Chapter III
1–24.
The Genealogy of the House of David.
1–4 (= 2 Samuel iii. 2–5).
The Sons born to David in Hebron.
¹Now these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;
1. Daniel] LXX. (B) Δαμνιήλ, (A) Δαλουιά. In 2 Samuel iii. 3 Chileab, but LXX. Δαλουιά. The real name of David’s second son remains therefore uncertain.
²the third, Absalom the son of Maacah the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith;
2. Geshur] Compare ii. 23, note.
³the fifth, Shephatiah of Abital; the sixth, Ithream by Eglah his wife. ⁴Six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.
3. Eglah his wife] In 2 Samuel iii. 5 “Eglah David’s wife,” where however David is probably a wrong reading for the name of a previous husband of Eglah.
5–9 (= chapter xiv. 4–7 and 2 Samuel v. 14–16).
The Sons born to David in Jerusalem.
⁵And these were born unto him in Jerusalem: Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bath-shua the daughter of Ammiel:
5. Shimea] in xiv. 4 and 2 Samuel v. 14 (Revised Version) Shammua.
Nathan] Through him our Lord’s descent is traced in Luke iii. 31.
Solomon] Only here are other sons besides Solomon attributed to Bath-sheba.
Bath-shua] is a slight variation in pronunciation of Bath-sheba.
the daughter of Ammiel] of Eliam (perhaps a by-form of Ammiel) in 2 Samuel xi. 3. An Eliam son of Ahithophel, David’s counsellor, is mentioned in 2 Samuel xxiii. 34; Bath-sheba may therefore have been grand-daughter to Ahithophel. Notice that the Chronicler does not call Bath-sheba the wife of Uriah the Hittite; he nowhere refers to David’s great sin; compare xx. 1–3, where the silence of Chronicles on this matter is specially to be noted.
⁶and Ibhar, and Elishama, and Eliphelet; ⁷and Nogah, and Nepheg, and Japhia;
6. Elishama] in xiv. 5 and 2 Samuel v. 15 Elishua, no doubt the right reading, for otherwise (compare verse 8) we have two sons of David named Elishama.
Eliphelet] in xiv. 5 Elpelet. Eliphelet cannot be right, for it occurs again as the name of the thirteenth son in verse 8. Elpelet may be right here and Eliphelet in verse 8, for according to Hebrew custom two brothers might bear names of similar sound and significance. But both Eliphelet and Nogah, the following word, are lacking in 2 Samuel v. 15; and are probably only textual errors due to dittography.
⁸and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹All these were the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.
8. Eliada] so in 2 Samuel v. 16, but in 1 Chronicles xiv. 7 Beeliada (i.e. Baaliada, “The Lord—the Baal—knows”). This seems to have been changed to Eliada (i.e. God knows), when the title Baal had come to have only heathen associations, and was accordingly repudiated by the Jews: see the note on viii. 33.
10–16.
The Line of Davidic Kings.
¹⁰And Solomon’s son was Rehoboam, Abijah his son, Asa his son, Jehoshaphat his son; ¹¹Joram his son, Ahaziah his son, Joash his son;
Two things are to be noted in this list: (1) Johanan’s name is given in verse 15, though he was never king, (2) Zedekiah’s name appears to be twice given, once among the sons of Josiah (verse 15) and again in his place according to the succession (verse 16).
10. Abijah] called Abijam in 1 Kings xiv. 31, xv. 1 ff. Abia is the Greek form of the name; Matthew i. 7 (Authorized Version).
¹²Amaziah his son, Azariah his son, Jotham his son; ¹³Ahaz his son, Hezekiah his son, Manasseh his son; ¹⁴Amon his son, Josiah his son.
12. Azariah] This king is usually called Uzziah, compare Isaiah vi. 1; see note on 2 Chronicles xxvi. 1.
¹⁵And the sons of Josiah; the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
15. the firstborn Johanan] This son of Josiah never came to the throne, nor is anything known of him except from this passage.
Zedekiah] Though reckoned third here, he was younger than Shallum (= Jehoahaz); compare 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 2 (= 2 Kings xxiii. 31) with 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 11 (= 2 Kings xxiv. 18).
Shallum] To be identified with Jehoahaz; compare 2 Chronicles xxxvi. 1 with Jeremiah xxii. 11.
¹⁶And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.
16. Jeconiah] This name is sometimes shortened to Coniah (Jeremiah xxii. 24) and written (with a slight change of meaning) Jehoiachin (2 Chronicles xxxvi. 8, 9; 2 Kings xxiv. 6 ff.).
Zedekiah his son] Zedekiah was heir, not son, to Jeconiah, whom he succeeded in the kingdom. His relationship to Jeconiah was that of uncle.
17–19a.
The Davidic Line from Jeconiah to Zerubbabel.
Note that whereas Zerubbabel is here represented apparently as the son of Pedaiah and consequently nephew of Shealtiel (= Salathiel), he is elsewhere called the son of Shealtiel (Ezra iii. 2; Haggai i. 1, ii. 2; compare Luke iii. 27–31). The LXX. solves the difficulty by reading Salathiel (= Shealtiel) in verse 19. The view that the names given in verse 18 (including Pedaiah) are the names of the sons of Shealtiel is not probable. Another suggestion is that Zerubbabel was grand-son both to Shealtiel and Pedaiah, according to such a scheme as the following:
Pedaiah Shealtiel
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a daughter = a son
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Zerubbabel.
A minor difficulty that Shealtiel (= Salathiel) is here connected with David through Solomon, whereas in Luke iii. 27–31 his descent is traced through Solomon’s brother Nathan, could be explained by an intermarriage at some point in the genealogy between the two Davidic families.
¹⁷And the sons of Jeconiah, the captive¹; Shealtiel his son, ¹⁸and Malchiram, and Pedaiah, and Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah.
¹ Or, Assir.
17. the sons of Jeconiah] That Jeconiah had sons is not at variance with Jeremiah’s denunciation of him (Jeremiah xxii. 30). That passage gives the answer to Jeconiah’s expectation of a speedy return to his kingdom (Jeremiah xxii. verse 27); Jeremiah says that neither he nor any of his seed shall recover the lost throne: “Reckon him childless, for no son of his shall succeed him on his throne.”
the captive] Hebrew assir, which the Revised Version margin (= Authorized Version), following the ancient Versions, has wrongly taken to be a proper name. The Revised Version margin is here only a survival of Authorized Version. The rendering of the text (the captive) no doubt expresses the real judgment of the Revisers.
Shealtiel] the Greek form Salathiel (Authorized Version) occurs in Luke iii. 27 (Authorized Version).
¹⁹And the sons of Pedaiah; Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons¹ of Zerubbabel;
¹ Hebrew son.
19. the sons of Zerubbabel] so the LXX. The Hebrew has son, as Revised Version margin.
19b–24.
The Davidic Line from Zerubbabel.
The text of these verses is very uncertain. In verse 20 the names of five sons are given, but their father’s name (perhaps Meshullam) is wanting. In verses 21, 22 the LXX. differs from the Hebrew in such a way as to affect the number of steps in the genealogy; the Hebrew seems to reckon but one generation between Hananiah and Shemaiah, the LXX. on the contrary reckons six; the result on the whole genealogy being that the LXX. counts eleven generations after Zerubbabel as against six in the Hebrew In verse 22 again the sons of Shemaiah are reckoned to be six, but only five names are given in both Hebrew and LXX. For the bearing of these verses upon the date of Chronicles, see the Introduction § 3.
Meshullam, and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister: ²⁰and Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five.
20. and Hashubah] Perhaps we should read “The sons of Meshullam: Hashubah.” See above.
Jushab-hesed] The name means “Mercy is restored.” Many such significant names are found in the present list, and, in general, are characteristic of the exilic and later periods.
²¹And the sons¹ of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jeshaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah. ²²And the sons of Shecaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six.
¹ Hebrew son.
21. and Jeshaiah... Shecaniah] The LXX. reads (with some blunders in reproducing the names), “and Jeshaiah his son, Rephaiah his son, Arnan his son, Obadiah his son, Shecaniah his son,” thus adding five steps to the genealogy. The difference of reading in the Hebrew text thus suggested is very slight. It is quite uncertain whether the Hebrew or the reading of the LXX. is to be preferred: see the Introduction § 3, A 2.
²³And the sons¹ of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴And the sons of Elioenai; Hodaviah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Delaiah, and Anani, seven.
¹ Hebrew son.
23. Elioenai] A name meaning, “Mine eyes are towards Jehovah,” compare Psalms xxv. 15; compare Jushab-hesed (verse 20) and Hodaviah (“Give thanks to Jehovah” = Hoduiah), verse 24.