Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/83

Rh Sheshan; Ahlai. And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children. And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel. Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai. And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad;and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed; and Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah;and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah; and Eleasah begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum; and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama. And the sons of Caleb the

name, not the name of an individual, since in ver. 34 Sheshan is said to have had "no sons, but daughters." More probably however the Chronicler is using a different source for vv. 34—41.

34. an Egyptian] Heb. Miṣri. Render probably a Muṣrite, i.e. inhabitant of the N. Arabian district to the south of Palestine, known as Muṣri and apparently confused at times with Miṣraim (Egypt). For some suggestive conjectures regarding this table of Jarha's descendants see S. A. Cook, ''Ency. Bib.'' 2364.

35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir. Thus Abraham at first (Gen. xv. 2, 3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. The list of thirteen descendants of Jarha ending with Elishama (ver. 41) is perhaps a proper genealogy: at least the names may be those of individuals, although it is impossible to say why this pedigree of Elishama should have been so carefully preserved (so Curtis). On the other hand Cook (see previous note) regards Jarha as perhaps an eponym of Jerahmeel, and, connecting Sheshan with the Hebronite Sheshai, thinks the genealogy may signify a northward movement of Jerahmeel from Muṣri to the district of Hebron.

42—49.&emsp; (Cp. vv. 18—24.)

42. Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel] Called Chelubai (ver. 9) and Caleb the son of Hezron (ver. 18). As eponym of the tribe Caleb is described as "son" of Hezron "son" of Judah, and of course is not to be distinguished from the Caleb son of Jephunneh who is classed as a Kenizzite in various passages (iv. 15; Num. xiii. 6; Jos. xiv. 6).

Important features of the fortunes of the Caleb clan can be discerned from the lists in this chapter, vv. 18—24, 42—50. It appears that at first their seats were in the southern parts of Judah—witness vv. 42—49, in which several of the names, viz. Ziph (Josh. xv. 24 or 25), Mareshah (2 Chr. xi. 8), Hebron, Tappuah (Josh. xv. 34), Maon (Josh. xv. 55),