1 Chronicles 5 Study Notes

5:18-22 The eastern tribes combined forces in a number of military victories, and they accumulated a large amount of plunder. A constant theme in Chronicles is that when people attempt to fight in their own strength, God will not bless them, but, when he fights the war, his people see miraculous victories beyond human expectation. Thus, when they cried out to God, he rewarded them.

5:23 There was no tribe of Joseph. Instead, Joseph’s sons became the ancestors of two separate tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. The tribe of Manasseh occupied territory on both sides of the Jordan River.

5:24-25 This is the first reference to idolatry in Chronicles. Even though this part of the tribe of Manasseh contained some outstanding people, they deviated from God and adopted the idolatry of the nations around them.

5:26 Tiglath-pileser was a cruel and vicious king of Assyria, but God used him to punish his people for their idolatry. Long before the other tribes were captured by Assyria, the three eastern tribes fell into the hands of the Assyrians and were carried off into exile. The Chronicler leaves no doubt that this happened because of their idolatry.