1 Chronicles 5:7

And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) Tilgath - pilneser.—The Assyrian monarch known as Tiglath Pileser II. See 2Kings 15:29, for his deportation of the people of the northern and trans-Jordanic districts of Israel, in the reign of Pekah. Some MSS., with LXX. and Syriac, read Tiglath, which is more correct than Tilgath. Vat., LXX., ΘαγλαΦαλλασὰρ, Syr., Teglath-Palsar. The Assyrian name, of which these forms are transcripts, is Tu-kulti-pal-Esarra, “the servant of the son of Esarra.” (The “Son of Esarra” is a title of the god Ninip.) Tilgath-Pilneser (Vulg., Thelgath-Phalnasar) is the invariable spelling of Chronicles.

He was prince of the Reubenites.—Beerah was tribal prince of Reuben, and not merely chief of a Reubenite clan, as some will have it. The Hebrew construction is parallel to that of Numbers 7:24; Numbers 7:30 seq., with which comp. Numbers 7:18.

(7) And his brethren by their families.—“And his fellow-tribesmen, each after his clan (Numbers 2:34), in the registration after their pedigrees, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah.” Jeiel was the chief of the second Reubenite clan, as Beerah of the first. Zechariah and Bela were heads of the other chief houses. It appears that these four chieftains correspond to the four divisions of Reuben mentioned in 1Chronicles 5:3. Numbers 26:7 says expressly that “the Hanochite, the Palluite, the Hezronite, and the Carmite” were “the clans of the Reubenite.”

Benson Commentary

1 Chronicles 5:7-8. And his brethren — The other sons of Reuben, and their posterity. Were the chief — Hebrew, the head: each was the head of his family. Who dwelt in Aroer, even, &c. — Namely, the Reubenites, all those here before mentioned, as appears, both by the following verses, which relate to the whole tribe, and by the agreement of this description of their inheritance with that Joshua 13:15-16.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

5:1-26 Genealogies. - This chapter gives some account of the two tribes and a half seated on the east side of Jordan. They were made captives by the king of Assyria, because they had forsaken the Lord. Only two things are here recorded concerning these tribes. 1. They all shared in a victory. Happy is that people who live in harmony together, who assist each other against the common enemies of their souls, trusting in the Lord, and calling upon him. 2. They shared in captivity. They would have the best land, not considering that it lay most exposed. The desire of earthly objects draws to a distance from God's ordinances, and prepares men for destruction.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sons of Joel - The line of succession here given must be broken by one great gap or several smaller ones, since nine generations before Tiglath-pileser would carry us back no further than the reign of Rehoboam.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 5

1Ch 5:1-10. The Line of Reuben.

1. Now the sons of Reuben—In proceeding to give this genealogy, the sacred historian states, in a parenthesis (1Ch 5:1, 2), the reason why it was not placed first, as Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob. The birthright, which by a foul crime he had forfeited, implied not only dominion, but a double portion (De 21:17); and both of these were transferred to Joseph, whose two sons having been adopted as the children of Jacob (Ge 48:5), received each an allotted portion, as forming two distinct tribes in Israel. Joseph then was entitled to the precedency; and yet, as his posterity was not mentioned first, the sacred historian judged it necessary to explain that "the genealogy was not to be reckoned after the birthright," but with a reference to a superior honor and privilege that had been conferred on Judah—not the man, but the tribe, whereby it was invested with the pre-eminence over all the other tribes, and out of it was to spring David with his royal lineage, and especially the great Messiah (Heb 7:14). These were the two reasons why, in the order of enumeration, the genealogy of Judah is introduced before that of Reuben.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

His brethren, i.e. the other sons of Reuben, and their posterity.

The chief, Heb. the head; each was the head of his family.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And his brethren by their families,.... Either the brethren of Beerah, or the rest of the posterity of Reuben:

(when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned;) either in the times of Jotham and Jeroboam, 1 Chronicles 5:17 or at the time of their captivity, as in the preceding verse:

were the chief, Jehiel, and Zechariah; these were the principals or heads of their families.

Geneva Study Bible

And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

7. was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel] R.V. was reckoned; the chief; Jeiel.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 7, 8. - Of Jeiel, Zechariah, Bela, and Asaz nothing further is known. Shema and Joel may be those of ver. 4, as above. The expression, his brethren, i.e. the brethren of Beerah, must be read generally. The intimation, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, is probably explained by the contents of ver. 17 (of which hereafter). Aroer (עֲרֹעֵר or עְרועֵר); a place east of the Jordan, overhanging the torrent of Arnon, which was a boundary between Moab and the Amorites, and afterwards between Moab and Reuben. There is little doubt that Burckhardt has identified the ruins of Aroer (see Numbers 32:38; Deuteronomy 2:24, 36; Deuteronomy 3:8, 12, 16; Joshua 12:1, 2; Joshua 13:9, 16; Judges 11:13, 26, where note transposition of letters in the Hebrews 1; 2 Kings 10:33). Moab seems to have regained it later (Jeremiah 48:1-47; see interesting arts. "Amen" and "Areer," Smith's' Bible Dictionary'). Nebo and Baal-meon are also mentioned together in Numbers 32:38; and Baal-meon with Moab in Ezekiel 25:9. This Nebo, the town, is distinct from Mount Nebo. It is remarkable that it is not mentioned, unless under one of the "changed" names (Numbers 32:38), in the list of the towns of Reuben (Joshua 13:15-23). Nebo was the name of a heathen deity, known among the Chaldeans (Isaiah 46:1), Babylonians, and Assyrians; and this constituted one reason, if not the reason, for changing its name when it had been affixed to the Moabite city. 1 Chronicles 5:7

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And his brothers," (each) according to his families in the registration, according to their descent (properly their generations; vide for תּולדות on Genesis 2:4), are (were) the head (the first) Jeiel and Zechariah, and Bela, ... the son of Joel," probably the Joel already mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:4. "His (i.e., Beerah's) brothers" are the families related to the family of Beerah, which were descended from the brothers of Joel. That they were not, however, properly "brothers," is clear from the fact that Bela's descent is traced back to Joel as the third of the preceding members of his family; and the conclusion would be the same, even if this Joel be another than the one mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:4. The singular suffix with למשׁפּחתיו is to be taken distributively or אישׁ may be supplied before it in thought; cf. Numbers 2:34; Numbers 11:10. The word ראשׁ, "head," for the first-born, stands here before the name, as in 1 Chronicles 12:3; 1 Chronicles 23:8; elsewhere it stands after the name, e.g., 1 Chronicles 5:12 and 1 Chronicles 9:17. The dwelling-places of Bela and his family are then given in 1 Chronicles 5:8, 1 Chronicles 5:9. "He dwelt in Aroer," on the banks of the brook Arnon (Joshua 13:9; Joshua 12:2), now the ruin Araayr on the northern bank of the Mojeb (vide on Numbers 32:34). "Until Nebo and Baal-meon" westward. Nebo, a village on the hill of the same name in the mountains of Abarim, opposite Jericho (cf. on Numbers 32:38). Baal-meon is probably identical with the ruin Myun, three-quarters of an hour south-east from Heshbon.