1 Chronicles 4:40

40 They found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, peaceful, and quiet, for some Hamites had lived there previously.

1 Chronicles 4:40 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 4:40

And they found fat pasture and good
In or near the valley of Gedor:

and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable;
there was room enough for them and their flocks, and they had no enemies on either side to disturb them:

for [they] of Ham had dwelt there of old;
either the Canaanites who descended from Canaan the son of Ham, and had never been expelled from thence; or the Philistines, who were a colony of the Egyptians, the posterity of Ham; and these inhabitants being of this cursed race, the Simeonites scrupled not to dispossess them.

1 Chronicles 4:40 In-Context

38 these mentioned by name were leaders in their families. Their ancestral houses increased greatly.

39 They went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley to seek pasture for their flocks.

40 They found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, peaceful, and quiet, for some Hamites had lived there previously.

41 These who were recorded by name came in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah, attacked the Hamites' tents and the Meunim who were found there, and set them apart for destruction, as they are today. Then they settled in their place because there was pasture for their flocks.

42 Now 500 men from these sons of Simeon went with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, as their leaders to Mount Seir.