1 Chronicles 4:21

“The sons of Shelah, the son of Judah, were, etc.] The genealogy of the posterity of Judah, in the lines of Pharez and Zerah, being given, and very largely in that of the former, because of the honour of David, and his kingdom, which sprang from thence, as Jarchi observes, and also the King Messiah, the writer returns to give an account of his posterity by Shelah, a son he had by the daughter of Shuah, (<013802>Genesis 38:2-5) and the only one that had children: which were as follow, Er the father of Lecah: prince of a city of this name in the tribe of Judah; Shelah gave him the name of Er, in memory of his brother, (<013803>Genesis 38:3), and Laadah the father of Mareshah; prince of a city…”

“POSTERITY OF SHELAH. (Ch1 4:21-23) Laadah . . . the father . . . of the house of them that wrought fine linen--Here, again, is another incidental evidence that in very early times certain trades were followed by particular families among the Hebrews, apparently in hereditary succession. Their knowledge of the art of linen manufacture had been, most probably, acquired in Egypt, where the duty of bringing up families to the occupations of their forefathers was a compulsory obligation, whereas in Israel, as in many parts of Asia to this day, it was optional, though common.”

“Shelah - Having treated of the posterity of Judah by Pharez, and by Zara, he now comes to his progeny by Shelah. 1 Chronicles 4:22”

“4:21-23 Now that Judah’s descendants through his wife Tamar have been recorded (2:4–4:20), the descendants of Shelah, Judah’s third son through Bathshua, are listed (see 2:3; Gen 38:2, 5).”

“Shelah: Ch1 2:3, Ch1 9:5; Gen 38:5, Gen 46:12; Num 26:20; Neh 11:5, Shiloni 1 Chronicles 4:23”

“Descendants of Shelah, the third son of Judah, Ch1 2:3, and Gen 38:5. \- All the families of Judah enumerated in vv. 2-20 are connected together by the conjunction ו, and so are grouped as descendants of the sons and grandsons of Judah named in Ch1 4:1. The conjunction is omitted, however, before שׁלה בּני, as also before יהוּדה בּני in Ch1 4:3, to show that the descendants of Shelah form a second line of descendants of Judah, co-ordinate with the sons of Judah enumerated in vv. 1-19, concerning whom only a little obscure but not unimportant information has been preserved. Those mentioned as sons are Er (which also was the name of the first-born of Judah, Ch1 2:3.), father of Lecah, and…”