1 Chronicles 8:40

And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour,.... Men of great fortitude and courage, though their names are not expressed: archers; skilful in the use of the bow and arrows, as the Benjaminites

And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, an hundred and fifty. All these are of the sons of Benjamin.

Archers, Heb. that tread the bow; for the bows of steel, which these used, required great strength to bend them; which therefore they did by treading the bow with their feet, and pulling the string with both their hands.

(40) And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers.—The ancient prowess of the Benjamites is recorded in Judges 20. Their left-handed slingers were famous. (See also Judges 3:15 seq.) Archers.—Literally, treaders of the bow (1 Chronicles 5:18). The meaning is that they drew their bows by resting the foot against them, the bows being large. Had many sons, and sons’ sons, an hundred and fifty.—What was their date? If we may assume that no names have been omitted, we are concerned with the fourteenth generation from Jonathan, the friend of David. The era of David has been fixed at about 1055-1045 B.C. ; so that the great-grandsons of Ulam may have flourished about 635-625 B.C. (1055 minus 420), in the reign of Josiah. The omission of names, however, is as possible and as likely in the present series as elsewhere; and it is obvious that one or two additional members would carry the list past the exile (B.C. 588). There are reasons for believing that the posterity of Ulam really represent a family of the period of the Return. Their number is favourable to the supposition. Comp. Ezra 2:18; Ezra 2:21; Ezra 2:23; Ezra 2:27; Ezra 2:30 for families of about the same dimensions, which returned with Zerubbabel. Further, the reference in 1 Chronicles 8:8-10 to a sojourn of certain Benjamite houses in Moab may be connected with the mention in Ezra 2:6; Ezra 8:4; Nehemiah 3:11, and elsewhere, of the “sons of the Pasha of Moab” (Pahath Mo’ab. This word pahath used to be reckoned among the indications of the late origin of the Chronicle. Now, however, it is known to be an ancient Semitic term. Comp. the Assyrian pihatu). Ono and Lod (1 Chronicles 8:12) may be compared with Ezra 2:33, and the singular names Elam (1 Chronicles 8:24) and Azmaveth (1 Chronicles 8:36), with the “sons of Elam” (Ezra 2:7), and “the sons of Azmaveth,” or “Beth-azmaveth” (Ezra 2:24; Nehemiah 7:28). The name Bocheru (in 1 Chronicles 8:38) has been classed with Gashmu (Nehemiah 6:6), but the latter is an Arab, and there is seemingly no MS. authority for Bocheru. Ishmael (1 Chronicles 8:38) reminds us of “Ishmael son of Nethaniah, of the seed royal” (2 Kings 25:25), who survived the fall of Jerusalem.

Verse 40. The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour] The Targum speaks honourably of them: "The sons of Ulam were mighty and strong men, subduing by wisdom their evil concupiscence, as men bend a bow; therefore they had many sons and grandsons." Of the six sons of Azel, mentioned 1 Chronicles 8:38, R. S. Jarchi says that their allegorical expositions were sufficient to load thirteen thousand camels! No doubt these were reputed to be deeply learned men. There was a time when the allegorizers and metaphor-men ranked very high among theologians, even in our own enlightened and critical country. At present they are almost totally out of fashion. May they never recover their footing! But what a shameful hyperbole is that of Jarchi! The writings of six men a load for thirteen thousand camels!

Sons, and sons’ sons - This genealogy of the house of Saul appears by the number of the generations to belong probably to the time of Hezekiah (compare 1 Chronicles 4:41).