ay, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

Chapter seven lists the descendants of Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Asher.  I assume the listing for Manasseh is intended to be for the half of the tribe which settled west of the Jordan River, since the half which settled east of the Jordan was listed previously.  I found it interesting that for some of these tribes it lists the number of fighting men which had been counted in a census, but not for all of them.  Additionally, it does not give us any idea when that number of fighting men from these various tribes was  obtained.  Once the list of tribal genealogies was finished the passage gives the family tree for Saul, both his ancestors and his descendants.  When it completes that it tells us that they were taken captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.  Then the passage gives us a list of the first to return from the Babylonian Exile, which gives us an idea about when this book was compiled.  While it is clear that this book was compiled after the Israelites began returning after the Persian conquest of Babylon, it also seems clear to me that it was compiled from various records which they brought back with them.  In fact, this part reads as if the reason for making this compilation was that the records they were sourcing were partial and they were putting the information from those partial records here because they were afraid that if they were not combined those records would be lost.  The writer references other records which he seems to believe were more complete than the records he was compiling here.  Records which have since been lost, supporting his fear that these records might be lost if he did not put them all together.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

This is one of those passages which I struggle with what to write every year.  As with last year the things I am going to write about are things which I would not even have noticed if I did not need something to write about.   I found it curious that, after writing about the sons of Benjamin, but before discussing the sons of Naphtali, the writer mentions that the Shuppites and Huppites were descendants of Ir, and the Hushites were descendants of Aher.  However, at no place does he tell us from whom Ir and Aher were descended.  From the placement, I assume that the Shuppites, Huppites, and Hushites were all descendants of Benjamin, but I do not know for sure.  The Shuppites and Huppites have additional significance in that Makir, a descendant of Manasseh married a woman from their number.

I also want to note that we again have a portion in this passage which tells us that this book was compiled by those who returned to the Land of Israel after the Babylonian Exile.  Many scholars hold that the entire Old Testament was compiled at around that time.  In fact, some people have concluded from the genealogies included here, and the way that they are presented, that the Old Testament was compiled from other sources in order to provide support for the idea that those who returned from Exile should rule the land.  I think those people are on to something when it comes to the motivation in compiling the books of Chronicles.  However, I think that the way in which the “Chronicler” made his bias in favor of those whose genealogies were “pure”, while most of the other Old Testament books lack that clear bias suggest other origins for those books.   I will also point out that while the “Chronicler” had his own agenda in compiling these two books, God had His purposes for them.  I believe that God made use of the “Chronicler’s” personal motives to accomplish His greater purpose.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

The genealogies continue today and once again I noticed a couple of things only because I had to find something to write about this passage.

Note: I am not saying that these things are only worth noticing because I need something to write, only that I would not have noticed them if I did not need something to write.

First, the passage mentions that two of Ephraim’s sons were killed when they raided livestock from Gath.  One might easily pass that by, after all Gath is more or less part of the Land of Canaan and most of Jacob’s sons and grandsons grew up near there.  However, Ephraim was born in Egypt and never lived in Canaan.  This is not an important thing, but it tells us that the Israelites raided into Canaan after Jacob’s family moved to Egypt.  Second, I noticed that the writer tells us that complete genealogies were kept in the records of the kings of Israel and Judah.   Or, at least, that is how I read chapter 9 verse 1.  At some point I may look into whether Hebrew scholars agree with my understanding of what is written here.  The other thing I noticed was that after listing genealogies for all of the tribes, the writer writes about those who first resettled in the land after the Exile.  This tells us that the Books of Chronicles were compiled after the Israelites returned from Exile.  I know some people who conclude from this that ALL of the Old Testament was compiled after the Exile.  However, that does not follow and we have portions of the Torah from before the Exile.  The fragile nature of paper and parchment makes it somewhat surprising we have even that.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 7-9.

Today’s passage is more genealogies and a large part of why I am writing this blog.  If I was not writing this blog, this passage would be where my “reading the Bible in a year” would come to an end, if it hadn’t yesterday.  However, there are some useful names mentioned here which are mentioned elsewhere.  While I do not get much out of reading this passage, there is value in cross referencing to here from the other passages where these people are mentioned.  We also get a little bit more of an understanding about the early days in Egypt from this passage.  It mentions that two of Ephraim’s sons were killed when they went on a cattle raid against men born in Gath.  The other relevant thing which we learn from this passage is that this book was compiled after the return from Exile from other sources, sources which were still available for some time after this book was compiled.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.