| Barnes' Notes on the Bible In the remainder of this chapter the writer obtains scarcely any assistance from the earlier Scriptures, and must have drawn almost entirely from genealogical sources, accessible to him, which have since perished. Azubah was Caleb's wife; Jerioth his concubine. He had children by both; but those of Azubah are alone recorded.
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleAzubah - "And why was she called Azubah? Because she was barren and despised. But her injury was manifested before the Lord; and she was comforted, and adorned with wisdom; and she span, skilfully, goats' hair for the court of the tabernacle." - T.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd Caleb the son of Hezron,.... The same that is called Chelubai, 1 Chronicles 2:9 but not the same with Caleb the son of Jephunneh, made mention of in the books of Numbers, Joshua, and Judges: he begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth; who were both his wives; or it may be rather, since Azubah is so particularly called his wife, Jerioth might be a concubine: or of Azubah he begat Jerioth; so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; though it seems best with Hillerus (p) to interpret these names of the same person, and render the last clause, "that is, of Jerioth", of her whose name also was Jerioth, Azubah having two names; and the rather, since only the children of one are mentioned, as follows: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon of whom we read nowhere else; the Targum says, Azubah was so called, because she was barren and despised, which this clause contradicts. (p) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 568.
Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old TestamentThe family of Caleb. - That כּלב is merely a shortened form of כּלוּבי, or a form of that word resulting from the friction of constant use, is so clear from the context, that all exegetes recognise it. We have first (1 Chronicles 2:18-20) a list of the descendants of Caleb by two wives, then descendants which the daughter of the Gileadite Machir bore to his father Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:21-23), and finally the sons whom Hezron's wife bore him after his death (1 Chronicles 2:24). The grouping of these descendants of Hezron with the family of Caleb can only be accounted for by supposing that they had, through circumstances unknown to us, come into a more intimate connection with the family of Caleb than with the families of his brothers Ram and Jerahmeel. In 1 Chronicles 2:42-55 follow some other lists of descendants of Caleb, which will be more fully considered when we come to these verses. The first half of the 18th verse is obscure, and the text is probably corrupt. As the words stand at present, we must translate, "Caleb the son of Hezron begat with Azubah, a woman, and with Jerioth, and these are her (the one wife's) sons, Jesher," etc. בּניה, filii ejus, suggests that only one wife of Caleb had been before mentioned; and, as appears from the "and Azubah died" of 1 Chronicles 2:19, Azubah is certainly meant. The construction את הוליד, "he begat with," is, it is true, unusual, but is analogous to חוליד מן, 1 Chronicles 8:9, and is explained by the fact that הוליד may mean to cause to bear, to bring to bearing; cf. Isaiah 66:9 : therefore properly it is, "he brought Azubah to bearing." The difficulty of the verse lies in the ואת־יריעות אשּׁה, for, according to the usual phraseology, we would have expected אשׁתּו instead of אשּׁה. But אשּׁה may be, under the circumstances, to some extent justified by the supposition that Azubah is called indefinitely "woman," because Caleb had several wives. ואת־וריעות gives no suitable meaning. The explanation of Kimchi, "with Azubah a woman, and with Jerioth," cannot be accepted, for only the sons of Azubah are hereafter mentioned; and the idea that the children of the other wives are not enumerated here because the list used by the chronicler was defective, is untenable: for after two wives had been named in the enumeration of the children of one of them, the mother must necessarily have been mentioned; and so, instead of בּניה, we should have had עזוּבה בּני. Hiller and J. H. Michaelis take ואת as explicative, "with Azubah a woman, viz., with Jerioth;" but this is manifestly only the product of exegetical embarrassment. The text is plainly at fault, and the easiest conjecture is to read, with the Peschito and the Vulgate, את אשׁתּו instead of ואת אשּׁה, "he begat with Azubah his wife, Jerioth (a daughter); and these are her sons." In that case אשּׁה would be added to עזוּבה, to guard against עזוּבה being taken for acc. obj. The names of the sons of Azubah, or of her daughter Jerioth, do not occur elsewhere.
Geneva Study BibleAnd {e} Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon. (e) Who was called Chelubai the son of Hezron, 1Ch 2:9.
Wesley's Notes 2:18 Her sons - The sons of Azubah, who is by way of distinction called his wife, when Jerioth probably was only his concubine, and, it may seem, barren: therefore upon Azubah's death he married another wife. And those other sons of this Caleb mentioned, ver.42, are his sons by some other wife distinct from all these.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary1Ch 2:18-55. Posterity of Caleb. 18. Caleb the son of Hezron-The notices concerning this person appear confused in our version. In 1Ch 2:19 he is said to be the father of Hur, whereas in 1Ch 2:50 he is called "the son of Hur." The words in this latter passage have been transposed in the copying, and should be read thus, "Hur the son of Caleb." begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth-The former was his spouse, while Jerioth seems to have been a secondary wife, and the mother of the children whose names are here given. On the death of his principal wife, he married Ephrath, and by her had Hur [1Ch 2:19].
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary2:1-55 Genealogies. - We are now come to the register of the children of Israel, that distinguished people, who were to dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations. But now, in Christ, all are welcome to his salvation who come to him; all have equal privileges according to their faith in him, their love and devotedness to him. All that is truly valuable consists in the favour, peace, and image of God, and a life spent to his glory, in promoting the welfare of our fellow-creatures.
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible CommentaryVerses 18-55 The persons mentioned in the former paragraph are most of them such as we read of, and most of them such as we read much of, in other scriptures; but very few of those to whom this paragraph relates are mentioned any where else. It should seem, the tribe of Judah were more full and exact in their genealogies than any other of the tribes, in which we must acknowledge a special providence, for the clearing of the genealogy of Christ. 1. Here we find Bezaleel, who was head-workman in building the tabernacle, Ex. 31:2. 2. Hezron, who was the son of Pharez (v. 5), was the father of all this progeny, his sons, Caleb and Jerahmeel, being very fruitful, and he himself likewise, even in his old age, for he left his wife pregnant when he died, v. 24. This Hezron was one of the seventy that went down with Jacob into Egypt, Gen. 46:12. There his family thus increased, as other oppressed families there did. We cannot but suppose that he died during the Israelites' bondage in Egypt; and yet it is here said he died in Caleb-Ephratah (that is, Bethlehem), in the land of Canaan, v. 24. Perhaps, though the body of the people continued in Egypt, yet some that were more active than the rest, at least before their bondage came to be extreme, visited Canaan sometimes and got footing there, though afterwards they lost it. The achievements of Jair, here mentioned (v. 22, 23), we had an account of in Num. 32:41; and, it is supposed, they were long after the conquest of Canaan. The Jews say, Hezron married his third wife when he was sixty years old (v. 21), and another afterwards (v. 24), because he had a great desire of posterity in the family of Pharez, from whom the Messiah was to descend. 3. Here is mention of one that died without children (v. 30), and another (v. 32), and of one that had no sons, but daughters, v. 34. Let those that are in any of these ways afflicted not think their case new or singular. Providence orders these affairs of families by an incontestable sovereignty, as pleaseth him, giving children, or withholding them, or giving all of one sex. He is not bound to please us, but we are bound to acquiesce in his good pleasure. To those that love him he will himself be better than ten sons, and give them in his house a place and a name better than of sons and daughters. Let not those therefore that are written childless envy the families that are built up and replenished. Shall our eye be evil because God's is good? 4. Here is mention of one who had an only daughter, and married her to his servant an Egyptian, v. 34, 35. If it be mentioned to his praise, we must suppose that this Egyptian was proselyted to the Jewish religion and that he was very eminent for wisdom and virtue, otherwise it would not have become a true-born Israelite to match a daughter to him, especially an only daughter. If Egyptians become converts, and servants do worthily, neither their parentage nor their servitude should be a bar to their preferment. Such a one this Egyptian servant might be that she who married him might live as happily with him as if she had married one of the rulers of her tribe. 5. The pedigree of several of these terminates, not in a person, but in a place or country, as one is said to be the father of Kirjath-jearim (v. 50), another of Bethlehem (v. 51), which was afterwards David's city, because these places fell to their lot in the division of the land. 6. here are some that are said to be families of scribes (v. 55), such as kept up learning in their family, especially scripture-learning, and taught the people the good knowledge of God. Among all these great families we are glad to find some that were families of scribes. Would to God that all the Lord's people were prophets-all the families of Israel families of scribes, well instructed to the kingdom of heaven, and able to bring out of their treasury things new and old! |
