Chapter 2
1 These were the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun,[a] 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
Judah. 3 The sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and Shelah. They were born to him by Shuah the Canaanite. Er, the firstborn of Judah, did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and he slew him. 4 Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bore him Perez and Zerah, so Judah had five sons in all.
5 The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
6 The sons of Zerah were Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. There were five of them in all.
7 The son of Carmi was Achar who troubled Israel when he violated the ban.
8 The son of Ethan was Azariah.
9 The sons of Hezron were Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.
10 Ram was the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, the leader of the Judahites.
11 Nahshon was the father of Salma, and Salma was the father of Boaz.
12 Boaz[b] was the father of Obed, and Obed was the father of Jesse.
13 Jesse was the father of Eliab, his firstborn, and then Abinadab, his second, Shimea, his third, 14 Nethanel, his fourth, Raddai, his fifth, 15 Ozem, his sixth, and David, his seventh.
16 Their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The three sons of Zeruiah were Abishai, Joab, and Asahel.
17 Abigail bore Amasa, and Amasa’s father was Jether the Ishmaelite.
18 Caleb, the son of Hezron, had sons through Azubah, his wife, and through Jerioth. These were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur.
20 Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri was the father of Bezalel.
21 Afterwards, Hezron went to the daughter of Machir, the father of Gilead. He married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub.
22 Segub was the father of Jair who ruled twenty-three cities in Gilead.
23 Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth-jair as well as Kenath with the towns dependent upon it, sixty towns in all. All of these were the sons of Machir, the father of Gilead.
24 After Hezron died in Caleb-ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.
25 The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were Ram, the firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26 Jerahmeel had another wife whose name was Atarah. She was the mother of Onam.
27 The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel, were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker.
28 The sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada.
The sons of Shammai were Nadab and Abishur.
29 The name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid.
30 The sons of Nadab were Seled and Appaim. Seled died without having any children.
31 The son of Appaim was Ishi, and the son of Ishi was Sheshan, and the son of Sheshan was Ahlai.
32 The sons of Jada, Shammai’s brother, were Jether and Jonathan. Jether died without having any children.
33 The sons of Jonathan were Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel.
34 Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters. He had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. 35 Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his slave as a wife, and she bore him Attai.
36 Attai was the father of Nathan, and Nathan was the father of Zabad.
37 Zabad was the father of Ephlal, and Ephlal was the father of Obed.
38 Obed was the father of Jehu, and Jehu was the father of Azariah.
39 Azariah was the father of Helez, and Helez was the father of Eleasah.
40 Eleasah was the father of Sismai, and Sismai was the father of Shallum.
41 Shallum was the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah was the father of Elishama.
42 The son of Caleb, the brother of Jerahmeel, was Mesha, his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph. His son Mareshah was the father of Hebron.
43 The sons of Hebron were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema.
44 Shema was the father of Raham, and Raham was the father of Jorkeam.
Rekem was the father of Shammai.
45 Maon was the son of Shammai, and Maon was the father of Beth-zur.
46 Caleb’s concubine, Ephah, bore him Haran, Moza, and Gazez.
Haran was the father of Gazez.
47 The sons of Jahdai were Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph.
48 Caleb’s concubine, Maacah, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49 She also bore Shaaph, the father of Madmannah, and Sheva, the father of Machbenah and Gibea. Caleb’s daughter was Achsah.
50 These were the descendants of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, were Shobal, the father of Kiriath-jearim, 51 Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph, the father of Beth-gader.
52 The descendants of Shobal, the father of Kiriath-jearim were Haroeh, half the Manahathites, 53 and the clans of Kiriath-jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites. From these came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites.
54 The descendants of Salma were Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half of the Manahathites, the Zorites, 55 and the clans of the scribes who dwelt in Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, who was the father of the house of Rechab.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 2:1 The chosen people emerge against the preceding background of human history. The chapters that follow are interested solely in the twelve tribes that are the origin of this people. The books of the Bible provide a number of lists of the tribes; there are differences, sometimes considerable, from list to list; the differences can be explained by reference to the various periods in which the documents were composed. Why these lists? In the unceasing effort to paint a picture of the people, a list represents a new awareness of the people’s vocation. Here the author is recalling the past, not so much out of a concern for history as in the name of a hope: in a period in which no glory attaches to the people, he looks ahead to the rebuilding of the Israel of God.
- 1 Chronicles 2:12 Boaz: a kinsman of Naomi who married her daughter-in-law Ruth by exercising his rights under the levirate law (see Ru 2–4). Their son Obed was the grandfather of David.