1 Chronicles 2:35

Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife--The adoption and marriage of a foreign slave in the family where he is serving, is far from being a rare or extraordinary occurrence in Eastern countries. It is thought, however, by some to have been a connection not sanctioned by the law of Moses [MICHAELIS]. But this is not a well-founded objection, as the history of the Jews furnishes not a few examples of foreign proselytes in the same manner obtaining an inheritance in Israel; and doubtless Jarha had previously embraced the Jewish faith in place of the grovelling idolatries of his native Egypt. In such a case, therefore, there could be no legal difficulty. Being a foreign slave, he had no inheritance in a different tribe to injure by this connection; while his marriage with Sheshan's daughter led to his adoption into the tribe of Judah, as well as his becoming heir of the family property.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(35-41) The line of Sheshan-Jarha is pursued for thirteen generations of direct descent, but nothing is known of any of its members from any other source. Elishama, the last name (1Ch_2:41), is the twenty-fourth generation specified from Judah. The list thus extends over a period of at least 720 years; and if we reckon from the Exodus (circ. 1330 B.C.), we get B.C. 610 as an approximate date for Elishama. Now an Elishama was living about that time, who is mentioned (Jer_36:12) as one of the princes of Jehoiakim, king of Judah; Jer_41:1 perhaps mentions the same person again, calling him “of the seed of the kingdom.” It is at least a coincidence that several of the names recur in the house of David: Nathan (1Ch_2:36) in 1Ch_3:5; Obed, as David’s grandfather in 1Ch_2:12; Azariah, as a byname of King Uzziah, in 1Ch_3:12; Shallum, as a son of Josiah, in 1Ch_3:15; Jekamiah, as a brother of Salathiel (Shealtiel), in 1Ch_3:18; and Elishama, as a son of David, in 1Ch_3:8—a coincidence of six out of thirteen names. The passage Deut. Xxiii. 7, 8 rules that in the third generation persons of Egyptian blood are to be treated as full Israelites. This whole section proves that an Egyptian element was recognised in Judah. (Compare Exo_12:38; Num_11:4.) Even the name Jarha has an Egyptian cast (comp. larô, the Memphitic name of the Nile, with the Vulg. spelling of the word Jeraa); perhaps it is Iar-aa, great river, (i.e., the Nile).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir, an action not unknown in the East. Thus Abraham at first (Gen_15:2-3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. Cp. note on 1Ch_2:31.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Maachah, Caleb's concubine,.... Another concubine of his:

bare Sheber, and Tirhanah; or of whom Caleb begot those two; for the verb is masculine; so Kimchi.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jarha - Probably he was not only a proselyte, but an eminent man: else an Israelite would not have given him his only daughter.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Maachah, Caleb's concubine,.... Another concubine of his:

bare Sheber, and Tirhanah; or of whom Caleb begot those two; for the verb is masculine; so Kimchi.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his slave for a wife From here they derived that if your daughter has matured, free your slave and give him to her (Pes. 113a), and from here the Sages derived in the Palestinian Talmud, Tractate Yebamoth (source unknown): “Do not trust a proselyte until fifteen generations, and fifteen generations are from Ittai the Egyptian until Ishmael, and some say sixteen generations, including Jarha.” The midrash states the following: “Is it possible that he was of the royal descent (מִזֶּרַע הַמְלוּכָה) [as in Jeremiah 41:1]? Now was not Ishmael of the seed of Jerahmeel and not from Ram? But rather it means that he passed his seed to the molech.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.