allow himself to abridge the heading without fearing any misunderstanding; seeing, too, that he does not enumerate אלּוּפי of Esau, but אדום אלּוּפי, and Edom had become the name of a country and a people.

The Twelve Sons of Israel and the Families of Judah - 1 Chronicles 2-4:23

The list of the twelve sons of Israel (1Ch 2:1-2) serves as foundation and starting-point for the genealogies of the tribes of Israel which follow, 1Ch 2:3-8. The enumeration of the families of the tribe of Judah commences in 1Ch 2:3 with the naming of Judah's sons, and extends to 1Ch 4:23. The tribe of Judah has issued from the posterity of only three of the five sons of Judah, viz., from Shelah, Pharez, and Zerah; but it was subdivided into five great families, as Hezron and Hamul, the two sons of Pharez, also founded families. The lists of our three chapters give us: (1) from the family of Zerah only the names of some famous men (1Ch 2:6-8); (2) the descendants of Hezron in the three branches corresponding to the three sons of Hezron, into which they divided themselves (1Ch 2:9), viz., the descendants of Ram to David (1Ch 2:10-17), of Caleb (1Ch 2:18-24), and of Jerahmeel (2:25-41). Then there follow in 1Ch 2:42-55 four other lists of descendants of Caleb, who peopled a great number of the cities of Judah; and then in 1 Chron 3 we have a list of the sons of David and the line of kings of the house of David, down to the grandsons of Zerubbabel; and finally, in 1 Chron 4:1-23, other genealogical fragments as to the posterity of Pharez and Shelah. Of Hamul, consequently, no descendants are noticed, unless perhaps some of the groups ranged together in 1Ch 4:8-22, whose connection with the heads of the families of Judah is not given, are of his lineage. The lists collected in 1 Chron 4:1-20 are clearly only supplements to the genealogies of the great families contained in 1 Chron 2 and 3, which the author of the Chronicle found in the same fragmentary state in which they are communicated to us.

Chap. 2