Annotations upon the remaining historicall part of the Old Testament. The second part. to wit, the books of Joshua, Judges, the two books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, and the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther : wherein first, all such passages in the text are explained as were thought likely to be questioned by any reader of ordinary capacity : secondly, in many clauses those things are discovered which are needfull and usefull to be known ... and thirdly, many places that might at first seem to contradict one another are reconciled ... / by Arthur Jackson.

CHAP. VII.

Vers. 1. NOw the sonnes of Issachar were, Tola, and Puah, Jashub, &c.] This Puah and Jashub we called Phuvah and Job, Gen. 46.13. Having before set down the genealogies of Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachars is next here related, because Issachar was Jacobs next sonne by Leah.

Vers. 2. Whose number was in the dayes of David two and twenty thousand and six hundred.] To wit, when he appointed Joab to number the people, 2. Sam. 24.1.

Vers. 3. And the sonnes of Uzzi; Izrahiah: and the sonnes of Izrahiah; Mi∣chael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Ishiah, five.] That is, there were five descended of Uzzi, to wit, Izrahiah, and his foure sonnes.

Vers. 4. And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers were bands of souldiers, &c.] Hereby it is evident that there were six and thirty thousand men of the posterity of Uzzi alone; so that the two and twenty thousand six hundred, mentioned before vers. 2. was the number of the posterity of Tola by his other sonnes, Uzzi being excepted, whose posterity are here numbred by them∣selves, as being more then all the rest together.

Vers. 5. And their brethren among all the families of Issachar, were men of might, &c.] That is, all the children of Issachar together, were fourescore and seven thousand men of might when Joab numbred them.

Vers. 6. The sonnes of Benjamin; Bela, and Becher, and Jodiael, three.] Jedia∣el is called Ashbel, Gen. 46.21. Zebulun was the sixth sonne of Leah, born next af∣ter Issachar; but neither Zebuluns nor Dans genealogie is at all here mentioned; per∣haps because at the return of the people out of Babylon, (when it is thought that Ezra wrote this book) their genealogies were not found. Benjamins genealogy is therefore next inserted, who was the sonne of Rachel; yet here are but onely three of Benjamins ten sonnes mentioned, perhaps because the posterity of these onely were numbred, when Joab numbred the people, vers. 2.

Vers. 12. Shuppim also, and Huppim, &c.] That is, these also were of Benja∣mins posterity.

Vers. 13. The sonnes of Naphtali; Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, the sonnes of Bilhah.] That is, the grand-children; for Bilhah Rachels handmaid was the mother of Naphtali, whose sonnes these were.

Vers. 14. The sonnes of Manasseh; Ashriel whom she bare, &c.] There was an Ashriel that was the sonne or one of the posterity of Gilead, Numb. 26.30, 31. These are the sonnes of Gilead: of Jeezer, the family of the Jeezerites: of Helek, the family of the Helekites: And of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites: and of She∣chem, the family of the Shechemites: either therefore this was another Ashriel, the immediate sonne of Manasseh by his wife; whereas Machir was Manassehs sonne by his concubine the Aramitesse: or else Ashriel is here reckoned onely as one of the po∣sterity of Manasseh; whom she bare, that is, either the wife of Gilead, or the wife of Hepher, the mother of Zelophehad, and thence it follows, vers. 15. that Zelophehad (who was the sonne of Hepher, the sonne of Gilead, Num. 27.1.) was the second, that is, the second sonne of Hepher, the younger brother of Ashriel. And if we thus take Ashriel for one of the posterity of Gilead the sonne of Machir, then we must understand that the following words, But his concubine the Aramitesse bare Ma∣chir, &c. are onely added, to shew that this Ashriel, and the rest afterward menti∣oned, were not the posterity of Manasseh by his wife, but by his concubine the A∣ramitesse:

Vers. 17. These were the sonnes of Gilead, &c.] To wit, Ashriel and Zelo∣phehad above mentioned; but not Peresh, and Sheresh, and his posteritie the last here mentioned: for they were the sonnes of Machir by Maachah, and so the bre∣thren of Gilead.

Vers. 18. And his sister Hammoleketh bare Ishhad, &c.] That is, Gileads sister.

Vers. 19. And the sonnes of Shemida were Ahian, &c.] And Shemida was also the sonne (or of the stock) of Gilead: see Numb. 26.30, 32.

Vers. 21. Whom the men of Gath that were born in that land slew, &c.] Either this must be referred to all those before named, vers. 20. the sonnes of Ephraim; Shuthelah, and Bered his sonne, and Tahath his sonne, &c. to wit, as taking them all to be the severall sonnes of Ephraim; namely that Shuthelah, vers. 20. was the sonne of Ephraim, and so also Bered (who seems to be mentioned as the sonne of Shuthelah) was another sonne of Ephraim, and Tahath another, and so on forward:

who were all slain by the men of Gath, when the Israelites were in Egypt: or else (if this seems not so probable, because then Ephraim should have two sonnes called Shuthelah, and two called Tahath) then though those in the twentieth verse be taken as severall generations, to wit, that Shuthelah was the sonne of Ephraim, and Bered his grandchild, and Tahath his grandchild, and so forward, yet Zabad the first men∣tioned vers. 21. must be reckoned another sonne of Ephraim, and Shuthelah, and Ezer, and Elead his grandchildren, whom the men of Gath slew: or thirdly, if all those before mentioned be reckoned as severall succeeding generations, to wit, that Shuthelah the sonne of Ephraim begat Bered, and Bered Tahath, and Tahath Ela∣dah, and Eladah Tahath, and Tahath Zabad, and Zabad Shuthelah, and Ezer, and Elead, then the words (whom the men of Gath slew, &c.) must be referred onely to some of the former of these here mentioned: or fourthly, that which follows, vers. 22. And Ephraim their father mourned many dayes, and his brethren came to com∣fort him, must be meant of Zabad, who was called also Ephraim, perhaps onely because he was the head of that tribe; for it is not possible, that Ephraim should live to see these last here mentioned, if they be all taken as severall succeeding ge∣nerations, to wit, seven generations. However, though this which is said concern∣ing the cause why the men of Gath slew them; to wit, because they came down to take away their cattell, may be meant of the Philistines of Gath, that coming up∣on the Israelites dwelling then in Egypt, to take away their cattell, they slew these sonnes of Ephraim, that armed themselves to resist them; yet rather I think it is meant of the sonnes of Ephraim, to wit, that there being usually warre betwixt E∣gypt and the Philistines their neighbours (to which those places may have reference, Exod. 1.10. Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to passe, that when there fall out any warre, they joyn also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land, and 13.17. And it came to passe when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near: for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see warre, and they returne to Egypt.) the sonnes of Ephraim at a certain time armed themselves to make an inrode upon the land of the Philistines, and were slain by the men of Gath; for why is it said, the men of Gath that were born in that land, but to intimate, that they inhabited the land that was invaded by the sonnes of Ephraim? and of this slaughter of the Ephraimites, some un∣derstand that place, Psal. 78.9. The children of Ephraim being armed and carrying bowes, turned back in the day of battel.

Vers. 24. And his daughter was Sherah, who built Beth-horon the nether, and the upper, &c.] That is, Sherah famous in her time for building, that is, rebuilding, beautifying, and fortifying these cities, (for the upper and nether Beth-horon were cities in Canaan before the Israelites possessed them, Josh. 16.6.) she was also of the stock of Beriah: for had she been the immediate daughter of Beriah, the sonne of Ephraim, she could not have lived to enter the land of Canaan.

Vers. 26. Ammihud his sonne, Elishama his sonne.] Who was prince of the children of Ephraim at their going down out of Egypt. Numb. 7.48. On the se∣venth day, Elishama the sonne of Ammiud, prince of the children of Ephra∣im, offered.

Vers. 35. And the sonne of his brother, Helem.] That is, Helem was the sonne of Shomers brother, called before vers. 32. Hotham.

Vers. 38. And the sonnes of Jether, &c.] This Jether is called Ithran in the former verse, as most conceive.

Vers. 39. And the sonnes of Ulla, &c.] Who was happely another sonne of Jether, or else his grandchild the sonne of Ara before mentioned.

Vers. 40. And the number throughout the genealogie of them that were apt to the warre and to battel, was twenty and six thousand men.] To wit, happely when they were numbred in the dayes of David, as above vers. 2.