Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 9

And in Jerusalem dwelt (some) of the children of Judah, and (some) of the children of Benjamin. — This sentence is word for word the same as Nehemiah 11:4.

The next clause, “and some of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh,” is not found in Nehemiah, and nothing further is said in the present chapter concerning these two tribes.

But so far from proving the clause to be a figment of the chronicler’s, this fact only indicates that he has chosen to use the ordinary freedom of a compiler in transcribing from the fuller document which supplied him with materials here and in Nehemiah 11.

His source dealt with the neighboring townships as well as Jerusalem; Jerusalem is the sole subject of the chronicler’s extracts here.

Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani. —Nehemiah 11:4 traces this line as follows: Athaiah son of Uzjiah, son of Zechariah, son of Amariah, son of Shephatiah, son of Mahalaleel, of the children of Perez.

Uthai is equivalent to Athaiah, and Imri to Amariah, by a common contraction. The other intermediate names in the two series do not coincide; but this does not prove that Uthai and Athaiah are different clans.

Many more than five or six members would obviously be required to constitute a complete genealogical stem, reaching from post-exilic times to the age of the tribal patriarchs. We may therefore conclude that the compiler has chosen to select different names in each case from a longer list, which comprised both series.

And of the Shilonites. —Shilonite means “man of Shiloh,” the ancient capital of Ephraim; whereas 1 Chronicles 9:4–6 have to do with Judah. The three sons of Judah, after whom three great sub-tribal divisions were named, were Pharez, Shelah, and Zarah (Genesis 38). The clan of Shelah was called the Shelanite (Numbers 26:20), and that is doubtless the correct reading here (see 1 Chronicles 2:3; 1 Chronicles 4:21), supported as it is by the Septuagint (Σηλωνι) and the Targum.

Asaiah (“Jah has wrought”) is essentially the same as “Maaseiah” (“Work of Jah”) in Nehemiah 11:5, where six progenitors are enumerated.

The firstborn. —That is, the leading clan.

His sons. —The members of the clan.

Of the sons of Zerah. —The Zarhites are omitted in the parallel passage of Nehemiah, where we read, instead of the present statement, that all the sons of Perez that dwelt at Jerusalem were four hundred threescore and eight valiant men. The common source of both narratives must have contained information about the Zarhites, as well as their brother clansmen, the Parzites and Shelanites. We see from the verse before us that the Zarhites were more numerous in Jerusalem than the Parzites. The chronicler has again exercised his own discretion in the choice and rejection of details.

Jeuel, and their brethren. —The plural pronoun clearly hints that Jeuel is a Zarhite father-house or clan. The passage of Nehemiah just cited shows that six hundred and ninety is the total of the Zarhites only. The number of the Parzites and Shelanites is not here specified.

And of the sons of Benjamin. —The parallel passage (Nehemiah 11:7) starts with Sallu the son of Me-shullam, but continues, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, and carries the ancestry four generations further back.

The son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah. —Perhaps we should read “and Hodaviah,” instead of “son of Hodaviah.” (See Note on 1 Chronicles 9:9–10.) The name Hodaviah, which occurred in 1 Chronicles 5:24, is a peculiar Aramaizing form of Hoduyah (“Thank the Lord”). Perhaps here the true reading is wîhudah. “and Judah.” Compare to Nehemiah 11:9, Judah the son of Senuali (Hebrew: ha-Senuah).