1 Chronicles 2
At the beginning of this chapter, the names of the sons of Jacob, called Israel, are mentioned — not in order — with the aim, I think, of presenting them to us as being all, without distinction, objects of God's purposes in grace. Thus we find first of all Leah's children, then Rachel's children mentioned between Dan and Naphtali, the sons of Bilhah, and lastly Gad and Asher, the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid.
What we observe here gives opportunity to mention something that seems not yet to have drawn our attention.
Jacob's sons and the twelve tribes are enumerated, if I am not mistaken, twenty-two times in Scripture, and each time in a different order. It would take more space than is available to us to examine the reasons for this in detail. Besides here in verses 1 and 2 of our chapter, we find this enumeration three more times in 1 Chronicles.
Let us return to the subject of our chapter:
In Chronicles the accuracy of genealogies depends in large measure on the importance the Jews placed upon them during their captivity, and the disorder they reveal corresponds to the state of the Remnant as we find them in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. Quite a number among the people and among the priesthood could not prove their genealogy. Though lacking heads, they could nonetheless be recognized by the names of their families, groups, and cities, which in this way became in essence a "moral person," recognized as the stem of their ancestry (cf. Ezra 1 and here 1 Chron. 2:50,54-55; 4:4). In addition, the great disorder that came in explains, at least in part, why very distant descendants of the head of a clan were considered as his sons. (See for example, Shobal, the great-grandson of one of Judah's grandsons (cf. 1 Chron. 2:50; 4:1). This same disorder also explains why we see a family head, whose name had not been previously mentioned, suddenly appearing and counted as the head of a clan (1 Chron. 1:8:33).
Caleb's genealogy offers a striking example of this disorder and of how fragmentarily the genealogical registers were preserved. Caleb (who is not without purpose, I think, called Chelubai in 1 Chron. 2:9) is the son of Hezron and the great-grandson of Judah. We find his genealogy in 1 Chron. 2:18-20, and the descendants of his two wives, Azubah and Ephrath. In 1 Chron. 2:42-49 we again find descendants of this same Caleb by his concubines. He is called the brother of Jerahmeel (the son of Hezron, 1 Chron. 2:9). But at the very end of this enumeration we are suddenly brought into the presence of Achsah the daughter, as we know, of Caleb the son of Jephunneh (Josh. 15:16). In 1 Chron. 2:50-55, for the third time in this chapter, we meet the descendants of Caleb, the son of Hezron, through Hur, the first-born of Ephratah, a part of whose genealogy has already been given us in 1 Chron. 2:20.
Finally, in 1 Chron. 4:13-15 we find the descendants of Caleb the son of Jephunneh and of his brother Kenaz. But here now, in this portion, this genealogy is truncated.
Must we conclude from all this that the text of Chronicles is a human and capricious compilation and that thus the historical value of this book is nil? This is what the rationalists assert, but thank God, their reason is always at fault when it attacks His Word. No enlightened Christian will deny that the genealogies of Chronicles are composed of fragments gathered up in the midst of general confusion, yet documents upon which God sets His seal of approval. So it is true that a number of passages in these genealogies are of very ancient origin, not mentioned in the other books of the Old Testament.
Caleb's fragmentary genealogy, which we have cited above, is very instructive in this regard. We know from a number of Scripture passages (Num. 13:6;14:30, 38; 32:12; 34:19; Deut. 1:36: Josh. 14:13) what favor Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, won from God by his perseverance, moral courage, faithfulness, and zeal to conquer a portion in the land of Canaan. The Lord's approval was upon him, whereas Caleb, the son of Hezron and of Judah, despite his numerous descendants, is not mentioned as the object of God's special favor. But if the fragmentary genealogies of Caleb the son of Judah are proof of the existing disorder, God puts these together fragments for a special purpose, and we find a deeper thought in them. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, is the one whom God has particularly in view, as the Word teaches us; he is the one whom He introduces in so extraordinary a way into the genealogy of the son of Hezron (1 Chron. 2:49). It is in view of him that this genealogy is inscribed next to that of David, as forming part of the tribe of Judah, from whence the royal race comes. But what connection does Caleb the son of Jephunneh, whose daughter was Achsah, have with Caleb the son of Hezron? Here we find a most interesting fact which has perhaps not been given sufficient attention. Caleb the son of Jephunneh was not originally of the people of Judah. In Num. 32:12 and Josh. 14:6, 14 he is called Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. Likewise, Caleb's younger brother Othniel, to whom Caleb gave his daughter Achsah as wife, is called "the son of Kenaz" (Josh. 15:17; Judg. 1:13; 3:9, 11). Now in Gen. 36:11 we learn that Kenaz is an Edomite name. Hence the conclusion that at some point of time the family of Kenaz, and therefore the family of Caleb the son of Jephunneh, was incorporated into the tribes of Israel just as so many other foreigners, such as Jethro, Rahab, and Ruth, who in virtue of their faith became members of the people of God. This explains a characteristic phrase in Josh. 15:13: "And to Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a portion among the children of Judah according to the commandment of Jehovah to Joshua... that is, Hebron." And in Josh. 14:14: "Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed Jehovah the God of Israel."
Thus Caleb, who by his origin really had no right of citizenship in Israel, received this right amidst Judah by virtue of his faith and was incorporated into the family of Caleb the son of Hezron, as it appears in 1 Chron. 2:49 and in the passages already cited in Joshua. The fragments preserved of the genealogy of Caleb the son of Hezron confirm the place that God assigned to Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and this substitution is one of the important points the Spirit of God calls our attention to here.
To summarize, the name of Caleb is highlighted in this chapter. With this name is associated the thought of "virtue," that is, of moral energy which in view of a goal to be attained enables the believer to surmount obstacles, separating him from every weight and the sin which so easily entangles him. 2 Peter 1:5 says, "In your faith have also virtue." Caleb is an example in this.
With this name are associated characters of the same caliber as the son of Jephunneh: Othniel, Achsah (1 Chron. 4:13; 2:49); Hur (1 Chron. 2:19, 50; 4:1, 4); Jair (although this latter later lost everything that his energy had at first acquired, 1 Chron. 2:22-23); the house of Rechab (1 Chron. 2:55).
Other members of the family of Caleb the son of Hezron, while witnessing grace accorded to faith, are at the same time unfruitful, which is the result of ruin. Consider for example Seled, Jether, and Sheshan who died without sons (1 Chron. 2:30,32,34).
Unfruitfulness especially characterizes the line of Jerahmeel. Although he was Hezron's eldest son (1 Chron. 2:9), he is once again in last place here (1 Chron. 2:25), and this fact agrees with what we have seen of the character of Chronicles in 1 Chron. 1. The features of the natural man are just as transmissible as the features of a man of faith like Caleb, only these latter are so by grace. David's line does not descend from Jerahmeel, but from Ram, his younger brother (1 Chron. 2:9-16).