Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Chronicles 5:1 - 5:10

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Chronicles 5:1 - 5:10


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The Posterity of Reuben

v. 1. Now, the sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel, (for he was the first-born; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, in the matter of Bilha, his father's secondary wife, Gen_35:22; Gen_49:4, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, Gen_48:15-22; and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright;

v. 2. for Judah prevailed above his brethren,
being made the bearer of the Messianic promise, Gen_49:8-10, and of him came the chief ruler, the prince, or king, David, the reference at this point having Messianic significance; but the birthright, with its double portion, Deu_21:23, was Joseph's;)

v. 3. the sons, I say, Reuben, the first-born of Israel,
who was placed after Judah for the reason just mentioned, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

v. 4. The sons of Joel,
the head of one line of Reubenites: Shemaiah, his son; Gog, his son; Shimei, his son;

v. 5. Micah, his son; Reaia, his son; Baal, his, son;

v. 6. Beerah, his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, carried away captive; he was prince of the Reubenites,
not of the whole tribe, but a very influential man among their families.

v. 7. And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned,
entered in the registers of the tribe, were the chief, the first or head of the family, Jeiel, and Zechariah.

v. 8. And Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema
(or Shemaiah), the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, on the east side of Jordan, even unto Nebo, on the range of the same name, over against Jericho, and Baal-meon, farther to the east;

v. 9. and eastward he,
the tribe of Reuben, inhabited unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, where the wilderness begins which extends from the Euphrates to the eastern border of Perea, because their cattle were multiplied in the land of Gilead, wherefore they were continually obliged to seek larger ranges for pasture.

v. 10. And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites,
the Bedouin descendants of Hagar, who fell by their hand; and they dwelt in their tents, more strongly in a nomadic or pastoral form of life than the other tribes, throughout all the east land of Gilead. The Reubenites, in consequence of God's punishment, never obtained a position of prominence in the nation, but remained isolated in the east country.