46 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
46 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
|
+++
|
|||
|
|
title = "1 Chronicles 2:1–17"
|
|||
|
|
date = "2023-08-30"
|
|||
|
|
+++
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/1Chronicles2.1-17)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The genealogy continues with the sons of Israel. However the Chronicler's focus
|
|||
|
|
is the line of David, so only Judah's sons are listed afterwards. Let me just
|
|||
|
|
say, the Bible doesn't pull any punches when it talks about how bad people are,
|
|||
|
|
and the patriarchs aren't very good role models. Judah's most important sons in
|
|||
|
|
this record are actually by his daughter-in-law Tamar. She tricked him into it,
|
|||
|
|
but it worked because he thought she was a prostitute, which doesn't make him
|
|||
|
|
sound any better.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Of the two sons of Tamar, Perez and his son Hezron are part of David's line, so
|
|||
|
|
Zerah and his descendants are detailed first. The most famous of the Zerahites
|
|||
|
|
was Achan, who took things from Jericho that were supposed to be devoted to the
|
|||
|
|
Lord.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The sons of Hezron are given next, and this time David's ancestors come first.
|
|||
|
|
From here, we aren't given any names besides direct decendants from Ram all the
|
|||
|
|
way down to Jesse, the father of David. We also learn the names of David's
|
|||
|
|
brothers, when we only get three of them in 1 Samuel. But there's a problem.
|
|||
|
|
David is listed as the seventh son born to Jesse, but 1 Samuel mentions a few
|
|||
|
|
times that David was the youngest of _eight_ sons. This is especially strange
|
|||
|
|
because 1 Chronicles 27 mentions Elihu, David's brother, who isn't in this
|
|||
|
|
list. How do we reconcile this while maintaining the truthfulness and inerrancy
|
|||
|
|
of the inspired word of God? By splitting hairs and saying Elihu was Jesse's
|
|||
|
|
son but not begotten by him. In other words, Elihu was adopted. He was would
|
|||
|
|
have older than David, but maybe joined the family after David was born. When
|
|||
|
|
Samuel journeyed to Bethlehem to anoint a new king, Jesse brought out seven
|
|||
|
|
sons, including Elihu, but not David who was out tending the sheep.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
No one ever talks about David's sisters, but apparently he had two. I learned
|
|||
|
|
today that the commander of David's armies, Joab the son of Zeruiah, was thus
|
|||
|
|
David's nephew. That puts a new color on all of their interactions in 2 Samuel,
|
|||
|
|
particularly the incidents with Uriah and Absalom.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And you thought genealogies were boring.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
* * *
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Your goodness is so amazing that it can take our colossal screw-ups and make
|
|||
|
|
them work into Your plan.
|