. 5:7; 1 Chr. 7:9. 'Generations' are given from the beginning, but we do not read of 'genealogies' until Israel was in the land. It mattered then to keep the genealogies, because the law said that every man in Israel should enjoy the inheritance of his fathers. The inheritance must not pass from one tribe to another. Num. 36:8-9. Since only the sons of Aaron could serve as priests, it was essential for them to keep their genealogy. When the people came back from exile, some could not show their descent from Aaron, and they were put out of the priesthood. Ezra 2:62.
Then the land was destroyed and the people taken away. One writer contrasts what despair said with what faith knew:
The Jews never would believe the destruction was coming until it came, and it left them disheartened. They might have thought, "What is the use of a genealogy? What is the use of caring now about our lands or houses? Everything is ruined. All is gone." But the man who believed God knew that seventy years would see them return from their captivity. So care for God and confidence in His Word would make them guard their genealogies closely. Then, when they did return, they could take up the portion God had given them. This is what made every home in Israel so precious — that it was God who gave it. It was not just something a man earned by his own labour or skill. It was God's gift to them.
The Bible records nothing these seven men did. Yet their names are still here, one by one. One writer draws out what that means for us:
There is something deeply solemn about being allowed to read through such a record of names. Man forgot them long ago, but God has remembered every one, with every detail of their pathway through this world. Some day our names too will be lost to mankind, but God will forget neither us nor our ways.
- Place — The verse belongs to the tribes that settled east of the Jordan. Reuben's sin, not his birth order, fixed where his family stands.
- Care — Gad truly cared about his genealogy. This short list of seven names is the evidence.
- Claim — Genealogies mattered because every man's inheritance hung on them. That inheritance was God's gift, not his own earnings.
- Confidence — They kept the register after the land was lost. That was faith that God would bring them back to it.
- Continuance — The world forgets these names. God remembers them, down to every detail of the road they walked.
-- These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz
Eight names sit here in a row, from Abihail back to Buz. They stand inside the record of the tribes that settled east of the Jordan. Why would God preserve a list like this? And what does it tell us about the family who kept it?
This line belongs to Gad. One commentator rates Gad higher than Reuben: both tribes looked for pasture, but only one had interests beyond it.
Gad (vv. 11-17) has greater spiritual distinction than Reuben. Like Reuben, he also sought pasture land (v. 16), but he had still other interests... Gad had a true concern about his genealogy. Captivity later cancelled what his zeal achieved. Even so, until the days of Jotham and Jeroboam, his position in Israel was clear and well established. It showed his sincere desire to be part of God's people and, despite everything, not to deny Judah, the centre of the kingship under Jotham.
Chronicles was written after the nation went into captivity. A family's register was what let it come back to the exact portion God had given:
The Jews were disheartened by the 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 returning from their captivity. So care for God and confidence in His Word would make them guard their genealogies closely. Then, when they did return, they could enter the allotment of God. For this was what made every homestead in Israel so precious — that it was God who gave it. It was not merely something a man earned by his own labour or skill. It was the gift of God to them.
Another writer sees two things at once in these records — the ruin that fell on Israel, and the goodness of God:
These genealogies were imperfect. The condition of Israel bore the mark of the ruin that had come upon them. But it also bore the mark of the goodness of God. He had brought back a remnant, and He had kept safe everything needed to place the people of that remnant in the record of His people. Where the needed proof of title was missing, those who belonged to the people no longer enjoyed their proper privileges. These genealogies served as a way to recognise the people. Happy the man who had preserved his own, and who so valued the heritage of the Lord that he attached importance to it! It was a proof of faith; for it might have been said, Of what use are these genealogies in Babylon?
Not every name in a chain like this is one person. One writer points to this very stretch of the chapter, where the list shades into clans and places:
Sometimes the genealogies of Chronicles contain names of very ancient origin which we do not find elsewhere in the Old Testament. Many names are not those of single people, but of clans or families. Others are genealogies we might call geographic. For lack of other source material, they include the names of tribes, of districts and of cities. We find this in several places, including 1 Chron. 5:11-17.
The same writer warns against one way of studying such lists, and answers an objection readers raise from Paul's letters:
The subject itself does build us up, as the whole Word of God does. But there is no use starting on it with nothing but your own intelligence, as the rationalists have so often done. We should also point out that these are not the genealogies the apostle tells us to leave alone (1 Tim. 1:4; Titus 3:9). He was warning against a philosophical system that tried to set up endless ranks in a hierarchy of spirits.
Abihail's family kept its record, and still lost its land. One writer sums up the history of these eastern tribes in three steps, then looks past them:
Three prominent facts sum up their tribal history: they refused God's land; they went after other gods; Assyria carried them away. The first led straight to the second, and then came judgment... Sovereign grace will bring them back at the end. Reuben, Gad and Manasseh will stand in their lot with the other tribes, and in equal numbers (Rev. 7), at least as a symbol.
- Recorded. Gad kept its family lines, and this verse is part of the result. That care showed a real desire to belong to God's people.
- Rooted. A genealogy secured a man's portion. Every homestead was precious because God gave it, not because anyone earned it.
- Retained. Keeping such a record in exile looked useless. It was in fact proof that a man still valued the Lord's inheritance.
- Read. Names here may stand for clans or places. Study them without leaning on human cleverness. Paul's warning about genealogies was never aimed at lists like this.
- Restored. Gad refused God's land, turned to other gods, and Assyria carried the tribe away. Grace will still bring Gad back to stand with the rest.
Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was chief of their fathers' house.
The verse names one man — Ahi, son of Abdiel, son of Guni. It calls him head of the families of Gad, a tribe settled east of the Jordan. Behind that one line sit two questions. Why did this tribe keep its records with such care? And why did God preserve the name of a man no one else remembers?
The chapter belongs to a run of family registers, each tribe listed with the ground it held. One writer sets out that order:
These tribes together had also greatly extended their territory, and had enriched themselves at the expense of their enemies. These tribes come together. Judah comes as the royal tribe. Simeon comes in with him, because his territory was inside Judah's. Then Reuben, the firstborn, and with him the tribes beyond Jordan, as connected with him. Also they were carried away captive before the rest. The God of Israel brought judgment upon them.
So Ahi's name stands inside a section that ends in captivity.
Gad, like Reuben, wanted grazing land. One writer finds more than that in this tribe:
Gad (vv. 11-17) has greater spiritual distinction than Reuben. Like him, he also sought pasture land (v. 16), but he had other interests too. It is said of him: "All of these were recorded in genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel" (v. 17). Gad had a true concern about his genealogy. Captivity later cancelled the result of his zeal. Yet at least until Jotham and Jeroboam's day his position in Israel was clear and well established. It showed his sincere desire to be part of God's people, and, despite everything, not to deny Judah — under Jotham the centre of the kingship.
Ahi stood at the head of those families. He led the tribe that took such care over this record.
Why should a list of fathers and sons matter so much? Because the register was the only proof that a man belonged. Without it, privileges lapsed:
Suppose the proof needed to give them a title to this place among His people was missing. Then those who were of the people stopped enjoying their proper privileges, and the priests lost their priestly position, until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim. For these genealogies served as a means to recognise the people. Happy is the man who had preserved his own, and who had so valued the heritage of the Lord as to attach worth to it! It was a proof of faith; for it might have been said, Of what use are these genealogies in Babylon?
That last question is the point. In exile the record bought nothing. Keeping it anyway is what made it a proof of faith.
The verse tells us nothing about what Ahi, Abdiel and Guni did. Yet God kept their names:
There is something deeply solemn about being allowed to go over such a record of names. People forgot them long ago. Yet God has remembered every one of them, with every detail of their pathway through this world. Some day mankind will lose our names in the same way. But God will forget neither us nor our ways.
Gad's careful record sits against a choice made generations earlier. Gad, Reuben and half of Manasseh settled short of the Jordan:
Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, chose a boundary line short of the river Jordan. That was a mistake, a failure, a stopping short of the divine mark. Worldly and selfish thinking governed their conduct — the sight of their eyes, fleshly motives. They surveyed "the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead." They judged it by their own interests alone, with no regard to the judgement and will of God.
The register Ahi headed did not save the tribe. One writer notes where they ended up, and what that tells us about the date of the book:
When Chronicles was written, these tribes were in captivity in the places mentioned here. This passage, just as many others, can well serve to establish the date of our book.
- Place. Ahi's families lived east of the Jordan — land chosen "by the sight of their eyes," short of what God had given.
- Priority. Even there, Gad kept his genealogy, showing a real desire to belong to God's people and not to cut ties with Judah.
- Proof. A kept register was "a proof of faith" — it was the only title to a place among God's people, worth holding even in exile.
- Permanence. Ahi, Abdiel and Guni are names no one now recalls, yet God remembered each one, along with every detail of the road they walked.
- Perspective. The tribe still went into captivity. A good record does not undo a wrong choice — but God writes the name down all the same.
And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in its towns, and in all the pasture-grounds of Sharon, as far as their limits.
Chronicles pauses here over the tribes who settled east of the Jordan. This verse maps where Gad put down roots. The list of places is also a list of motives. It raises a question: what does a people gain, and lose, by settling where the grass is good?
The grazing land puts Gad alongside Reuben. But the record of Gad does not stop there:
Gad (verses 11-17) has greater spiritual distinction than Reuben. Like him, he also sought pasture land (v. 16), but he had still other interests. It is said of him: "All these were recorded by genealogy in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel" (v. 17). Gad had a true concern about his genealogy... At least until Jotham and Jeroboam's day, his position in Israel was clear and well established. This showed his sincere desire to be part of God's people and, despite everything, not to deny Judah, which under Jotham was the centre of the kingship.
Gilead and Bashan were good land. But they were not where Israel had been heading, as one writer points out:
Moses, when he led them out of Egypt, had said nothing about Gilead and Bashan. They were not part of "the mountain of the inheritance," which he and the congregation had sung about in their song. Nor were they in that "place" which he had told the Midianite he and Israel were travelling to. But Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had cattle, and on the plains on the eastern side of the river cattle could feed well. They had no thought of rebelling or giving up their interest in the God of Israel; but they had cattle, and Gilead and Bashan suited them.
The Jordan is more than a border on a map. What lies across it, and what lies east of it, each stand for something:
Their lands do not lie in Canaan proper, which is all across the river, the type of the heavenly inheritance, the other side of death. So the two and a half tribes later ask not to cross the Jordan. They want their inheritance in the fertile plains on the eastern side instead. Moses opposes this as rebellion against God. He later withdraws his opposition. But the fact remains: as a picture, these tribes settle down on the wrong side of death — not heaven, but earth.
Gad's towns sat out at the limits of Israel's territory, and that exposure had consequences:
But living on the wrong side of Jordan is dangerous. The two and a half tribes experienced this often. In troubled times they were the first to meet the attack of the invader. They were also the first whom the King of Assyria led away captive (2 Kings 15:29).
Gad's district was wide and fertile. It did not stay in Gad's hands:
Gad possessed a large district, from a little above the north corner of the Dead Sea to near the south corner of the Sea of Galilee. It was then a very fertile plain, suitable for their flocks and herds, and it included the highlands of Gilead. The tribes east of the Jordan were the first carried away by the king of Assyria, about 740 B.C.; and the Ammonites took possession of the territory of Gad. 1 Chronicles 5:25-26; Jeremiah 49:1. Twelve thousand of this tribe will in a future day be sealed for blessing. Revelation 7:5. Their allotment will be in the extreme south in the restoration of Israel. Ezekiel 48:27.
Gad's choice of land is not the last word on Gad:
Remember that the Gadites had received their inheritance on the other side of the Jordan, together with the Reubenites and half the tribe of Manasseh. They had chosen what suited themselves and their flocks (Numbers 32), instead of the land flowing with milk and honey... They had sunk far below the height of their calling. For this very reason it is all the more remarkable that God was still working in power among them.
Gad's future portion lies elsewhere, but the old ground is not written off:
In the restoration of Israel their border eastward will extend to Damascus and Gilead. Ezekiel 47:18. This ancient possession will thus be brought into blessing.
- Pasture chose the place. Gad settled Gilead, Bashan and the grazing land because it suited his flocks. Reuben chose on the same grounds.
- Pasture was not the promise. Moses never named Gilead and Bashan when he led Israel out of Egypt. These lands suited Gad. They were not the inheritance set before Israel.
- Pasture sat on the wrong side. Canaan across the river pictures the heavenly inheritance, beyond death. The eastern plains picture settling for earth.
- Pasture cost them protection. Living at the border meant they met the invader first. They went into captivity first, and others took their land.
- Pasture could not shut out grace. God still worked in power among them. Their genealogy was still recorded, and this eastern ground still has a place in Israel's restoration.
All these were registered by genealogy in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.