1 Chronicles 2:18

And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(18) And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife.—The Heb. text, as it stands, does not say this. The primâ facie rendering is, “And Caleb son of Hezron begat Azubah a woman, and Jerioth: and these (are) her sons; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.” But 1Chronicles 2:19 continues: “And Azubah died, and Caleb took to himself (as wife) Ephrath,” which of course suggests that Azubah was not daughter but a former wife of Caleb. 1Chronicles 2:18 has also been translated, “And Caleb son of Hezron caused Azubah a wife and Jerioth to bear children.” (Comp. Isaiah 66:9.) It seems best to read, “his wife, daughter of Jerioth (’ishtô -bath.Ierioth), instead of the text (ishshah ve’eth Ierioth); and to render: And Caleb son of Hezron begat sons with Azubah daughter of Jerioth” (eth, the particle before Azubah, is ambiguous, and might be either the mere sign of the accusative, or the prep. “with,” cum, μετὰ). The Syriac partly supports this version, for it reads: “And Caleb begat of Azubah, his wife, Jerioth,” making Jerioth Azubah’s daughter. The LXX. has, “And Caleb took Azubah a wife and Jerioth,” which only shows that the corruption of the text is ancient.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:1-55 Genealogies. - We are now come to the register of the children of Israel, that distinguished people, who were to dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations. But now, in Christ, all are welcome to his salvation who come to him; all have equal privileges according to their faith in him, their love and devotedness to him. All that is truly valuable consists in the favour, peace, and image of God, and a life spent to his glory, in promoting the welfare of our fellow-creatures.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In the remainder of this chapter the writer obtains scarcely any assistance from the earlier Scriptures, and must have drawn almost entirely from genealogical sources, accessible to him, which have since perished.

Azubah was Caleb's wife; Jerioth his concubine. He had children by both; but those of Azubah are alone recorded.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ch 2:18-55. Posterity of Caleb.

18. Caleb the son of Hezron—The notices concerning this person appear confused in our version. In 1Ch 2:19 he is said to be the father of Hur, whereas in 1Ch 2:50 he is called "the son of Hur." The words in this latter passage have been transposed in the copying, and should be read thus, "Hur the son of Caleb."

begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth—The former was his spouse, while Jerioth seems to have been a secondary wife, and the mother of the children whose names are here given. On the death of his principal wife, he married Ephrath, and by her had Hur [1Ch 2:19].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Not that Caleb, Numbers 13:6, for he was the son of Jephunneh, of whom he speaks, 1 Chronicles 4:15; but another Caleb.

Her sons, i.e. the sons, either,

1. Of Jerioth, she being last mentioned; or rather,

2. Of Azubah, who is by way of distinction called his wife, when Jerioth probably was only his concubine, and, as it may seem, barren; and therefore upon Azubah’s death he married another wife, 1 Chronicles 2:19. And those other sons of this Caleb, mentioned below, 1 Chronicles 2:42, are his sons by some other wife distinct from all these.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Caleb the son of Hezron,.... The same that is called Chelubai, 1 Chronicles 2:9 but not the same with Caleb the son of Jephunneh, made mention of in the books of Numbers, Joshua, and Judges:

he begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth; who were both his wives; or it may be rather, since Azubah is so particularly called his wife, Jerioth might be a concubine: or of Azubah he begat Jerioth; so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; though it seems best with Hillerus (p) to interpret these names of the same person, and render the last clause, "that is, of Jerioth", of her whose name also was Jerioth, Azubah having two names; and the rather, since only the children of one are mentioned, as follows:

her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon of whom we read nowhere else; the Targum says, Azubah was so called, because she was barren and despised, which this clause contradicts.

(p) Onomastic. Sacr. p. 568.

Geneva Study Bible

And {e} Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.

(e) Who was called Chelubai the son of Hezron, 1Ch 2:9.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

18. begat children of Azubah his wife and of Jerioth] So R.V., but the Heb. seems to be corrupt. Probably we should read, took Azubah the wife of Jerioth. LXX. gives no help.

18–20. The Genealogy of Bezaleel

It is quite in accordance with the mind of the Chronicler to single out the artificer of the Tabernacle (“Tent of Meeting”) and tell his family history (cp. Exodus 31:2 ff.).

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 18-20. - (C) Chelubai. The descendants of Caleb (Chelubai), placed third of Hezron's sons, are next dealt with; but the subject is almost immediately interrupted by resumed reference to Hezron (vers. 21-24), and by the table of Jemh-meel and his descendants (vers. 25-41); after which the table of Caleb, apparently the same Caleb, is carried on (vers. 42-49). Taking these broken portions, however, just as they come, we are immediately met by a series of uncertainties and surprises. Ver. 18 is obscure in that it says Caleb had children by Azubah (the Hebrew construction also unusual), a wife, or indeed strictly a woman (not even using the ordinary formula "his wife"), and by Jerioth, of whom nothing is said; and the verse adds obscurity by saying, her sons are these, without plainly indicating to which woman reference is made. It may be safely presumed, however, from what follows, that Azubah is intended, though no other part of Scripture helps us By so much as a mention of the sons' names to determine it certainly. Meantime one Hebrew manuscript and the Chaldee Paraphrase are found to omit the words "and by Jerioth." The Vulgate, and the Syriac and Arabic versions, make Jerioth one of the children - possibly a daughter - of Caleb and Azubah, and this view is supported by Kennicott and Houbigant (Barrington's 'Genealogies,' 1:210). The tone of ver. 19 may certainly he held to offer some countenance to the assumption that either Jerioth's name ought to appear as that of a child or not at all. The name Ephrath in this verse abounds with interest. The ancient name of the town of Bethlehem, and also apparently of a district round it, is the same word which is found here as the name of a woman. In either case it is more generally written אֶפְרָתָה, as even in the two other appearances of it in this very chapter. Two manuscripts, followed by two ancient editions, and apparently by the Vulgate, substitute aleph for the above final he. In Micah 5:1, Bethlehem is found united with Ephratah in one compound word. The mother Ephrath is here interesting for her descendants given, her son Hur, grandson Uri, and great-grandson Bezaleel. Further reference to these is made in ver. 50. 1 Chronicles 2:18

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The family of Caleb. - That כּלב is merely a shortened form of כּלוּבי, or a form of that word resulting from the friction of constant use, is so clear from the context, that all exegetes recognise it. We have first (1 Chronicles 2:18-20) a list of the descendants of Caleb by two wives, then descendants which the daughter of the Gileadite Machir bore to his father Hezron (1 Chronicles 2:21-23), and finally the sons whom Hezron's wife bore him after his death (1 Chronicles 2:24). The grouping of these descendants of Hezron with the family of Caleb can only be accounted for by supposing that they had, through circumstances unknown to us, come into a more intimate connection with the family of Caleb than with the families of his brothers Ram and Jerahmeel. In 1 Chronicles 2:42-55 follow some other lists of descendants of Caleb, which will be more fully considered when we come to these verses. The first half of the 18th verse is obscure, and the text is probably corrupt. As the words stand at present, we must translate, "Caleb the son of Hezron begat with Azubah, a woman, and with Jerioth, and these are her (the one wife's) sons, Jesher," etc. בּניה, filii ejus, suggests that only one wife of Caleb had been before mentioned; and, as appears from the "and Azubah died" of 1 Chronicles 2:19, Azubah is certainly meant. The construction את הוליד, "he begat with," is, it is true, unusual, but is analogous to חוליד מן, 1 Chronicles 8:9, and is explained by the fact that הוליד may mean to cause to bear, to bring to bearing; cf. Isaiah 66:9 : therefore properly it is, "he brought Azubah to bearing." The difficulty of the verse lies in the ואת־יריעות אשּׁה, for, according to the usual phraseology, we would have expected אשׁתּו instead of אשּׁה. But אשּׁה may be, under the circumstances, to some extent justified by the supposition that Azubah is called indefinitely "woman," because Caleb had several wives. ואת־וריעות gives no suitable meaning. The explanation of Kimchi, "with Azubah a woman, and with Jerioth," cannot be accepted, for only the sons of Azubah are hereafter mentioned; and the idea that the children of the other wives are not enumerated here because the list used by the chronicler was defective, is untenable: for after two wives had been named in the enumeration of the children of one of them, the mother must necessarily have been mentioned; and so, instead of בּניה, we should have had עזוּבה בּני. Hiller and J. H. Michaelis take ואת as explicative, "with Azubah a woman, viz., with Jerioth;" but this is manifestly only the product of exegetical embarrassment. The text is plainly at fault, and the easiest conjecture is to read, with the Peschito and the Vulgate, את אשׁתּו instead of ואת אשּׁה, "he begat with Azubah his wife, Jerioth (a daughter); and these are her sons." In that case אשּׁה would be added to עזוּבה, to guard against עזוּבה being taken for acc. obj. The names of the sons of Azubah, or of her daughter Jerioth, do not occur elsewhere.