Deeper Commentary
1Ch 1:1 Adam, Seth, Enosh-
We have to ask why these genealogies were prepared. It is quite likely
that they were first formalized in the time of Hezekiah, but I would suggest
that they were completed at the time of the restoration, when there was a
problem in finding a High Priest and priesthood because it was hard to prove
who was descended from Aaron, presumably because the genealogies were
destroyed when the temple was burnt. The genealogies give much emphasis to
the descendants of Aaron, far more than to the other tribes. There are a
number of references to faithless men being punished by invasions (e.g. 1
Chron. 5:6). Ezra 8 contains a genealogy recorded in similar style and
language to these in Chronicles. Nehemiah made a special study of the
genealogies in order to find an acceptable priesthood (Neh. 7:5,64). So
there were Israel returning from captivity, led by a faithful remnant of the
priests, looking back through their history, right back to Abraham and
beyond, and seeing that their history was shot through with failure. Such
self-examination extended even to considering the names parents gave their
children. Marriage out of the faith was a problem at the time of the
restoration, and therefore the records of the genealogies stress how this
had been a problem in the past- and had still not been forgotten by God
(Ezra 9:1,2). The prophets foretold that Israel's restoration would only
come once they achieved a suitable recognition of their sinfulness. And
Isaiah's prophecies of the
restoration from Babylon are without doubt applicable to the establishment
of the Kingdom at Christ's return; which means that Israel at the time of
the restoration should represent us now, on the brink of the second coming
and the full re-establishment of Israel's Kingdom. The coming of that
blessed time may well be dependent upon our self-examination, to the point
of really taking a breath when we realize the extent of our personal and
collective shortcomings all down the years. The priests who wrote those
records in Chronicles were writing down the result of their national
self-examination. This was the record of their lessons from Chronicles. Each
of the genealogies say something about the people they are concerned with;
and thus 2 Chron. 12:15 RVmg. speaks of how the acts of Rehoboam are
reflected in the reckoning of the genealogies.
1Ch 1:2 Kenan-
Perhaps this was from whom the faithful Heber the Kenite was descended
(Jud. 4:11,17; Jud. 5:24).
Mahalalel, Jared-
Mahalalel is
"Praise of God". It's questionable how much significance we should attach
to the meaning of names; but this meaning would encourage us to again see
some spirituality in the line of Seth. Jared had a child somewhat
later in life (Gen. 5:18). Perhaps this reflects a lengthy search for a
Godly wife; or perhaps his earlier children were spiritual failures and
weren't therefore the ones through whom the seed was to be preserved.
1Ch 1:3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech-
Adam Clarke and others see "Methuselah" as meaning something to the
effect of "When he dies, it [or judgment] shall come". And he died in the
year the flood came. Jude 14 mentions that Enoch prophesied of judgment to
come upon the world of his day. This would suggest that there had been a
revelation about the flood before Noah received the command to build the
ark. He would've obeyed, encouraged by Methuselah. The threat of judgment
was therefore hanging over the earth for many centuries before the flood
came; they were a society without excuse, and the gradual falling away of
the faithful until only Noah was left would've been an awful period to
live through. And the days of Noah are as our last days.
We wonder why Lamech was not saved in the ark, and why he died relatively young (Gen. 5:26). We can assume that he fell away from the faith, whilst his father and son [Noah] remained faithful. To hold to the faith amidst such mass apostacy, including amongst your immediate family, is notable indeed. Or it could simply be that he died younger than the others because of persecution or natural causes.
Another alternative is that we are to understand 'comfort' in Gen. 5:29 as only one possible translation; the idea could be that Lamech hoped that his son Noah would be the one who would bring about repentance / changing in God regarding the curse upon the earth. In this case, we see Lamech hoping that this son of his would be the promised "seed of the woman" of Gen. 3:15, a Messiah figure. However, the Lamech of Gen. 5:28 may well be the Lamech of Gen. 4:18-22; both Lamechs are described as having Methuselah as their father. As often in early Genesis, this would be a case of one history being recorded in one chapter and then another one in the next- as with the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2. In this case, if Lamech is the same Lamech, then Noah had very gifted and high flying siblings. His brother Jabal was the leader of the cattle owners (Gen. 4:20); his brother Jubal was the leading musician of the age (Gen. 4:21); Tubalcain his other brother was the leader of all the metalworkers. Lamech was the first polygamist, who killed a young man for a slight insult and boasted about it; and whose wife Adah means 'decorated / adorned'. These were people of the world. And Noah was the sidekick brother who was to do all the menial farm work so the rest of them could pursue their careers and social lives. Against this of course it can be argued that there are differences in the genealogies of Genesis chapters 4 and 5. However, in the context, Gen. 6:1-4 describes how the lines of Seth and Cain intermarried [the sons of God married the daughters of men] and it could be argued that the genealogies we have aren't complete, generations are skipped, and 'having a son' could be understood in a wider sense than referring to a son directly fathered by the person concerned. 'Lamech' in Hebrew is comprised of the three central letters of the Hebrew alphabet and it could be argued that this reflects his 'joining' function [as it does in other Semitic literature], in joining the Sethite and Cainite lines together. The resemblances between the six names in Gen. 4:17,18 with six in chapter 5 is striking, and they both culminate in Lamech, as if he was the one in whom the lines mixed. Interestingly, Lamech in Gen. 4:24 speaks of 77 fold vengeance coming upon him; and the Lamech of Gen. 5:30 [the same Lamech?] dies at 777 years old. It also needs to be carried in mind that Semitic 'genealogies' aren't always chronological; they are constructed in order to make various points or develop themes, as in the genealogies of the Lord in Matthew and Luke.
1Ch 1:4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth-
Did Noah's parents expect Noah to be the child who would do all the
hard menial work for them, so that they would suffer less from the curse
placed upon the ground in Eden? This might explain why Noah had children
when he was 500, far older than others of his time (Gen. 5:32- Noah's
father had had his first children at 182, Gen. 5:28; Seth had his first
child at 105, Gen. 5:6; Enos at 95, Gen. 5:9; Cainan at 70, Gen. 5:12;
Mahalalel at 65, Gen. 5:15; Jared at 162, Gen. 5:18; Enoch at 65, Gen.
5:21; Methuselah at 187, Gen. 5:25); Gen. 6:18 implies that Noah only had
three sons, whereas for people with such long life spans we'd have
expected him to have had far more than that. He only had three children-
for he prepared the ark to save "his house" (Heb. 11:7) and Gen. 7:1 is
quite clear: "Go into the ark, you and
all your household"- his whole household was his wife, three sons and their wives. Period.
Perhaps we get the picture of a man who was the underdog, the farm worker,
the sidekick of the family, whose own family life was delayed and limited
by this background. Perhaps he turned to alcohol for comfort (hence Gen.
9:21). But it was he whom God chose to save, he alone who was righteous in
that generation which perished. It was the quiet, broken man who was
saved. The Hebrew word for "Comfort" [a play on 'Noah'] occurs later, when
we read how God "repented" that He had made man (Gen. 6:6,7). Lamech's
desire for 'comfort' was fulfilled but not as he imagined; not through his
son being his personal slave, but rather in God changing His mind about
humanity and making a new start. We get what we desire, in essence; and so
we need to desire the right thing.
1Ch 1:5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech
and Tiras-
1Ch 1:6 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Diphath and Togarmah-
Ashkenaz was one of the nations which overthrew Babylon (Jer. 51:27).
Again, we're dealing with a people within the eretz and not
outside of it. I would argue that the Bible has very little to
specifically say about the peoples beyond the eretz.
1Ch 1:7 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim and Rodanim-
1Ch 1:8 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan-
Pan-Arabism will in the end come to its full term (however short-lived),
in the final invasion of Israel. The Hebrew word translated “Libya” is
also translated “Phut” or “Put”, which was another name for Libya in Bible
times. “Mizraim” likewise is the Biblical name for Egypt. Significantly,
Phut, Mizraim and Canaan were brothers (Gen. 10:6). There is therefore a
strong and valid idea of Arab brotherhood between the Palestinian Arabs
[i.e. the Arabs living in Canaan or the land of Israel] and the Arabs of
Libya, Egypt and the other countries in the surrounding Arab world. The
Babylonian invasion of Judah was a type of the invasion of Israel by
latter day ‘Babylon’, which will bring on the return of Christ. But this
invasion [as at the time of the Assyrian invasion of Israel] was really by
a confederacy of nations- including the Ethiopians, Lydians, Egyptians and
Libyans (Jer. 46:8,9 cp. Nahum 3:9). And history will repeat itself- in
that these nations along with Babylon will invade Israel in the last days.
But where history shall stop, the red line of human time come to a
terminus, will be in the simple fact that this time, the Lord Jesus shall
return to earth to establish God’s Kingdom here.
1Ch 1:9 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raama and Sabteca.
The sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan-
1Ch 1:10 Cush became the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one in
the earth-
The "mighty in the land" or eretz promised to Abraham had been the likes of the "giants" of Gen. 6:4; Nimrod / Assyria (Gen. 10:8); Babylon (Gen. 46:12) and indeed all the Gentile nations of the eretz (Ez. 32:27); but the hope of the promises to Abraham was and is that "his seed will be mighty in the land" (Ps. 112:2). There is to be a radical inversion of all things upon the earth.
1Ch 1:11 Mizraim-
This is the usual word for "Egypt". The
eretz extended to the river of Egypt, and so we can assume that this
person lived in Egypt east of the Nile, rather than referring to "Egypt"
as it is now defined.
Became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim-
1Ch 1:12 Pathrusim, Casluhim (where the Philistines came from) and
Caphtorim-
1Ch 1:13 Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth-
1Ch 1:14 the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite-
1Ch 1:15 the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite-
These were the tribes through whom the Israelites would've travelled
on their wilderness journeys; the Sinites lives around mount Sinai.
1Ch 1:16 the Arvadite, the Zemarite and the Hamathite-
1Ch 1:17 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul,
Gether and Meshech-
1Ch 1:18 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the
father of Eber-
1Ch 1:19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; for in
his days the land was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan-
1Ch 1:20 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah-
1Ch 1:21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah-
1Ch 1:22 Ebal, Abimael, Sheba-
Most commentaries focus upon where these tribes ended up living later. But
let's remember that we are here reading of how the descendants of Noah
were scattered throughout the
eretz promised to Abraham after the events of Babel. Where they
may have migrated to afterwards is not what is in view here.
1Ch 1:23 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan-
1Ch 1:24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah-
It should be noted that the Septuagint gives different ages and
inserts other generations in genealogies such as this one. Yet the
Septuagint is usually the version quoted by the inspired New Testament
writers, including for passages where the Masoretic Text reads quite
differently. This has large implications for the theory that Adam was
created 4000 BC, and the six thousand year plan theory.
1Ch 1:25 Eber, Peleg, Reu-
The genealogies of Genesis 11 reveal how some human lives repeat
according to the same outline schema. See on Gen. 11:10,14. Both
Arphachsad and Shelah each lived 403 years after the
births of the eldest sons.
1Ch 1:26 Serug, Nahor, Terah-
Peleg, Serug and Shelah were each 30 when their first sons were born
(Gen. 11:14,18,22). We too can find uncanny similarities between our lives
and those of others in the faith; or between our lives and Biblical
characters. The same Divine hand is at work. Nahor therefore died at 148
(Gen. 11:25), the shortest liver among the post-flood patriarchs. We
wonder why exactly that was... seeing that his grandson Abram was to be
the one chosen. It perhaps made Abram reflect upon the brevity of life and
the failure of idolatry to offer real salvation. It's
a very strange 'co-incidence' (if that's indeed what it is) that Noah, Peleg
and Nahor all died in the same year- when Abraham was about 50 years old,
living in Ur. Whilst we have no evidence that these men were all living
together, it's not impossible that they were. Perhaps they died in some
calamity in Ur. So it could well be that the motive for leaving Ur in the
first place was therefore mixed- it was fleeing from a material threat more
than plain obedience to a Divine command. This would explain why the family
settled in relatively nearby Haran, and remained there for so long.
1Ch 1:27 Abram (the same is Abraham)-
The meanings of Abraham's immediate ancestors all have associations
with idolatry, confirming the note in Josh. 24:2 that Abram and his
ancestors were idolaters. Out of that background, God chose a man who had
the potential to be different. Another reading of "Terah" is that it means
"One who tarries / remains", which would fit with his remaining in Haran
and not going further towards Canaan.
1Ch 1:28 The sons of Abraham: Isaac, and Ishmael-
Ishmael was born before Isaac, but clearly Isaac is presented as
Abraham's lead descendant.
1Ch 1:29 These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth;
then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam-
I suggested on :1 that these genealogies were written up at the time
of the exile, making them contemporary with the prophecies of later Isaiah
about Nebaioth and Kedar being reconciled with Abraham's seed through
Isaac and Jacob, and worshipping Yahweh together in a restored,
multiethnic Kingdom of God in Israel (Is. 60:7).
1Ch 1:30 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema-
Dumah intermarried with the Edomites (Is. 21:11,12). These 12 tribes
of Ishmael make them a pseudo Israel, and yet also, as Paul develops in
Gal. 4, representatives of unbelieving Israel after the flesh.
The names of Ishmael's sons make a statement about their final acceptance in God's Kingdom, in language which is picked up in the later prophecies about them in Is. 60:6,7; 43:19,20: "In the high places a powerful people will experience a miracle of God. For they shall cause sweet odours to ascend, calling His fame to remembrance. Their burden will be lifted, they will become mighty in power, conquerors of the desert, strong in defence, numerous in population, at the forefront of the nations".
1Ch 1:31 Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael-
Ishmael is recorded as having 12 sons, who grew into tribes. This
makes them a kind of parallel with the 12 sons and tribes of Jacob. But as
noted on :29, one of the purposes of these genealogies was to persuade the
exiles against their tendency to racial elitism, and to accept that all
the tribes of the eretz promised to Abraham were Divinely
intended to reconcile around Him in a restored kingdom of God. They were
being reminded that they were in fact all very similar in their roots.
Abraham's prayer that Ishmael might be accepted into the covenant was
heard [his name means 'God has heard']. The same promises were made to him
as to Isaac; his 12 tribes (Gen. 17:20) could also have become some kind
of people of God. But in this world, they chose not to; although for
Abraham's sake, their latter day representatives will finally be saved.
1Ch 1:32 The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran,
Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of
Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan-
These records seem to stress the weakness and
occasional strength of these children of God. This is one of the major
lessons from Chronicles. Every now and then, the list of names is
interrupted by a piece of information which indicates God's awareness of
their spirituality. For example, the fact some men had more than one wife
or a wife from a nation other than Israel is often recorded (1 Chron.
1:32; 2:3,26,35,48; 4:18; 5:1; 7:14; 8:8). The way these interruptions
occur in the lists of names stands out. This is surely to indicate two
things: that many faithful men (e.g. Abraham and Caleb, 1 Chron. 1:32;
2:46) made mistakes in this area of life, and secondly that all down the
centuries God has not forgotten that they married out of the faith, or
that they allowed the pressures of their surrounding world to influence
them to break away from the ideal one man: one woman standard of Eden.
These two facts provide us with both warning and comfort, in that although
God is sensitive to failure, He is still able to justify men, to count
them as if they are righteous for the sake of their covenant relationship
with Him, even though (e.g.) their married life was not completely in
order.
1Ch 1:33 The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All
these were the sons of Keturah-
Is. 60:6 and Ps. 72:10 envisage Ephah and other children of Keturah
as ultimately saved along with Israel in the Kingdom age. The blessing
upon Abraham will ultimately come true upon all his seed, by grace alone.
1Ch 1:34 Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and
Israel-
Isaac had no other recorded children, which is unusual for a wealthy
man who lived a long time. This would reflect a great loyalty to Rebekah,
in an age of polygamy.
1Ch 1:35 The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam and Korah-
The Eliphaz the Temanite of
the book of Job, who it seems eventually came to know God through Job's
forgiveness of him and prayer for him. So we see here how relationship
with God skipped a generation, as often happens. Reuel is "Friend of God". We wonder if as with
Eliphaz, this was another example of a spiritual person emerging from an
unspiritual background and genealogy.
1Ch 1:36 The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna and
Amalek-
Amalek became a major enemy of Israel; but his father Eliphaz was a
believer, if as suggested on :35 he is the Eliphaz of the book of Job. And
so we see what is apparent in the records of the kings of Judah; good men
have bad sons and bad men have good sons. Spirituality is personal and not
inherited; and bad background is not an insurmountable handicap to faith
and spirituality.
1Ch 1:37 The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah and Mizza-
Reuel, "friend of God", may have been a believer, despite having a
father and mother (Gen. 36:10) and maternal grandmother who didn't want
the things of the Kingdom promises. The new creation in Christ means that
we are free of such background influences if we truly respond to the word
of promise. But his sons weren't. For the names of the sons are distinctly
unspiritual, especially bearing in mind the Semitic way of giving a name
to a person which reflects their character. Respectively, these names mean
"declining", "sun rising" and "wasting". Their birth names could have been
recorded, but instead the names they were known by later are recorded.
1Ch 1:38 The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer and
Dishan-
Again the names are hardly suggestive of true spirituality; Dishon
and Ezer respectively mean "the trampler", "man of treasure". "Dishan" is
another form of "Dishon"; it would be likely that Dishon died prematurely
and so was as it were replaced by Dishan. Anah could be a female name.
Gen. 36:20 adds: "These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah". The idea is that they were formerly the inhabitants of that land, but were driven out by the Edomites (Dt. 2:12,22), an encouragement to Israel in the wilderness who first heard Genesis to likewise drive out the tribes from their allotted possession as Edom / Esau had done. The sons of Seir are listed amongst the descendants of Esau perhaps on the basis of the idea that Gentile peoples were counted as his descendants, just as was to be true, in a different sense, of Abraham's true seed. As noted on :30, Esau's nation is portrayed as an imitation of the true people of God. Or it could be argued that the similarities are because God chose to bless Isaac's son in this life, but without the eternal and Messianic dimension which was attached to the line through Jacob.
1Ch 1:39 The sons of Lotan: Hori, and Homam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister-
"Homam" means "raging anger", continuing the uncontrolled passion of
the moment which was seen in Esau. We note the uncommon mention of a
woman. Why this special mention of Timna ["restraint"] as being the aunty
of "Heman", "raging anger"? Perhaps to continue the theme developed here-
that out of all this unspirituality and unrestrained human nature, there
were various individuals who were different and rose above their
surrounding environment. This is of huge encouragement to us today.
1Ch 1:40 The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi and Onam. The
sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah-
Shobal = 'overflowing'; Alian = 'haughty'; Manahath = 'rest / peace';
Ebal = 'naked'; Shephi = 'naked'; Onam = 'strong man'. As noted on :39, in
the midst of these names with sexual and other very human connotations,
Manahath has a much nicer meaning. Perhaps again we have one spiritual
person amongst unspiritual siblings.
1Ch 1:41 The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, Eshban,
Ithran and Cheran-
1Ch 1:42 The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan:
Uz and Aran-
1Ch 1:43 Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before
there reigned any king over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor;
and the name of his city was Dinhabah-
This seems a rather irrelevant statement- until it is appreciated
that the point is being made that Israel's desire for a king was
influenced by the fact the surrounding peoples had them.
1Ch 1:44 Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his
place-
The Septuagint states that Job was the "Jobab" of 1 Chron. 1:44,45, who
lived five generations after Abraham.
1Ch 1:45 Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in
his place-
1Ch 1:46 Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the
field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith-
1Ch 1:47 Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place-
1Ch 1:48 Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his
place-
1Ch 1:49 Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his
place-
1Ch 1:50 Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of
his city was Pai: and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of
Matred, the daughter of Mezahab-
1Ch 1:51 Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chief Timna, chief Aliah,
chief Jetheth-
1Ch 1:52 chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon-
1Ch 1:53 chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar-
1Ch 1:54 chief Magdiel, chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom-
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