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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [First Chronicles, Chapter VII].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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<h3><a href="http://www.biblesnet.com" target="_blank">Back to Biblesnet.com Home Page</a>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC13006.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC13008.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. VII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have some account of the genealogies,
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I. Of Issachar,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. Of Benjamin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:6-12">ver. 6-12</A>.
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III. Of Naphtali,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:13">ver. 13</A>.
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IV. Of Manasseh,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:14-19">ver. 14-19</A>.
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V. Of Ephraim,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:20-29">ver. 20-29</A>.
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VI. Of Asher,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:30-40">ver. 30-40</A>.
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Here is no account either of Zebulun or Dan. Why they only should be
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omitted we can assign no reason; only it is the disgrace of the tribe
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of Dan that idolatry began in that colony of the Danites which fixed in
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Laish, and called Dan, and there one of the golden calves was set up by
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Jeroboam. Dan is omitted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+7:4-8">Rev. vii.</A></P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="1Ch7_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Genealogies.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1689.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now the sons of Issachar <I>were,</I> Tola, and Puah, Jashub, and
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Shimron, four.
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2 And the sons of Tola; Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and
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Jahmai, and Jibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their father's house,
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<I>to wit,</I> of Tola: <I>they were</I> valiant men of might in their
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generations; whose number <I>was</I> in the days of David two and
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twenty thousand and six hundred.
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3 And the sons of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sons of Izrahiah;
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Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five: all of them chief
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men.
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4 And with them, by their generations, after the house of their
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fathers, <I>were</I> bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty
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thousand <I>men:</I> for they had many wives and sons.
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5 And their brethren among all the families of Issachar <I>were</I>
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valiant men of might, reckoned in all by their genealogies
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fourscore and seven thousand.
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6 <I>The sons</I> of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.
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7 And the sons of Bela; Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and
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Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of the house of <I>their</I> fathers,
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mighty men of valour; and were reckoned by their genealogies
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twenty and two thousand and thirty and four.
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8 And the sons of Becher; Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and
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Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and
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Alameth. All these <I>are</I> the sons of Becher.
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9 And the number of them, after their genealogy by their
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generations, heads of the house of their fathers, mighty men of
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valour, <I>was</I> twenty thousand and two hundred.
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10 The sons also of Jediael; Bilhan: and the sons of Bilhan;
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Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and
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Tharshish, and Ahishahar.
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11 All these the sons of Jediael, by the heads of their
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fathers, mighty men of valour, <I>were</I> seventeen thousand and two
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hundred <I>soldiers,</I> fit to go out for war <I>and</I> battle.
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12 Shuppim also, and Huppim, the children of Ir, <I>and</I> Hushim,
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the sons of Aher.
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13 The sons of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and
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Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.
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14 The sons of Manasseh; Ashriel, whom she bare: (<I>but</I> his
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concubine the Aramitess bare Machir the father of Gilead:
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15 And Machir took to wife <I>the sister</I> of Huppim and Shuppim,
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whose sister's name <I>was</I> Maachah;) and the name of the second
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<I>was</I> Zelophehad: and Zelophehad had daughters.
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16 And Maachah the wife of Machir bare a son, and she called
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his name Peresh; and the name of his brother <I>was</I> Sheresh; and
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his sons <I>were</I> Ulam and Rakem.
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17 And the sons of Ulam; Bedan. These <I>were</I> the sons of
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Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
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18 And his sister Hammoleketh bare Ishod, and Abiezer, and
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Mahalah.
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19 And the sons of Shemida were, Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi,
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and Aniam.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a short view given us,</P>
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<P>
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I. Of the tribe of Issachar, whom Jacob had compared to a <I>strong
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ass, couching between two burdens</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:14">Gen. xlix. 14</A>),
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an industrious tribe, that minded their country business very closely
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and <I>rejoiced in their tents,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:18">Deut. xxxiii. 18</A>.
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And here it appears,
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1. That they were a numerous tribe; for they had many wives. So
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fruitful their country was that they saw no danger of over-stocking the
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pasture, and so ingenious the people were that they could find work for
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all hands. Let no people complain of their numbers, provided they
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suffer none to be idle.
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2. That they were a valiant tribe, <I>men of might</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:2,5"><I>v.</I> 2, 5</A>),
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<I>chief men,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Those that were inured to labour and business were of all men the
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fittest to serve their country when there was occasion, The number of
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the respective families, as taken in the days of David, is here set
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down, amounting in the whole to above 145,000 men fit for war. The
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account, some think, was taken when Joab numbered the people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+24:1-25">2 Sam. xxiv.</A>
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But I rather think it refers to some other computation that was made,
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perhaps among themselves, because it is said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+27:24">1 Chron. xxvii. 24</A>)
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that that account was not inserted in the chronicles of king David, it
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having offended God.</P>
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<P>
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II. Of the tribe of Benjamin. Some account is here given of this tribe,
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but much larger in the next chapter. The militia of this tribe scarcely
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reached to 60,000; but they are said to be <I>mighty men of valour,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:7,9,11"><I>v.</I> 7, 9, 11</A>.
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<I>Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:27">Gen. xlix. 27</A>.
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It was the honour of this tribe that it produced Saul the first king,
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and more its honour that it adhered to the rightful kings of the house
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of David when the other tribes revolted. Here is mention
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
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of Hushim the sons of Aher. The sons of Dan are said to be
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<I>Hushim</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+46:23">Gen. xlvi. 23</A>),
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and therefore some read Aher appellatively, <I>Hushim</I>--the <I>sons
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of another</I> (that is, another of Jacob's sons) or the sons of a
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stranger, which Israelites should not be, but such the Danites were
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when they set up Micah's graven and molten image among them.</P>
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<P>
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III. Of the tribe of Naphtali,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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The first fathers only of that tribe are named, the very same that we
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shall find,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+46:24">Gen. xlvi. 24</A>,
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only that <I>Shillem</I> there is <I>Shallum</I> here. None of their
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descendents are named, perhaps because their genealogies were lost.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Of the tribe of Manasseh, that part of it which was seated within
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Jordan; for of the other part we had some account before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+5:23-26"><I>ch.</I> v. 23</A>,
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&c. Of this tribe observe,
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1. That one of them married an Aramitess, that is, a Syrian,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
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This was during their bondage in Egypt, so early did they begin to
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mingle with the nations.
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2. That, though the father married a Syrian, Machir, the son of that
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marriage, perhaps seeing the inconvenience of it in his father's house,
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took to wife a daughter of Benjamin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
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It is good for the children to take warning by their father's mistakes
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and not stumble at the same stone.
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3. Here is mention of Bedan
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
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who perhaps is the same with that Bedan who is mentioned as one of
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Israel's deliverers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+12:11">1 Sam. xii. 11</A>.
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Jair perhaps, who was of Manasseh
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+10:3">Judg. x. 3</A>),
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was the man.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ch7_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Genealogies.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1630.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>20 And the sons of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his son, and
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Tahath his son, and Eladah his son, and Tahath his son,
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21 And Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son, and Ezer, and
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Elead, whom the men of Gath <I>that were</I> born in <I>that</I> land slew,
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because they came down to take away their cattle.
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22 And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren
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came to comfort him.
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23 And when he went in to his wife, she conceived, and bare a
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son, and he called his name Beriah, because it went evil with his
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house.
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24 (And his daughter <I>was</I> Sherah, who built Beth-horon the
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nether, and the upper, and Uzzen-sherah.)
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25 And Rephah <I>was</I> his son, also Resheph, and Telah his son,
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and Tahan his son,
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26 Laadan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,
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27 Non his son, Jehoshua his son.
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28 And their possessions and habitations <I>were,</I> Bethel and the
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towns thereof, and eastward Naaran, and westward Gezer, with the
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towns thereof; Shechem also and the towns thereof, unto Gaza and
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the towns thereof:
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29 And by the borders of the children of Manasseh, Beth-shean
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and her towns, Taanach and her towns, Megiddo and her towns, Dor
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and her towns. In these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of
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Israel.
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30 The sons of Asher; Imnah, and Isuah, and Ishuai, and Beriah,
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and Serah their sister.
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31 And the sons of Beriah; Heber, and Malchiel, who <I>is</I> the
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father of Birzavith.
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32 And Heber begat Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and Shua
|
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|
their sister.
|
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|
33 And the sons of Japhlet; Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath.
|
||
|
These <I>are</I> the children of Japhlet.
|
||
|
34 And the sons of Shamer; Ahi, and Rohgah, Jehubbah, and Aram.
|
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|
35 And the sons of his brother Helem; Zophah, and Imna, and
|
||
|
Shelesh, and Amal.
|
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|
36 The sons of Zophah; Suah, and Harnepher, and Shual, and
|
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|
Beri, and Imrah,
|
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|
37 Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and
|
||
|
Beera.
|
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|
38 And the sons of Jether; Jephunneh, and Pispah, and Ara.
|
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|
39 And the sons of Ulla; Arah, and Haniel, and Rezia.
|
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|
40 All these <I>were</I> the children of Asher, heads of <I>their</I>
|
||
|
father's house, choice <I>and</I> mighty men of valour, chief of the
|
||
|
princes. And the number throughout the genealogy of them that
|
||
|
were apt to the war <I>and</I> to battle <I>was</I> twenty and six thousand
|
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|
men.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
We have here an account,</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. Of the tribe of Ephraim. Great things we read of that tribe when it
|
||
|
came to maturity. Here we have an account of the disasters of its
|
||
|
infancy, while it was in Egypt as it should seem; for Ephraim himself
|
||
|
was alive when those things were done, which yet is hard to imagine if
|
||
|
it were, as is here computed, seven generations off. Therefore I am apt
|
||
|
to think that either it was another Ephraim or that those who were
|
||
|
slain were the immediate sons of that Ephraim that was the son of
|
||
|
Joseph. In this passage, which is related here only, we have,
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. The great breach that was made upon the family of Ephraim. The men
|
||
|
of Gath, Philistines, giants, slew many of the sons of that family,
|
||
|
<I>because they came down to take away their cattle,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
It is uncertain who were the aggressors here. Some make the men of Gath
|
||
|
the aggressors, men <I>born in the land of Egypt,</I> but now resident
|
||
|
in Gath, supposing that they came down into the land of Goshen, to
|
||
|
drive away the Ephraimites' cattle, and slew the owners, because they
|
||
|
stood up in the defence of them. Many a man's life has been exposed and
|
||
|
betrayed by his wealth; so far is it from being a strong city. Others
|
||
|
think that the Ephraimites made a descent upon the men of Gath to
|
||
|
plunder them, presuming that the time had come when they should be put
|
||
|
in possession of Canaan; but they paid dearly for their rashness and
|
||
|
precipitation. Those that will not wait God's time cannot expect God's
|
||
|
blessing. I rather think that the men of Gath came down upon the
|
||
|
Ephraimites, because the Israelites in Egypt were shepherds, not
|
||
|
soldiers, abounded in cattle of their own, and therefore were not
|
||
|
likely to venture their lives for their neighbours' cattle: and the
|
||
|
words may be read, <I>The men of Gath slew them, for they came down to
|
||
|
take away their cattle.</I> Zabad the son of Ephraim, and Shuthelah,
|
||
|
and Ezer, and Elead (his grandchildren), were, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks,
|
||
|
the men that were slain. Jacob had foretold that the seed of Ephraim
|
||
|
should become a <I>multitude of nations</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+48:19">Gen. xlviii. 19</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and yet that plant is thus nipped in the bud. God's providences often
|
||
|
seem to contradict his promises; but, when they do so, they really
|
||
|
magnify the promise, and make the performance of it, notwithstanding,
|
||
|
so much more illustrious. The Ephraimites were the posterity of
|
||
|
Joseph, and yet his power could not protect them, though some think he
|
||
|
was yet living. The sword devours one as well as another.
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. The great grief which oppressed the father of the family hereupon:
|
||
|
<I>Ephraim mourned many days.</I> Nothing brings the aged to the grave
|
||
|
with more sorrow than their following the young that descend from them
|
||
|
to the grave first, especially if in blood. It is often the burden of
|
||
|
those that live to be old that they see those go before them of whom
|
||
|
they said, <I>These same shall comfort us.</I> It was a brotherly
|
||
|
friendly office which his brethren did, when <I>they came to comfort
|
||
|
him</I> under this great affliction, to express their sympathy with him
|
||
|
and concern for him, and to suggest that to him which would support and
|
||
|
quiet him under this sad providence. Probably they reminded him of the
|
||
|
promise of increase which Jacob had blessed him when he laid his right
|
||
|
hand upon his head. Although his house was not so with God as he
|
||
|
hoped, but a house of mourning, a shattered family, yet that promise
|
||
|
was sure,
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+23:5">2 Sam. xxiii. 5</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
3. The repair of this breach, in some measure, by addition of another
|
||
|
son to his family in his old age
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
like Seth, <I>another seed instead of that of Abel whom Cain slew,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:25">Gen. iv. 25</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
When God thus restores comfort to his mourners, <I>makes glad according
|
||
|
to the days wherein he afflicted,</I> setting the mercies over against
|
||
|
the crosses, we ought therein to take notice of the kindness and
|
||
|
tenderness of divine Providence; it is as if <I>it repented God
|
||
|
concerning his servants,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+90:13,15">Ps. xc. 13, 15</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
Yet joy that a man was born into his family could not make him forget
|
||
|
his grief; for he gives a melancholy name to his son, <I>Beriah--in
|
||
|
trouble,</I> for he was born when the family was in mourning, when
|
||
|
<I>it went evil with his house.</I> It is good to have in remembrance
|
||
|
the affliction and the misery, the wormwood and the gall, that our
|
||
|
souls may be <I>humbled within us,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:19,20">Lam. iii. 19, 20</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
What name more proper for <I>man that is born of a woman</I> than
|
||
|
<I>Beriah,</I> because born into a troublesome world? It is added, as a
|
||
|
further honour to the house of Ephraim,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) That a daughter of that tribe, <I>Sherah</I> by name, at the time
|
||
|
of Israel's setting in Canaan, built some cities, either at her own
|
||
|
charge or by her own care; one of them bore her name,
|
||
|
<I>Uzzen-sherah,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
A virtuous woman may be as great an honour and blessing to a family as
|
||
|
a mighty man.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) That a son of that tribe was employed in the conquest of Canaan,
|
||
|
<I>Joshua the son of Nun,</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
||
|
|
||
|
In this also the breach made on Ephraim's family was further repaired;
|
||
|
and perhaps the resentment of this injury formerly done by the
|
||
|
Canaanites to the Ephraimites might make him more vigorous in the
|
||
|
war.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. Of the tribe of Asher. Some men of note of that tribe are here
|
||
|
named. Their militia was not numerous in comparison with some other
|
||
|
tribes, only 26,000 men in all; but their princes were <I>choice and
|
||
|
mighty men of valour, chief of the princes</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+7:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>),
|
||
|
|
||
|
and perhaps it was their wisdom that they coveted not to make their
|
||
|
trained bands numerous, but rather to have a few, and those apt to the
|
||
|
war and serviceable men.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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