Exposition of the Whole Bible

there dnto this day; in the cities of the Amalekites, even of the pofterity of the dbove;

of the remnant of J/rae/, that were not carried away the return of the Yews from the Babylonifp ca who were fomejeven in the times of Ezra, the writer of this fee 2 Chron. xxxiv. 9. en

‘ Yuen HIS chapter relates the genealogy of the tribes that lived’ on the other fide Yordan; of 1—10. of the Gadites, y.|Hofea, fee Ho/.i. 1. 11—17. of the half-tribe of Manaffeb, y. 23, 24. and of their war with the Hagarites, in conjunction with each other, and their conqueft of them, y. x8—22. and who yet for their fins were all carpofterity, who, according to the Targum and other Fewifh writers *, was a prophet, and the father of but neither the name, title, time, nor tribe agree: whom Tilgath-pilnefer king of Affyra carried away captive; the fame with Tiglathpilefer by a tran{pofition ot letters. 2 Kings xv. 29+ and is read the fame here in the Greek, Syriac, and

Arabic verfions: be was prince of the Reubenites; at that time; that is; Beerah was.

y.1. Now the fons of Reuben the firft born of y. 7. And his brethren by their families, 8cc.}

Hfrael, &c.] Are as follow in ¥. 3. where the account begins; for what comes between this and that is in a parenthefis: (for be was the firft-bora; of Facob by. his wife Leah that muft be owned, and Jacob allows it, Ge. xlix. 3. and yet the genealogy in this book begins not with him, as might on that account be expected; the reafon follows: but fora/much as he defiled bis father’s bed, by lying with Bilbab his concubine: bis birthright was given unto the fons of Fofeph the fon of lfrael, his beloved fon by his beloved wife Rachel, and fo had a double portion given him; his two fons being equally ranked with the other fons of acob, and became

Hither the brethren of Beerah, or the reft of the pofterity of Reuben: (when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned;) either in the times of Fotham and Feroboam, wy. 17. or at the time of their captivity, as in the preceding verfe: were.the chief, Febiel, and Zechariah; thefe were, the principals or heads of their families., ¥.8. And Bela the fon of Azaz, the fon of Shema, the fon of Foel, &c.| The pedigree of Bela, another principal man in the tribe of Rewben, is traced up to Yoel the father of Shema; the fame with Shemaiah, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, y. 4. who dwelt in Aroer 3 which belonged to the tribe of diftinét tribes, and each had their lot in the land of Gad, and was rebuilt by them, Numb. xxxii. 34. -

‘Canaan, fee Gen. xlviii. 5, 32. compared with Deut. xxi. 17..and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright, or, but the genealogy, &c.° neither after the birthright of Reubex, which he had. by nature, being Facob’s firft-born; nor after the birthright of Fofeph, which he had by his father’s gift, asic might be thought it fhould; the reafon of which follows.

y¥. 2. For Fudab prevailed above his brethren, &c.

That is, the tribe of fudab prevailed above the reft in number,’ in valour, and courage, and in dignity; wherefore the genealogy is not reckoned according to birthright, but dignity and dominion; hence this genealogical account began with Fudab, becaufe of him came the chief ruler; David and the kings of ‘fudab, his fucceflors; and above all, from him the prince Mefiah was to fpring, and did, according to Gen. xlix. 10. fo both the Syrize and Arabic verfions read, ‘* out ef Fudab thould go forth the king Meffiab:” but the birthright was Fofeph’s) or though ® it was; yet Fudab having the dominion and dignity, that tribe is firft genealogized.

¥. 4, 5. The fons of Foel, &c.] Who was either the fon of Carmi laft-mentioned, or rather of Hanoch, Reuben’s firft-born, fince the defcendants of him were the princes of the tribe: his pofterity in fucceflion were, Shemaiah, Gog, Shimei, Micab, Reaia, Baal, Beerah; of whom we know no more than their names, and by thefe the defcent is carried down to the captivity by iglath-pilefer, as y¥. 6. Beerab bis fon, &c.] The latt of Foel’s wherefore Kimchi obferves, it may be interpreted either from Areer, or on the border of it, Bele dwelt: even unto Nebo, and Baal-meon; of which fee the note on Numb. xxxii. 38. ¥. 9. And eafiward be inbabited, ec.) Either Bela, or the tribe of Reabex: unto the entring in of the wilderne/s; the wildernefs of Kedemoth, which was near to Sibon king of Hefhbon, whofe land the Reubenites inhabited, Deut. ii. 26. from the river Euphrates; a learned man ‘ thinks that this river, Phrat, was, different from the Euphrates near Babylon, which was northward, fince this. was to the eaft or fouth-eaft: Jdecaufe their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead; therefore their habitation was extended farther, even to the river Euphrates, as in the days of David and Solomon, 2 Sam, Vili. 3. 1 Kings iv. 21. on foe X. 10; And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, &c] Not with the Huzgarians, as the Targum, a people. not then in being; but the Jbmaelites, fo called, becaufe they deé- fcended from Hagar *,: Sarak’s maid; the fame that are placed by Pliny‘ and Ptolemy” in Arabia, near the Bataneans, or inhabitants of Bafhan; with © thofe the Reubenites made war, in conjunction with the Gadifes and half-tribe of Manafeh, ¥. 18, 19, perhaps this war might be much about the time Saul relieved Fabe/h-Gilead,, and beat the Ammonites, t Sam, xi. by which the tribes on that fide Jordan might be encouraged to it: who fell by their band; were worfted and conquered “by them: “amd they —— dwelt in their tents; in which the Arai dwell, becaufe of their flocks;\ hence f were Called Scenites: throughout all Gilead; or rather, throughout all ‘th

— 4° Aben Ezra in Hof. i. xi

. -:: i- 5 | ae ~ oe" he ¥ « ~ oF, ae a Ch.viv.tri—22; I. CHRONICLES: it Hagarites, which lay to the eaft of Gilead; as the Vulgate Latin verfion; or otherwife the land of Gilead itfelf was their original poffeffion. i ¥. 11. And the children of Gad dwelt over againft them, &c.] Or by them, the Reubenites; and one part of Gilead was given them between them, and the other to the halt-tribe of Manaffeb: in the land of Bajfban, unto Salcab; for though. all Bahan is faid to be given to the half-tribe of Manaffeb, Deut. iii. 13. yet that is to be underftood of the greater _part of ic; all of that which belonged to Og, but what did not, the Gadites, either from the ‘firft,. or in after-times, inhabited even as far as Salcab, which was one of the cities of Og, Dewé. iii. 10. and which Benjamin of Tudela “ makes mention of, being called by the fame name in his days.

¥. 12, Joel the chief, &c.| In this and the fol- Jowing verie are reckoned up the principal men in the tribe of Gad, and the chief of all was Joel, another from him in the tribe of Reuben, ¥. 4. and Shapham the next; the fecond chief man,, from whom, Reland * conjectures, Shophan, a city in the tribe of Gad, had its name, Numb. xxxii. 35. and Faanai; from whom Dan-jaan might be called, as Michaelis intimates, 2 Sam. xxiv. 6. and Shapbat in Bafban, not Shapbat the father of Elifba, according to a tradition of the Yews, mentioned by Kimchi, which is not at all probable.

¥. 13. And their brethren of. the houfe of their fathers, &c | Who were alfo men of eminence and note in them: were, Michael, and Mefhullam, and Shebai, and Forai, and Fachan, and Zia, and Heber, feven; fo they are as here mentioned by name.

y. 14. Thefe are the children of Abibail the fon of Huri, &c.] That is, the feven before-mentioned; they were the pofterity of dbibail, whofe pedigree is traced from his father Huri to Buz, the intermediate progenitors being Yeroah, Gilead, Michael, Fefoifoai, Fabdo.

y. 15. Abi the fon of Abdiel, the fon of Guni, chief of the houfe of their fathers.) Which Abi was a principal man in the families the feven above men belonged to; befides them, or thofe three, were every one of them heads of families.

y¥. 16. And they dwelt in Gilead, &c.] In that part of it which belonged to the tribe of Gad: in Bafban, and in her towns, fee the note on ¥. 11. and in all the fuburbs of Sharon, upon their borders, there were two. Sharous, one to the weftof the land of J/rael near the Mediterranean fea, which is mentioned in Ads ix. 35. as near Lydda and Foppa; and the other to the eaft or north-eaft, beyond Yordan, ‘which is here meant.

together, living together on the other fide Yordar: of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and fword, and to fooot with bow, and fkilful in war 3 trong, able-bodied men; and ‘not only able to bear and carry arms, {word in one hand, and fhield in another; but were men of valour and courage, and had imilitary fkill, and knew how to handle‘their arms to advantage: were 44,760, that went out to the war; that uled to go out when there was occafion, and did at this time. _M. 19. And they. made war with the Hagarites; &c.] Before-mentioned, ¥. 10. with Fetur, and Nephifh; with the pofterity of thefe mien; who were fons of Thmaed, Gen. xxv. 15. and fo was Nodal; perhaps the dame with Kedemab, mentioned along with the other two there; fo Aidlerus * thinks. ¥. 20. And they were. belped againft them, &c.| The J/raelites were helped again{t the Jbmaelites; to fight with them, and overcome them; either by their brethren of the houfe of J/rae/, as the Targum, thofe on this fide Fordan; or rather’ by the Lord, to whom they cried,.and who was intreated by them as follows: and the Hagarites were delivered into their band, and all that were with. them; they and their confederates and auxiliaries, the Jtzreans, &c. for they cried to God in the battle; which at firft feems to have gone againft them; and they prayed to God, as the Zargum, whilft they were fighting, that he would appear for them, and give them victory.: and he was intreated of them; he received their prayer,* as the fame paraphrafe; he heard them, and anfwered them: be caufe they put their truft in him in his power and providence, and not in their own ftrength, courage, and military fkill; the Targum is, ** becaufe they trufted in his Word.”. ¥. 21. And they took away their cattle, &c.] Which they brought with them, and they found in their camp when they fled, or in their fields = of their camels 50,000; with which Arabia abounded; and were fit to travel with in thofe hot and defart countries, being ftrong to carry burdens, and able to bear much thirft. The Arabians, as Diodorus Siculus* reports, brought up camels, for almoft all. the ufes of life; as for the fake of their milk and flefh to feed upon, as well as for carrying burdens in common; and which in time of war they loaded with provifions for the army, and fought upon, one of them carrying two archers with their backs to each other, the one to meet the enemy in front, the other to annoy thofe that purfued them; and fo the Parthians made ufe of camels both to fight on, and to carry provifion for

¥. 17. All thefe were reckoned by genealogies, &c. All before mentioned: ix the days of Fotham king; of Judah, and in the days of Feroboam king of Ifrael; _ not that thofe two kings reigned at the fame time, and one and the fame reckoning is meant; but, as Dr. Lightfoot ” obferves, there were two reckonings; his words are, ** in the days of Yotham there was an account taken of the families of Reuben, Gad, and half Manajeh, 1 Chron. v. 17. and fo had ‘there been in the days of Jeroboam. the fecond; __ then at their reftoring by Fercloam out of the hands of Hamath and Syria, and now at their arming againft “the Affyrian, under whom they fell in the time of Pekah, and are never again teftored to L/rael.”

¥. 18. The fons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manaffeh, 8c.) Thefe all joined | their foldiers”: and of fheep 250,000; which thefe Hagarites kept both for food and clothing, and fome of theny might be now taken with them to fupply their army; the Spartans carried fheep with them in their expeditions as facrifices to their gods‘; but it need not be fuppofed-that thefe creatures, and thofe that follow, were in fuch large numbers with the Hagarites in the battle, but were afterwards found, partly in their camp, and partly in the places inhabited by them: and of afjes 2000; ufed to ride on, and carry loads, and alfo to plow with; and in all thefe. lay the wealth of men in thofe times and countries, fee fob i. 1. and of men 100,000; fo that they took captive above as many moré as their army confifted of.

y. 22. For there fell down many flain, &c.} Many

-were killed in the battle, befides the great number of prifoners made, fo that the army the J/bmaelites brought into the field was very great: decaufe the war was of God; or from the Word: of the Lord, as the Zargum, he ftirred up the J/raelites to it, directed, affifted and fucceeded them, that vengeance might be taken on this wicked and idolatrous people: and they dwelt in their flead until the captivity 5 the Targum adds, of Sennacherib king of Afyria; but this captivity of the tribes referred to was not by him, but by Tilgath-pilnefer king of Afyria, ¥. 26. and they dwelé not in the country of the Arab-hagarites or I/bmaelites in their ftead there, but in Gilead, as in ¥. 10. which belonged to the Gadites and Reudenites originally, but had been difpoffeffed of it, or however diftreffed in it by thefe Hagarites, cepting Hepber and Azriel, Numb. xxvi. 319 32. mighty men of valour, famous men, and heeds of the houfée of their fathers; men that obtained a name for their ftrength, courage, and valour, and mililitary exploits, and were the chiefs of the families in this half-tribe, and by whom they were denominated; fo from Hepher. were the family of the Hepbherites, and from Azriel the family of the Azrielites, as in the place before quoted.

¥.25. And they tran greffed againft the God of their fathers, &c.] Againft his law, will, word and ordinances, not only the half-tribe of Manefeb, but the Reubenites and Gadites allo: and went a whoring after the gcds of the people cf the land, whem God deftroyed before them, that is; committed idolatry, which is fpiritual fornication or whoredom;

which they now drove out, and dwelt in. their ftead; for as for the Scenite-arabs or [fomaelites, they never were conquered and brought into fubjection by any people, but always maintained worfhipped the idols either of the dmorites, who were dettroyed by the Lord to make way for their firft fettlement; or of the [iimaelites whom they their; conquered, and whole land they dwelt in to the independency *; and lived upon the plunder of; captivity. ae:, their neighbours, pitching their tents here and there for their. conveniency, which in thefe were at this time fpoiled.

y.26. dud the God of Iiradl, &c. J The Tarparts’ gum is, “ the Word of the God of Yrael:” flirred up the {pirit of Pul king of Alpria, in the times of Menahem king of Irac!: and toe fpinit of Tilgathpi/nefer; in the times of Pexad king ot Lrael, to ban | invade the land; and make war in it: end be carried them away: not the former, but the latter: even the Reubenites, and thé Gadites, and the balftribe of Manaffehb; thele entirely together, with fome other parts of the land, fee 2 Aimgs xv 209. and brought them unto Halal, and Haber, end Hara, and to the river Gozan; to the very fame places y¥. 23. And the children of the half-tribe of Manaffeh dwelt in the land, &c.] Not in the land of the Hagarites, but in the land of Gi/ead and Ba beyond Jordan, given them by Mofes. The writer having reckoned the genealogies of fome of the principal men of Reuben and Gad, proceeds to give! a fhort account of fome principal men in this halftribe: they increafed from Bafban; where they firlt dettled, and extended their poffeffions: wuto Baal- bermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon, moun-} tains which lay to the north of the land of Cineias and are what geographers call Anti-libanus.

y. 24. And thefe were the beads of the héufe of their fathers, &c.} Some of the principal men of this half-tribe: even Epher, and Ifpi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Feremiah, and Hodaviah, and Fabdiel; but of none of thefe we read elfewhere, ex- where afterwards Sa/manefer carried the 10 tribes; or what remained of them, fee 2 Kings xvii. G. unto this day; the times of Ezra, the writer of this book, after the tribe of ‘fadcb returned from the captivity of Babylon, but the 10 tribes remained where they were carried, and have not returned even to this day,

HIS chapter begins with the fathers and heads of the tribe of Levi, ¥.1, 2, 3. and reckons up the high-priefts in the line of E eazar, to the Babylonifh captivity, ¥. 4—15. gives an account of the families of the fons of Levi, y. 16—30. andof thofe Levites that were employed as fingers, and in other miniftrations in the fanctuary in the times of David and Solomon, ¥. 31 —49. then follows a repetition of the fons of Aaron in the line of Eleazar, to the faid times, ¥. 50-—53. and: a recital of the dwelling-places of the Levifes in the feveral tribes, ¥. 54—81.

¥.1. The fons of Levi, &c.| After an account of the chief of the tribes of Fudab and Simeon, of Reuben, Gad. and the half-tribe of ree ae fol - lows that of Levi, and his pofterity; the kingdom being given to Fudab, the birth-right to Fo/eph, and the priefthood to Levi: the immediate fons of Levi were Gerfhon, Kohath, and Merari; as in Gen. xlvi. 11. Exod. vi. 16. from thefe fprung the three families of the Levites.

¥.2. And the fons of Kehath, Amram, Izbar,

* See the notes on Gen. xvi, 12. and Dan. xi. 41. and a differtation upon the independency

Babylon, and whofe fon Fofeua, born sn a and Hebron, and Uzziel, &c.} Given in the fame order as in Exod. vi. 18. fee the note there.

¥. 3. And the children of Amram, Aaron, and Mofes, and Miriam, &c.\ Very: memorable perfons; Aaron was the high-prieft,. Ades the prophet and lawgiver, and Miriam a prophetefs, fee Micah vi. 4. the fons alfo of Aaron, Nadab and Abibu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; the two fift were deftroyed by fire from heaven for offering ftrange fire, Lev. x. 1,2. and the third fucceeded his father in the high priefthood; the line of which is drawn from Aaron through him unto the Babylonifo captivity, from hence, tothe end of the 15th verfe, where it ends: Fehozadak is the fame with Yo/edech, Hagg. i. 1. who went young into tivity, came out of itn the proclamation of Cys rus, Ezra ii, 2. and iii, 2. According to Fo/ephus °, and other Ferwi/b writers’, in the sims of Uzzi, ¥. 6. the priefthood was tranflated into the family of Ithamar, of which Ei was the. prieft; where it continued to the times o ie when it was reftored to Zadok of the line of of the Arabs, at the end of: ay - ve os a Baa a) Rae. 3 ya eG zar. Ivis particularly obferved of Azariah, y. 10. that he it was that executed the prieft’s office in the temple built by Solomon; not that he was the firft that officiated in it; that was Zadok; but this feems to be Aazariah, who was the high- prieft in the times of Uzziab, who oppofed him when he would have offered incenfe in the temple, 2 Chron. xxvi. 17, 18. which may be the redfon why he is fo particularly taken notice of here; tho’ fome think this is to be underitood of ‘Fohanan, the father of Azariah, fuppofed to be the fame with Febsiada, who in the times of Athaliah, was the inftrument of preferving both church and ftate, 2 Kings xi. the temple in which he miniftred, is defcribed as built by Solomon, becaufe at the time of the writing of this there was another temple built, or building by Zerubdadel.

¥. 16. The fons of Levi, Gerfhon, Kobath, and Merari.| Which is repeated from y. 1. for the fake of their pofterity,, whofe names are given in the three following verfes, in the fame manner as in Exod. vi. ‘17—19. ae y. 22—28. The fons of Kobath, Amminadab, &c.] The fame with Izbar,.y.2, 18, 38. the pofterity of his brethren, Amram, Hebron and: Uzziel are omitted; and his genealogy. is carried to a confiderable length, for the fake of Samuel the prophet, lomon, and his fucceffors, nor any of the high-priefts aiterwards,

¥. 32. And they miniftred before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with finging, &c.] Pfalms, hymns and fpiritual fongs; this fervice they performed before the ark, which was ‘in a tent or tabernacle David pitched for it; and which the Zargum here calls the tabernacle of time, or a temporary tabernacle: until Solomon had built the boufe of the Lord in Ferufalem; the temple there: and then they waited on their office according to their order, performed it in the manner prefcribed by David, fee ch: xxv.

¥. 33—38. And thefe are they that waited with their children, &c.} ‘They and their pofterity who officiated in the fervice of finging pfalms in the fanctuary; the three heads of them were of the three families of the Levites, as follow: of the Jons of the Kobathites, Heman a finger; the chief of the fingers, and who compofed pfalms and hymns, which are in the book of pfalms: the fon of Foel, the fon of Shemuel; or Samuel. This Heman was erand{on of Samuel the prophet; for whofe fake his genealogy is traced up to Yacod or I rael,

Y. 39-43. And his brother Afaph, &c.] Thats is, Heman’s brother; fo Afaph was, as he was a defcendant from the fame original anceftor Levi, yet in thé line of Gerfbon; and as being of the fame who fprang from him: it ftands thus, Korab, Afr, Elkanah, Ebiafaph, Affir,,Tabath, Uriel, called Zephaniah, ¥. 30. Uzziah, the fame with Azariah, y. 36. Shaul, whole name is Yoel, x. 36. then through the fons of Elkanab, before mentioned; Amafai, Abimoth, called Mabath; y. 35. another Elkanab, Zophai, or Zuph, ¥. 35. Nabath, the fame with Toah, y. 34. and Tobu, 1 Sam.i. 1. Eliab, called Eliel, ¥. 34. and Elibu, 1 Sam.i. 1. office, a precentor, or chief finger: who ftood on his right-hand; he was next to Heman;.Heman ftood in the middle, which was the moft honourable ', and Afaph on his. right-hand, and Eshan, after mentioned on his left even 4/aph, whofe name is often met with in the book of Pfalms; and his genealogy here ftands thus, as traced up to Levi, viz. Berechiah, Shimea, Michael, Baafiah, Malchiab,. Ethni,, Zerab, Adaiah,, Ethan, Zimmab,

Feroham, another Elkanah,: the father of Samuel the prophet, whofe firft-born was Va/bui, and whofe name alfo was Joab, y¥. 33.1 Sam. viii. 2. and fo here it is read in the Syriac and Arabic verfions; and bis fecond fon Abiab.

¥.44—-47. And their brethren, the fons of Merari, &c.| Who were the brethren of the Kohathites and Gerfbonites, defcending from the fame anceltor Levi: ftood on the left-hand; that is, of Heman, fee y. 39. the chief of whom was Ethan, poiterity of his brother Muh: are omitted; his gefometimes called Feduthun, ch, xvi. 41. and xxy.

¥.31. And thefe are they, &c.] -Who follow; the account of whom begins y. 33. whom David fet over the service of the fong in the houfe of the Lord; whom he appointed chief: muficians, and matters of the chorus, to manage and conduct that part of divine fervice in the fanctuary, finging the praifes of God, both with vocal and inftrumental

¥. 48. Their brethren alfo the Levites, &c.] Who were not fkilled in finging, and employed in that + fervice, even the reft of the Kohathites, Gerfbonites and Merarites: were appointed unto all manuer of — mufick: after the ark had ref; which was when fervice of the tabernacle of the boufe of God, fome, it was brought from the houfe of Obed-edom, to the city of David, and was: placed in a tabernacle remained until the temple was. built, when and

. which was the only time it was removed, whereas before it had been removed from place to place, and fo till now had no reft,; though fome underftand this of the ceafing or filence of the oracle ‘over the ark, which was neither confulted: by So- were porters at the gates; others had the care of the veffels; others flew the beafts for facrifices, ead them, and cut them up, and brought “the pieces to the altar of burnt-offerings, for the priefts to offer, ¥. 49-53. But Aaron and his fons, &c.| Thole that defcended from him, though of the famte tribe of Levi were all priefts: and they. offered upon the altar of burnt-offerings; the daily facrifice, and all the* offerings of the people brought to them;

> eee I. CHRON them: and on the altar of incenfe, they burnt incenfé night and morning: and were appointed for _ ll the work of the place moft holy, fuch as were high-priefts of the line of Eleazar, whofe work it was to go into the moft holy place once a, year: to make atonement for all Ifrael, according to all that Mojes the fervant of God commanded; in Lev. Xvi. which fee; and on mention of this, a lift of the high-priefts from Aaron, in the line of Eleazar, is given, to the times of Solomon, in the four following verfes, juft in the fame order as in y. 4, 2 6,? 8. ‘ y. ae Now thefe are their dwelling-places, &c.] The dwelling-places of the priefts and Levites, affigned and given to them in the feveral tribes of J/rael; and the account of them agrees are omitted, Futtah and Gibeon, through want no gry; care in tran{cribing, fince they are faid to be thirteen, as they fhould be, whereas eleven only are mentioned. The ews fay", the cities of the fu-— burbs, (thofe here mentioned) ceafed from the — time the firft temple was deftroyed; and yet Ezra, — who lived after the captivity, and the building the fecond temple, here gives a very particular account: of them; the fuburbs belonging to every city, which he particularly mentions, were 2000 cubits, both to the cities of refuge, and the reft, Numb. xxxv. 5. Hebron, the firlt city mentioned in the next verfe, was a city of refuge, and had fuburbs of fuch a fpace; and it is remarkable, that fome of the temples with the heathens, which were afylums, or places of refuge, had the fpace.of 2000 | with that in Yo. xxi. with fome few variations of paces affigned them for the fame fanctity and pri- names of places, which have been there obferved; vilege’.

fee the notes there; only in ¥. 57—O0. two Cities

| this chapter are given the genealogies of the tribes of [achar; ¥.1— 5. of Benjamin, y. 6—12. of Naphtali, ¥. 13. of Manaffeb, ¥. 14—19. of Ephraim, ¥. 20 — 29. and of Afher, 30 — 40. even of the chief men of them; and their numbers, are reckoned as in the times of David. The tribes of Dan and Zebulun are omitted.

y.1. Now the fons of Iffachar were Tola, Puah, Fafoub, and Shimron, four. | The fame number is given, Gen. xlvi. 13. with a {mall variation of two of their names, there called Phuvab and Fob, from whence fo many families fprang, mentioned Numb. xxvi. 23, 24. where the namies are the fame as here.

y¥.2. And the fons of Tola, &c.] The eldeft fon of Iachar, whofe pofterity are only: reckoned by name: Uzzi and Rephaiah, and Feriel, and Fabmai, and Ibfam, and Shemuel, heads of their father’s boufe, to wit, of Zola; the principal man of his family: they were valiant men of might in their geerations; famous for their courage and military exploits,, though they {prang from Tola, whofe name fignifies a worm, and which name Bochart. conjectures was given him by his parents, becaufe he was fo weakly that they had no hopes of raifing him; and yet from him fprung fuch mighty men, and from them fuch a numerous race, as follows: whofe number was in the days of David 22,600; befides thofe of the pofterity of Uzzi, after mentioned, This was at the time ¥oad took the number of J/rael, by the order of David, ch. xxi. 5.

¥. 3. And the fons of Uzzi, Izrabiah, &c.] Including his pofterity: and the fons of Izrabiab, Michael, and Obadiah, and Foel, Ifpiah, five; together with their father, all reckoned the fons of Uzzi: all of them chief men; in their father’s houfe, heads of families.

¥.4. And with them, by their generations, after the houfe of their fathers were bands of foldiers for “war, &c.} Companies of men of military courage and fkill, who could and did go out to war upon occafion: 36,000 men; befides the 22,600 Tolaites, ¥. 2. for they had many wives and fons; having many wives, they had many fons; polygamy was the caufe of their large numbers; and that they gave into for the fake of the multiplica- tion of Abrabam’s feed, according to the divine » promife,. ¥ 5. And their brethren among all the families of Ifachar, &c.| As thofe of Puah, Fafhub, and Shimron, ¥.1. were men of might; valiant and. courageous: reckoned in all by their genealogies, 87,0003 that is, including with thefe thofe of Tole and Uzzi before given. Rae y. 6. The fons of Benjamin, Bela, and Becher, and Fediael, three.| Benjamin had ten fons, but three only are mentioned firft; the latter of thefe feems to be the fame with Abdel, Gen. xlvic2t. — y.7. And the fons of Bela, Exbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Ferimoth, and Iri, five, &e. } Thefe are thought by fome to be the grandfons of Bela, becaufe of the different names in ch. viii. 3, 4, 5. beads of the houfe of their fathers, mighty men of valour; principal men in their tribe and families, and of great courage: and were reckoned by their genealogies, 22,0343 who fprung from thefe men. ¥. 8. And the fons.of Becher, &c.] Another fon of Benjamin, 9.6. Zemira, and Joafh, and Eliezer, and Elicenai,. and Omri, and Ferimeth, and abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth; the two laft of thefe, according to Kimchi, gave names. to two cities in Benjamin, built by them; Amathoth, the native place of Yeremiah the prophet, and 4éameth, the fame with Baburim, 2 Sam. xvi. 5. all thefe are the fons of Becher; beforenamed.. ¥. 9. dnd the number of them, &c.) Of the pofterity of the fons of Becher: after their genealogy by their generations, heads of the houfe of ther fathers, mighty men of valour, as they increafed in fucceeding ages, and at the time of David: was 20,200. a oe, Sy y.10. The fons alfo of Fediael, &e.) Th fon of Benjamin before mentioned, ¥. 6 including his pofterity, as follows: aad ¢ Bilban, Feufh, and Benjamin; called great grandfather: and Ehud; who wa judge in I/rael, Fudg. iii. 15. and Ci Zethan, end Tharfbifh, and Abifoaba we no where elfe read. i y. 11. All thefe the fons of Fediael of their fathers, mighty men of valour, W

fit to go out for war and battle] Which, wi Hh

of Benjamin, befides what follow;

numbered by Foad, the account was not given in 59,4303 who, if Numb. xxvi. 32., were, Abian, and Shechem, and Likhi, and Aniam; from Shechem came the family y. 12. Shuppim alfo, and Huppim, the children of Jr, &c.] The fame with Jri, ¥..7. fo that thefe were not fons of Benjamin, as they feem to be, if they are the fame with Muppim and Huppim in Gen. xlvi, 21. but his great grand-children, and are the fame with Shupham and Hupham, trom whom families of the tribe of Benjamin fprang, Numb. xxvi. 39. the Targum calls them the inhabitants of a city, but of what is not faid, unlefs Geba fhould be meant, ch. viii. 6. and Hujbim, the fons of Aber; either the fame with Aberab, the third fon of Benjamin, ch. vii. 1. or Abiram, Numb. xxvi. ih though fome read the words, the fons of another, whom they fuppofe to be Daz, who otherwife is omitted; and Hufhim is the only fon of Dan, Gen. xlvi. 23. where the fame plural word is ufed as here; who, they think, is called another, by way of deteftation, that tribe being guilty of grofs idolatry; but he rather feems to belong to Besjamin.

¥. 14. The fons of Manaffeb; Afbriel, whom fhe bare, &c.| The wife of Maxaffeh, as diftinguifhed from, his concubine in the next claufe; though the Targum reads, in connexion with that, ‘* whom his Aramitefs (or Syrian) concubine bare;” and then adds, who alfo are Machir the father of Gilead; fo that Ariel and Machir were brethren; from which Afriel fprang the family of the <d/brielites, Numb. xxxvi. as from Machir the Machirites, Numb, xxvi. 29, 31- y. 15. And Machir took to wife the fitter of Huppim and Shuppim, whofe fifter’s name was Maachab, &c.] He married into the tribe of Benjamin; a fitter of the perfons mentioned, ¥. 12. whofe name was Maachah: and the name of the fecond was Zelophehad; the fecond fon of Manaffeh, or of his pofterity mentioned; for he was not his immediate fon; for he was the fon of Hepher, the fon of Gilead, the fon of Macbir, the fon of Manajffeh, Numb. xxvil. 1. and Zelophebad had daughters; but no fons, the names of his daughters are given, Numb. xxvi. 33. and xxvii. 1. and xxxvi. 11. Fo/b. xvii. 3.

¥. 16. And Maachab the wife of Machir bare a fon, and fhe called bis name Perefo, and the name of bis brother was Sherefo, &c.| He had both thefe fons by her: avd bis fons were Ulam, and Rakem, that is, either the fons of Pere/h or Sherefh, the nearett, as Kisachi obferves. y. 17. And the fons of Ulam, Bedan, &c.] See 1 Sam. xii. 11. thefe were the fons of Gilead, the fon of Machir, the fon of Manaffeh; that is, were of his pofterity, or belonged to his family; for Ulam and Rakem were fons of a brother of Gilead, y. 16. y. 18. And bis fifter Hammoleketh, &c.] ‘The fitter of Gilead fo named; though the Targum ren- - ders it that reigned; and fo Kimchi, that reigned in fome part of Gilead; and the Vulgate Latin verfion tranflates it, @ queen bare Ifpod, and Abtezer, and

Mabalab; Abiezer is the fame with Feezer, from whom a family fprung of that name, Numb. xxvi. 30. Jo d.

19. And the fons of Shemida, &c.] Another fon of Gilead’s fitter, unlefs the fame with [hod, from him fprang the family of the Shemidaites, | ‘ 2 p.

of the Shechemites, as from Likhi, if he is the fame with Helek, as probably he may be, was the family of the Helekites, Numb. xxvi. 30, 31. = ' ¥.20. And the fons of Ephraim, &c.} A fon of Fofeph, and father of a tribe of thisname, whofe genealogy through five generations follows: Shuthelath, Bered, Tabath, Eladah, Tabath; the fecond. ¥. 21. And Zabad his (on, &c.] Not the fon of Tahath the fecond latt-mentioned, but the fon of Ephraim,’ a fecond fon of his: and Shuthelah; his fon, the fon of Zabad, called after his uncle’s name, ¥. 20. and Ezer, and Elead; two other fons of Zabad: whem the men of Gath that were born in that /and flew; that is, Zabad and his three fons; thefe the men of Gath flew, who were Philiftings that dwelt there, and were originally of Egypt, and were born ‘in that land, but had removed into Pale - tine, which had its name from them, of which Gath was one of its cities; and this bordering upon the land of Gofben, or being near it, where the Tfraelites dwelt, they made inroads upon them, and plundered them: becaufe they came down to take away their cattle; and the fons, the grandfons of Ephraim,.refifted them, and fo were flain: and that the aggreffors were not the Ephraimites, who went: out ot Lgypt before their time, and fell upon the mén of Gath, born in the land of the PAiliffines, in order to difpoffefs them of their land and fubftance, and were flain by them, which is the fenfe of the Targum and other writers, both fewi/h and chriftian; but the men of Gath, as is clear from this circumftance, that they came down, as men did, when they went from Palefline to Egypt, not when they went from Egypt to Paleftine, then they went up; which would have been the phrafe ufed, if this had been an expedition of the Epbhraimites into Palefline; befides, it. is not reafonable to think, that the Ephraimites, addicted to hufbandry and cattle, and not ufed to war, fhould engage in fuch an enterprize; but rather the men of Gath, or the Philiftines, who were a warlike people, and given to fpoil and plunder; this, according to,a learned chronologer ', was 74 years after Jacob went down to Egypt, and 140 years before the children of J/- rael came from thenee. ¥.22. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, &c.] For the lofs of his fon and grandchildren; for the above faét was done while the Tfraelites were in Egypt, and Ephraim the patriarch yet alive; nor is there any need to fuppofe another Ephraim different from him: and bis brethren came to comfort him, fome of the heads of the other tribes of Jrael, particularly Manajeb, with fome of his family. ¥. 23. And when be went in to bis wife, &c. ] After his grief and forrow in part at leaft had fubfided: /be conceived and bare a fon; which in fome: meafure made up for the lofs he had fuftained: and be called bis name Beriak; which fignifies being in evil or calamity, he being born in an evil time: becaufe it went evil with bis houfe;, or evil was in. his houfe, as Noldius™, in his family, a great calamity had befallen it. y¥. 24. And his daughter was Shereb, &c.] That is, the daughter of Beriah; not an immediate daughter, but a defcendant of his, otherwife the fhe could not have reached the times of Fo/bua, as fhe did by what follows: who built Beth boron the nether, and the upper; which were cities on the border of the tribe of Ephraim, which the Jrae/- ites having taken from the Canaanites, and de- {troyed, ™-Ebr. Concord, Part: No. 750. p. 165.

itroyed, fhe rebuilt, fee Yoh. xvi. 3, 5. and Uzzenfoerak; which was called after her own name, and

_ to diftinguifh it from another, place called Uzzen; anointed with oil,

* @provet of neither of them do we read elfewhere.

y¥. 25,26, 27. And Rephab was bis fon, 8c. } The fon of Beriab, whofe genealogy from him is

. traced down.to Fo/bua in this and the two following verfes, and ftands thus: after Rephab, Rejbeph, Faphleti, was prince of the tribe of Ephraim in the wildernefs, Numb i. 10. then Now or Nan, whofe fon was Fehofoua or Fofoua.

y¥. 28. And their poffefions and habitations, 8cc.

That is, of the fons of Ephraim, when come into the land of Canaan: were Bethel, and the towns thereof; the villages belonging to it,, which was formerly called Luz, and was the border of Ephraim, Fof. xvi. 2. and eoftward Naaran; the fame with Naarath, Fofo. xvi. 7. and weftward Gezer, with rhe towns thereof; of which fee Yo. xvi. 3, 10. and Shechem alfo, and the towns thereof, which was a city of refuge in mount Epbraim, JFofb. XxX. 7. unto Gaza, and the towns thereof, not Gaza, a city of the Pbiliftines, for the tribe of Ephraim did not reach fo far; the Targum calls it diab; it may be read Ad-aza, as in the margin’ of our bibles...

¥. 29. And by the borders of the children of Manaffeh, &c.] Of the half-tribe of Manaffeb on this fide Yordan: near to them the Epraimites dwelt, even near to Beth/bean and ber towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and ber towns, Dor and ber towns; of all which places fee Fob. xvii. 11. ih thefe dwelt the children of Fofeph the fon of Ifrael; the Epbraimites, in thofe. mentioned in ¥. 28. andthe Manaffites, in thofe that are here mentioned’; who were both the children or pofterity of Yo/epb, the beloved fon of J/rael.

¥. 30, 31. The fon of Alber, &c.] Which, and his two grandfons born before Facob went down to Egypt, are here reckoned as in Gem. xlvi, 17. only itis here added Malchiel his fecond grandfon, who is the father of Birzavith 5 which Farchi interprets, prince of a city of this name, which fignifies pure oil; which it might have from the abundance of olives about it, Aber being a tribe which abounded -with them, fee Deut. xxxiii. 24. though fome of the Radbdins take it to be the name of a man, whofe daughters they fay, as Farchi