And his brethren by their families
 Either the brethren of Beerah, or the rest of the posterity of Reuben: 
 (when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned;)
 either in the times of Jotham and Jeroboam, ( 1 Chronicles 5:17 ) or at the time of their captivity, as in the preceding verse: 
 [were] the chief, Jehiel, and Zechariah;
 these were the principals or heads of their families.