1 Chronicles 2 Footnotes

2:1 The genealogy here narrows its focus upon the sons of Jacob, which has been the thread of this story told in terms of names. Telling that story from Adam to Jacob takes one chapter of fifty-four verses. Telling the story of Jacob’s family will take the next eight chapters. The sons are listed (with one exception—Dan) by birth mother, and then by birth order: Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun); Rachel (Joseph, Benjamin); Rachel’s servant Bilhah (Dan, Naphtali); Leah’s servant Zilpah (Gad, Asher). See Gn 29–30.

2:3 The presentation of Israel’s sons is not in order of birth or by birth mother at all. Instead, it began with Judah as the surviving and most cohesive of the tribes in exile, but also as the tribe of David and the hope for restoration of the nation. Judah and Levi (the next tribe in this presentation) were at the center of the Chronicler’s hopes for Israel’s future. The “Lord(’s)” is the first mention of the Hebrew YHWH, “Yahweh,” in Chronicles.

2:15 First Sm 16:10 lists seven sons of Jesse, excluding David, who was the eighth. First Ch 27:18 names “Elihu” as a brother of David, a name not found in this list. Some suggest that one of the brothers might have died at some point, but the text is silent on this matter.

2:18 This “Caleb” (son of Hezron) was not the same as Caleb (son of Jephunneh), Moses’s spy and warrior of the conquest of Canaan. That Caleb was a contemporary of Bezalel (v. 20), who was the great-grandson of this Caleb.