1 These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2 Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 3 The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; these three Bath-shua the Canaanite bore to him. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death. 4 His daughter-in-law Tamar also bore him Perez and Zerah. Judah had five sons in all.
5 The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 6 The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all. 7 The son of Carmi: Achan, the troubler of Israel, who broke faith in the matter of the devoted thing; 8 and Ethan’s son was Azariah.
9 The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. 10 Ram fathered Amminadab, and Amminadab fathered Nahshon, prince of the sons of Judah. 11 Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, 12 Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse. 13 Jesse fathered Eliab his firstborn, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, 14 Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh. 16 And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. 17 Abigail bore Amasa, and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.
18 Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. 20 Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.
21 Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub. 22 And Segub fathered Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. 23 But Geshur and Aram took from them Havvoth-jair, Kenath, and its villages, sixty towns. All these were descendants of Machir, the father of Gilead. 24 After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa.
25 The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26 Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam. 27 The sons of Ram, the firstborn of Jerahmeel: Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. 28 The sons of Onam: Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. 29 The name of Abishur’s wife was Abihail, and she bore him Ahban and Molid. 30 The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; and Seled died childless. 31 The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai. 32 The sons of Jada, Shammai’s brother: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died childless. 33 The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the descendants of Jerahmeel. 34 Now Sheshan had no sons, only daughters, but Sheshan had an Egyptian slave whose name was Jarha. 35 So Sheshan gave his daughter in marriage to Jarha his slave, and she bore him Attai. 36 Attai fathered Nathan, and Nathan fathered Zabad. 37 Zabad fathered Ephlal, and Ephlal fathered Obed. 38 Obed fathered Jehu, and Jehu fathered Azariah. 39 Azariah fathered Helez, and Helez fathered Eleasah. 40 Eleasah fathered Sismai, and Sismai fathered Shallum. 41 Shallum fathered Jekamiah, and Jekamiah fathered Elishama.
42 The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel: Mareshah his firstborn, who fathered Ziph. The son of Mareshah: Hebron. 43 The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem and Shema. 44 Shema fathered Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem fathered Shammai. 45 The son of Shammai: Maon; and Maon fathered Beth-zur. 46 Ephah also, Caleb’s concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran fathered Gazez. 47 The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jotham, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. 48 Maacah, Caleb’'s concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49 She also bore Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. 50 These were the descendants of Caleb.
The sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim, 51 Salma, the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth-gader. 52 Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim had other sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. 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 sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. 55 The clans also of the scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab. – 1 Chronicles 2:1-55 ESV
Once again, the chronicler provides us with another lengthy genealogical record filled with meaningless names and mind-numbing details about who beget who. Yet, this list contains more than a few names that should be familiar even to a contemporary reader. He begins with the sons of Isaac: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. From these men came the 12 tribes of Israel, and their descendants were the ones to who this book was written. Every individual to whom this genealogical record was read would have been a proud member of one of the tribes of Israel and an heir of the promise that God had made to their forefather, Jacob.
God blessed him, saying, “Your name is Jacob, but you will not be called Jacob any longer. From now on your name will be Israel.” So God renamed him Israel.
Then God said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Be fruitful and multiply. You will become a great nation, even many nations. Kings will be among your descendants! And I will give you the land I once gave to Abraham and Isaac. Yes, I will give it to you and your descendants after you.” – Genesis 35:10-12 NLT
As this motley group of Israelites stood in the land of Israel, faced with the prospect of trying to rebuild their former nation and reestablish their ownership of the land, they needed a reminder of their covenant relationship with God. But there is something even more important that the author wants his readers to know. In detailing the lineage of Israel (Jacob), he begins with Judah rather than Reuben, the firstborn. Then he brings up a rather unflattering episode in the life of Judah by reminding his readers that Judah had a son named Er, who “was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he put him to death” (1 Chronicles 2:3 ESV).
Why would the author begin with this less-than-encouraging recounting of Er’s death? If we turn to the Genesis account of this story, we get little in the way of details regarding Er’s sin.
In the course of time, Judah arranged for his firstborn son, Er, to marry a young woman named Tamar. But Er was a wicked man in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord took his life. – Genesis 38:6-7 NLT
It seems likely that this brief aside was intended to emphasize God’s disdain for wickedness of any kind. He hated evil and was quick to purge it from among His people. The original audience of this book would have had firsthand experience with God’s hatred for sin because they had spent 70 years living in exile as a result of their rebellion against Him. So, this one-line note was probably intended as a not-so-subtle reminder to the Israelites that if they wanted to experience God’s blessings in the land, they would need to avoid wickedness and live in obedience to God’s commands.
After briefly recognizing Er’s sin, the author describes the births of Perez and Zerah, the twin sons born to Isaac and Tamar. But even this more uplifting historical note comes with its own set of uncomfortable and unflattering baggage and is tied directly to the death of Er.
Then Judah said to Er’s brother Onan, “Go and marry Tamar, as our law requires of the brother of a man who has died. You must produce an heir for your brother.”
But Onan was not willing to have a child who would not be his own heir. So whenever he had intercourse with his brother’s wife, he spilled the semen on the ground. This prevented her from having a child who would belong to his brother. But the Lord considered it evil for Onan to deny a child to his dead brother. So the Lord took Onan’s life, too. – Genesis 38:8-10 NLT
Tamar, the wife of Er, found herself a grieving widow for the second time. Jacob, who had lost two sons, was at a loss as to what to do with Tamar. According to the Genesis account, he was afraid that Tamar might be cursed. He was obligated to care for his daughter-in-law and the practice of levirate marriage was common in his day. This ancient code of conduct required the unmarried brother of a deceased man to take his widow as a bride. This would provide an heir for the deceased brother, keeping his lineage alive and assuring the widow and her offspring of an inheritance.
But, fearing the loss of yet another son, Jacob came up with a plan to send Tamar away with the promise that he would reward her with marriage to his son, Shelah.
“Go back to your parents’ home and remain a widow until my son Shelah is old enough to marry you.” (But Judah didn’t really intend to do this because he was afraid Shelah would also die, like his two brothers.) So Tamar went back to live in her father’s home. – Genesis 38:11 NLT
Jacob had no intention of following through with his commitment. Instead, he hoped that Tamar would return home and allow her family to provide for her needs. But as the story goes, Tamar did not forget Jacob’s promise and grew impatient with the constant delays. When Shelah came of age, no marriage arrangements were made. So, she took matters into her own hands and came up with a plan to rectify the injustice Jacob had done to her. To make a long story short, Tamar got even with Jacob.
Tamar was aware that Shelah had grown up, but no arrangements had been made for her to come and marry him. So she changed out of her widow’s clothing and covered herself with a veil to disguise herself. Then she sat beside the road at the entrance to the village of Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. Judah noticed her and thought she was a prostitute, since she had covered her face. So he stopped and propositioned her. “Let me have sex with you,” he said, not realizing that she was his own daughter-in-law. – Genesis 38:14-16 NLT
Through a series of convoluted events, Jacob unwittingly slept with Tamar and she became pregnant. When he became aware that he had committed incest with his own daughter-in-law, he exclaimed, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah” (Genesis 38:26 NLT). He took Tamar as his wife but never had sexual relations with her again. He also adopted her two sons as his own. But the story doesn’t end there. Perez went on to have a son named Hezron (verse 5). Hezron would grow up and father three sons, one of whom was named Ram.
The sons of Hezron were Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, a leader of Judah.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
Obed was the father of Jesse. – 1 Chronicles 2:9-12 NLT
Jesse would go on to sire seven sons, the last of whom was David. The Book of Ruth includes a very similar genealogical record that outlines the line from Perez to David.
This is the genealogical record of their ancestor Perez:
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz.
Boaz was the father of Obed.
Obed was the father of Jesse.
Jesse was the father of David. – Ruth 4:18-22 NLT
The stories of Er, Onan, Ruth, and Tamar are meant to remind the people of Israel that their existence was not the byproduct of fate or blind luck. They are part of a long legacy that was the result of divine oversight and sovereign planning. They weren’t just any nation, they were the chosen people of God and the heirs of His promises. Their return to the land had been God’s doing, just as their exile to Babylon had been part of His overall will for their lives. And He was not yet done.
“One of the major themes of Chronicles is that the Davidic dynasty would be the instrument through which God promised that salvation and blessing would come to Israel and through Israel to the whole world. The final Davidic king, Jesus Christ, was the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) as well as the Person who would fulfill the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants completely.” – Thomas L. Constable, Study Notes of 1 Chronicles
The rest of the chapter traces the other sons born to Hezron. This lengthy list of unknown individuals provides a more in-depth description of the sons of Judah born through the line of Perez.
“These obscure names connected with the tribe of Judah are listed for an important general reason. Most of the returning exiles in the general time Chronicles was written were connected to the tribe of Judah.” – David Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary of 1 Chronicles
According to Ezra 1:5, those who returned from exile in Babylon were primarily members of the tribe of Judah.
Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. – Ezra 1:5 NLT
That is why the chronicler spends so much time unpacking the lineage of the tribe of Judah. He wants his readers to understand that they are part of a rich heritage that goes all the way back to Perez. Despite the dark blots on their family tree, God has blessed them and returned them to the land. He has sovereignly arranged for their release from captivity and their safe travel back to the land of Judah. This ragtag group of former slaves will be used to rebuild the Temple and the walls of Jerusalem. They will reinstate the sacrificial system and repopulate the land with more of their kind. This was going to be a new beginning and God had plans in store for them that were far beyond anything they could imagine.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
