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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Kelly Major Works Commentary - 1 Chronicles 5:1 - 5:26
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1 Chronicles Chapter 5 - Chapter 9
Then in 1 Chronicles 5 comes Reuben; for, having had before us the purpose of God, we are not taken back merely to the line of nature. Reuben falls into the second place. "Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's." v. 2. This is given as a kind of parenthetical explanation of why Judah is first among the tribes, and Reuben sinks into a secondary place. Reuben, however, is now pursued; and in 1 Chronicles 6, come the sons of Levi after the half tribe of Manasseh too had been introduced in the verses before. We can understand why the sons of Levi are thus brought forward. Further, we have Issachar and Benjamin all brought before us in this section - Benjamin not merely in the 1 Chronicles 7, but also in 1 Chronicles 8, answering a little to Judah. Thus we have a repetition. The reason is plain. Benjamin and Judah are repeated because they were each connected with royalty - Benjamin with Saul - Judah with David - and as Judah is mentioned first in relation to David, and next to the people, so Benjamin is first brought in in relation to the people, and then in relation to Saul. This is why we have Benjamin again in the 8th chapter. We have the connection with the king, but the king after the flesh. Then there is another reason why Benjamin is brought in, and that is that he had a particular connection with Jerusalem; and we shall find that this is also a grand point in the Chronicles. It is not merely the land, but Jerusalem and Zion, as I hope to show later, all being connected immediately with the purpose of God.