brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. 43And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. 44And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai. 45And the son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth-zur. And 46Ephah, Caleb's concubine, bare Haran, and Moza, and Gazez: and Haran begat Gazez. 47And the sons of Jahdai; Regem, and Jotham, and Geshan, and Pelet, and Ephah, and Shaaph. 48Maacah, Caleb's concubine, bare Sheber and Tirhanah. 49She bare also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena, and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah. 50These were the sons of Caleb; the [1]son of Hur, the firstborn of
and Beth-zur (Josh. xv. 58) are names of towns in the S. or S.W. of Judah. From these, their pre-exilic homes, they were driven northwards, and during the exilic period and afterwards they occupied many of the townships not far from Jerusalem, e.g. Bethlehem (see vv. 50—55). Apart from the names in vv. 50—55, we have a testimony to this northward movement in ver. 24 (where see note), and probably also in ver. 18, where the names Jerioth (tents) and Azubah (forsaken) hint at the abandonment first of nomadic life and then of the south Judean settlements. This movement was largely no doubt compulsory, under pressure from the Edomites to the south (cp. above i. 43, note) who in their turn were being forced north by a strong and fairly constant encroachment of Arab tribes (see Wellhausen, De Gentibus, and more recently Hölscher, Palästina, pp. 22, 30, on the importance of such evidence as this notice in Chron. for determining the composition and conditions of Palestine in the post-exilic period).
Mesha] The Moabite king whose deeds are recorded on the Moabite Stone bore this name. LXX. reads Mareshah (Μαρεισά) as in the latter part of the verse.
45. Maon] Nabal who was a Calebite lived at the town of Maon (1 Sam. xxv. 2, 3). It is improbable that Maon was ever used as the name of a person; cp. Buchanan Gray, Hebrew Proper Names, pp. 127 f. See note on ver. 42.
49. the daughter of Caleb was Achsah] Cp. Judg. i. 12.
50—55. These verses give the post-exilic settlements of the Calebites in the townships of northern Judea, not far from Jerusalem: see ver. 42, note.
50. the son of Hur] Read with the LXX., the sons of Hur. Hur was the son of Caleb (ver. 19).
the firstborn of Ephrathah] see note ver. 24.
- ↑ The Sept. has, sons.
