Outline of Chapter 3:

         vv.     1–9           David’s son’s

         vv.    10–24         The Davidic line of kings over Judah

         vv.    17–24         The post-exilic generations

Charts

         Introduction         The Genealogy of 1Chronicles 3

         Introduction         The Descendants of David Who Returned to the Land After the Captivity

         vv.    3:6–8          David’s Other Sons

         vv.    3:6–8          David’s Sons Born to Him in Jerusalem

         v.      3:15           The Order of Josiah’s Sons

         vv.    3:19–20      A Comparison of the Royal Lines in Scripture

                  End            The Kings of Israel and Judah

I ntroduction: 1Chron. 3 concentrates on David's descendants. The line picks up where 1Chron. 2:15 left off. At that point, David is simply mentioned in conjunction with his brothers as sons of Jesse (afterwards, his sisters are mentioned, and then the line is terminated in the narrative). This chapter begins with David prior to his becoming king, and then lists his sons and daughters who were born to him after becoming king. David’s descendants will be followed out for quite a number of generations, going all the way into the captivity and coming out again. Therefore, the person who compose this from pre-existing records had to be alive during the 5^th century b.c. (most have hypothesized that the author is Ezra).

What you may have noticed in the previous chapter is that most of the names given were found only in that chapter (or in other chronological lists). This chapter will be quite a bit different, as we follow out the royal line of David for many generations, meaning that we will deal primarily with the kings of Judah (after Solomon, Israel split into two countries, essentially, with separate kings for each: the Northern Kingdom, called Israel; and the Southern Kingdom, called Judah). Also, very unlike the previous chapter, most of the problems and questions will be correctly dealt with and answered.

A bulk of the information gathered was from The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. In most cases, it was a good jumping off point.

The chronicler believed God’s promises to David—that there was an eternal kingdom and an eternal God to come from the seed of David. He didn’t know how or exactly through which line, but he believed in such a thing. He recorded Nathan speaking to David from God: “And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I tell you that Jehovah will build a house for you. And it will come to pass when your days are fulfilled that you will go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your descendant after you, Who will be of your sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build for Me a house and I will establish His throne forever. And I will be His father and He will be My Son; and I will not take my grace from Him, as I took it from him who was before you. But I will settle Him in My house and in My kingdom forever and his throne will be established forever.” (1Chron. 17:10b–14).

David’s Son’s

II Sam. 3:2–5 5:4–5, 14–16 1Chron. 14:4–7

In some cases, it is clear what the source material was for the chronicler—these next several verses were taken almost word-for-word from 2Sam. 3:2–5. Apart from these two passages, some of his sons born to him in Hebron would have otherwise been unknown.

Also, because these first few verses match the beginning of 2Sam. 3 almost word for word, we will be able to exegete them, word by word, as we did in 2Sam. 3.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Latin Vulgate                          .

Masoretic Text                       And these were sons of David who is born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon to Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; a second Daniel to Abigail the Carmelitess.

Peshitta                                  .

Septuagint                              Now these were the sons of David that were born to him in Chebron; the first–born Amnon, born of Achinaam the Jezraelitess; the second Damniel, of Abigaia the Carmelitess.

Significant differences:           The Greek adds an aditional born and an additional the. Neither of these are significant differences, nor do they change the meaning in any way.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       King David ruled from Hebron for seven years and six months, and during that time he had six sons, who were born in the following order: Amnon, Daniel, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream. Ahinoam from Jezreel was the mother of Amnon; Abigail from Carmel was the mother of Daniel; Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur was the mother of Absalom; Haggith was the mother of Adonijah; Abital was the mother of Shephatiah; and Eglah was the mother of Ithream. David then ruled from Jerusalem for thirty-three years,... [The CEV combines vv. 1–4].

The Message                         These are the sons that David had while he lived at Hebron: His firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel; second, Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;...

NAB                                       .

NJB                                        .

NLT                                        .

REB                                       .

TEV                                        .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

BBE                                       .

Complete Jewish Bible .

God’s Word™                         .

HCSB                                     These were David's sons who were born to him in Hebron: Amnon was the firstborn, by Ahinoam of Jezreel; Daniel was born second, by Abigail of Carmel;...

JPS (Tanakh)                         .

NIV                                         .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                .

Albert Barnes (revised) .

Updated Emphasized Bible    .

ESV                                       These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite,...

HNV                                       .

Keil and Delitzsch (revised)   .

KJV (Scofield)                        .

LTHB                                     .

MKJV                                     .

NASB                                     .

NKJV                                     .

NRSV                                     .

Owen's Translation                .

WEB                                      .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young's Updated LT              And these were sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the first-born Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; second Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;.

What is the gist of this verse? While living in Hebron, David sired several sons; the first two were Amnon and Daniel.

Translation: And these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron. We covered the Doctrine of Hebron back in Joshua 14:15. We won’t cover it in detail here, except to say that this city has a long and rich history in conjunction with the Jews. It was in Hebron where God came to Abram and promised him a son. It was in Hebron where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were buried, along with most of their wives (Joseph’s bones were eventually buried in Shechem). Caleb ben Jephunneh will request and receive Hebron as his inheritance. He will occupy that area along with the Levites who were assigned to that city. After King Saul died, David moved to Hebron and ruled over Judah from there for seven and a half years (2Sam. 2:1–4). Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth was king over Israel (northern Israel). Later, when David is made king over all of Israel, he will move to Jerusalem.

David’s first wife was Michal, the younger daughter of King Saul. Saul, when he had determined that David was his rival, offered David his oldest daughter, Merab, which would require David to continue fighting against the Philistines. Saul’s hope was that David would be slain by the Philistines. David declined this offer. Saul, with essentially the same scenario in mind, then offered David his younger daughter, Michal, in exchange for the foreskins of 100 Philistines. David took him up on this offer, and killed 200 Philistines. Later, Saul’s mental illness became more acute, and he sent some assassins to David’s home to kill him. Michal got wind of Saul’s intentions, and helped David escape, placing a household idol with goat’s hair under the covers of David’s bed. With David gone, Saul then gave his daughter, Michal, over to Palti ben Laish (1Sam. 25:44). Bear in mind that, although the Mosaic Law did not support divorce, once a couple was divorced and one remarried, the original couple were not to remarry one another. David ignored this, and his negotiations to take over the entire kingdom of Israel, demanded that Abner return his wife, Michal, to him (2Sam. 3:12–16). It was clearly obvious that Palti did love Michal, and, in subsequent references to David and Michal, that Michal was no longer enamored of David (2Sam. 6:16–23). It does not appear as though Michal bore any of David’s children.

Translation: The firstborn [was] Amnon, [born] to Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;... We do not hear much about David’s marriage to Ahinoam. It is mentioned in 1Sam. 25:43, after the circumstances of David’s marriage to Abigail are made known. The two are mentioned in conjunction with one another in 1Sam. 27:3 and 2Sam. 2:2, Ahinoam’s name always being mentioned first. Therefore, most consider her to be David’s first wife. She bore David a son, Amnon (2Sam. 3:2). We will speak more about Amnon in the next verse.

Translation: ...the second [was] Daniel, [born] to Abigail the Carmelitess. David married another woman, Abigail. What happened is in 1Sam. 25. David had a group of followers and he and his followers provided protection for some of the various shepherding firms of his area. Nabal was a very rich man, descended from Caleb, who is called, in Scripture, harsh and evil. When David asked for some food for his men, who protected Nabal’s flock and men, Nabal refused. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, recognized that this was a bad decision on Nabal’s part, and took food and drink to David and his men. She later told Nabal that he would have been toast, had she not taken these provisions out to David. Nabal was struck with fright and died a week and a half later, struck down by God. When David heard of Nabal’s death, he sent a proposal of marriage to Abigail, who was intelligent and beautiful, and she accepted. She eventually bore David his second son, called, variously, Chileab (2Sam. 3:3), Daniel (1Chron. 3:1) and Daluias (the Septuagint of 2Sam. 3:3). There is some similarity in the names, indicating that the text in one of those passages could be corrupt. Apart from that, we know nothing about this son of David.

There is another explanation: I have a friend of mine whom I knew in his youth as Doug. Everyone who knows him as an adult calls him John. It is possible that Chileab was Daniel’s name as a young person; and that he eventually took on the name Daniel (which could be a pretty strong name for a child).

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Latin Vulgate                          .

Masoretic Text                       The third Absalom a son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur. And the fourth Adonijah son of Haggith.

Peshitta                                  .

Septuagint                              The third, Abessalom, the son of Mocha the daughter of Tholmai king of Gedsur; the fourth, Adonia the son of Aggith.

Significant differences:           None.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       ...third, Absalom born of Maacah, daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; fourth, Adonijah born of Haggith;...

The Message                         ...Kileab, born of Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow--his second; Absalom, born of Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur--the third;...

NAB                                       .

NJB                                        .

NLT                                        .

REB                                       .

TEV                                        .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

BBE                                       .

Complete Jewish Bible .

God’s Word™                         The third was Absalom, born to Maacah (the daughter of King Talmai) from Geshur. The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith.

HCSB                                     .

JPS (Tanakh)                         .

NIV                                         .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                .

Albert Barnes (revised) .

Updated Emphasized Bible    .

ESV                                       .

HNV                                       .

Keil and Delitzsch (revised)   .

KJV (Scofield)                        .

LTHB                                     ...the third, Absalom, the son of Maachah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;...

MKJV                                     .

NASB                                     .

NKJV                                     .

NRSV                                     .

Owen's Translation                .

WEB                                      .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young's Updated LT              The third Absalom, son of Maachah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur. The fourth Adonijah, son of Haggith.

What is the gist of this verse? David’s third and fourth sons were Absalom and Adonijah.

Translation: The third [was] Absalom, the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Prior to the name of Absalom, we have a lâmed, which is probably a scribal error. Most of what we know about Maacah, Absalom’s mother, is found in this verse—that she is a Geshurite princess and a daughter of Talmai.

There were problems between Amnon, David’s firstborn, and Absalom, David’s third male child. Amnon lusted after his half-sister, Tamar, and eventually raped her (2Sam. 13). Absalom, her brother, bided his time, not betraying any emotion regarding this incident (2Sam. 13:22), and, when the time was right, saw to the execution of Amnon (2Sam. 13:28–29). Absalom then placed himself in exile on the other side of the Jordan with Talmai, the king of Geshur, his grandfather (2Sam. 13:37–38). Joab, David’s nephew, got his cousin, Absalom, restored as a son of David (although this was not without a few problems). However, Absalom, not content with simple reinstatement, eventually rose up against David in rebellion—first subtly, stealing away the hearts of the people (2Sam. 15:2–6), and then with violence, which eventuated in the death of Absalom by Joab (2Sam. 15–18). Of all of David’s sons, Absalom was probably the most like him, and David sorely grieved at his death (2Sam. 18:33–19:1).

Translation: The fourth [son was] Adonijah, the son of Haggith. David’s fourth son was Adonijah by Haggith. We know nothing about Adonijah’s mother and Adonijah himself seems to keep a pretty low profile until his father, David, is near death—then he presented himself as heir to the throne. With at least two of his older brothers dead, Amnon and Absalom (we don’t know anything about the second son), he would be the next in line for the throne. However, David had promised Bathsheba that the heir to the throne would be her son, Solomon. David quickly acted and proclaimed Solomon king. Solomon did give Adonijah amnesty, provided that he remain loyal. In one of Adonijah’s later acts, Solomon perceived a lack of loyalty and had him executed (1Kings 1–2).

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Latin Vulgate                          .

Masoretic Text                       The fifth Shephatiah to Abital. The sixth Ithream to Eglah his woman.

Peshitta                                  .

Septuagint                              The fifth, Saphatia, the son of Abital; the sixth, Jethraam, born of Agla his wife.

Significant differences:           The LXX adds the son of and born to the text; it does not change the meaning of the text, but does help to clarify it.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                              .

The Message                         ...fifth, Shephatiah born of Abital; sixth, Ithream born of his wife Eglah.

NAB                                       .

NJB                                        .

NLT                                        .

REB                                       .

TEV                                        .

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

BBE                                       .

Complete Jewish Bible .

God’s Word™                         .

HCSB                                     Shephatiah, by Abital, was fifth;and Ithream, by David's wife Eglah, was sixth.

JPS (Tanakh)                         .

NIV                                         .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                .

Albert Barnes (revised) .

Updated Emphasized Bible    .

ESV                                       .

HNV                                       .

Keil and Delitzsch (revised)   .

KJV (Scofield)                        .

LTHB                                     .

MKJV                                     The fifth, Shephatiah of Abital. The sixth was Ithream by Eglah his wife.

NASB                                     .

NKJV                                     .

NRSV                                     .

Owen's Translation                .

WEB                                      .

Young's Literal Translation     .

Young's Updated LT              The fifth Shephatiah, of Abital. The sixth Ithream, of Eglah his wife.

What is the gist of this verse? .

Translation: The fifth [son was] Sephatiah, [born] to Abital. David’s wife, Abital, and his fifth son, Abital, are mentioned only here and in 2Sam. 3:4.

Translation: The sixth [son was] Ithream, [born] to Eglah, his [David’s] wife. David’s wife, Eglah, and his sixth son, Ithream, are only found here and in 2Sam. 3:5.

During this time in Hebron, there was quite a bit of intrigue occurring, most of which has been mentioned already. Two sons of Saul, Abner and Ish-bosheth, were in opposition with one another for the northern kingdom (and, one would assume, eventually the southern portion of Israel as well). Abner and Ish-bosheth withstood each other in 2Sam. 3, when Abner declared his allegiance to David, recognizing that God had given the kingdom of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, over to the house of David. David, recognizing their disjunction, negotiated with both Abner and Ish-bosheth for the return of his wife, Michal, whom Saul had given him in exchange for 100 Philistine foreskins. Interestingly enough, Ish-bosheth sent for Michal; but, when her husband followed her, weeping, it was Abner who told him to return home. Then Abner went with twenty of his soldiers and feasted with David, and Abner promised David control over all of Israel.

Joab, David’s nephew, arrived after this feast and he told David that he was being had by Abner. Joab, on his own, called for Abner to return to Hebron, where he murdered Abner because Abner had killed Joab’s brother, Asahel, in battle in Gibeon (2Sam. 2:23 3:26–30). Two of Saul’s commanders, in order to show their allegiance to David, then assaulted and killed Ish-bosheth in his own house while he was napping, and brought his head to David. David had the two men executed (2Sam. 4). All Israel then came before David, and recognized his authority over them (2Sam. 5:1–2).

Bath-shua is more generally known as Bath-sheba; the Hebrew v (wâw or vau) and the Hebrew b (bêyth) sound almost exactly alike. She was seen by King David while she was bathing on her roof. Her husband, Uriah the Hittite, was in battle on behalf of David. David, who should have been at the battle, sent for Bath-sheba and had sex with her. He then sent her back to her home. When she came up pregnant, she came to David, who then tried to get her husband, Uriah, to return from the battle and to sleep with his wife (and therefore, think the child was his and not David’s). Uriah did not feel that it was right for him to be home from battle and to enjoy relations with his wife while his comrades were still fighting. David then had Joab, his nephew, put Uriah in the heat of the battle, so that Uriah would be killed in battle. Then David sent for Bath-sheba, and he took her as his wife. The son of their union died within a week of his being born (2Sam. 11–12). We do not know whether this was Shimea or Shobab, although the former seems the most likely (ZPEB does not think that this deceased child is one of the children included in David’s line). Interestingly enough, it appears as though Bath-sheba was probably David’s right woman, and that she is clearly in the line of Christ, both in the line of Joseph (Matt. 1:6) and in the line of Mary (Luke 3:13).

In our passage, Bath-sheba is called the daughter of Ammiel (Amiel in the Greek) and in 2Sam. 11:3, the daughter of Eliam (Eliab in the Greek). This is not necessarily an error in transmission—these could be two names for the same person or one could be, for instance, the father, and the other the famous ancestor of the family. In any case, he is only found in these two passages.

There are two Shimea’s closely associated with David—his older brother; and Shimea (also called Shammua), David’s son, mentioned here and in 2Sam. 5:14 and 1Chron. 14:4. He only occurs in these three lists of David’s sons, and is identified as Bath-shua’s son (Bath-sheba) in this passage alone. No doubt that David named him after his older brother. Shobab is found on the same three lists and nowhere else.

Nathan, on the other hand, is in the line of Mary. From David, we have two separate lines which then proceed separately to Mary and Joseph. Joseph’s line goes through Coniah, who was cursed by God, who was in Solomon’s line; Mary’s line proceeds from David through Nathan (Luke 3:31). He, of course, could not be the same as Nathan the prophet, as Nathan the prophet upbraided David for his relationship with Bath-sheba and for his killing of Uriah the Hittite, who was the husband of Bath-sheba.

Although it appears the clearly these four are sons of David by Bath-sheba, ZPEB says that Solomon is the second son of Bath-sheba. However, the Bible does not necessarily say that (you have to read it carefully to recognize that). It appears that way in 2Sam. 12:23–24, but that passage does not necessarily require the second son to be Solomon. Because all three lists place Solomon at the end of these four names, it is just as reasonable to say that he is the fourth son of David and Bath-sheba. In any case, Solomon is the king who succeeded David to the throne, and is known for his writing of most of the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. He is the consummate example of what if a righteous man is given everything that this earth has to offer.

We have three lists of the names of David’s children:

As you can see, we have mostly agreement, except for the 2Samuel text. Barnes suggests that Eliphelet and Nogah were children who died in childbirth, which would explain why the thirteenth son of David would also carry the name Eliphelet. The difference in the name of the twelfth child is easily explained by the fact that the prefix Baal means Lord and does not necessarily carry with it a negative connotation; the prefix El refers to God. The other differences in names could be simple manuscript corruption. Surprisingly enough, apart from these passages, we don’t know a thing about any of these men. It is interesting that there are mostly males as David’s immediate descendants. Of the little that I recall about biology (which I learned principally by rumor), it seems as though the man determines the sex of the child (there are various other factors which affect this, if memory serves). Therefore, we should not be surprised by David having quite a number of male children. It is possible that he had daughters who are not mentioned; Tamar would be mentioned, as she figures importantly in the problems between Amnon and Absalom. Or, just as possible, David may have not had any other daughters by his wives.

Although David was not as conspicuous as was Solomon in his collection of women, he apparently had several more wives and an unlisted number of mistresses. He only had one daughter that we are aware of, and that is Tamar, who appears to be the full sister of Absalom (this would be by Maacah) and the half-sister of Amnon, who violated her.

The Davidic Line of Kings Over Judah

When presented in paragraph form, or in the verse structure which we have, or even in the outline form that we have, it is sometimes difficult to get a feel for the kings of Judah and their time frame and their relationship both to the various prophets and to the kings of Israel. Therefore, I have put together a Chart of the Kings of Israel and Judah to refer to (it will be at the end of this document and hyper-linked throughout). When a king of Judah’s name is found in purple (or whatever your hyperlink color is), it will be hyper-linked to and from the Chart of the Kings of Israel and Judah.

As we cover all of these descendants of Solomon, this will give us a mini-history of Judah from Rehoboam to the fall of Judah. We will go all of the way from the splitting of the kingdom to the dissolving of the kingdom. Rehoboam was the son of Solomon who ruled over Judah after Israel split into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom (called Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (called Judah). He was born a year before Solomon took the throne (1Kings 11:42 14:21). We incorrectly think of this as a natural process; the son assumes the power of the father. David established a new dynasty and there was no Israeli precedent set for an hereditary succession to the throne. In fact, in general, there is a complex set of factors. Certainly, the king’s son would have an inside tract due to notoriety and control of the armed forces. However, the man who is general over the armies also wields a great amount of control and could stand for the office of king as well (in fact, you will note the close and carefully cultivated relationship between the king and his commanding general throughout Scripture). The relationship between the king and the people plays a great part in whether his son rules at his death, even in a monarchy. There must be some support from the people. Solomon reigned during the peak of the prosperity and power of Israel, which certainly gave him favor with the people; however, he also took a lion’s share of the profits, which some Israelites no doubt found offensive. At Solomon’s death, Rehoboam was unable to control the Northern Kingdom and ruled only in the south. This kingdom split and the choices that Rehoboam made after listening to essentially two sets of advisors is a fascinating study in politics and power. During his 17 year rule, Egypt began to show a renewed interest in Palestine, and the spiritual leadership of the king was an important factor as well.

Abijah (also, Abijam) was Rehoboam’s son who succeeded him as ruler over Judah. There is some confusion as to his length of rule (three or six years) and the identity of his mother (Maacah, the daughter of Absalom or Michaiah, daughter of Uriel of Gibeah)—when we study Abijah in the book of Kings, we will cover these topics at length. There are several possible explanations given for the alternate spelling of Abijah’s name, the least compelling of which is scribal error (although the ending m in Hebrew is very similar to an h, this error occurs several times in the same passage). An interesting and reasonable theory is that his name was slightly altered to reflect Israel’s dependence upon Y^ehowah, as before, his name conjured up the pagan Canaanite deity Yamm. Abijah strayed further and further from God, which we will also study in the future. He had 14 wives who bore him 22 sons and 16 daughters.

Asa was the son of Abijah and Maacah (the daughter of Absalom) and the third king over Judah. He reigned over Judah for 41 years. He began as a good king, removing the idols of his father, putting away the male cult prostitutes and removing his mother as queen due to her idolatry (1Kings 15:10–13). Near the end of his rule, a prophet comes and upbraids him for depending upon the ruler of Syria, and Asa imprisons that prophet (2Chron. 16:7–10). Apparently, as Asa got old, he moved further and further away from God. Near his end, his feet became diseased, but he sought out physicians rather than God and eventually he died during the 41^st year of his reign (2Chron. 16:11–13).

Jehoshaphat apparently was one of the better kings of Judah who ruled for 25 years. Interestingly enough, not much information about his rule is recorded in the book of Kings, apart from its impact on the northern kingdom, over which his contemporaries—Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah and Jehoram—rule. However, the book of Chronicles devotes four chapters to his rulership, which is an inordinate amount of room. We could easily attribute this to the writers of Kings and of Chronicles and to their respective residences. This was also the time period of Elijah and Elisha, who functioned primarily in the north. Jehoshaphat allies himself with Ahab, that evil king of Israel, in order to go to war against Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat suggests that they inquire of God about going to war, and 400 prophets tell them to go to war. Jehoshaphat wants to hear from one prophet of Jehovah; Ahab knows of such a prophet—Micaiah ben Imla—but he hates him. Micaiah predicts Ahab’s defeat and is put in jail. Ahab is killed in battle, even though he disguises himself (2Chron. 18). Jehoshaphat sets up some legal and religious reforms within Judah. During his reign, Ammon and Moab unite and march against Judah. Jehoshaphat prays to God concerning this and he is answered by Jahaziel ben Zechariah, a Levite. God not only delivers them, but gives them so much spoil, that it takes them three days to carry all of it (2Chron. 20). At the end of his reign, Jehoshaphat allied himself with Ahaziah, the king of Israel, which displeases God considerably.

Joram (Jehoram) took power by first executing many of those who were potential rulers, in both Judah and Israel. His rulership and alliances were so evil, that God even considered destroying Judah, except that He had made His covenant with King David. Elijah, who primarily functioned in the Northern Kingdom, sent a letter indicating God’s displeasure with Jehoram and Judah. He reigned for only eight years, having been struck with a severe and painful intestinal disease (2Chron. 21).

All of Joram’s sons were killed apart from his youngest, Jehoahaz, also known as Ahaziah. He ruled only one year, and was severely wounded in battle. He was later killed by Jehu. Since he became king at the age of 22, Ahaziah had a son, but obviously the son was very young. Ahaziah’s mother, Athaliah, who was the daughter of Ahab, the king of Israel, took power. She first saw to it that all of the potential royalty was killed; however, a very young son of Ahaziah’s, Joash, was hidden by Jehosheba (the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest; as well as the sister of Athaliah) for six years while Athaliah ruled. Athaliah was the only person to ever usurp the throne of David in Judah, and she was the only woman ruler over Judah. She strengthened Baal worship in the land. Jehoiada, led a revolt again Athaliah, and she was killed, while Ahaziah’s young son, Joash, was proclaimed the king of Judah (2Kings 11).

Joash (a.k.a., Jehoash) was only seven years old when he became king over Judah, and his mother is said to be Zibiah from Beersheba (his father, of course, was Ahaziah). Apparently, because Joash’s mother was dead, this was whoever was in charge of him at that time. Obviously, someone else would have been in charge of the throne at that time, and it appears to be Jehoiada (or, at least he had a great deal of influence for awhile). Jehoiada also took two wives for Joash, and he sired sons and daughters early on. He restored the Levite tax, which seemed to be favorably received by the people, and the temple was renovated and restored to service. However, when Jehoiada died at the age of 130, things in the reign of Joash went downhill. Joash was used to listening to those in his court, who, up until that time, had been Jehoiada and his wife and possibly Zibiah; and now, he listened to the officials of Judah, who steered him away from temple worship and they guided him toward the worship of the Asherim and various other idols. At his worst moment, Joash then killed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, when Zechariah spoke to him to straighten him out. Soon thereafter, Joash suffered a humiliating defeat by a small, crack army of Syrians, leaving him extremely ill. Joash was then murdered in his bed because he murdered Zechariah. One of the most sobering items in Scripture is the many lives of men like Joash, who are preserved and delivered by grace, who begin their lives admirably, and then stray from God at the end, committing vicious acts and eventually dying under divine discipline.

Joash’s son, Amaziah, then became king, at age 25. After becoming assured of his power, he executed those who killed his father. At first, it appeared as though he would follow Jehovah, heeding the advice of a prophet of Jehovah. However, after defeating Edom in battle and slaughtering 10,000 of their men, on his return through Judah, he ransacked his own cities, killing 3000 men, and then set up idol worship—he actually bowed down to some of the idols of Seir, the very nation he had recently defeated. There is some confusion regarding the length of his term and the time of his death (compare 2Chron. 25:1 & 25).

The next king listed is Azariah, whose name is given as Azaryâhu in five early printed editions. He is also known as Uzziah, and he became king at age 16 (circa 841 b.c.) and reigned for 52 years. His lengthy rule was due to the fact that he sought God during all the days of Zechariah (2Chron. 26:5). Although he did not completely destroy the Philistines, he did subdue them and was able to build Israelite cities in their midst. Uzziah raised up a huge standing army and it appeared as though he developed some very sophisticated weaponry (2Chron. 26:11–15). Unfortunately, all of his greatness was of God, and he got to thinking that it was all because of himself. He was arrogant enough to enter into the temple to burn incense, despite the warnings of eight priests, and God struck him with leprosy, a disease he bore until his death (2Chron. 26:16–21).

During the last few years of the life of Uzziah, while he was segregated in his own house, his son, Jotham, ruled over the people. This would have been considered a co-regency and their reigns would overlap. Jotham began his reign at age 25 and he ruled over Judah for 16 years. He was one of the good kings of Judah who built cities and fortresses and warred successfully with the Ammonites.

Jotham’s son, Ahaz, then became king, apparently sharing, for a time, co-regency with his father. Ahaz was an idolater. During his reign, the Northern Kingdom actually formed an alliance with Syria to attack and conquer Judah. They carried away a huge number of slaves from Judah in this war, taking them to Samaria. A northern prophet, Oded, stood in firm opposition to their taking slaves from their own brothers. Ahaz then appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria for help. As ZPEB puts it, here, Ahaz had done the worst possible thing—militarily, diplomatically, spiritually—when he called on the Assyrians for help. The Assyrians carried away the people of the Northern Kingdom captive. The result was that, although Ahaz no longer had to worry about Syria or Israel; now, the lion at the front door was Assyria. Ahaz became a vassal of Assyria, meaning that his military power was only allowed to the extent that Assyria agreed to. In one fell swoop, Ahaz had isolated Judah, and placed her population at the complete mercy of the heathen kingdom, Assyria. Ahaz paid for this privilege with most of the assets of the Temple, most of the money out of Judah’s national treasury and many of the assets of the prominent citizens of Judah. It is difficult to imagine anyone bringing Judah to a lower state than did Ahaz. Isaiah was the prophet of the land, during this time.

Hezekiah was the next king of Israel, being the son of Ahaz and Abijah, who was the daughter of Zechariah. Hezekiah started out with the right priorities. He didn’t try to undo all that Ahaz had done; he didn’t try to build up the national treasury—he went straight to the root of the problem—he repaired the Temple and made it functional once again. The basis of Judah’s weakness and subjugation was its low spiritual state. Once Hezekiah had the temple functioning, he sent letters out to all of Israel, including those east of the Jordan, to come to Jerusalem and to celebrate the Passover (apparently, it had not be celebrated for a long time). Sennacherib, as Hezekiah propped up the spiritual lacking in Israel, began to move his troops toward Judah. He began to wage a psychological war against Judah, making every attempt to frighten the people of Judah. You see, if they simply surrender, there is no bloodshed on the side of Assyria; and, this allows for more Jewish slaves as well. Hezekiah, during his reign, became extremely sick, and, after an earnest prayer to God, was healed, and lived an additional 15 years.

Manasseh was only twelve when he came to the throne of Judah, and he reigned for 55 years, which is the longest reign of any Judæan king. He brought back idolatry in Judah, building additional altars in the temple for additional gods. He placed his own son into fire; he practiced witchcraft and divination. The people of Judah were seduced by Manasseh to commit greater evil than had been done by any of the nations that God had destroyed before the people of Israel. God then promised: “Observe, I will...plummet the house of Ahab and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all of their enemies; because they have done evil in My sight, and have continually provoked Me to anger, since the day their fathers came from Egypt even to this day.” (2Kings 21:12b, 13b–15). The army of Assyria was brought into Jerusalem by God and they captured Manasseh, carrying him out bound with bronze chains. At that moment, Manasseh began to pray like crazy, and God returned him to his kingdom, and Manasseh recognized that Jehovah was God (2Kings 33:11–13). He removed the altars to false gods from the temple and all of the altars of the land were taken down. It is a testimony to God’s grace that God answered his prayer, given the evil that he had committed.

Amnon, his son, at age 22, became king over Judah and ruled only for two years. His evil was like that of Manasseh’s. His own servants put him to death in his own house. His servants were executed by the people of Judah and his son, Josiah, at age eight, was made king of Judah, and he ruled for 31 years. At age eight, Josiah began to seek to God of his fathers, and by age twelve, he was removing the altars to the various Baals and Asherim from Judah. He even went throughout the land of Israel, and removed similar idolatrous altars from the land. The Book of the Law was rediscovered and the Passover was reinstituted. Josiah died in battle against Pharaoh Neco of Egypt.

With Josiah, in this genealogy, we have the unbroken cessation of the line of David on the throne. After Josiah, the throne of the Southern Kingdom is thrown into confusion.

Four sons of Josiah are mentioned here. There were ten people with the name Johanan—this one is mentioned only here. Barnes suggests that he died before his father or with him at Megiddo.

Shallum was also known as Jehoahaz (not to be confused with Jehoahaz ben Jehu, who ruled over Israel two centuries earlier) and he became the ruler over Judah, but for only three months (2Kings 23:31–33 Jer. 22:11). He was evil and Pharaoh Neco removed him from the throne and he died in slavery in Egypt. My sources indicate that he was much older than Zedekiah, even though he is listed last here, probably inverted to degrade Shallum.

Then Pharaoh Neco placed Eliakim on the throne, changing his name to Jehoiakim (2Kings 23:34). He also became the servant of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon for three years, but rebelled against him. God sent armies from Chaldea, Syria, Moab and Ammon against Judah (2Kings 24:1–6). Nebuchadnezzar carried him away in chains to Babylon.

Let me pause here and say a word about Nebuchadnezzar. He was the king of Babylon from 605–562 b.c. Much of the information about Nebuchadnezzar is found in Scripture. Apart from the Bible, we know about Nebuchadnezzar through a Babylonian chronicle, which records the events of his first eleven years as King of Babylon, two brief historical inscriptions, some building texts and 800 contracts. In other words, the historical information contained in the Bible is extremely important in giving us the historical details of his reign.

Nebuchadnezzar was the son of Nabopolassar, who was the founder of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) dynasty in Babylon. Apparently after the Babylonian armies had been defeated by Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar himself returned with his army and took Carchemish in a very bloody battle of hand-to-hand combat. He captured the city in the late spring of 605 b.c., pursuing those escapees of the opposing army for miles. Upon hearing of the death of his father, he rode for 23 days across the desert and took the throne of Babylon on September 6/7, 605 b.c. He returned almost immediately to his army, resuming his campaign in Syria. In 601 b.c., while Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in war against Pharaoh Neco of Egypt, it was this time when Jehoiakim determined that it was safe enough to revolt against Babylon, despite the frequent and passionate warnings of Jeremiah (2Kings 23:33–35 Jer. 27:4–11). On March 16, 597 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar marched into Jerusalem and took the city.

Jehoiakim had a son, Jehoiachin, who began his reign over Judah at age 18. He ruled for only 3 months, also doing evil in the eyes of Jehovah. Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem and carried away captive Jehoiachin, along with his mother, his wives, and his officials; and with an additional 8000 men, those who would have potentially been fit for battle (2Kings 24:10–16). Nebuchadnezzar then placed his uncle, Jehoiakim’s brother, on the throne (2Kings 24:17).

Zedekiah was born Mattaniah, but when Nebuchadnezzar placed him on the throne, he changed his name as well. Much of his reign can be found in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. He ruled for 11 years from Jerusalem and he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, although he swore allegiance to him before Jehovah God. Nebuchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem, slaughtered all of Zedekiah’s sons before him, put out his eyes, and then carried him in chains to Babylon. The Temple was burned to the ground and the rest of the people of Jerusalem were carried away into slavery. Nebuchadnezzar left behind the poorest of the land to be vine-dressers and plowmen. This would have been 586 b.c.

Jeconiah was probably renamed Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar. ZPEB calls Jehoiachin his throne name. It was against Jeconiah (also known as Coniah) that Jeremiah pronounced the famous curse: “Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar? Or is he an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his descendants been hurled out and cast into a land they had not known? O land, land, land, hear the word of Jehovah! Thus speaks Jehovah, ‘Write this man down childless, a man who will not prosper in his days; for no man of his descendants will prosper, sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.’ ” (Jer. 22:28–30). Obviously, Jeconiah was not childless; in fact, when this prophecy was uttered, he probably had a child—Shealtiel (see the next verse). And, immediately, the curse speaks of his descendants—therefore, Coniah will be as if he were childless. He was heir to the throne of Judah and in the royal line. One of his children should have inherited the throne. Obviously, that did not occur. He was hauled to Babylon, as was his first child, Shealtiel. He would mark the end of the line for the house of David. His uncle, as was mentioned in the previous verse, was the final ruler of Judah—however, Jeconiah was the end of the line—none of his sons nor his sons’ sons sat on the throne of David. There are other more convoluted explanations for the Coniah curse than this, but it does not need to be more than what was just explained.

There will be two lines which lead to our Lord—the legal line, which goes from David through Jeconiah and finally to Joseph—however, Joseph was only the adopted father of Jesus, Who is David’s Greater Son. The other line—the actual bloodline—which goes from David to Mary, goes through Nathan, rather than through Solomon, and bypasses this particular royal line altogether. There is also the conjecture that the Shealtiel and Zerubbabel in the line of Mary (Luke 3:27) are the same as those in the line of Coniah—and there is a rather complex explanation for that: that Jeconiah was made a eunuch in Babylon and that he adopted six of his seven sons by Neri, a descendant of Nathan’s. His son, Shealtiel, was also made a eunuch, but he adopted a son through Pedaiah. This would have fulfilled the Coniah curse and explained why Zerubbabel is called the son of both Shealtiel and Pedaiah. The only problem with this explanation is that Zerubbabel’s line, in the book of Luke, then goes through Rhesa, whose name is not even similar to any of Zerubbabel’s descendants here. Certainly, he could have had other descendants and certainly, there could be an error here—but we are pushing really hard, then, to make an unnecessary theory work out. It is simpler to understand that the end of the royal throne of David, apart from Christ Jesus, was with Coniah.

There is another prophecy of Jeremiah’s which concerns Jehoiakim (Coniah’s father) and the throne (Jer. 36:30–31). This involves a little Hebrew and we will cover it when we begin the history of that time period.

Years after Jeconiah’s capture and subjugation, Evil-Merodach, the king of Babylon, took him out of his prison clothes and gave him a decent ensemble and Jeconiah thereafter took his meals with Evil-Merodach, and he was given a throne above many of the Babylonian officials, along with a daily allowance which was his retirement (2Kings 25:27–30; this is how the book of Kings ends).

We know nothing of Zedekiah, the son of Jehoiakim, apart from this passage. He is not the Zedekiah who became king over Israel (see 2Kings 24:17 2Chron. 36:10).

The Post-Exilic Generations

Jeconiah was 18 when he came into power and 18 when he was taken away by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon. Jeconiah is called here âçîyr (רי.ָא) [pronounced aw-SEER], which means prisoner or captive. Strong’s #615 BDB #64. It is suggested that this is the name of a son, referring to being born into captivity. Jeconiah’s uncle, Zedekiah, ruled in his stead, for eleven years, and then Judah was carried away into captivity. 37 years after he was exiled (making Jeconiah 55 years old), Evil-Merodach placed him into an easy, royal retirement. During this time, Jeconiah had apparently had sons in Babylon (and it is possible that he had sons in Jerusalem, although nothing is clearly stated concerning that). It is with his son, Shealtiel, that we have a problem. In Matt. 1:12, Shealtiel is said to be the father of Zerubbabel, who returned to the land. However, in Chronicles, Pedaiah is said to be the father of Zerubbabel (1Chron. 3:19). ZPEB supposes that Zerubbabel is the son of Shealtiel as a result of a levirate marriage, his brother Pedaiah acting in his stead. The other possibility is that Shealtiel adopted Zerubbabel as his son, for whatever reason (the death of his father Pedaiah, for instance). The third explanation is that there were two Zerubbabel’s, one the son of Pedaiah and the other the son of Shealtiel (the least likely explanation, as you would expect them to be mentioned separately in this passage). There is a fourth explanation, offered by Barnes, that Shealtiel is actually a descendant of Nathan who was adopted by Jeconiah (along with his brothers), who was made a eunuch when deported (and suggests that Jeconiah’s first son, Assir—the prisoner—was also made a eunuch). There is even yet another theory, which I will cover when we get to Ezra 1:8.

There have been tablets found in Babylonia with date from the 10^th to the 35^th year of Nebuchadnezzar, which, in a list of deliveries of rations, name Jeconiah and five of his sons (as well as others) .

Malchiram, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah are found only here. Pedaiah is found only here, although there are several minor characters in Scripture with the same name. Smart money would say that Shealtiel was both born in Judah, and that they other six sons were born in Babylon, given the split of the verses, the vocabulary and given the fact that several of the names of the six sound very Babylonian.

It is possible that Shenazzar is another form of the name Sheshbazzar, who handled the treasuries of the temple when Israel was returned to Judah (Ezra 1:11).

The supposed author of Chronicles is Ezra, who wrote approximately 400 b.c. Zerubbabel’s line began about 520 b.c., and, figuring a 20 year gap for each generation, would take us to the time Ezra’s writing. V. 21 is also interpreted with this in mind. Barnes says that Ezra died around 431 b.c., which would mean that these records were appended at the end of this chapter. This would help to explain that last couple verses with the few names added on by way of human viewpoint.

Shimei is found only in this verse. Zerubbabel is much more well-known. He is called the son of Shealtiel, grandson of King Jehoiachin (Ezra 3:2 Haggai 1:1 Matt. 1:12). According to ZPEB, he is called the son of Shealtiel in the alpha version of the Septuagint. In my version of the Septuagint and in the Massoretic text, he is the son of Pedaiah. The various explanations were given in the previous verse. One of the interesting questions is, is the Zerubbabel in Luke 3 the same Zerubbabel? The Bible is silent here, insofar as I am aware. We have enough problems as to who the actual father of Zerubbabel is—if he is the same man, then Neri would have to be an ancestor on his mother’s side. In terms of the number of generations, such a thing would be possible. Between David and Zerubbabel in our record of Chronicles, which appears to be complete, we have 19 unbroken generations. In the line given by Luke, there are 21 generations given (Luke appears to be very thorough—as you will notice, between Zerubbabel and Mary, he lists 18 generations, whereas Matthew lists only 9 between Zerubbabel and Joseph). Therefore, it would be possible for the Zerubbabel’s to be the same person.

Zerubbabel is the last person from the Old Testament who is named in the New. Although we have his line followed out here for six generations, these do not correspond with the his line in Matthew or Luke. There is not a contradiction here—his entire line is simply not a part of the Old Testament records

In any case, Zerubbabel was among the first to return to Israel, and, being of the royal bloodline, became governor over the people. What had happened was that the ruler of Persia, Cyrus II the Great, in 538 b.c., decreed that all those who had been removed from their country of origin be allowed to returned. However, we should back up just a moment, as you recall—Babylon was the country in power and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, removed the Jews from the land after various men were unsuccessfully placed into power.

Cyrus II the Great (559–530 b.c.) was the king of Anshan, which was a region in eastern Elam. His mother was the daughter of the king of Media and his father was the king of Anshan. When Cyrus inherited the throne of Anshan, he eventually unified the Medes and the Persians into one nation, or empire, know as the Medo-Persian empire. He later defeated the king of Lydia, the famous and unbelievably wealthy Croesus. Cyrus then, in 539 b.c., invaded Babylon. Nabonidus, the king of Babylon, had not set foot in capital city for the previous 14 years. The country was more or less under the leadership of Belshazzar, the degenerate son of Nabonidus. Belshazzar liked to party. Like any son of wealth and power, he recognized that he had the wealth and that he ruled over one of the greatest empires in history, and that it was therefore his duty to party on down now and again. Nabonidus did return to the capital city, Babylon, but there was nothing he could do. Cyrus entered into the city on October 12, 539 b.c., while Belshazzar was busy drinking at a banquet, thinking his city impregnable and his army in control (this is the story of Dan. 5).

When Cyrus allowed various peoples to return to the homelands, it may have seemed like a humanitarian gesture, but he was ...promoting good will for his own regime in all parts of his newly-won empire and at the same time relieving himself of the responsibility for maintaining dissident captive groups in continued servitude. The Jews were actually encouraged by Cyrus to rebuild their temple. He even gave them some of the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Solomon’s Temple (Ezra 1:7–11 6:5 Dan. 1:1). His decree is recorded in Ezra 1:2–4, where he acknowledges that Jehovah God gave him all the kingdoms under heaven. 150 years before, Isaiah wrote of Cyrus the Great in Isa. 41–48. The impressive predictive nature of these passages (e.g., Isa. 41:4, 21–26 44:25–45:11, 21 48:14) apparently impressed Cyrus a great deal. His decree of Ezra 1 makes him sound as though he is a believer in Jehovah Elohim.

Zerubbabel, being in the royal line of David, was an obvious choice for the leader. Even though there were dozens of children who could have inherited the throne following the death of King David, the royal line had become increasingly narrowed by the time of Jeconiah. Political intrigue along with Babylonian deportation had reduced Jeconiah’s line to seven children—and it is unclear as to who of them actually fathered Zerubbabel. It is also unclear whether they were made eunuchs or not (which would not have been an unusual or outlandish decision on the part of Nebuchadnezzar). In any case, when the time came to send back some Jews into the land, the appointed governor was Zerubbabel, and he held this office until circa 515 b.c.

When the Hebrews, in 530 b.c., returned, their first order of business was to rebuild the temple. One of the most important less ons of Scripture is that you deal with the spiritual first and everything else will fall into place (Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and all things will be added to you.”). The prophets of that day were Haggai and Zechariah, who further encouraged the rebuilding of the temple and the emphasis upon the spiritual. There was an apparent shut down of the work, which resumed in 520 b.c., when Darius the Mede, who became the governor of Babylon under the auspices of the Medo-Persian empire.

The Massoretic text reads a son of Zerubbabel; in the Septuagint and the Syriac codices, it is plural. The children of Zerubbabel are found only in this verse and the next; I suspect that those three found in v. 19 were born outside the land and those five in the next verse were born in the land. Others suggest that the referral back to the five sons means that we have left the line of Zerubbabel and are working with the line of Shimei, his brother (whose name was left out in a scribal error). The reason for the latter opinion would be the fact that none of these names are found in the line of Zerubbabel to Christ. Whereas, it is reasonable for one generation to be skipped; it is highly unusual for five or six to be skipped.

There are two basic ways that this verse has been interpreted; when we look at a couple of translations, it will be clear as to the two positions:

JPS (Tanakh)                                  And the sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah; the sons of [Jeshaiah]: Rephaiah; the sons of [Rephaiah]: Arnan; the sons of [Arnan]: Obadiah; the sons of [Obadiah]: Shecaniah.

NASB                                              And the sons of Hananiah were Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah.

NEB                                       The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Isaiah; his son was Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah.

The Septuagint                      And the sons of Ananiah, Phalettia and Jesias, his son; Raphal, his son; Orna, his son; Abdia, his son; Sechenias, his son.

V. 21 ends and v. 22 begins with sons of Shecaniah, and we could allow that to interpret the way that we take this verse. We can assume that we have a linear line, beginning with Jeshaiah and continuing through Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah and Shecaniah, and then continuing into the next verse. The other, and more literal way to interpret this would be for all of these groups are sons of Hananiah whose lines, for the most part, are not followed out. The most pressing reason to so interpret this verse is that we would otherwise be too far into this line for Ezra to have recorded all of the descendants that we find here. Also, previously in this chapter, we had a reason to follow the line of Solomon out linearly; we don’t have any reason to follow out, for several generations, the linear line of Jeshaiah.

ZPEB suggests that it is possible that the Shecaniah of this verse is also found in Ezra 8:3, which is reasonable, if we do not have a linear listing here but a listing of groups. Then the Shecaniah of this verse is not too far down the line to be listed among the early families to settle into the land. It is also reasonable to suppose that this is the same Shecaniah found in Neh. 3:29.

Hananiah is only found here and in v. 19.

Pelatiah, Jeshaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan and Obadiah are found only here.

There are only five sons listed here and in the Septuagint. The simplest two explanations is that one was left out or that Shemaiah is actually one of the brothers.

The Hattush found here is the same as the Hattush we find in Ezra 8:2 Neh. 3:10 12:2 (and possibly I Esdras 8:29). We are uncertain about Neh. 10:4 (who could be any of the other Hattush’s mentioned as well).

Shemaiah was the keeper of the east gate (Neh. 3:29).

The other sons are found nowhere else.

Elioenai, Hizkiah and Azrikam are found only here. A reasonable question is, once we get down to the end of these lines, what is the purpose of listing these men and of what spiritual benefit is it? As you will recall from the beginning, it is possible that Ezra, the supposed writer of Chronicles, died in 431 b.c., which means that he would not have penned these last few verses. Someone with human viewpoint may have added these on, although these men are unimportant with respect to eternity. They were important to the writer at the time, but, in truth, men who were entirely lost to history.

Part of what distinguishes a Jew from a non-Jew is their racial heritage. A problem which some had was establishing that they rightfully returned to the Land of Promise on the decree of Cyrus the Great (or on any of the subsequent decrees). We find this in Neh. 7:61–62. It is perhaps the existence of these family lines which helped to verify that certain men were really Jews.

In this particular list, we find seven names, some of which are found several times in Scripture; but this particular seven are found only in this passage.

United Kingdom (1050–931 bc)

Kings:       Saul           (1050–1011)                           Prophets:           Samuel

                  David                   (1011–971)                                                         Nathan

                  Solomon    (971–931)

Prophets During the Exile:           Daniel                  (604–535)

                                                                 Obadiah     (585)

                                                                 Ezekiel       (593–570)

Post-Exilic Prophets:                    Haggai      (520)

                                                                 Zechariah  (520–518)

                                                                 Malachi      (450–400)