1 Chronicles 7:6

OF BENJAMIN. (Ch1 7:6-12)

The sons of Benjamin--Ten are named in Gen 46:21, but only five later (Ch1 8:1; Num 26:38). Perhaps five of them were distinguished as chiefs of illustrious families, but two having fallen in the bloody wars waged against Benjamin (Jdg 20:46), there remained only three branches of this tribe, and these only are enumerated.

Jediael--Or Asbel (Genesis 46. 21).

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

And the sons of Becher,.... Another son of Benjamin, Ch1 7:6,

Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth; the two last of these, according to Kimchi, gave names to two cities in Benjamin, built by them; Anathoth, the native place of Jeremiah the prophet, and Alameth, the same with Bahurim, Sa2 16:5.

all these are the sons of Becher; before named.

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

1Ch 7:6 [The sons] of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.

Ver. 6. The sons of Benjamin.] The genealogies of Dan and Zebulon are left out, for causes unknown; haply, because at their return out of Babylon their genealogies were not found. Dan is also - for their apostasy, likely, and idolatry - not reckoned among the rest that were sealed. {Rev 7:5-8} That Antichrist should be one of this tribe, is a fiction rightly exploded. We read of Hushim, {1Ch 7:12} the sons of Aher, which signifieth Another - and so some render it - by Another, understanding Dan, {compare Gen 46:23} whom the penman of this book held not worth the naming. The Hebrews, when they would show their detestation of any person or thing, they call it acher; a sow they call dabshar acher, that is, another thing; so leaven at the passover, &c. {a}

{a} Elias Thisbit.

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 7:6. The sons of Benjamin, three — They were ten, (Gen 46:21,) and five of them are named 1Ch 8:1, but here only three are mentioned, either because they were most eminent, or because the other families were now extinct.

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

And the sons of Becher,.... Another son of Benjamin, Ch1 7:6,

Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth; the two last of these, according to Kimchi, gave names to two cities in Benjamin, built by them; Anathoth, the native place of Jeremiah the prophet, and Alameth, the same with Bahurim, Sa2 16:5.

all these are the sons of Becher; before named.

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.)

Called also Ashbel, Gen. 46:21; Num. 26:38.

Which were the chief: for else there were seven in all as appeareth, Gen. 46:21.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 6. The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher and Jediael] In Ge 46:21, ten sons of Benjamin are reckoned; viz., Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Eri, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. In Nu 26:38, c., five sons only of Benjamin are mentioned, Bela, Ashbel, Ahiram, Shupham, and Hupham: and Ard and Naaman are there said to be the sons of Bela consequently grandsons of Benjamin. In the beginning of the following chapter, five sons of Benjamin are mentioned, viz., Bela, Ashbel, Aharah, Nohah, and Rapha; where also Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, a second Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram, are all represented as grandsons, not sons, of Benjamin: hence we see that in many cases grandsons are called sons, and both are often confounded in the genealogical tables. To attempt to reconcile such discrepancies would be a task as endless as it would be useless. The rabbins say that Ezra, who wrote this book, did not know whether some of these were sons or grandsons; and they intimate also that the tables from which he copied were often defective, and here we must leave all such matters.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) Becher with different vowels would mean firstborn; and the original reading in Genesis 46 may have been Bela bechoro—“Bela his firstborn,” as in 1Ch_8:1.

Jediael, friend of God, may be a substitute for Ashbel, i.e., Eshbaal, man of Bel or Baal. (Comp. 1Ch_3:8, Eliada for Beeliada.) Ashbel is the second son of Benjamin in Numbers 26 and 1 Chronicles 8, and the third (perhaps second) in Genesis 46

(6-11) The tribe of Benjamin.

(6) Benjamin.—Before this word bnê (sons of . . .) has been lost, because Benjamin in Hebrew begins with the same three letters. The present list of the sons of Benjamin may be compared with three others, that of Gen. xlvi 21, that of Num. xxvi 38-41, and that of the next 1chron 1Ch_7:1-5.

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

6–12 (cp. ch. 1Ch_8:1-40). The Genealogy of Benjamin

6. The sons of Benjamin] The Heb. word for the sons of being just like the beginning of the word Benjamin has fallen out through an error of transcription. The names of these are also given in 1Ch_8:1-5; Gen_46:21; Num_26:38-41. There are variations of reading and probably also variations of tradition in the different lists; e.g. here the sons of Benjamin are reckoned to be three in number, but in 1Ch_8:2 to be five.

Bela, and Becher, and Jediael] These three names come from Gen_46:21, Jediael (“Known to God”) being substituted for the heathen-sounding Ashbel (= Ishbaal, “Man of Baal”). The Chronicler in this case conforms literally to the principle laid down in Hos_2:17. (See note on Eshbaal, 1Ch_8:33.) In 1Ch_8:1 on the contrary the three names Bela, Ashbel, Aharah (= Ahiram) are taken from Num_26:38 without misgiving.

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.

Three - In Genesis, ten “sons” of Benjamin are mentioned; in Numbers, five (marginal references). Neither list, however, contains Jediael who was perhaps a later chieftain. If so, “son” as applied to him means only “descendant.”

It is conjectured that Becher has disappeared from the lists in 1 Chr. 8 and in Numbers, because he, or his heir, married an Ephraimite heiress, and that his house thus passed over in a certain sense into the tribe of Ephraim, in which the “Bachrites” are placed in Numbers Num 26:35. He retains, however, his place here, because, by right of blood, he really belonged to Benjamin.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Benjamin; a man, perhaps, of the tribe of Issachar. See ver. 10. Or the patriarch had originally ten sons, (Genesis xlvi. 21.) or grandsons, five of whom only had children, and perhaps two of their families perished entirely in the war with the other tribes; (Judges xx. 46.) so that, under David, only three branches were acknowledged. (Calmet) --- Jadihel, or Asbel in Genesis.

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).

There were ten, Gen 46:21, and five of them are named, 1Ch 8:1, but here only three are mentioned, either because these were most eminent for courage or fruitfulness, or because the other families were now extinct.

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

The sons of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three. We have four passages for our authorities as to the sons of Benjamin, and it is not altogether easy to bring them into verbal harmony. They are Gen_46:21; Num_26:38-41; the present passage; and ch. 8. Our present passage mentions three sons, as though they were all, and immediately proceeds to their posterity. The list in Genesis mentions ten, of whom, however, we know (Num_26:40; 1Ch_8:3, 1Ch_8:4) that three, Naaman, Ard, and Gem, were grandsons, being sons of Bela, under which circumstances the order in which the two former stand in Genesis is remarkable. Again, while Becher is given as the second son in both Genesis and our present place, he is not mentioned in Num_26:38-41 and in 1Ch_8:1. Ashbel, who in Genesis is given as the third, is expressly called the second son. Among the Ephraimites, however, (Num_26:35) a Becher, with his descendants the Bachrites, is mentioned, and it is not improbable that, by marriage, the family were at that time, for manifest reasons of inheritance and possession, reckoned in this tribe, though by blood of the tribe of Benjamin. This subject is skilfully discussed by Lord A. C. Hervey (Smith"s "Bible Dictionary," 1:175). Lastly, Jediael of this passage and ver. 10 is not found in Genesis, in Numbers, or in our ch. 8. This name seems to have superseded in our passage the name Ashbel in Genesis, though it is impossible to speak certainly. It cannot be supposed to designate the same person, but rather a descendant in the same branch, whose family had come to importance "in the days of David."

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

Three - They were ten, Gen. xlvi, 25, and five of them are named, chap. chap. viii, 1, but here only three are mentioned, either because these were most eminent; or because the other families are now extinct.

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

General Information:

All of the names here are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

22,034 fighting men

"twenty-two thousand and thirty-four" (See: Numbers)

fathers' houses

extended families, people related to each other who usually lived in different houses, what the UDB calls "clans"

translationWords

Benjamin

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael This is the one called Ashbel in the “Book of the Just.” (Gen. 46:21).

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.