1Ch 1:1 Adam, Sheth, Enosh,
Adam, Sheth, Enosh - That is, Adam was the father of Sheth or Seth. Seth was the father of Enosh, Enosh the father of Kenan, and so on. No notice is taken of Cain and Abel, or of any of the other sons of Adam. One line of patriarchs, from Adam to Noah, is what the historian intended to give; and to have mentioned the posterity of Cain or Abel would have been useless, as Noah was not the immediate descendant of either. Besides, all their posterity had perished in the deluge, none remaining of the Adamic family but Noah and his children; and from these all the nations of the earth sprang.
Adam, Sheth, Enosh - These first four verses exactly agree with the account of the antediluvian patriarchs in Gen_5:1. For brevity sake he only mentions their names; but the rest is easily understood out of the former books. The names of the ten patriarchs of the primeval world, from the Creation to the Flood, and the three sons of Noah, are given according to Gen 5, and grouped together without any link of connection whatever: it is assumed as known from Genesis, that the first ten names denote generations succeeding one another, and that the last three, on the contrary, are the names of brethren.The Jews alone are able to trace their pedigree from the first man that God created, all other nations having forgotten their ancestry.
1Ch 1:2 Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered,
1Ch 1:3 Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech,
1Ch 1:4 Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth--The three sons of this patriarch are enumerated, partly because they were the founders of the new world, and partly because the fulfilment of Noah's prophecy (Gen_9:25-27) could not otherwise appear to have been verified. Gen_9:25-27 And he said, Cursed be Canaan. He shall be a servant of servants to his brothers. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. And Canaan shall be their servant.
1Ch 1:5 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
The sons of Japheth - Here begins the genealogy of the sons of Noah after the flood; of the sons of Japheth the elder, in this and the two following verses; next of the sons of Ham, the younger brother, 1Ch_1:8, then of Shem, whose posterity are mentioned last, because from him, in the line of Heber, sprang Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish nation, of whom the Messiah was to come, for whose sake this genealogy is given, 1Ch_1:17. The whole is the same with the account in Gen_10:1
The sons of Japheth - The historian repeating the account of the replenishing the earth by the sons of Noah, begins with those that were strangers to the church, the sons of Japheth, who peopled Europe, of whom he says little, as the Jews had hitherto little or no dealings with them. He hastens to the line of Abraham, breaking off abruptly from all the other families of the sons of Noah, but that of Arphaxad, from whom Christ was to come. The great promise of the Messiah was transmitted from Adam to Seth, from him to Shem, from him to Eber, and so to the Jewish nation, who were intrusted above all nations with that sacred treasure, 'till the promise was performed, and the Messiah was come.
1Ch 1:6 And the sons of Gomer; Ashchenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
1Ch 1:7 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
1Ch 1:8 The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
1Ch 1:9 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
Sabta - i.e. he compassed the chamber; to surround.
1Ch 1:10 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth.
He began to be mighty upon the earth - “He began to be bold in sin, a murderer of the innocent, and a rebel before the Lord.” So says the Targum.
1Ch 1:11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
1Ch 1:12 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines,) and Caphthorim.
Casluhim (of whom came the Philistines), and Caphtorim--a better rendering is, "and Casluhim, of whom came the Philistim and Caphtorim." They were brethren, the sons of Casluhim, and at first dwelt together, whence their names are used interchangeably. The Caphtorim are described as inhabiting Azzah, or Gaza , the seat of the Philistines.
1Ch 1:13 And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth,
1Ch 1:14 The Jebusite also, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,
The Jebusite etc - The names which follow until 1Ch_1:17, are not the names of particular persons, but of people or nations. And all these descended from Canaan , though some of them were afterwards extinct or confounded with others of their brethren by cohabitation or mutual marriages, whereby they lost their names: which is the reason why they are no more mentioned, at least under these names.
1Ch 1:15 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
1Ch 1:16 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.
1Ch 1:17 The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.
The sons of Shem - descendants. Either the name of sons is so taken here as to include grandsons, or, these words, the children of Aram , are understood before Uz, out of Gen_10:23, where they are expressed.
Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech - these are stated to have been “sons of Aram ” Gen_10:23. And the sons of Aram: Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash.
1Ch 1:18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.
Arphaxad begat Shelah - Cainan, the father's name, is omitted here. Cainan, who is expressed, Luk_3:35 -36 son of of Serug, son of of Reu, son of of Peleg, son of of Eber, son of of Shelah, son of of Cainan, son of of Arphaxad, son of of Shem, son of of Noah, son of of Lamech,
1Ch 1:19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name was Joktan.
The name of the one was Peleg - “Because in his days the inhabitants of the earth were divided according to their languages.
And the name of his brother was Joktan - because in his days the years of men began to be shortened, on account of their iniquities.” According to the Targum.
1Ch 1:20 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
1Ch 1:21 Hadoram also, and Uzal, and Diklah,
1Ch 1:22 And Ebal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
1Ch 1:23 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
And Ophir - “Whence gold is brought.”
And Havilah - “whence pearls are brought.”
1Ch 1:24 Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah,
Having given a brief and general account of the original of the world and the people in it, he now returns to a more large and particular account of the genealogy of Shem, from whom the Jews were descended.
The patriarchs from Shem to Abraham. - The names of these, again, are simply ranged in order according to Gen 11:10-26, while the record of their ages before the begetting and after the birth of sons is omitted. Of the sons of Terah only Abram is named, without his brothers; with the remark that Abram is Abraham, in order to point out to the reader that he was the progenitor of the chosen people so well known from Genesis.
1Ch 1:25 Eber, Peleg, Reu,
1Ch 1:26 Serug, Nahor, Terah,
1Ch 1:27 Abram; the same is Abraham.
1Ch 1:28 The sons of Abraham; Isaac, and Ishmael.
Isaac and Ishmael - Isaac, though younger than Ishmael, is placed first, as the legitimate heir, since Sarah alone was Abraham’s true wife.
The sons of Abraham - All nations but the seed of Abraham are already shaken off from this genealogy. The genealogy is from hence confined to the posterity of Abraham.
1Ch 1:29 These are their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, and Adbeel, and Mibsam,
These are their generations - As Shem was reserved until after Japheth and Ham 1Ch_1:5-16, because in him the genealogy was to be continued, so Isaac is now reserved until the other lines of descent from Abraham have been completed. The same principle gives the descendants of Esau a prior place to those of Jacob 1 Ch. 1:35-51; 1Ch_2:1.
Nebaioth--gave rise to the Nabathæans.
1Ch 1:30 Mishma, and Dumah, Massa, Hadad, and Tema,
1Ch 1:31 Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael.
1Ch 1:32 Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham's concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.
Keturah, Abraham’s concubine - This passage, and Gen_25:6, sufficiently prove that the position of Keturah was not that of the full wife, but of the “secondary” or “concubine wife” Jdg_19:1.
Keturah, Abraham’s concubine - Abraham’s pilegesh, or wife of the second rank; she was neither whore, harlot, nor concubine, in our sense of these words.
sons of Keturah--These became founders of nomadic tribes in the north of Arabia and Syria , as Midian of the Midianites (Gen_36:35; Jdg_6:2).
and Shuah--from whom Bildad sprang (Job_2:11).
1Ch 1:33 And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons of Keturah.
1Ch 1:34 And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac; Esau and Israel.
Abraham begat Isaac - Isaac has been already mentioned as a son of Abram, along with Ishmael, in 1Ch_1:28. But here the continuation of the genealogy of Abraham is prefaced by the remark that Abraham begat Isaac, just as in Gen_25:19, where the begetting of Isaac the son of Abraham is introduced with the same remark. Hence the supposition that the registers of the posterity of Abraham by Hagar and Keturah (1Ch_1:28-33) have been derived from Gen 25.
1Ch 1:35 The sons of Esau; Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah.
The sons of Esau - The firstborn of Isaac; his posterity are named in this and the two following verses. The five sons of Esau are the same who, according to Gen_36:4., were born to him of his three wives in the land of Canaan .
1Ch 1:36 The sons of Eliphaz; Teman, and Omar, Zephi, and Gatam, Kenaz, and Timna, and Amalek.
Timna - In Gen_36:11-12 And the sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz. And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son. And she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These were the sons of Adah, Esau's wife, Eliphaz has no son Timna; but he has a concubine of the name, who is the mother of Amalek, and conjectured to be Lotan’s sister 1Ch_1:39. The addition of the two names Timna and Amalek in the Chronicle thus appears to be merely an abbreviation, which the author might well allow himself, as the posterity of Esau were known to his readers from Genesis. The name Timna, too, by its form (a feminine formation), must have guarded against the idea of some modern exegetes that Timna was also a son of Eliphaz. Thus, then, Esau had through Eliphaz six grandchildren, who in Gen_36:12 are all set down as sons of Adah, the wife of Esau and the mother of Eliphaz.
1Ch 1:37 The sons of Reuel; Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
1Ch 1:38 And the sons of Seir; Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezer, and Dishan.
And the sons of Seir - This man and his posterity were not of the race of Esau, but are mentioned because they were a family into which Esau, and a son of his, married, and whose possessions he and his obtained. The account from hence, to the end of 1Ch_1:42 is the same with Gen_36:20, with some little variation of names. Those who were not united and incorporated with Esau's posterity, were destroyed by them. See Deu_2:12.
And the sons of Seir - When Esau with his descendants had settled in Mount Seir , they subdued by degrees the aboriginal inhabitants of the land, and became fused with them into one people. For this reason, in Gen_36:20-30 the tribal princes of the Seirite inhabitants of the land are noticed; and in our chapter also. The inhabitants of Mount Seir consisted, then, after the immigration of Esau and his descendants, of twenty tribes under a like number of phylarchs, thirteen of whom were Edomite, of the family of Esau, and seven Seirite.
1Ch 1:39 And the sons of Lotan; Hori, and Homam: and Timna was Lotan's sister.
1Ch 1:40 The sons of Shobal; Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon; Aiah, and Anah.
1Ch 1:41 The sons of Anah; Dishon. And the sons of Dishon; Amram, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
1Ch 1:42 The sons of Ezer; Bilhan, and Zavan, and Jakan. The sons of Dishan; Uz, and Aran.
1Ch 1:43 Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel; Bela the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Dinhabah.
the kings that reigned in the land of Edom - Which had its name from Esau, who was so called, Gen_25:30. From hence, to the end of the chapter, an account is given of the kings and dukes of Edom , in the same order as in Gen_30:31.
The kings of Edom before the introduction of the kingship into Israel. - This is a verbally exact repetition of Gen_36:31-39, except that the introductory formula, Gen_36:32, “and there reigned in Edom .”
1Ch 1:44 And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
Jobab the son of Zerah - Supposed by some to be the same as Job, whose book forms a part of the canon of Scripture. But in their names there is no similarity; Job being written aiyob; Jobab, yobab.
1Ch 1:45 And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.
1Ch 1:46 And when Husham was dead, Hadad the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith.
Smote Midian - Nothing is known of this war.
1Ch 1:47 And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
1Ch 1:48 And when Samlah was dead, Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.
1Ch 1:49 And when Shaul was dead, Baalhanan the son of Achbor reigned in his stead.
1Ch 1:50 And when Baalhanan was dead, Hadad reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.
Daughter of Mezahab - This word mey zahab, is literally the golden waters; or What is gold?
1Ch 1:51 Hadad died also. And the dukes of Edom were; duke Timnah, duke Aliah, duke Jetheth,
1Ch 1:52 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon,
1Ch 1:53 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar,
1Ch 1:54 Duke Magdiel, duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom.
