1 Chronicles 2:25

And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(25) Ram the firstborn.—Not the same as the Ram, brother of Jerahmeel, of 1Chronicles 2:9. (See Note at end of section.)

And Ahijah.—This is probably a mistake, as the conjunction is wanting in the Hebrew. The LXX. has, “his brother” the Hebrew for which might easily be misread Ahijah. So the Syriac and Arabic read, “and Ozem their sister.” But the statement of 1Chronicles 2:26, “Jerahmeel had also another wife,” &c., makes it likely that the first wife was mentioned here; and, therefore, it is conjectured that Ahijah—usually a man’s name—is the former wife; and that the right reading is “from Ahijah,” which requires merely the restoration of the prefix m (me-Ahiyah), which has fallen out, as in other instances, after the m of Ozem immediately preceding.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:1-55 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And Ahijah - There is no "and" in the original. Hence, some would read: "the sons" were born "of" or "from Ahijah," the first wife of Jerahmeel (see the next verse).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24. Caleb-ephratah—so called from uniting the names of husband and wife (1Ch 2:19), and supposed to be the same as was afterwards called Beth-lehem-ephratah.

Ashur, the father of Tekoa—(2Sa 14:2-4). He is called the father, either from his being the first founder, or perhaps the ruler, of the city.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Or, of (the prefix, mere being oft understood)

Ahijah; his wife so called, as may seem probable from the next verse, where he mentions another wife.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron, were Ram the firstborn,.... So called by his father after the name of his brother, see 1 Chronicles 2:9.

and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah; or "of Ahijah", as some (r) render it, this being the name of his wife, who bare him the sons before named, since mention is made of another wife in the next verse.

(r) Junius, Tremellius, Piscator, Michaelis.

Geneva Study Bible

And the sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were, Ram the firstborn, and Bunah, and Oren, and Ozem, and Ahijah.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

25–41. The Genealogy of the Jerahmeelites

25. the sons of Jerahmeel] Their settlements were in the S. of Judah; cp. 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29.

Ozem, and Ahijah] By a slight change in the Heb. we get Ozem his brother (so LXX.); cp. 1 Chronicles 26:20 for a similar confusion of reading.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 25-41. - We reach here the second interruption in the account of Caleb's posterity. (A) Jerahmeel, though the eldest Hezronite son, has as yet been passed by in favour of Ram and in favour of Caleb, so far as regards part of his descendants. Jerahmeel himself is mentioned nowhere else, but his people collectively are (1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29). On the other hand, this place alone supplies the lists of names, and we have not the aid of any collation. Ver. 25 purports in the Authorized Version to give five sons of Jerahmeel by his first wife, of name not given. The absence of the conjunction "and," however, in the Hebrew text before the last name, Ahijah, suggests that this may be the name of the first wife the presence of which seems greatly required by the contents of the next verse. Some particle being required, Le Clerc, accepting the suggestion of Junins and Tremellius, proposes to supply מֵאֵת, and Bertheau the same preposition, but in a simpler form, prefixed to the name Ahijah (see Barrington's 'Genealogies,' 1:180). 1 Chronicles 2:25

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The family of Jerahmeel, the first-born of Hezron, which inhabited a part of the Negeb of Judah called after him the south of the Jerahmeelites (1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29).

1 Chronicles 2:25

Four sons were born to Jerahmeel by his first wife. Five names indeed follow; but as the last, אחיּה, although met with elsewhere as a man's name, is not ranged with the others by ו copul., as those that precede are with each other, it appears to be the name of a woman, and probably a מ has fallen out after the immediately preceding ם. So Cler., J. H. Mich., Berth. This conjecture gains in probability from the mention in 1 Chronicles 2:26 of another wife, whence we might expect that in 1 Chronicles 2:25 the first wife would be named.