The Histories · Old Testament

1 Chronicles 3

1 Chronicles 3: the sons of David and the line of the kings

General context

The chapter lists David's sons by where they were born. Six were born in Hebron, each with his mother named: Amnon of Ahinoam, Daniel of Abigail, Absalom of Maachah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur, Adonijah of Haggith, Shephatiah of Abital, Ithream of Eglah. The narrator adds that David reigned seven years and six months in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem four sons are born of Bath–shua the daughter of Ammiel, among them Nathan and Solomon, and nine more are named, "beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister". From Solomon the kings follow in a single chain, Rehoboam, Abia, Asa, Jehoshaphat and on to Josiah, each "his son". Josiah's four sons are named, then Jehoiakim's, then the sons of Jeconiah, including Salathiel and Pedaiah. Pedaiah's son is Zerubbabel, whose children include Meshullam, Hananiah and "Shelomith their sister". The list continues through Hananiah, Shechaniah, Shemaiah, Neariah and Elioenai, whose seven sons close the chapter.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 3:1, 1 Chronicles 3:2, 1 Chronicles 3:3, 1 Chronicles 3:4, 1 Chronicles 3:5, 1 Chronicles 3:8, 1 Chronicles 3:9, 1 Chronicles 3:10, 1 Chronicles 3:14, 1 Chronicles 3:15, 1 Chronicles 3:16, 1 Chronicles 3:17, 1 Chronicles 3:18, 1 Chronicles 3:19, 1 Chronicles 3:22, 1 Chronicles 3:24

1 Chronicles 3 (KJV)

¹Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron; the firstborn Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess:

²The third, Absalom the son of Maachah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur: the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith:

³The fifth, Shephatiah of Abital: the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife.

⁴These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.

⁵And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel:

⁶Ibhar also, and Elishama, and Eliphelet,

⁷And Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia,

⁸And Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine.

⁹These were all the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.

¹⁰And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abia his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son,

¹¹Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son,

¹²Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son,

¹³Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son,

¹⁴Amon his son, Josiah his son.

¹⁵And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.

¹⁶And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.

¹⁷And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son,

¹⁸Malchiram also, and Pedaiah, and Shenazar, Jecamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.

¹⁹And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister:

²⁰And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five.

²¹And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah.

²²And the sons of Shechaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.

²³And the sons of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.

²⁴And the sons of Elioenai were, Hodaiah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Dalaiah, and Anani, seven.

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Historical context

The text establishes David's family by birthplace and mother, and the length of his two reigns, but gives no reign lengths for any later king. Solomon's mother is called Bath–shua the daughter of Ammiel here. Two of the Jerusalem sons are named Elishama and two Eliphelet; the chapter does not comment. The kings from Solomon to Josiah are given as a father-to-son chain with no evaluation and no mention of any queen or usurper. Among Josiah's sons the text names both a Zedekiah and a Shallum, and it also names a Zedekiah as son of Jehoiakim; it does not say which of these men reigned. The wording "Assir, Salathiel his son" leaves open whether Assir is a separate son of Jeconiah. Zerubbabel is listed here as the son of Pedaiah. Verse 21 shifts from "the sons of Hananiah" to "the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan" without saying how those houses connect. The list runs several generations past Zerubbabel, but it names no date, place or event for those generations, and nothing in the chapter says where any of them lived.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 3:4, 1 Chronicles 3:5, 1 Chronicles 3:6, 1 Chronicles 3:8, 1 Chronicles 3:11, 1 Chronicles 3:15, 1 Chronicles 3:16, 1 Chronicles 3:17, 1 Chronicles 3:19, 1 Chronicles 3:21, 1 Chronicles 3:23

Literary context

The chapter is built in three panels. The first is David's household, ordered by birthplace and numbered ("six", "four", "nine"), with mothers named for the Hebron sons and only one mother for the Jerusalem sons. The second is the royal line, compressed into the repeated "his son" so that fifteen reigns pass in five verses without a single event. The third is the descent after Jeconiah, which opens back out into multiple sons and counted groups ("five", "six", "three", "seven"). The two mentions of a sister, Tamar and Shelomith, stand out because sisters are otherwise absent. The compression of the kings contrasts with the Kings and Chronicles narratives that judge each reign; here the line simply continues. Placed between Judah's wider families in chapter 2 and their towns in chapter 4, this chapter fixes David's house as the spine of the tribe.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 3:4, 1 Chronicles 3:5, 1 Chronicles 3:8, 1 Chronicles 3:10, 1 Chronicles 3:13, 1 Chronicles 3:20, 1 Chronicles 3:24, 1 Chronicles 3:9, 1 Chronicles 3:19

Key moments

Six sons born in Hebron (1 Chronicles 3:1). David's Hebron sons are listed, each with his mother.
Two reigns measured (1 Chronicles 3:4). The narrator gives David seven years and six months in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.
Solomon among Bath–shua's four (1 Chronicles 3:5). Four sons of Bath–shua are born in Jerusalem, including Nathan and Solomon.
Tamar their sister (1 Chronicles 3:9). The list of David's sons closes by naming Tamar and the sons of the concubines.
The kings in one chain (1 Chronicles 3:10). From Solomon the kings follow father to son down to Josiah.
Zerubbabel son of Pedaiah (1 Chronicles 3:19). Zerubbabel's children are named, including Shelomith their sister.
Seven sons of Elioenai (1 Chronicles 3:24). The line ends with the seven sons of Elioenai.

For reflection

Fifteen kings pass in five verses as "his son" after "his son", with no word about how any of them ruled. What does it do to read the same names stripped of the judgments that other books attach to them?