1 Chronicles 3:21

1Ch 3:21 And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah.

Ver. 21. And the sons of Hananiah.] It is thought that these were the families of the blood royal, after the captivity. And some do here hence gather, that these Books of Chronicles were last written of all the Old Testament: by the Hebrews they are placed last.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ch 3:21-22. The sons of Shechaniah — All these, both parents and their sons blended together, are mentioned as the sons of Hananiah, and branches of the royal stock. Six — Including the father. But the Hebrew word, shisha, which is rendered six, may be the proper name of one of the sons of Shemaiah. As the family of David was the most considerable of any of the tribe of Judah, the genealogy of his descendants was preserved with great care and exactness; and is here recorded in part, to assist us in tracing the descent of our Lord Jesus Christ from him, that we might have that proof, among others, of his being the true Messiah.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:21 The sons of Hananiah . . . Shecaniah (literally The son of Hananiah [was] Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shecaniah): In Hebrew, all the names are listed as “the sons” of Hananiah, all in one generation. However, many ancient manuscripts and translations support viewing the list as covering several generations (as in the NLT) by translating “sons of” (Hebrew beney, four times) as “son of” (Hebrew beno). The resulting genealogy extends several generations from the time of Zerubbabel and his son Hananiah.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(21) And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah.—Heb., son; but some MSS. and all the versions read sons. Pelatiah means Iah is deliverance. Jesaiah is the same name as Isaiah, meaning Iah is salvation.

The sons of Rephaiah.—The ancient versions represent here an important various reading. The LXX. have rendered the whole verse thus: “And sons of Anania; Phalettia, and Jesias his son, Raphal his son, Orna his son, Abdia his son (Sechenias his son.)” The Syriac reads: “Sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Ushaiah. Arphaia his son, Arnun his son, Ubia his son—viz., Ushaia’s; and his son, viz., Shechaniah’s Shemaiah,” &c. The difference between “sons” and “his son” in Hebrew writing is simply that between y and w. (See Note on 1 Chronicles 1)

This various reading presents a form of genealogy like that which prevails in 1Ch_3:10-16, and occurs also in 1Ch_3:17, at the beginning of the present section. But it is probable that this reading is really an ancient correction of the Hebrew text, which, as it stands, appears to leave undefined the relation between Hananiah and the four families mentioned in this verse. The truth, however, would seem to be that the expression “the sons of Hananiah” includes not only Pelatiah and Jesaiah, but also the four families named after Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, and Shechaniah (comp. 1Ch_2:42, and Note). The four founders of these families were perhaps brothers of Pelatiah and Jesaiah, though not necessarily so; for these families may have been subdivisions of those of Pelatiah and Jesaiah.

Rephaiah.—Iah healeth (Isa_30:26; Exo_15:26). See Note on 1Ch_3:20.

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

21. and Jesaiah … Shechaniah] The LXX. reads (with some blunders hi reproducing the names), “and Jesaiah his son, Rephaiah his son, Arnan his son, Obadiah his son, Shechaniah his son,” thus adding five steps to the genealogy. The difference of reading in the Heb. text thus suggested is very slight. Probably the LXX. is to be followed.

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.

Son. Hebrew, "sons of Hananias, Phaltias, and Jesacias, the sons of Raphias, the sons of Arnan,...(22) the sons of Sechenias, Semeia, &c." But the Septuagint and Syriac have read in a more intelligible manner, (Calmet) intimating that these people were lineally descended from each other, (Haydock) while the Hebrew leaves us ignorant of the names of the sons of Rephaias, &c. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

All these men, both parents and their sons here blended together, are mentioned as the sons of Hananiah, and branches of the royal stock.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Hebrew text, followed by the Vulgate, not followed by the Septuagint, reads here jynnh Yet some manuscripts have the plural "sons," from which comes our Authorized Version. The indication is important. It is doubly interesting, as the only indication in our Hebrew text that tends to give confirmation to the very noteworthy differences of the Septuagint Version. For although this last, apparently somewhat perversely, begins its version with "sons," which plural does not so well suit its sequel, instead of the "son" of our Hebrew text, which would suit it, yet it proceeds with a translation which must have been obtained from another text, such text again suiting properly the singular of our Hebrew. The form of its translation is analogous to that marked in the words of vers. 10-14. "The sons sic son of Ananiah, Pelatiah, and Jesaiah his son, Rephaiah his son, Arnan his son, Obadiah his son, Shechaniah his son," making six (presumably) consecutive generations. This, therefore, is the reading which (if correct) might carry down the genealogy to the times of Alexander the Great, and indeed to a time a quarter of a century later. And in doing so, it would certify this entry as of later date than probably any other of the canon! If we reject this position and reading, we have to get over the term, repeated several times, the sons of. To do this, Bertheau suggests that the intention of our passage was, from the name Rephaiah inclusive, not to mention the individual four brothers" names, but to mention them as four distinguished families among the posterity of David an attempt at explanation certainly not satisfactory. The conclusion of the matter is, that in this twenty-first verse we have difficulties in either alternative, not satisfactorily explained. Either we have the names in all of six brothers, being sons of Hananiah the last four of whom are styled, not by their individual names, but as heads of families; or we have six lineal descendants from Hananiah. If this last supposition were correct, calculate a royal succession at the lowest average (say something under twenty years), and the genealogy, including what follows in the remaining verses of the chapter, will bring us, as above, to a date that covers the whole life of Alexander the Great.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Shechaniah - All these both parents and their sons blended together, are mentioned as the sons of Hananiah, and branches of the royal stock.

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