1 Chronicles 3

1 Chronicles 3
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The complete Hebrew text of the Books of Chronicles (1 and 2 Chronicles) in the Leningrad Codex (1008 CE).
Book	Books of Chronicles
Category	Ketuvim
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	13

1 Chronicles 3 is the third

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 24 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[5]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century).^[6][a]

Old Testament references

• 1 Chronicles 3:1–4: 2 Samuel 3:2–5^[10]
• 1 Chronicles 3:5–8: 2 Samuel 5:14–16; 1 Chronicles 14:4–7^[10]
• 1 Chronicles 3:10–16: 1 and 2 Kings^[10]

Structure

The whole chapter belongs to an arrangement comprising 1 Chronicles 2:3–8:40 with the king-producing tribes of Judah (David; 2:3–4:43) and Benjamin (Saul; 8:1–40) bracketing the series of lists as the priestly tribe of Levi (6:1–81) anchors the center, in the following order:^[11]

A David's royal tribe of Judah (2:3–4:43)

B Northern tribes east of Jordan (5:1–26)

X The priestly tribe of Levi (6:1–81)

B' Northern tribes west of Jordan (7:1–40)

A' Saul's royal tribe of Benjamin (8:1–40)^[11]

Another concentric arrangement focuses on David's royal tribe of Judah (2:3–4:23), centering on the family of Hezron, Judah's grandson, through his three sons: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai (Caleb),^[12] as follows:^[11]

A Descendants of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah (2:3–8)

B Descendants of Ram up to David (2:9–17)

C Descendants of Caleb (2:18–24)

D Descendants of Jerahmeel (2:25–33)

D' Descendants of Jerahmeel (2:34–41)

C' Descendants of Caleb (2:42–55)

B' Descendants of Ram following David [David's descendants] (3:1–24)

A' Descendants of Shelah, Judah s only surviving son (4:21–23)^[11]

Sons born to David in Hebron (3:1–4)

The house of David is the main focus within the large genealogy of Judah.^[13] This section shares almost word for word materials with 2 Samuel 3:2–5.^[4]

Verse 1

Now 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:^[14]

• "The second, Daniel": called "Chileab" (כלאב ke-le-ab, meaning "like to father") in 2 Samuel 3:3.
  Septuaginta of 2 Samuel 3:3 reads "Dalouia".^[16] The Targum states, "The second, Daniel, who was also called Chileab, because he was in every respect like to his father." Jarchi says the two names were given to this person because David had taken Abigail immediately after the death of Nabal, so it could not be ascertained whether this child were the son of David or of Nabal, therefore David called him "Daniel" (דניאל, meaning "God ('El') is my Judge", which is, that he is David's son) and "Chileab" ("he who is like to the father") due to the striking resemblance to David.^[15]

These six were born unto him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years.[17]

Verse 4 apparently is a rework of 2 Samuel 5:5.^[4] The move from Hebron to Jerusalem is not explained, assuming the readers' knowledge of the narratives in the earlier materials.^[16]

Sons born to David in Jerusalem (3:5–9)

This section shares the same materials as 2 Samuel 5:14-16 (also in 1 Chronicles 14:4–7), and verse 9 from 2 Samuel 5:13; 13:1.^[18]

Verse 5

And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel:^[19]

• "Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel": called "
  2 Samuel 11:3. Nothing is said about the adultery with David, nor about Uriah's murder. Four children are listed from her, whereas 2 Samuel only mentions Solomon and the older son, who was conceived in adultery and died young as David's punishment (2 Samuel 12:13–14).^[16]

The kings of Judah are listed here from Solomon up to the period of exile, following a monotonous formula—"his son was X"—until Josiah, who had several sons succeeding him, so that the Chronicler changes the listing method.[20] The sources could be 2 Kings 22–24 and Book of Jeremiah (which uses Shallum, the alternative name of Joahaz, in

And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.[21]

• "Shallum": as also called with this name in
  2 Chronicles 36:1) and ruled for 3 months before being deported by Pharaoh Necho to Egypt. In his place, the pharaoh installed his older brother, Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:31–35; Jeremiah 22:10–12).^[16]

And the sons of Jehoiakim: Jeconiah his son, Zedekiah his son.[22]

Two sons of Jehoiakim are listed here: "Jeconiah" (also called "Jehoiachin" in

This section lists the descendants of David – in particular, the posterity of Jeconiah – during the exile and into the early part of post-exilic period.[20]^[25] Jeconiah was taken away to Babylon in 597 BCE and among his seven sons, Shenazzar (called Shenazzar in Ezra 1:8–11; both names are the transliteration of Babylon name: "Sin-ab-uṣur"), became the first Persian-period governor of Judah.^[24]

Verse 17

And the sons of Jeconiah; Assir, Salathiel his son,^[26]

• "Assir" (Hebrew: אסר ’as-sir):^[27] means "captive", "bondman", or "prisoner"; it does not appear to be a person's name here, but to signify that Jeconiah was a captive when he had his son, Salathiel (cf. Matthew 1:12).^[28] This interpretation 'accords with the Masoretic punctuation, which connects the term "assir" with Jeconiah', not to be rendered as "Jeconiah the captive" (which would require the definite article not found in the original), but rather as "Jeconiah when in captivity" or "as a captive."^[25]
• "
  Ancient Greek: Σαλαθιήλ; also in Matthew 1:12): transliterated from Hebrew: Hebrew: שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵ֖ל šə-’al-tî-’êl,^[27] "Shealti-el" (meaning "request of God"), written in Haggai 1:12, 14; 2:2 as Hebrew: שַׁלְתִּיאֵ֡ל "Shalti-el".^[25]

Notes

References