Verse 3

Eglah his wife--supposed to be another name of Michal, who, though she had no son after her mockery of David for dancing before the ark [Sa2 6:16, Sa2 6:20], might have had one previous to that time. She has the title of wife appended to her name because she was his proper wife; and the mention of her name last probably arose from the circumstance that, having been withdrawn from David and married to another husband but afterwards restored, she had in reality become the last of his wives.

Verse 5

four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel--or, "Bath-sheba" (Sa2 11:3), and there her father is called "Eliam." Of course Solomon was not her "only son," but he is called so (Pro 4:3) from the distinguished affection of which he was the object; and though the oldest, he is named the last of Bath-sheba's children.

Verse 6

Elishama and Eliphelet--Two sons of the same name are twice mentioned (Ch1 3:8). They were the children of different mothers, and had probably some title or epithet appended by which the one was distinguished from the other. Or, it might be, that the former two were dead, and their names had been given to sons afterwards born to preserve their memories.

Verse 8

nine--The number of David's sons born after his removal to Jerusalem, was eleven (Sa2 5:14), but only nine are mentioned here: two of them being omitted, either in consequence of their early deaths or because they left no issue.

Verse 10

HIS LINE TO ZEDEKIAH. (Ch1 3:10-16) Solomon's son was Rehoboam, &c.--David's line is here drawn down to the captivity, through a succession of good and bad, but still influential and celebrated, monarchs. It has rarely happened that a crown has been transmitted from father to son, in lineal descent, for seventeen reigns. But this was the promised reward of David's piety. There is, indeed, observable some vacillation towards the close of this period--the crown passing from one brother to another, an even from uncle to nephew--a sure sign of disorderly times and a disjointed government.

Verse 15

Zedekiah--called the son of Josiah (compare Jer 1:3; Jer 37:1), but in Ch2 36:19 he is described as the brother of Jehoiachin, who was the son of Jehoiakim, and consequently the grandson of Josiah. Words expressive of affinity or relationship are used with great latitude in the Hebrew. Shallum--No king of this name is mentioned in the history of Josiah's sons (2Ki. 14:1-29; 2Ki. 23:1-37), but there is a notice of Shallum the son of Josiah (Jer 22:11), who reigned in the stead of his father, and who is generally supposed to be Jehoahaz, a younger son, here called the fourth, of Josiah.

Verse 17

SUCCESSORS OF JECONIAH. (Ch1 3:17-24) the sons of Jeconiah; Assir--rather, "Jeconiah the prisoner," or "captive." This record of his condition was added to show that Salathiel was born during the captivity in Babylon (compare Mat 1:12). Jeconiah was written childless (Jer 22:30), a prediction which (as the words that follow explain) meant that this unfortunate monarch should have no son succeeding him on the throne.

Verse 18

Malchiram also--As far as Jeconiah, everything is plain; but there is reason to suspect that the text in the subsequent verses has been dislocated and disarranged. The object of the sacred historian is to trace the royal line through Zerubbabel; yet, according to the present reading, the genealogical stem cannot be drawn from Jeconiah downwards. The following arrangement of the text is given as removing all difficulties [DAVIDSON, Hermeneutics]:-- Ch1 3:17. And the sons of Jeconiah the the captive, Salathiel (Shealtiel, Ezr 3:2; Neh 12:1; Hag 1:12, Hag 1:14; Hag 2:2) his son. Ch1 3:18. And the sons of Salathiel; Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister. Ch1 3:19. And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hezed. Ch1 3:20. And Malchiram, and Rephaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. Ch1 3:21. The sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah and Jesaiah; the sons of Rephaiah; his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah. Next: 1 Chronicles Chapter 4

Verse 1

Now these were the sons of David,.... The six following born in Hebron, who are reckoned in the same order as in Sa2 3:2, only here the second son is called Daniel, who there goes by the name of Chileab; he had two names, the reason of which see there; and here David's wife, Eglah, is said in the Targum to be Michal, Saul's daughter; see Gill on Sa2 3:5, to which is added an account of his reign both in Hebron and Jerusalem, agreeably to Sa2 5:5. . 1 Chronicles 3:5 ch1 3:5 ch1 3:5 ch1 3:5And these were born unto him in Jerusalem,.... Whose names follow, in all nine; there are but seven mentioned in Sa2 5:14 the reason of which see in the notes there; See Gill on Sa2 5:14. See Gill on Sa2 5:15. See Gill on Sa2 5:16. it may be observed that Bathsheba is here called Bathshua, and her father Ammiel, whose name is Eliam in Sa2 11:3, names of much the same signification.

Verse 5

These were all the sons of David,.... By his wives: beside the sons of the concubines; who are not reckoned, and how many they were is not known; he had ten concubines at least, Sa2 15:16 and Sa2 20:3. And Tamar their sister; not the sister of the sons of the concubines, but of his other sons, and only of Absalom by the mother's side, of whom see Sa2 13:1.

Verse 9

And Solomon's son was Rehoboam,.... From hence to the end of the fourteenth verse, David's successors are reckoned, according to the order of their reign, unto Josiah and his sons: Solomon, Rehoboam, Abia, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, in all sixteen.

Verse 10

And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan,.... Of whom we nowhere else read; he probably died before his father Josiah: the second Jehoiakim: whose name was Eliakim, changed for the former by the king of Egypt, when, he deposed his younger brother, and set him on the throne, Kg2 23:24. the third Zedekiah; whose name was Mattaniah, but changed by the king of Babylon, when he placed him on the throne in the room of his brother's son, Kg2 24:17, the fourth Shallum: the same with Jehoahaz, who was first made king in the room of his father; but reigning so short a time, and making so mean a figure, is mentioned last, see Jer 22:11.

Verse 15

And the sons of Jehoiakim; Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. This is not the Zedekiah mentioned in the preceding verse; for he was not the son but the uncle of Jeconiah, unless he should be called his son because he succeeded him in the kingdom; but he seems to be another of that name, nowhere else mentioned, and not the son of Jeconiah in any sense; he is not reckoned among them in the following verses, but of Jehoiakim. And the sons of Jehoiakim; Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. This is not the Zedekiah mentioned in the preceding verse; for he was not the son but the uncle of Jeconiah, unless he should be called his son because he succeeded him in the kingdom; but he seems to be another of that name, nowhere else mentioned, and not the son of Jeconiah in any sense; he is not reckoned among them in the following verses, but of Jehoiakim. 1 Chronicles 3:17 ch1 3:17 ch1 3:17 ch1 3:17And the sons of Jeconiah,.... For though he was pronounced childless, Jer 22:30, that respects not his having no children in any sense, but none to succeed him in the kingdom: Assir; which signifies bound, or a prisoner, because, as Kimchi thinks, he was born in a prison, his father then being a captive in Babylon; but rather it refers to Jeconiah himself, and is an appellation of him, and to be rendered: the sons of Jeconiah the captive: which agrees best with the Hebrew accents: Salathiel his son; the same that is called Shealtiel, Hag 1:1 who was both the proper son of Jeconiah, and who succeeded him, as some think, in the honour and dignity the king of Babylon raised him to.

Verse 16

Malchiram also,.... That is, was a son of Jeconiah as well as Salathiel, and so the rest that follow: and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah; Kimchi says these were the sons of Salathiel; but I rather think they were the sons of Jeconiah, and brethren of Salathiel, because of what follows.

Verse 17

And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel and Shimei,.... Here arises a difficulty, since elsewhere Zerubbabel is said to be the son of Shealtiel, Hag 1:1 some think this is not the same Zerubbabel here as there; so Grotius (u); but I see no reason for that; but this difficulty may be removed by observing, that if Pedaiah was a son of Salathiel, as Kimchi thinks, then Zerubbabel, being his grandson, may be called his son, as grandsons are sometimes called sons in Scripture; or rather, Salathiel, having no children, adopted Zerubbabel, his brother's son, and made him successor in the government; so that he was the son of Pedaiah by birth, and of Salathiel by adoption; or else Salathiel dying without children, his brother Pedaiah, according to the law, married his widow, and by her had Zerubbabel, who was the proper son of Pedaiah, and the legal son of Salathiel: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam: who is called Abiud, Mat 1:13 another son of his, with their father, is mentioned in this verse, and five more in the next. From hence to the end of the chapter, the genealogy is carried on from the captivity of Babylon, out of which Zerubbabel came, to the coming of Christ; and if Ezra was the writer of this book, as is generally thought, who was contemporary with Zerubbabel, this account must be written by another hand: and it may be observed, that it is carried on in the same number of generations as in Matthew; and here it stands thus: Zerubbabel, Hananiah, Jesaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, Shecaniah, Shemaiah, Neariah, Elioenai, Anani; in Matthew thus, "Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Sadoc, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph"; the difference in names may be accounted for by their having two names; and it is remarkable that the Targum makes Anani to be the King Messiah, who was to be revealed; which, though it makes one generation less to his time, yet plainly shows that the Jews expected the Messiah to come at the end of this genealogy, and about the time Jesus the true Messiah did. Anani is reckoned by other Jews a name of the Messiah, who is said to come in the clouds of heaven, which "Anani" signifies; see Gill on Dan 7:13. (u) In Luc. 3. Next: 1 Chronicles Chapter 4

Verse 1

Now these were the sons of David,.... The six following born in Hebron, who are reckoned in the same order as in Sa2 3:2, only here the second son is called Daniel, who there goes by the name of Chileab; he had two names, the reason of which see there; and here David's wife, Eglah, is said in the Targum to be Michal, Saul's daughter; see Gill on Sa2 3:5, to which is added an account of his reign both in Hebron and Jerusalem, agreeably to Sa2 5:5. . 1 Chronicles 3:5 ch1 3:5 ch1 3:5 ch1 3:5And these were born unto him in Jerusalem,.... Whose names follow, in all nine; there are but seven mentioned in Sa2 5:14 the reason of which see in the notes there; See Gill on Sa2 5:14. See Gill on Sa2 5:15. See Gill on Sa2 5:16. it may be observed that Bathsheba is here called Bathshua, and her father Ammiel, whose name is Eliam in Sa2 11:3, names of much the same signification.

Verse 5

These were all the sons of David,.... By his wives: beside the sons of the concubines; who are not reckoned, and how many they were is not known; he had ten concubines at least, Sa2 15:16 and Sa2 20:3. And Tamar their sister; not the sister of the sons of the concubines, but of his other sons, and only of Absalom by the mother's side, of whom see Sa2 13:1.

Verse 9

And Solomon's son was Rehoboam,.... From hence to the end of the fourteenth verse, David's successors are reckoned, according to the order of their reign, unto Josiah and his sons: Solomon, Rehoboam, Abia, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, in all sixteen.

Verse 10

And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan,.... Of whom we nowhere else read; he probably died before his father Josiah: the second Jehoiakim: whose name was Eliakim, changed for the former by the king of Egypt, when, he deposed his younger brother, and set him on the throne, Kg2 23:24. the third Zedekiah; whose name was Mattaniah, but changed by the king of Babylon, when he placed him on the throne in the room of his brother's son, Kg2 24:17, the fourth Shallum: the same with Jehoahaz, who was first made king in the room of his father; but reigning so short a time, and making so mean a figure, is mentioned last, see Jer 22:11.

Verse 15

And the sons of Jehoiakim; Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. This is not the Zedekiah mentioned in the preceding verse; for he was not the son but the uncle of Jeconiah, unless he should be called his son because he succeeded him in the kingdom; but he seems to be another of that name, nowhere else mentioned, and not the son of Jeconiah in any sense; he is not reckoned among them in the following verses, but of Jehoiakim. And the sons of Jehoiakim; Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son. This is not the Zedekiah mentioned in the preceding verse; for he was not the son but the uncle of Jeconiah, unless he should be called his son because he succeeded him in the kingdom; but he seems to be another of that name, nowhere else mentioned, and not the son of Jeconiah in any sense; he is not reckoned among them in the following verses, but of Jehoiakim. 1 Chronicles 3:17 ch1 3:17 ch1 3:17 ch1 3:17And the sons of Jeconiah,.... For though he was pronounced childless, Jer 22:30, that respects not his having no children in any sense, but none to succeed him in the kingdom: Assir; which signifies bound, or a prisoner, because, as Kimchi thinks, he was born in a prison, his father then being a captive in Babylon; but rather it refers to Jeconiah himself, and is an appellation of him, and to be rendered: the sons of Jeconiah the captive: which agrees best with the Hebrew accents: Salathiel his son; the same that is called Shealtiel, Hag 1:1 who was both the proper son of Jeconiah, and who succeeded him, as some think, in the honour and dignity the king of Babylon raised him to.

Verse 16

Malchiram also,.... That is, was a son of Jeconiah as well as Salathiel, and so the rest that follow: and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah; Kimchi says these were the sons of Salathiel; but I rather think they were the sons of Jeconiah, and brethren of Salathiel, because of what follows.

Verse 17

And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel and Shimei,.... Here arises a difficulty, since elsewhere Zerubbabel is said to be the son of Shealtiel, Hag 1:1 some think this is not the same Zerubbabel here as there; so Grotius (u); but I see no reason for that; but this difficulty may be removed by observing, that if Pedaiah was a son of Salathiel, as Kimchi thinks, then Zerubbabel, being his grandson, may be called his son, as grandsons are sometimes called sons in Scripture; or rather, Salathiel, having no children, adopted Zerubbabel, his brother's son, and made him successor in the government; so that he was the son of Pedaiah by birth, and of Salathiel by adoption; or else Salathiel dying without children, his brother Pedaiah, according to the law, married his widow, and by her had Zerubbabel, who was the proper son of Pedaiah, and the legal son of Salathiel: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam: who is called Abiud, Mat 1:13 another son of his, with their father, is mentioned in this verse, and five more in the next. From hence to the end of the chapter, the genealogy is carried on from the captivity of Babylon, out of which Zerubbabel came, to the coming of Christ; and if Ezra was the writer of this book, as is generally thought, who was contemporary with Zerubbabel, this account must be written by another hand: and it may be observed, that it is carried on in the same number of generations as in Matthew; and here it stands thus: Zerubbabel, Hananiah, Jesaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, Shecaniah, Shemaiah, Neariah, Elioenai, Anani; in Matthew thus, "Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Sadoc, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph"; the difference in names may be accounted for by their having two names; and it is remarkable that the Targum makes Anani to be the King Messiah, who was to be revealed; which, though it makes one generation less to his time, yet plainly shows that the Jews expected the Messiah to come at the end of this genealogy, and about the time Jesus the true Messiah did. Anani is reckoned by other Jews a name of the Messiah, who is said to come in the clouds of heaven, which "Anani" signifies; see Gill on Dan 7:13. (u) In Luc. 3. Next: 1 Chronicles Chapter 4

Verse 1

We had an account of David's sons, Sa2 3:2, etc., and Sa2 5:14, etc. 1. He had many sons; and no doubt wrote as he thought, Psa 127:5. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of these arrows. 2. Some of them were a grief to him, as Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah; and we do not read of any of them that imitated his piety or devotion except Solomon, and he came far short of it. 3. One of them, which Bath-sheba bore to him, he called Nathan, probably in honour of Nathan the prophet, who reproved him for his sin in that matter and was instrumental to bring him to repentance. It seems he loved him the better for it as long as he lived. It is wisdom to esteem those our best friends that deal faithfully with us. From this son of David our Lord Jesus descended, as appears Luk 3:31. 4. Here are two Elishamas, and two Eliphelets, Ch1 3:6, Ch1 3:8. Probably the two former were dead, and therefore David called two more by their names, which he would not have done if there had been any ill omen in this practice as some fancy. 5. David had many concubines; but their children are not named, as not worthy of the honour (Ch1 3:9), the rather because the concubines had dealt treacherously with David in the affair of Absalom. 6. Of all David's sons Solomon was chosen to succeed him, perhaps not for any personal merits (his wisdom was God's gift), but so, Father, because it seemed good unto thee.

Verse 10

David having nineteen sons, we may suppose them to have raised many noble families in Israel whom we never hear of in the history. But the scripture gives us an account only of the descendants of Solomon here, and of Nathan, Lu. 3. The rest had the honour to be the sons of David; but these only had the honour to be related to the Messiah. The sons of Nathan were his fathers as man, the sons of Solomon his predecessors as king. We have here, 1. The great and celebrated names by which the line of David is drawn down to the captivity, the kings of Judah in a lineal succession, the history of whom we have had at large in the two books of Kings and shall meet with again in the second book of Chronicles. Seldom has a crown gone in a direct line from father to son for seventeen descents together, as here. This was the recompence of David's piety. About the time of the captivity the lineal descent was interrupted, and the crown went from one brother to another and from a nephew to an uncle, which was a presage of the eclipsing of the glory of that house. 2. The less famous, and most of them very obscure, names, in which the house of David subsisted after the captivity. The only famous man of that house that we meet with at their return from captivity was Zerubbabel, elsewhere called the son of Salathiel, but appearing here to be his grandson (Ch1 3:17-19), which is usual in scripture. Belshazzar is called Nebuchadnezzar's son, but was his grandson. Salathiel is said to be the son of Jeconiah because adopted by him, and because, as some think, he succeeded him in the dignity to which he was restored by Evil-merodach. Otherwise Jeconiah was written childless: he was the signet God plucked from his right hand (Jer 22:24), and in his room Zerubbabel was placed, and therefore God saith to him (Hag 2:23), I will make thee as a signet. The posterity of Zerubbabel here bear not the same names that they do in the genealogies (Mt. 1, or Lu. 3), but those no doubt were taken from the then herald's office, the public registers which the priests kept of all the families of Judah, especially that of David. The last person named in this chapter is Anani, of whom bishop Patrick says that the Targum adds these words, He is the king Messiah, who is to be revealed, and some of the Jewish writers give this reason, because it is said (Dan 7:13), the son of man came gnim gnanani - with the clouds of heaven. The reason indeed is very foreign and far-fetched; but that learned man thinks it may be made use of as an evidence that their minds were always full of the thoughts of the Messiah and that they expected it would not be very long after the days of Zerubbabel before the set time of his approach would come.

Verse 1

3:1-24 The genealogy of David continues the genealogy of Ram (2:10-17), which included David as the seventh son of Jesse (2:15). David’s genealogy is divided into three sections: David’s sons (3:1-9); the kings of Judah down to Jehoiachin and Zedekiah (3:10-16), who were exiled to Babylon; and the descendants of Jehoiachin down to the time of the Chronicler (3:17-24).

3:1-9 The list of David’s sons relies on information from Samuel (2 Sam 3:2-5; 5:14-16); the list is divided between sons . . . born while David ruled in Hebron, and those born . . . in Jerusalem.

Verse 10

3:10-16 The Chronicler lists the kings of Judah in father-to-son progression from Solomon to the Exile.

Verse 15

3:15 Three of the four sons of Josiah served as kings of Judah.

Verse 16

3:16 The successors of Jehoiakim were his son Jehoiachin and his brother Zedekiah: At the very end of the monarchy of Judah, the sequence of kings did not follow the typical pattern of the eldest son succeeding his father.

Verse 17

3:17-23 This portion of the list of David’s descendants extends to around 400 BC.

Verse 21

3:21 The sons of Hananiah . . . Shecaniah (literally The son of Hananiah [was] Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah): In Hebrew, all the names are listed as “the sons” of Hananiah, all in one generation. However, many ancient manuscripts and translations support viewing the list as covering several generations (as in the NLT) by translating “sons of” (Hebrew beney, four times) as “son of” (Hebrew beno). The resulting genealogy extends several generations from the time of Zerubbabel and his son Hananiah.