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The Histories · Old Testament

1 Chronicles 7

1 Chronicles 7: Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim and Asher

General context

Issachar's four sons head the chapter, with the note that Tola's descendants were "valiant men of might" numbering 22,600 "in the days of David", with further bands of 36,000 and a tribal total of 87,000, "for they had many wives and sons". Benjamin's three sons Bela, Becher and Jediael are listed with counted fighting men, followed by Shuppim, Huppim and Hushim. Naphtali's four sons are "the sons of Bilhah". Manasseh's entry runs through a parenthesis: his concubine, an Aramitess, bore Machir the father of Gilead; Machir married Maachah; Zelophehad "had daughters"; Maachah bore Peresh, whose brother was Sheresh. Ephraim's line reaches Ezer and Elead, "whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle". Ephraim "mourned many days", his brethren comfort him, and a later son is named Beriah "because it went evil with his house". His daughter Sherah "built Beth-horon the nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah". The line continues to Non and Jehoshua, and the possessions of Joseph's children from Beth–el to Gaza and along Manasseh's border are named. Asher's sons, with "Serah their sister", and their families close the chapter with 26,000 men "apt to the war".

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 7:1, 1 Chronicles 7:2, 1 Chronicles 7:4, 1 Chronicles 7:5, 1 Chronicles 7:6, 1 Chronicles 7:11, 1 Chronicles 7:12, 1 Chronicles 7:13, 1 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Chronicles 7:15, 1 Chronicles 7:16, 1 Chronicles 7:21, 1 Chronicles 7:22, 1 Chronicles 7:23, 1 Chronicles 7:24, 1 Chronicles 7:27, 1 Chronicles 7:28, 1 Chronicles 7:29, 1 Chronicles 7:30, 1 Chronicles 7:40

1 Chronicles 7 (KJV)

1Now the sons of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, four.

2And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s house, to wit, of Tola: they were valiant men of might in their generations; whose number was in the days of David two and twenty thousand and six hundred.

3And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah; Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief men.

4And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, were bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand men: for they had many wives and sons.

5And their brethren among all the families of Issachar were valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies fourscore and seven thousand.

6The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.

7And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour; and were reckoned by their genealogies twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.

8And the sons of Becher; Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth. All these are the sons of Becher.

9And the number of them, after their genealogy by their generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of valour, was twenty thousand and two hundred.

10The sons also of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan; Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tharshish, and Ahishahar.

11All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers, mighty men of valour, were seventeen thousand and two hundred soldiers, fit to go out for war and battle.

12Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir, and Hushim, the sons of Aher.

13The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.

14The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare: (but his concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:

15And Machir took to wife the sister of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister’s name was Maachah;) and the name of the second was Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.

16And Maachah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called his name Peresh; and the name of his brother was Sheresh; and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.

17And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.

18And his sister Hammoleketh bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and Mahalah.

19And the sons of Shemida were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam.

20And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son,

21And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, because they came down to take away their cattle.

22And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.

23And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bare a son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his house.

24(And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon the nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah.)

25And Rephah was his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son, and Tahan his son,

26Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,

27Non his son, Jehoshua his son.

28And their possessions and habitations were, Beth-el and the towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and the towns thereof:

29And by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth-shean and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel.

30The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Isuah, and Ishuai, and Beriah, and Serah their sister.

31And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel, who is the father of Birzavith.

32And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua their sister.

33And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath. These are the children of Japhlet.

34And the sons of Shamer; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.

35And the sons of his brother Helem; Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Amal.

36The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah,

37Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera.

38And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara.

39And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Haniel, and Rezia.

40All these were the children of Asher, heads of their father’s house, choice and mighty men of valour, chief of the princes. And the number throughout the genealogy of them that were apt to the war and to battle was twenty and six thousand men.

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Historical context

This chapter's Benjamin list names three sons, Bela, Becher and Jediael, while chapter 8 will name five, of whom only Bela matches; the text does not reconcile the two. Verse 12 lists Shuppim, Huppim and Hushim without saying which tribe they belong to, and neither Dan nor Zebulun receives a list in the chapter. Manasseh's entry begins "Ashriel, whom she bare" with no mother named before the pronoun; the parenthesis then names the Aramitess concubine and Machir's wife Maachah, whose sons are given. Zelophehad is placed as "the second" and is said only to have had daughters, not named here. The Ephraim episode reads as a family event: sons killed by Gath-born men over cattle, Ephraim's mourning, a son named for the evil that befell his house. The text gives no time for it and does not say whether this Ephraim is the son of Joseph or a later man of that name. Sherah is credited with building three towns. The military totals for Issachar are dated "in the days of David", but Asher's and Benjamin's are not dated. The narrator calls Asher's heads "choice and mighty men of valour" without giving any deed.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 7:6, 1 Chronicles 7:12, 1 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Chronicles 7:15, 1 Chronicles 7:21, 1 Chronicles 7:22, 1 Chronicles 7:23, 1 Chronicles 7:24, 1 Chronicles 7:2, 1 Chronicles 7:40

Literary context

Six tribes pass in forty verses, and the narrator's interest is uneven. Issachar, Benjamin and Asher are told as muster rolls, with "mighty men of valour" and numbers attached to each head of house. Naphtali gets one verse. Manasseh is handled through nested parentheses about wives and a concubine. Ephraim alone receives a story with grief in it: a killing over cattle, a father mourning "many days", brothers who come to comfort, and a name that carries the memory of the loss. Right after that story a daughter is recorded as a builder of cities, and the line then runs on to Jehoshua. The chapter ends Joseph's section with a map of possessions, so descent turns into land. Sisters are mentioned four times here, Maachah, Hammoleketh, Serah and Shua, more than in most of these chapters. Benjamin's placement between Issachar and Naphtali, with a longer treatment to come in chapter 8, shows that the arrangement is not strictly one tribe per section.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 7:7, 1 Chronicles 7:13, 1 Chronicles 7:14, 1 Chronicles 7:22, 1 Chronicles 7:23, 1 Chronicles 7:24, 1 Chronicles 7:29, 1 Chronicles 7:18, 1 Chronicles 7:32, 1 Chronicles 7:30

Key moments

  1. Issachar counted in David's days (1 Chronicles 7:2). Tola's descendants are valiant men numbered at 22,600 in the days of David.
  2. Benjamin's three sons (1 Chronicles 7:6). Bela, Becher and Jediael are listed with their counted soldiers.
  3. Zelophehad had daughters (1 Chronicles 7:15). Manasseh's parenthesis names Zelophehad and notes his daughters.
  4. Ezer and Elead slain at Gath (1 Chronicles 7:21). Men of Gath kill Ephraim's sons who came down to take their cattle.
  5. Ephraim mourns many days (1 Chronicles 7:22). Ephraim grieves and his brethren come to comfort him.
  6. Sherah builds three towns (1 Chronicles 7:24). Ephraim's daughter Sherah builds both Beth–horons and Uzzen–sherah.
  7. Asher's fighting men (1 Chronicles 7:40). The chapter ends with Asher's 26,000 men apt for war.

For reflection

In the middle of a muster roll, Ephraim mourns sons killed over cattle and names a later son for the evil that came on his house. Why might a record so concerned with counting fighting men pause to keep one father's grief?

People in this chapter

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