1 CHRONICLES LESSON 4


     We will begin this lesson in I Chronicles 2:27 "And the sons of
Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were, Maaz, and Jamin, and Eker."
I Chronicles 2:28 And the sons of Onam were, Shammai, and Jada. And
the sons of Shammai; Nadab, and Abishur.

     We are showing the genealogy from Adam to king David in these
lessons. This Ram is the nephew of the one who the genealogy goes
through. Some scholars group all of these sons under Ram.

     I Chronicles 2:29 "And the name of the wife of Abishur [was]
Abihail, and she bare him Ahban, and Molid."

     The name "Abihail" means father of might, or mighty. "Ahban"
means brother of the wise. "Molid" means begetter.

     I Chronicles 2:30 "And the sons of Nadab; Seled, and Appaim: but
Seled died without children." I Chronicles 2:31 "And the sons of
Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the children of
Sheshan; Ahlai." I Chronicles 2:32 And the sons of Jada the brother of
Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children.

     Ahlai was a daughter who married Jarha, an Egyptian slave.

     I Chronicles 2:33 "And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza.
These were the sons of Jerahmeel."

     "Jonathan" means Jehovah has given. Jonathan will carry on the
family of Jada, because his brother had no children. Very little is
known of Peleth and Zaza.

     I Chronicles 2:34  "Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And
Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name [was] Jarha."
I Chronicles 2:35 "And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant
to wife; and she bare him Attai." I Chronicles 2:36 "And Attai begat
Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad," I Chronicles 2:37 "And Zabad begat
Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed," I Chronicles 2:38 "And Obed begat
Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah," I Chronicles 2:39 "And Azariah begat
Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah,"  I Chronicles 2:40 "And Eleasah begat
Sisamai, and Sisamai begat Shallum," I Chronicles 2:41 "And Shallum
begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama."

     This is a list of Sheshan's family through his daughter and his
Egyptian servant. This list of names brings this family down to about
the time of David.

     I Chronicles 2:42  "Now the sons of Caleb the brother of
Jerahmeel [were], Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph;
and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron."

     This reverts back to the family of Caleb. It is not connected
with the verses we just read. You remember, that Caleb was brother to
Jerahmeel and Ram. Caleb is the same as Chelubai.  Caleb and his wife,
Azubah, had two sons. Mesha, and Mareshah. Mesha had a son named Ziph,
and Maresha had Hebron.

     I Chronicles 2:43 "And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah,
and Rekem, and Shema."

     The only thing I can say about this, is that they lived sometime
between 1300 and 1400 B. C.

     I Chronicles 2:44 "And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkoam:
and Rekem begat Shammai." I Chronicles 2:45 "And the son of Shammai
[was] Maon: and Maon [was] the father of Beth-zur."

     We must continue to remember that these people are descendents of
Caleb and his wife Azubah.

     I Chronicles 2:46 "And Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and
Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez." I Chronicles 2:47 "And the
sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Gesham, and Pelet, and Ephah,
and Shaaph." I Chronicles 2:48 "Maachah, Caleb's concubine, bare
Sheber, and Tirhanah." I Chronicles 2:49 She bare also Shaaph the
father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbenah, and the father of
Gibea: and the daughter of Caleb [was] Achsa."

     The only distinction we can make here, is that these are sons and
grandsons of Caleb, by his concubines. These particular people are not
in the lineage that leads to David and ultimately to Jesus, so there
is very little known of them.

     I Chronicles 2:50  "These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur,
the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim,"

     Ephratah was another wife of Caleb. Hur was her son. He was a
companion of Moses and Aaron. His son was named Caleb, for his
grandfather Caleb. Shobal was the founding father of Kirjath-jearim.
This was a city of forests. It lay on the western border of Benjamin.
This was once the place the ark of the covenant stayed.

     I Chronicles 2:51 "Salma the father of Beth-lehem, Hareph the
father of Beth-gader."

     Salma was the founding father of Bethlehem approximately 1400
B.C. Hareph was the founding father of Beth-gader. "Beth-gader" means
house of the wall, and is, probably, the same as Geder.

     I Chronicles 2:52 "And Shobal the father of Kirjath-jearim had
sons; Haroeh, [and] half of the Manahethites."

     Half the Manahethites, possibly, means that these descendents
were from Shobal.

     I Chronicles 2:53 "And the families of Kirjath-jearim; the
Ithrites, and the Puhites, and the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; of
them came the Zareathites, and the Eshtaulites."

     Kirjath-jearim is a place. This just means that these various
people lived in that place. Ithrites were the descendents living at
Kirjath-jearim. The Puhites were descended from Shobal. The
Shumathites, the Mishraites, Zareathites, and Eshtaulites were family
tribes that lived in Kirjath-jearim. Very little else is known of any
of them. They later were, probably, absorbed by other tribes.

     I Chronicles 2:54 "The sons of Salma; Beth-lehem, and the
Netophathites, Ataroth, the house of Joab, and half of the
Manahethites, the Zorites."

     Salma was the prince of Beth-lehem. "Bethlehem" means house of
bread. This would be the city where the LORD Jesus would be born.  The
Netophathites lived around Beth-lehem, actually 3 1\2 miles south.
Two of David's men are said to be of them. Ataroth was inhabited by
the house of Joab. This Joab could be the same as the captain of the
host for David. If he is the same, his mother was David's sister. The
Zorites are connected in some way with Joab.

     I Chronicles 2:55 "And the families of the scribes which dwelt at
Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, [and] Suchathites. These
[are] the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of
Rechab."

     The Tirathites, Shimeathites, and the Suchathites were families
of scribes. Ezra, who is thought to have compiled the Chronicles, was,
also, a well known scribe. We discussed before, how well the records
were kept. Perhaps, these scribes were, also, interested in keeping
God's Word pure. They were very careful to have each word exact when
copying the law of Moses. We all have a lot to thank the scribes for.
There would be nothing to study of the Word had they not been
dedicated to that task. The Kenites were a Nomadic tribe that lived
near Bethlehem, mostly in the rocky country. The house of the
Rechabites were part of the Kenites. David kept friendly relations
with them. The Kenites were heavily intermarried with the Israelites.
The Rechabites would not drink wine. These Nomadic people were people
of high principles.















                        1 Chronicles 4 Questions


1.  Who were the sons of Ram?
2.  Who is the Ram in verse 27?
3.  What does "Abihail" mean?
4.  Who did Ahlai marry?
5.  What does "Jonathan" mean?
6.  The list of names, which end in verse 40, bring this group of
    people down to what time?
7.  Who were Caleb's brothers?
8.  Verses 46 through 49 are a list of whom?
9.  What, special, do we remember about Hur?
10. What was Kirjath-jearim?
11. Who were the families of Kirjath-jearim?
12. Salma was the _________ of Beth-lehem.
13. Who is the Joab, in verse 54?
14. Who was his mother?
15. What kind of families were the people in verse 55?
16. The Kenites were a __________ tribe.
17. What set the Kenites apart from the others?
18. We could say, they were people of _______ ________.