Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The descendants of Judah and Simeon, and their victories and heroic deeds.
Vulgate Text: 1 Paralipomenon 4:1-43
1. The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 2. Reaiah the son of Shobal begot Jahath, from whom were born Ahumai and Lahad: these are the families of the Zorathites. 3. And this was the lineage of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. The name of their sister was Hazzelelponi. 4. Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Bethlehem. 5. Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. 6. Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These are the sons of Naarah. 7. The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan. 8. Koz begot Anub and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum. 9. Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying: 'Because I bore him in sorrow.' 10. Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying: 'If You will indeed bless me, and enlarge my territory, and if Your hand will be with me, and You will keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me!' And God granted what he prayed for. 11. Caleb the brother of Shuah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. 12. Eshton begot Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of the city of Nahash: these are the men of Recah. 13. The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai. 14. Meonothai begot Ophrah, and Seraiah begot Joab the father of the Valley of Craftsmen: for craftsmen were there. 15. The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The sons of Elah: Kenaz. 16. The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. 17. The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon; and she bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 18. His wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. These are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married. 19. The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham: the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite. 20. The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah the son of Hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. 21. The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of linen workers in the house of Ashbea. 22. And he who made the sun stand still, and the men of Falsehood, and Secure, and Burning, who were rulers in Moab, and who returned to Lehem: these however are ancient words. 23. These are the potters who dwelt in Plantations and in Hedges; they dwelt there with the king for his work. 24. The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul. 25. Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. 26. The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zacchur his son, Shimei his son. 27. Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters: but his brothers did not have many sons, and their entire family could not equal the number of the sons of Judah. 28. They dwelt in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, 29. in Bilhah, in Ezem, in Tolad, 30. in Bethuel, in Hormah, in Ziklag, 31. in Beth-marcaboth, in Hazar-susim, in Beth-birei, and in Shaaraim: these were their cities until the reign of David. 32. Their villages also: Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities. 33. And all their villages that were around these cities as far as Baal: this was their habitation and the distribution of their settlements. 34. Meshobab also, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah, 35. and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah son of Seraiah son of Asiel, 36. and Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, and Benaiah, 37. Ziza also the son of Shiphi son of Allon son of Jedaiah son of Shimri son of Shemaiah. 38. These mentioned by name were princes in their families, and their father's houses increased greatly. 39. They went to the entrance of Gedor, to the east of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. 40. They found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and fertile, for those who dwelt there formerly were of the stock of Ham. 41. These recorded by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and attacked their tents and the inhabitants who were found there, and devoted them to destruction, as it is to this day, and dwelt in their place, because they found rich pasture there. 42. Some of them, five hundred men of the sons of Simeon, went to Mount Seir, having as their leaders Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi: 43. and they destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and have dwelt there to this day.
Verse 1: The Sons of Judah
1. THE SONS OF JUDAH: PEREZ, HEZRON, AND CARMI, etc. — 'Sons' means descendants: for Judah begot Perez, Perez begot Hezron, Hezron begot Carmi, etc. 'Sons' here therefore means grandsons and great-grandsons, who descend in a long line from Judah. For the author's purpose in this book was to name men who were famous for virtue or for a large family, who descended from Judah or some other Patriarch.
Verse 4: Ephrathah, Father of Bethlehem
4. EPHRATHAH, FATHER OF BETHLEHEM. 'Father' means 'prince,' says Vatablus, for thus the servants of Naaman call him 'father,' 4 Kings V. Others however think Bethlehem is the name of the son of 'Ephrathah,' not of the city so called. For thus in chapter II, verse 54, 'Bethlehem' is called 'the son of Salma.'
Verse 5: Ashhur the Father of Tekoa
5. ASHHUR THE FATHER (that is, prince) OF TEKOA — says Vatablus. Others however think 'Ashhur' was properly the father of a son whose name was 'Tekoa.'
Verse 9: Jabez
9. SHE CALLED HIS NAME JABEZ, SAYING: BECAUSE I BORE HIM IN SORROW. — For 'Jabez' in Hebrew signifies sorrow. This Jabez seems to have been the son of Harum who preceded, brother of Aharhel, verse 8, and of Othniel, verse 13. It is a metathesis or transposition of letters; for 'Jabez' in Hebrew is Jaabes for Jaaseb: for עצב otseb is sorrow, as follows. So Pagninus. Thus for kebes, that is 'lamb,' one says keseb, that is, for כשב one says כבש.
Verse 14: The Valley of Craftsmen
14. SERAIAH BEGOT JOAB THE FATHER (that is, prince) OF THE VALLEY OF CRAFTSMEN. — 'For this reason,' says St. Jerome, 'he is called the father of the Valley of Craftsmen, because among his sons were architects for building the house of the Lord.'
Verse 21: In the House of the Oath
21. IN THE HOUSE OF THE OATH. — In Hebrew Esbaa is a proper name meaning 'oath'; whence the Septuagint translates, 'In the house of Aseba.' Our Translator in these ten chapters often does not retain the proper Hebrew names, but translates their meanings, because he thinks some mystery lies hidden in the meanings, or some allusion fitting to the thing or person.
Verse 22: He Who Made the Sun Stand Still
22. AND HE WHO MADE THE SUN STAND STILL, AND THE MEN OF FALSEHOOD, SECURE AND BURNING. — All these are proper names, whose meanings our Translator rendered in translation. The Septuagint, Pagninus, Vatablus, and others retain the Hebrew names as proper, and translate: 'Joakim also, and the men of Chozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who ruled in Moab.' For Joakim, or as it is in Hebrew, Jokim, means the same as 'he who made to stand,' namely the sun. Chozeba means 'falsehood'; Joash means 'secure'; Saraph means 'burning.'
Hear them as quoted by St. Jerome in the Traditions: 'He who made the sun stand still goes back to the line of Perez from whom David descended, judging it fitting to end the line of Judah, from which the royal tribe arose, with the history of David. For the Hebrews hand down that this was Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, the father of Mahlon and Chilion, in whose time the sun stood still.'
But it is clear that this is a fable of the Rabbis: first, because the passage deals with the descendants of Shelah, whereas 'Elimelech' was from the descendants of Perez. Therefore no miraculous halting of the sun is to be introduced here, beyond those narrated as occurring under Joshua, chapter X, and under Hezekiah, Isaiah XXXVIII. Wherefore this Jokim seems to have been a distinguished man who performed heroic deeds of valor, so that he appeared to be like a second Joshua who stopped the sun, and therefore, like Joshua, was called Jokim, that is 'Stopper of the sun'; even if in reality he did not stop the sun, as Joshua did. So today men are called Hercules, Samsons, Juliuses, Alexanders, to imitate those ancient heroes so named, even though they have not performed their heroic deeds.
AND WHO RETURNED TO LAHEM — that is 'to Bethlehem,' which by aphaeresis is called 'Lahem' or 'Lehem.'
THESE HOWEVER ARE ANCIENT WORDS — as if to say: These are the ancient names of ancient heroes. So Vatablus.
Verse 23: The Potters
23. THESE ARE THE POTTERS (some incorrectly read 'individuals') DWELLING IN PLANTATIONS AND IN HEDGES, WITH THE KING IN HIS WORKS. — Vatablus: 'These are those potters dwelling in Netaim and Gederah with the king in his work.' These are place names derived from gardens and hedges, as if to say: These are those famous potters who dwelt in Netaim and Gederah, that is among plants and hedges, namely who worked in the gardens near king David, to assist his royal works, and therefore were held in great esteem by him. So Vatablus, and likewise Pagninus.
Verse 40: Those of the Stock of Ham
40. IN WHICH THOSE OF THE STOCK OF HAM HAD FORMERLY DWELT — that is, the Canaanites; for they descended from Canaan the son of Ham the son of Noah. The meaning is, as if to say: The Simeonites, as the number of their tribe's children grew, since they dwelt in cramped quarters, especially in the midst of the tribe of Judah, which in the schism under Rehoboam took back its cities from the Simeonites; for this reason they attacked the neighboring Canaanites who had remained in the Holy Land after Joshua and could not be expelled by the Hebrews, and occupied their cities, fields, and pastures at the beginning of the reign of Hezekiah: but they enjoyed them for only a short time, for in the sixth year of Hezekiah they were carried captive with the remaining nine tribes to Assyria by Shalmaneser, 4 Kings XVII, 6, and chapter XVIII, verse 10.