and Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elad. And the men of Gath born in the land slew them, because they came down to take their cattle.
One sentence of violence sits inside a long list of names. Sons of Ephraim went raiding for livestock, and it cost them their lives — so why does a book written for people rebuilding after exile keep a record like this?
Chronicles passes over the smaller tribes very briefly. One writer places this raid in Ephraim's own lifetime and points to the border the two peoples shared.
One event connected with Ephraim is recorded here and nowhere else: the disaster that came on some of the sons of Ephraim (1 Chron. 7:21). This happened during Ephraim's own lifetime, perhaps before the Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. The land of Goshen bordered on the land of Gath (the Philistines' land). No doubt the inhabitants of each land raided the other, and the sons of Ephraim died in one of these raids. The moral state of the children of Ephraim was no better than that of the Philistines. The law had not yet said, "You shall not steal."
Commentators differ on when this happened. Another writer leaves the date open and weighs the raid against what Israel was called to do to the Canaanites.
At the beginning — we do not know exactly when — they had stolen from the Philistines of Gath. The Lord could in no way approve of that act. Stealing from the Canaanites to enrich themselves, while leaving them alive, was certainly not the same as destroying them. In 1 Samuel 15 Saul did the very same thing. Here the men of Gath carry out against Ephraim the judgment which Ephraim had not carried out against them.
The same writer follows the story forward. Gath does fall — but to another tribe.
Later, the "mighty men of valour" of Benjamin strike down the cursed race of the Philistines of Gath (1 Chron. 8:13). God entrusts the carrying out of His plans to those more faithful than Ephraim. Those who should have been His instruments lose this honour in a very humiliating way. The tribe that was the very least rose to be the greatest. This punishment had to happen, because man's unfaithfulness could not cancel God's decrees.
Chronicles was written for people who had just lived through national collapse. One writer says what the Spirit of God does with a record of failure like this.
Man's sin and failure are only occasions for the display of sovereign grace and Almighty power. So is Satan's determined opposition, as seen in Saul.
One writer names the comfort this gave the exiles who came home with almost nothing:
What comfort for the poor remnant, back from Babylon in servitude and contempt, to find their history in these disastrous times written here by the Spirit of God Himself! Every page shows that no unfaithfulness on the part of the people could change God's counsels. Nor could it alter the grace by which He would establish, for His people, His eternal purposes in the person of Christ.
The list does not stop at the dead sons. One writer notes what came after the loss.
After this a son was born to Ephraim, and his name, Beriah, kept the memory of their death. There was blessing in his daughter Sherah, and he had other sons. This was a healing of the breach.
The same line runs on further still.
Before Beriah was born, things had gone badly with the house of Ephraim. Its descendants are named down to Joshua, who led Israel on to victory in the Land of Promise (1 Chron. 7:20-27).
The raid was not a one-off. Ephraim held the place of the firstborn, and later it used its weight against its own people instead of God's enemies.
Ephraim had the place of the firstborn (Jer. 31:9), the birthright being taken from Reuben and given to Joseph (1 Chr. 5:1-2). The place of the tabernacle was also in the tribe of Ephraim, so in the time of the judges we find this tribe asserting its own importance… So this proud and envious tribe was punished for troubling their brothers, while they themselves had not driven out the pagan inhabitants of the land, as they should have done (Judges 1:29). This is a picture of many in the church. They fight their brothers out of pride, but they do not fight God's battles against spiritual wickedness.
- Cause. Men of Ephraim went down to take livestock that was not theirs. The Lord could in no way approve such an act, and their moral state was no better than that of the Philistines they robbed.
- Consequence. The men of Gath carried out against Ephraim the judgment Ephraim had failed to carry out against them. The sword landed on the wrong side of the border.
- Cost. Benjamin's mighty men later struck Gath down. The tribe that should have been God's instrument lost that honour, and the very least tribe rose to be the greatest.
- Continuity. No unfaithfulness of the people could change God's counsels. The punishment stood, because man's unfaithfulness cannot cancel His decrees.
- Comfort. The genealogy does not stop at the grave. It runs past Beriah, the son whose name kept the memory of the dead, down to Joshua, who led Israel into the land. Failure became an occasion for sovereign grace.
And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.
Ephraim's sons went raiding for cattle, and the men of Gath killed them. Commentators ask where the father's long sorrow came from, and what God did with it.
This raid appears nowhere else in Scripture. Commentators place it while Joseph's family still lived in Egypt, next door to Gath.
One event connected with Ephraim is recorded here and nowhere else: the disaster that happened to some of the sons of Ephraim (1 Chron. 7:21). The men of Gath killed them "because they came down to take away their cattle." This happened during Ephraim's lifetime, perhaps before the Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. The land of Goshen bordered on the land of Gath... The moral state of the children of Ephraim was no better than that of the Philistines. The law had not yet said, "You shall not steal."
One commentator reads these deaths as a judgment turned around.
Here the men of Gath carry out on Ephraim the judgment that Ephraim had not carried out on them... God hands the carrying out of His plans to people more faithful than Ephraim, and those who should have been His instruments are stripped of this honour in a deeply humbling way... The punishment had to fall, because man's unfaithfulness could not cancel God's decrees.
The son born after the deaths carried the trouble in his name. But grief is not the same as turning to God, and one commentator sets Ephraim beside Jabez, another man of sorrow.
The moral result of Ephraim's conduct did not take long to appear. He named the son born after them Beriah, which means "in evil," because the boy came while calamity was in his house. In this he was completely different from Jabez, for whom sorrow, the consequence of sin, became the starting point of his relationship with Jehovah.
Ephraim's brothers came and sat with him. One writer measures what such visits can give by looking at the comforters who came to Martha and Mary.
The Jews who came to comfort Martha and Mary when their brother had died (John 11:19, 31) brought poor comfort indeed; it was all that human sympathy could bring. But the comfort of Jesus was wonderfully rich, as He wept with the sorrowing sisters before the display of His power wiped every tear away. And Jesus is still the same. His heart is touched with our weaknesses and our sorrows, and He ministers His own grace and comfort. We wait for the day when He, as the Resurrection and the Life, will wipe away our every tear.
One writer weighs the meaning of the mourner's name, and ends with a question for the reader.
There is a man in Scripture whose name is not repeated — his name is Ephraim. His name means "double fruitfulness"... He mourned over the calamity that had come in among the people of God. How remarkable that is. A man whose name no one else carries, a man who carries the double fruitfulness which Christ will yet bring in, mourns over the calamities that have come upon the people of God. Beloved, we talk about difficulties, we perhaps enlarge on them, but do we weep?
The record does not end at the mourning. One commentator follows the same family line down to Joshua.
But the God who had blessed Joseph in his son Ephraim, according to the unchanging pattern of Chronicles, does not stop with the evil which this man had deserved. The account given to us ends with the name of Joshua, the type of Christ in the Spirit, leading His people to the conquest of their inheritance. So it is for God's people today. We must accept that it is by our own fault that evil is in the house, but we must never doubt for an instant that He who alone is worthy to enter Canaan will give us a possession in it.
- Cause — The mourning starts with a raid for cattle. Ephraim's sons were no better than the Philistines they robbed, and the men of Gath killed them.
- Reversal — God set aside the men who should have been His instruments and gave the work to more faithful people. Unfaithfulness cannot cancel His purposes.
- Grief — Ephraim's sorrow went into a child's name. One commentator contrasts Jabez, whose pain opened his dealings with God.
- Comfort — Brothers who come and sit bring all that human sympathy can bring. The richer comfort comes from Jesus, who weeps with mourners and will wipe every tear away.
- Outcome — God does not leave the record at the calamity. The same passage runs on to Joshua, and so the last word over a damaged house is the inheritance Christ secures.
And he went in to his wife; and she conceived, and bore a son; and he called his name Beriah, for [he was born] when calamity was in his house.
Ephraim's sons went down to raid the livestock of Gath, and the men of that city killed them. This verse records what their father did next, and it raises a question: why does an official register keep a family's shame?
One writer reads the earlier verses as theft from the Philistines of Gath. He sees the killing of those sons as the judgment Israel had failed to carry out:
At the beginning (we do not know exactly when), they had stolen from the Philistines of Gath. The Lord could in no way approve such an act. They stole from the Canaanites to enrich themselves and left them alive. That was not the same as destroying them. Here the men of Gath carry out against Ephraim the judgment which Ephraim had not carried out against them.
One account places this loss in the ordinary violence between Israel in Egypt and their Philistine neighbours. It does not excuse Ephraim's sons:
This happened during Ephraim's life, perhaps before the Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph. The land of Goshen bordered on the land of Gath, the Philistines' land. No doubt the inhabitants of each land made raids on the other, and in one of them the sons of Ephraim were killed. The moral state of the children of Ephraim was no better than that of the Philistines. The law had not yet said, "You shall not steal."
Ephraim gave the child born after the mourning a name tied to the calamity. One writer renders it "in evil." But the record does not stop with the loss:
A son was born to Ephraim after this, whose name, Beriah, was a memorial of their death. And there was blessing in his daughter Sherah, and other sons were born to him. This was a healing of the breach.
One writer contrasts Ephraim with Jabez, a man named earlier in these records:
In this Ephraim was completely different from Jabez, for whom sorrow, the consequence of sin, became the starting point of his relationship with the LORD.
Ephraim's tribe lost an honour here. One writer notes that Gath later fell to Benjamin's men, and draws a principle from the reversal:
God commits the carrying out of His plans to those more faithful than Ephraim. Those who should have been His instruments lose this honour in a very humiliating way. The tribe that was the very least rose to be the greatest. This punishment had to take place. Man's unfaithfulness could not cancel God's decrees.
Chronicles comes from the years after the nation collapsed and Babylon carried the people away. One writer explains why these registers mattered so much then:
The books of Chronicles were written after the captivity, when everything was thrown into disorder. The Jews had refused to believe the destruction until it came. Now, disheartened, they might have thought, "What is the use of a genealogy? Everything is ruined. All is gone." But the man who believed God knew that seventy years would see them returning from their captivity. Care for God and confidence in His Word would make them guard their genealogies carefully. Then, when they did return, they could enter on the allotment of God.
That purpose shapes how the whole book reads, including a father's private grief:
It is all the more striking to find in Chronicles the picture of grace working in the heart of man, for these books are written after the final ruin of the people and of the kingdom. But what consolation for the poor remnant, returned from Babylon in servitude and contempt, to find here their history written in these disastrous times by the Spirit of God Himself, showing on every page that no unfaithfulness on the part of the people could modify God's counsels or alter the grace by which He would establish His eternal purposes in the person of Christ.
- Raid — the sorrow began when Ephraim's sons went down to take what was not theirs, and the men of Gath killed them for it.
- Reversal — the honour of striking Gath passed to Benjamin. Unfaithfulness can cost a man his place in the work, but it cannot cancel what God has decreed.
- Remembrance — the newborn's name keeps the disaster on the record, and that same record names Sherah and more sons: one writer calls it a healing of the breach.
- Rebuilding — the registers survived the captivity, so a ruined people still had a name and an allotment from God.
- Restoration — Ephraim's line ends with Joshua leading God's people into their inheritance; our own fault put evil in the house, but He who alone is worthy to enter Canaan gives us a possession in it.