Reading this list it seems to me that it exists, at least in part, in order to provide a baseline to which those who returned from Exile to connect the genealogical records which they had to those Israelites who lived in the land before the Exile. It starts off by pointing out that Reuben forfeited his rights as firstborn and that those rights were passed on to Joseph. In making that point it also says that this change impacted both of their descendants. The other thing which struck me is that it makes a point of identifying from among the towns given to the Levites which ones were cities of Refuge, where someone guilty of accidentally killing another man could go to avoid the revenge of the dead man’s family. The command to create Cities of Refuge is one of those which it is unclear from reading elsewhere if it was followed. The fact that those who compiled the books of Chronicles knew which cities were Cities of Refuge indicates that it most certainly was followed. It is also one of those things which acts as a counterpoint to those who claim that the Israelites were not a people distinct from the Canaanites.
I am not really sure what to write about the genealogies listed here. I have a few thoughts. It appears that the lists of descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh listed here were those living in Gilead (east of the Jordan River) when Jeroboam II was king of Israel, the Northern Kingdom. On the other hand, the descendants of Levi listed appear to include an actual genealogy. As I understand this passage, it was included by those who compiled it in order to provide a way to identify where those returning from Exile fit in the nation of Israel which the Returned Exiles were trying to build.
And today we have another passage of genealogies. The writer makes a point that Reuben lost his rights of first born because he slept with one of Jacob’s wives. Interestingly, the writer thought it important to point out that even though Judah was the strongest of Reuben’s brothers and that the ruler came from the tribe of Judah, it was Joseph who received the rights of first born after Reuben lost them. Was this included to explain how the Kingdom of Israel divided? Or, does it serve some other purpose? I find it interesting that the writer listed the places to which the Assyrians exiled the tribes who had lived east of the Jordan River. After writing about the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, the writer goes on to outline the genealogy of the tribe of Levi. The writer goes on to write about those who King David assigned musical duties around the Ark of the Covenant after he brought it to Jerusalem. All of these genealogies had great significance to those who returned to Jerusalem and the land of Israel after the Exile.
Once again I am unsure what to make of this passage. So, I will just comment on the random thoughts I had while reading it. In the list of Reuben’s descendants it lists four sons of Reuben, then it lists out descendants of Joel. But it never tells us who Joel’s father was. A little later the passage tells us that “All these were entered in the genealogical records during the reigns of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel.” What is not clear is if that refers to the names listed, or to the paragraph which follows about the 44,000+ men ready for military service (or both). Further on it lists the descendants of Levi. It gives two separate lists of those descendants. A first glance suggests that the first list followed one line of descent while the second list follows another. Without doing a detailed look carefully comparing the two lists, they do not seem to contain any conflicts.
It is unclear to me why the genealogical records here for the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh are so sparse relative to those for Judah previously and Levi later in today’s passage. Perhaps the reason is that few, if any of their descendants had returned to the land of Israel in the post-Exilic period. However, it is clear that the writer was familiar with communities of them living in the areas where they had been taken into exile. This suggests to me that the post-Exile residents of the land of Israel interacted with and traded with those who remained settled elsewhere.
In both the genealogies of the tribes which had settled east of the Jordan and the more detailed one of the Levites the compiler gives a rather detailed account of where they had lived within the the Kingdom of Israel. The writer probably included this to establish a claim to the lands being described, or perhaps a better wording would be to establish the lands which he felt his people should aspire to regain control over.
Today’s passage gives an example of why it is useful to read and re-read passages with which we think we are familiar. I do not believe that I have ever noticed before today what this passage says about the tribes of Reuben, Judah, and the two tribes of Joseph. Even though Reuben was Jacob’s firstborn son, the rulers of Israel did not come from his tribe, and his tribe did not have the largest territory. The writer here tells us that this was the case because Reuben had slept with his father’s concubine (something mentioned in Genesis 35:22). Now, in Jacob’s farewell address to his sons we read that Jacob had prophesied/declared that Reuben had lost his position as first because of his act and that a descendant of Judah would rule over the people of Israel. However, this is the first and only place to suggest that the reason Manasseh and Ephraim (Joseph’s two sons) were both counted as tribes was because Joseph received the double share of the inheritance which had been Reuben’s as firstborn son. I never really thought about the fact that Joseph got a double portion of inheritance from Jacob before today. Nor did I think about the fact that by the standards of the day that double portion should have gone to Reuben. I am unsure what significance there is in that it happened, but going forward it will influence my thinking as I read.
There are a couple of points out of the rest of this passage which I want to highlight. I do not currently know if these points have any significance, but think they are things to note as I read the rest of the Bible. The tribes who settled east of the Jordan River functioned as a third political division of the people of Israel. There was the Southern portion, which became the Kingdom of Judah. There was the Northern portion, which became the Kingdom of Israel after the Kingdom divided. Finally there was the portion east of the Jordan. This portion was where Abner set up Saul’s son Ishbosheth as king after Saul’s death. It was where King David fled from and based his resistance to Absalom’s revolt. Then here in today’s passage we get a hint that the Israelites east of the Jordan went into exile some time before the fall of Samaria. This is also mentioned in 2 Kings at one point. Another point of minor significance is that it says here that only descendants of Aaron served as priests, yet in the books previous to this there are numerous mentions of others who served as priests from time to time and place to place. There are two possible ways to reconcile this. The first is that only Aaron’s descendants were supposed to function as priests. The second is that only Aaron’s descendants served as priests at the official altar of God. Again, this will be something I will need to keep in mid as I read the rest of the Bible to see how it colors the meaning of other passages.
We don’t typically think about the tribes which lived east of the Jordan River when we think about ancient Israel. Yet, they played significant roles in the history we have. Saul established his kingship over all of Israel by coming to the defense of a city on the east side of the Jordan River. David fled to the east side of the Jordan River and made his stand against Absalom from there. I think there are several other important mentions of them as well, but I cannot think of them at the moment. In today’s passage we learn that they gained control over the land they lived in because they put their trust in God, but they eventually went into exile because they were unfaithful to God. If we put our trust in God, He will provide us with success (by His measure of success). But if we do not remain faithful to Him, He will bring trouble upon us.
Today’s passage continues with genealogies. It starts with abbreviated genealogies of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. The passage references some pre-Exile genealogical records, suggesting that those were the source for the genealogies of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh recorded here. We are told that these tribes were mighty warriors who won great victories when they called on God, but after their victory their descendants were unfaithful to God, which led to them being taken into exile by the Assyrians.
The next part is a partial genealogy of the Levites, including the priests descended from Aaron. It lists the descendants of Aaron up to the Exile and some of the Levites up to the reign of David. I am not sure what to make of this account. The only thing which comes through is that the Levites were distributed throughout the other tribes of Israel. The intention being, at least in part, for the Levites to provide religious training and leadership to the rest of the children of Israel. There is an implied subtext that those of the tribe of Levi who would otherwise train for war to defend the Tribe can instead train in God’s laws in order to teach the rest how to obey God properly.
Today’s passage is more genealogies and land grants. However, wedged in there while talking about the tribes east of the Jordan is an important lesson. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were successful in their early conquests because they cried out to God and trusted Him. However, they were later taken into exile because they were unfaithful to God. After they conquered the land and became wealthy they began to worship the gods of the peoples whom God had destroyed to make room for them. This is an important lesson for us. God will be with us if we trust Him and call on Him. However, disaster will find us if we do not remain faithful to Him. I would like to point out that this disaster is not God punishing us for our unfaithfulness (more on God’s punishment in a moment). The disaster which follows our being unfaithful to God is the natural consequence of our actions. God will mete out punishment for our unfaithfulness in an effort to discipline us and turn us from our sin before those sins bring disaster. God loves us and tries to show us the consequences of our sins while there is yet time to turn from those sins.
