Attributed commentary excerpt
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Chronicles 4:3
A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.
Commentary on the Old Testament
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · 19th-century historical commentary
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.
Ch1 4:3 and Ch1 4:4 contain notices of the descendants of Hur. The first words of the third verse, "these, father of Etam, Jezreel," have no meaning; but the last sentence of the second verse suggests that משׁפּחות should be supplied, when we read, "and these are the families of (from) Abi-Etam." The lxx and Vulgate have עיטם בני אלה, which is also to be found in several codices, while other codices read בני אלה אבי עיטם. Both readings are probably only conjectures. Whether עיטם אבי is to be taken as the name of a person, or appellatively, father = lord of Etam, cannot be decided. עיטם is in Ch1 4:32, and probably also in Jdg 15:8, Jdg 15:11, the name of a town of the Simeonites; and in Ch2 11:6, the name of a little town in the highlands of Judah, south of Jerusalem. If עיטם be the name of a place, only the lest named can be here meant. The names Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash denote persons as progenitors and head of families or branches of families. For יזרעאל as the name of a person, cf. Hos 1:4. That these names should be those of persons is required by the succeeding remark, "and their sister Hazelel-poni." The formation of this name, with the derivative termination i, seems to express a relationship of race; but the word may also be an adjective, and as such may be a proper name: cf. Ew. 273, e. Ch1 4:4 Penuel, in Gen 32:31., Jdg 8:8, name of a place in the East-Jordan land, as here, and in Jdg 8:25 the name of a man. Gedor is, we may suppose, the town of that name in the mountains of Judah, which is still to be found in the ruin Jedur (see on Jos 15:58). Penuel is here called father of Bedor, while in Ch1 4:18 one Jered is so called, whence we must conclude that the inhabitants of Gedor were descended from both. Ezer (Help) occurs in Ch1 7:21; Ch1 12:9; Neh 3:19, of other men; father of Hushah, i.e., according to the analogy of Abi-Gedor, also the name of a place not elsewhere mentioned, where the hero Sibbecai had his birth, Ch1 11:29; Sa2 23:27. Those thus named in Ch1 4:3 and Ch1 4:4 are sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephratah ( Ch1 2:19), the father of Bethlehem. The inhabitants of Bethlehem then, according to this, were descended from Hur through his son Salma, who is called in Ch1 2:51 father of Bethlehem. The circumstance, too, that in our Ch1 4:3, Ch1 4:4 other names of persons are enumerated as descendants of Hur than those given in Ch1 2:50-55 gives rise to no discrepancy, for there is no ground for the supposition that in Ch1 2:50-55 all the descendants of Hur have been mentioned. 1 Chronicles 4:5
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