More families of Judah — and among the looms of names one man is stopped for: 'And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren'; his mother named him for her pain, and he calls on the God of Israel — 'Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border... And God granted him that which he requested.' The craftsmen get their valley, and 'the potters, and those who dwelt among plantations and hedges' dwell there 'occupied in the king’s work.' Then Simeon: cities held 'to the reign of David'; the search for pasture at Gedor, where 'they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable'; and the five hundred who went to Mount Seir and 'smote the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and dwelt there to this day.'
Tap any Hebrew word to reveal its root, value, and meanings.
The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.
verse value 1656
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 30 letters. Verse gematria: 1656 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "sons·of" (בְּנֵ֖י, 3 letters) and the longest is "Judah" (יְהוּדָ֑ה, 5 letters). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "Judah" (root יהודה, 20x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Judah', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 5 words. Full calculation: בְּנֵ֖י [sons·of] (62) + יְהוּדָ֑ה [Judah] (30) + פֶּ֧רֶץ [Perez] (370) + חֶצְר֛וֹן [Hezron] (354) + וְכַרְמִ֖י [and·Carmi] (276) + וְח֥וּר [and·Hur] (220) + וְשׁוֹבָֽל [and·Shobal] (344) = 1656.
Ralbag
The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal — Each name that precedes in this verse is the father of the one that follows it.
Metzudat David
'The sons of Judah,' etc. — Scripture comes to complete the genealogy of the sons of Judah, and briefly mentions again some of his sons and grandsons: Perez son of Judah; Hezron his son; Carmi son of Zimri son of Zerah son of Judah; Hur son of Caleb son of Hezron; and Shobal son of Caleb son of Hur.
Malbim
'The sons of Judah' — this verse is difficult, as is apparent. It appears that, having already returned here a second time to the genealogy of the sons of Judah, drawing on what he found in a different scroll to complete the genealogy, [the author] set down these names merely as markers, cross-references, for what he is about to discuss here. For he is about to reckon further the genealogy of the sons of Hezron through Ashhur (verse 5); for this he marks 'Perez, Hezron.' He will not discuss the sons of Zerah any further, and for this he marks 'Carmi,' which is the end point of Zerah's genealogy — meaning, nothing more is to be added to it. He will also discuss the genealogy of Hur (verses 3-4); for this he marks 'Hur.' He will also discuss the genealogy of Shobal son of Caleb, and so he says 'Shobal' — expounding first Shobal, then Hur, then Hezron. But the truth is that the author of the book copied from a book of genealogies, and wherever he did not wish to elaborate, he marked only a single name and skipped the rest. And when he came, a second time, to speak of the genealogy of the sons of Judah — which he had already copied from the book of genealogies back in chapter 2 — he marked 'The sons of Judah' (which is the beginning of verse 3 of chapter 2), as if to say 'the sons of Judah,' etc.; 'Perez,' as stated in verses 4-5, '[the sons of] Perez: Hezron,' etc., down through 'Carmi,' etc. (verse 7); down through 'Hur' (meaning, 'and she bore him Hur,' verse 19), etc., down through 'Shobal,' meaning, 'these were the sons of Caleb son of Hur: Shobal,' etc. (verse 50) — and this is a marker pointing back to the earlier section. And after every name one must supply the word 'etc.,' as I have written above (2:8) and throughout the entire book.
And Reaiah the son of Shobal begot Jahath; and Jahath begot Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites.
verse value 4510
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 56 letters. Notable word values: "these" (אֵ֖לֶּה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "these" (אֵ֖לֶּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "Ahumai" (אֶת־אֲחוּמַ֖י, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 49: begot, begot. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Reaiah" (וּרְאָיָ֤ה), "son·of·Shobal" (בֶן־שׁוֹבָל֙), "Jahath" (אֶת־יַ֔חַת). The root ילד appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "son·of·Shobal" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "begot" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "these" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root יחת ("Jahath") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Lahad', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וּרְאָיָ֤ה [and·Reaiah] (222) + בֶן־שׁוֹבָל֙ [son·of·Shobal] (390) + הֹלִ֣יד [begot] (49) + אֶת־יַ֔חַת [Jahath] (819) + וְיַ֣חַת [and·Jahath] (424) + הֹלִ֔יד [begot] (49) + אֶת־אֲחוּמַ֖י [Ahumai] (466) + וְאֶת־לָ֑הַד [and·Lahad] (446) + אֵ֖לֶּה [these] (36) + מִשְׁפְּח֥וֹת [families·of] (834) + הַצָּֽרְעָתִֽי [the·Zorathites] (775) = 4510.
Rashi
And Reaiah This is the manner in which this genealogy [is written]; although Reaiah, [and his father] were not enumerated above, [he is mentioned here] because the Chronicler reckons [only] certain generations. Likewise, (vs. 7f.): “And the sons of Helah: Zereth, and Zohar, and Ethnan. And Koz begot...” Although he did not yet mention Koz, he mentions his sons.
Ralbag
These are the families of the Zorathites — He already mentioned above as well that from Shobal came the families of the Zorathites.
Metzudat David
'And Reaiah' — this is the Haroeh mentioned above. 'These are the families of the Zorathites' — the ones mentioned above as descending from the sons of Shobal.
Malbim
'And Reaiah the son of Shobal' — this is 'the Haroeh, son of Shobal' mentioned there (verse 52), of whom it is said that from him came the families of the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. Here he explains how the families of the Zorathites came from him, and so he concludes, 'these are the families of the Zorathites,' who descended from Ahumai and Lahad.
And these were the sons of the father of Etam: Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash; and the name of their sister was Hazlelponi;
verse value 2283
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 43 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "Hazlelponi" (הַצְלֶלְפּֽוֹנִי, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Jezreel" (יִזְרְעֶ֥אל), "and·Ishma" (וְיִשְׁמָ֖א), "and·Idbash" (וְיִדְבָּ֑שׁ). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles); "and·these" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles); "and·name·of" (root שם, 67x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Idbash', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ [and·these] (42) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + עֵיטָ֔ם [Etam] (129) + יִזְרְעֶ֥אל [Jezreel] (318) + וְיִשְׁמָ֖א [and·Ishma] (357) + וְיִדְבָּ֑שׁ [and·Idbash] (322) + וְשֵׁ֥ם [and·name·of] (346) + אֲחוֹתָ֖ם [their·sister] (455) + הַצְלֶלְפּֽוֹנִי [Hazlelponi] (301) = 2283.
Ralbag
And these were the sons of the father of Etam — It appears from what follows that Etam was the son of Hur, and therefore it says afterward, ‘These are the sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephrath’ — meaning, Hur, who was the son of Ephrath, and who was the father of Beth-lehem, for he was the father of Salma, who was the father of Beth-lehem, as stated previously.
Metzudat David
'And these' — this refers forward to the verse that follows, as though it said, 'these are the sons of Hur,' etc.; meaning: besides the sons of Hur mentioned above, these too were his sons — the father of Etam, Jezreel, etc.
Malbim
'And these' — this is the name of a man: Elah, who was the father of Etam. He too was born from Reaiah son of Shobal, and likewise Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash were all born of the same mother. They had a distinguished sister named Hazlelponi. According to the tradition of our sages, she was the mother of Samson — which is why Bemidbar Rabbah (parashah 10) says that Samson came from the tribe of Dan and from the tribe of Judah. And in light of what was said above (2:54), in the name of Radak, that Zorah and Eshtaol lay within the territory of Judah, one can understand why the spirit of Hashem first began to move Samson in the camp of Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol: for there lived his mother's brothers, who were of Judah, descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim — the very place where the camp of Dan was then encamped — and Manoah, who was of the tribe of Dan, took a wife from there at that time, while they were encamped in that place. Likewise, Penuel the father of Gedor, and so on, were all sons of Reaiah, traced back to Hur, the head of the genealogical line, since Reaiah was the son of Shobal, son of Caleb, son of Hur. It can also be explained that from verse 3, [the word 'these'] extends to what follows — 'Elah,' 'and Jezreel,' and so on, and 'Penuel,' and so on, are [all] sons of Hur through his other sons — and it calls Hur 'the father of Bethlehem,' since Salma, the actual father of Bethlehem, was the son of Hur's son Caleb; so the whole line is traced back to him.
and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur the first-born of Ephrath, the father of Beth-lehem.
verse value 2737
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Penuel" (וּפְנוּאֵל֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 13: father·of, father·of, father·of. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Hushah" (חוּשָׁ֑ה), "sons·of·Hur" (בְנֵי־חוּר֙). The root אב appears 3 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons·of·Hur" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "Beth-" (root בית, 115x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root גדר ("Gedor") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root עזר ("and·Ezer") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hushah', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 7 words. Full calculation: וּפְנוּאֵל֙ [and·Penuel] (173) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + גְדֹ֔ר [Gedor] (207) + וְעֵ֖זֶר [and·Ezer] (283) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + חוּשָׁ֑ה [Hushah] (319) + אֵ֤לֶּה [these] (36) + בְנֵי־חוּר֙ [sons·of·Hur] (276) + בְּכ֣וֹר [firstborn·of] (228) + אֶפְרָ֔תָה [Ephrath] (686) + אֲבִ֖י [father·of] (13) + בֵּ֥ית [Beth-] (412) + לָֽחֶם [lehem] (78) = 2737.
Metzudat David
'The father of Beth-lehem' — it was actually Salma, the son of his son Caleb [that is, his grandson], who was 'the father of Beth-lehem'; yet Scripture calls Hur by this same title, as if to say 'the father of the father of Beth-lehem' — for a grandfather is treated like a father.
And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
verse value 2646
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 33 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). Verse gematria: 2646 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·to·Ashhur" (וּלְאַשְׁחוּר֙, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·to·Ashhur" (וּלְאַשְׁחוּר֙), "two" (שְׁתֵּ֣י), "and·Naarah" (וְנַעֲרָֽה). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "were" (root היה, 104x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles); "two" (root שנים, 45x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root נערה ("and·Naarah") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'wives', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: וּלְאַשְׁחוּר֙ [and·to·Ashhur] (551) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + תְק֔וֹעַ [Tekoa] (576) + הָי֖וּ [were] (21) + שְׁתֵּ֣י [two] (710) + נָשִׁ֑ים [wives] (400) + חֶלְאָ֖ה [Helah] (44) + וְנַעֲרָֽה [and·Naarah] (331) = 2646.
Rashi
And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives This refers back [to 2:24]: “... and the wife of Hezron was Abijah, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa,” for he did not trace his lineage until now.
Ralbag
And Ashhur the father of Tekoa — He already mentioned him previously, and now comes to tell of his offspring.
Metzudat David
'And Ashhur' — this is the one mentioned above, who was the son of Hezron.
Malbim
'And Ashhur' — after finishing the rest of the genealogy of Caleb son of Hezron, [establishing] that Reaiah son of Shobal descended from him, the text returns to Ashhur, whom Hezron's wife Abijah bore after Hezron's death, and whom Caleb and his wife Ephrath raised, as [stated] above (2:24). There the text did not relate his [further] genealogy; it relates it here.
And Naarah bore him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Timeni, and Ahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.
verse value 4624
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 50 letters. Notable word values: "to·him" (ל֤וֹ) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 4624 = 68². The shortest word is "to·him" (ל֤וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·Ahashtari" (וְאֶת־הָאֲחַשְׁתָּרִ֑י, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 325: Naarah, Naarah. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Ahuzam" (אֶת־אֲחֻזָּ֣ם), "and·Hepher" (וְאֶת־חֵ֔פֶר), "and·Timeni" (וְאֶת־תֵּֽימְנִ֖י). The root נערה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "and·she·bore" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "these" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Ahashtari', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַתֵּ֨לֶד [and·she·bore] (440) + ל֤וֹ [to·him] (36) + נַֽעֲרָה֙ [Naarah] (325) + אֶת־אֲחֻזָּ֣ם [Ahuzam] (457) + וְאֶת־חֵ֔פֶר [and·Hepher] (695) + וְאֶת־תֵּֽימְנִ֖י [and·Timeni] (917) + וְאֶת־הָאֲחַשְׁתָּרִ֑י [and·Ahashtari] (1331) + אֵ֖לֶּה [these] (36) + בְּנֵ֥י [sons·of] (62) + נַעֲרָֽה [Naarah] (325) = 4624.
And the sons of Helah were Zereth, and Zohar, and Ethnan.
verse value 1921
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 24 letters. The shortest word is "Zereth" (צֶ֥רֶת, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Ethnan" (וְאֶתְנָֽן, 5 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Zereth" (צֶ֥רֶת), "and·Zohar" (וְצֹ֖חַר), "and·Ethnan" (וְאֶתְנָֽן). 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Helah', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 4 words.
And Koz begot Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
verse value 2681
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 40 letters. The shortest word is "and·Koz" (וְק֣וֹץ, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·Zobebah" (וְאֶת־הַצֹּבֵבָ֑ה, 8 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Koz" (וְק֣וֹץ), "Anub" (אֶת־עָנ֖וּב), "and·Zobebah" (וְאֶת־הַצֹּבֵבָ֑ה). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "son·of·Harum" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "begot" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Zobebah', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְק֣וֹץ [and·Koz] (202) + הוֹלִ֔יד [begot] (55) + אֶת־עָנ֖וּב [Anub] (529) + וְאֶת־הַצֹּבֵבָ֑ה [and·Zobebah] (511) + וּמִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת [and·families·of] (834) + אֲחַרְחֵ֖ל [Aharhel] (247) + בֶּן־הָרֽוּם [son·of·Harum] (303) = 2681.
Ralbag
And Koz begot Anub — It appears that the intent here is that she also had a son named Koz, who begot Anub and Zobebah, and from him came the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
Metzudat David
'And Koz' — perhaps he is one of those mentioned above, called by two names; and the same may be said of many others like him found in this book, who are not identified earlier as to who they were or from whom they descended.
Malbim
'And Koz' — the sense is: 'And the sons of Helah were Zereth,' and so on, 'and Koz' — who begot Anub; so Koz too was a son of Helah, and likewise the families of Aharhel descended from Helah. See also what is stated below (8:31), for there too [a name introduced by] 'and' connects with both what precedes it and what follows it.
And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying: ‘Because I bore him with pain.’
verse value 2140
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "because" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "from·his·brothers" (מֵאֶחָ֑יו, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 172: Jabez, Jabez. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "from·his·brothers" (מֵאֶחָ֑יו), "and·his·mother" (וְאִמּ֗וֹ), "called" (קָרְאָ֨ה). The root יעבץ appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "I·bore" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "and·he·was" (root היה, 104x in I Chronicles); "from·his·brothers" (root אח, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root כבד ("honored") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root קרא ("called") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·his·brothers', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 8 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֣י [and·he·was] (31) + יַעְבֵּ֔ץ [Jabez] (172) + נִכְבָּ֖ד [honored] (76) + מֵאֶחָ֑יו [from·his·brothers] (65) + וְאִמּ֗וֹ [and·his·mother] (53) + קָרְאָ֨ה [called] (306) + שְׁמ֤וֹ [his·name] (346) + יַעְבֵּץ֙ [Jabez] (172) + לֵאמֹ֔ר [to·say] (271) + כִּ֥י [because] (30) + יָלַ֖דְתִּי [I·bore] (454) + בְּעֹֽצֶב [in·pain] (164) = 2140.
Rashi
and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “For I bore him in sadness” and she nicknamed him Jabez. A similar instance is Ben Oni. [Other editions read (Gen. 35:18): “... but his father called him Benjamin.”]
Ralbag
And Jabez was more honorable than his brethren — It appears that Helah named one of her sons Jabez, because she bore him in pain.
Metzudat David
'And Jabez was' — he too is not identified earlier as to who he was. 'I bore him with pain' — when she bore him she experienced a certain hardship, and as a remembrance she named her son Jabez — the letters of the Hebrew word for 'pain' (etzev) rearranged — as if to say that the pain would be turned into joy.
Malbim
'And Jabez was' — among this family was Jabez, who was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother named him Jabez because she bore him in pain. One might say that she died in childbirth, just as Rachel named [her son] Ben-oni.
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying: ‘Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would work deliverance from evil, that it may not pain me!’ And God granted him that which he requested.
verse value 7060
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 93 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "your·hand" (יָדְךָ֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "my·border" (אֶת־גְּבוּלִי֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 172: Jabez, to·pain·me. 10 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "to·the·God·of" (לֵאלֹהֵ֨י), "if·indeed" (אִם־בָּרֵ֨ךְ), "you·will·bless·me" (תְּבָרְכֵ֜נִי). The root אלהים appears 2 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·the·God·of" (root אלהים, 117x in I Chronicles); "and·it·will·be" (root היה, 104x in I Chronicles); "Israel" (root ישראל, 94x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root אלהים ("to·the·God·of") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root ברך ("if·indeed") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·pain·me', dividing the verse into phrases of 16 and 4 words.
Rashi
and increase my border with territories. and Your hand is with me that You save me from harm if You will be with me and save me from harm. so as not to grieve me that no injury, pain, or sadness befall me, and he vowed whatever he vowed. and God fulfilled that which he had requested and he paid his vow. From here proof is brought that when people subscribe to a charity (in public) for a certain cause, they should not vow but give without a vow. Its midrashic interpretation is well known.
Ralbag
And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying — It appears that Jabez was a prince of the tribe, or was one of the judges; that is why it says ‘and enlarge my border,’ for it would make no sense for Hashem to enlarge the border of a mere private individual in this way. It appears that this took place during a war, and that he vowed something to Hashem, blessed be He, if He would do this for him — though the text does not spell this out here. And the sense of it is: if You truly bless me in this war and enlarge my border, so that I conquer my enemies, and Your hand is with me in this, in such a way that You bring it about that I not be pained by evil — that no trouble at all befall me and my people in this war.
Metzudat David
'And enlarge my border' — that my inheritance be increased. 'Your hand might be with me' — to help me in time of need. 'And work deliverance from evil' — meaning: turn to good the very hardship on account of which my mother grieved when she bore me, so that it not pain me — just as his mother implied in naming him Jabez. It appears there was some vow involved here, an 'if so, then...,' though Scripture does not specify what he vowed; it is as if he said, 'when this comes to pass, I will repay in kind, and walk in Hashem's ways' — similar to 'whoever smites the Jebusites,' etc. (II Samuel 5), where too Scripture does not specify what would be done for him, which is as if to say, he would receive some reward.
Malbim
'And Jabez called' — since he was born under an unfavorable sign, he prayed to nullify the decree of the constellations through the blessing of Hashem, that it not bring further sorrow with it; this is why he said, 'if You would indeed bless me.' He also included in his prayer that if God would bless him in this way, He would enlarge his border in wisdom, for that was the boundary set for him — as our sages said (Temurah 16a), that 'enlarge my border' means with students. He further said that if 'Your hand would be with me,' helping him in the service of Hashem, then 'work deliverance from evil, that it may not pain me' — meaning that then all the affairs of the world would appear equal in his eyes, and out of the evil of the world He would act for him so that it would not cause him sorrow, for he would accept everything with joy and rejoice over evil just as over good, in the manner of 'this too is for the good' — the way of the perfect, those under Hashem's providence, for whom evil is turned into good. 'And God granted him that which he requested' — because he was under Hashem's providence. This also includes the sense that he himself brought about, for God, what had been asked of him: he enlarged the border of Hashem's kingdom by spreading Torah among the multitudes, and all the affairs of the world were equal in his eyes, evil and good alike, just as he had asked.
And Chelub the brother of Shuhah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton.
verse value 1898
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 34 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֥י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). Verse gematria: 1898 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "he" (ה֖וּא, 3 letters) and the longest is "brother·of·Shuhah" (אֲחִי־שׁוּחָ֖ה, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Chelub" (וּכְל֥וּב), "brother·of·Shuhah" (אֲחִי־שׁוּחָ֖ה), "Mehir" (אֶת־מְחִ֑יר). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "begot" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles); "he" (root הוא, 50x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Mehir', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וּכְל֥וּב [and·Chelub] (64) + אֲחִי־שׁוּחָ֖ה [brother·of·Shuhah] (338) + הוֹלִ֣יד [begot] (55) + אֶת־מְחִ֑יר [Mehir] (659) + ה֖וּא [he] (12) + אֲבִ֥י [father·of] (13) + אֶשְׁתּֽוֹן [Eshton] (757) = 1898.
Rashi
And Celub, the brother of Shuhah He briefly enumerates families, although he did not mention him above; similarly (v. 13): “and the sons of Kenaz,” although he did not mention him above; and similarly (verse 14): “And Meonothai,” was not mentioned, for so is the manner of this Book.
Ralbag
And Chelub the brother of Shuhah — It appears that he is the son of Ezer, the father of Hushah (above, verse 4), and that Hushah and Shuhah are one and the same.
Metzudat David
'And Chelub the brother of Shuhah' — neither of these two is identified earlier either; perhaps they were mentioned earlier under a single other name they also bore, or it is simply the way of this book to mention people and their descendants without having identified earlier from whom they came or who their father was.
Malbim
'And Chelub' — from among the sons of Ashhur came Chelub the brother of Shuhah, who begot Mehir. It has already been explained that Ezra copied his material from the great book of genealogies, and did not copy everything, only the notable matters, leaving the rest out. In that book of genealogies the unfolding of the generations was recorded at length, down to Shuhah and his brother Chelub; there the genealogy of Shuhah was written out, and after it, 'And Chelub the brother of Shuhah,' and so on. Ezra skipped over all of them, since they were not distinguished individuals, and began with Chelub.
And Eshton begot Beth-rapha, and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.
verse value 4610
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 51 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "rapha" (רָפָא֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Tehinnah" (וְאֶת־תְּחִנָּ֖ה, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Eshton" (וְאֶשְׁתּ֗וֹן), "rapha" (רָפָא֙), "and·Paseah" (וְאֶת־פָּסֵ֔חַ). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "begot" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "Beth-" (root בית, 115x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root רפא ("rapha") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root איש ("men·of") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'nahash', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאֶשְׁתּ֗וֹן [and·Eshton] (763) + הוֹלִ֞יד [begot] (55) + אֶת־בֵּ֤ית [Beth-] (813) + רָפָא֙ [rapha] (281) + וְאֶת־פָּסֵ֔חַ [and·Paseah] (555) + וְאֶת־תְּחִנָּ֖ה [and·Tehinnah] (870) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + עִ֣יר [Ir-] (280) + נָחָ֑שׁ [nahash] (358) + אֵ֖לֶּה [these] (36) + אַנְשֵׁ֥י [men·of] (361) + רֵכָֽה [Recah] (225) = 4610.
Rashi
the leader of Ir Nahash the name of a city, and Tehinnah (was) its leader. these are the people of Rechah The sons of Eshton lived in that place Rechah. Another meaning: the people of Rechah The family was called the people of Rechah.
Metzudat David
'These are the men of Recah' — all the descendants of Chelub were called 'the men of Recah,' for a reason known to them.
Malbim
'These are the men of Recah' — this family was called by this name for a reason known to them.
And the sons of Kenaz: Othniel, and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath.
verse value 2744
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 31 letters. The shortest word is "Kenaz" (קְנַ֔ז, 3 letters) and the longest is "Othniel" (עׇתְנִיאֵ֖ל, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 561: Othniel, Othniel. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Hathath" (חֲתַֽת). The root בן appears 2 times in this verse. 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root עתניאל ("Othniel") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root שריה ("and·Seraiah") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Seraiah', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וּבְנֵ֣י [and·sons·of] (68) + קְנַ֔ז [Kenaz] (157) + עׇתְנִיאֵ֖ל [Othniel] (561) + וּשְׂרָיָ֑ה [and·Seraiah] (521) + וּבְנֵ֥י [and·sons·of] (68) + עׇתְנִיאֵ֖ל [Othniel] (561) + חֲתַֽת [Hathath] (808) = 2744.
Metzudat David
'And the sons of Kenaz' — he too is not identified earlier as to whose son he was. (And from here on I will no longer note this, since such cases have become very numerous.) 'Othniel' — he was the first judge over Israel.
Malbim
'And the sons of Kenaz' — they too belonged to this family. In my opinion, in order to straighten out the plain sense of the verses and remove all the strained readings that the commentators have been forced into, it appears that from Ashhur came the first Kenaz, who begot Jephunneh — which is why it says (Numbers 32:12), 'Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite,' meaning that Jephunneh was the son of Kenaz. Jephunneh then had two sons, Kenaz and Caleb, which is why it says (Joshua 15:17), 'and Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it' — meaning that Kenaz, the father of Othniel, was the brother of Caleb. Our scribe [Ezra] did not need to state any of this, since we already know it from the Torah and the Book of Joshua; instead, he began by explaining the sons of the two brothers, Kenaz and Caleb: that the sons of Kenaz (son of Jephunneh) were Othniel and Seraiah, and the sons of Othniel were Hathath and Meonothai, who begot Ophrah (similarly at verse 8; and see what is stated below, 8:31, where 'Hathath and Meonothai' is explained the same way — that it is Meonothai, not Hathath, who begot [Ophrah]). 'And Seraiah' (Kenaz's second son) begot Joab, from whom came the men of Ge-harashim; the town was named for their occupation, since they were craftsmen. In Nehemiah (11:35) it is counted among the towns of the sons of Benjamin, since by his time the sons of Benjamin were living there.
And Meonothai begot Ophrah; and Seraiah begot Joab the father of Ge-harashim; for they were craftsmen.
verse value 3583
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 55 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִי֙) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·Meonothai" (וּמְעוֹנֹתַ֖י, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 558: harashim, craftsmen. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Meonothai" (וּמְעוֹנֹתַ֖י), "Ophrah" (אֶת־עׇפְרָ֑ה), "Ge-" (גֵּ֣יא). The root ילד appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "begot" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "were" (root היה, 104x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root גיא ("Ge-") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root חרש ("harashim") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Ophrah', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 9 words. Full calculation: וּמְעוֹנֹתַ֖י [and·Meonothai] (582) + הוֹלִ֣יד [begot] (55) + אֶת־עׇפְרָ֑ה [Ophrah] (756) + וּשְׂרָיָ֗ה [and·Seraiah] (521) + הוֹלִ֤יד [begot] (55) + אֶת־יוֹאָב֙ [Joab] (420) + אֲבִי֙ [father·of] (13) + גֵּ֣יא [Ge-] (14) + חֲרָשִׁ֔ים [harashim] (558) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + חֲרָשִׁ֖ים [craftsmen] (558) + הָיֽוּ [were] (21) = 3583.
Rashi
And Seraiah begot Joab, the leader of Gei Harashim Joab was the leader of a valley in which there were craftsmen. Now why do I call it the Valley of Craftsmen? Because they were craftsmen; i. e., those who dwelt in the Valley of the Craftsmen were craftsmen, and the valley was named after them.
Metzudat David
'For they were craftsmen' — meaning, this is why that place was called 'Ge-harashim' [Valley of Craftsmen] — because its inhabitants were craftsmen, that is, artisans in stone, wood, and iron.
And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the sons of Elah: Kenaz.
verse value 1072
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 35 letters. Notable word values: "Elah" (אֵלָ֖ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "Caleb" (כָּלֵ֣ב, 3 letters) and the longest is "son·of·Jephunneh" (בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּ֔ה, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 68: and·sons·of, and·sons·of. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Naam" (וָנָ֑עַם), "and·Kenaz" (וּקְנַֽז). The root בן appears 3 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "Elah" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Naam', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וּבְנֵי֙ [and·sons·of] (68) + כָּלֵ֣ב [Caleb] (52) + בֶּן־יְפֻנֶּ֔ה [son·of·Jephunneh] (197) + עִ֥ירוּ [Iru] (286) + אֵלָ֖ה [Elah] (36) + וָנָ֑עַם [and·Naam] (166) + וּבְנֵ֥י [and·sons·of] (68) + אֵלָ֖ה [Elah] (36) + וּקְנַֽז [and·Kenaz] (163) = 1072.
Rashi
And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh Our Sages said (Tem. 16a): “Caleb the son of Jephunneh is identical with Caleb the son of Hezron. Why was he called the son of Jephunneh? Because he turned away (שֶׁפָּנָה from the counsel of the spies.” Now do not wonder that the family of Caleb the son of Hezron, was already traced, for this is the manner [in which this book is written]: he traces part of the lineage, skips to another family, and then returns to the first family. and the sons of Elah: Uknaz That was his name: Uknaz.
Ralbag
And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh — It appears that Jephunneh is Penuel the father of Gedor; and he was indeed ‘the father of Gedor’ in that his son Caleb was the father of Jered, who was the father of Gedor. and the sons of Elah: Kenaz — That is to say, ‘the sons of Elah’ was Kenaz [i.e., Kenaz was his son, not a separate name added to the list].
Metzudat David
'Caleb the son of Jephunneh' — this is Caleb the son of Hezron; and because he turned himself away from the counsel of the other spies, he was called 'the son of Jephunneh' — so our Sages have said. And although Scripture already related some of his descendants, it now comes to complete the account of all his offspring; such is the way of this book. 'Kenaz' — the vav here is part of his actual name (i.e., he was named 'Vekenaz'), not the conjunction 'and.'
Malbim
'And the sons of Caleb' — now the text lists the sons of Caleb, brother of Kenaz, Jephunneh's second son. He had sons from four wives. The sons from his first wife (whose name is not given) were Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the son of Elah was named 'Vekenaz' — the vav is part of the name itself, as was noted in a similar case above (2:18). In the book of genealogies from which [Ezra] copied, additional sons were recorded, but he did not copy them, since they were not notable; that is why it says 'and the sons of,' as [explained] above (2:7-8).
And the sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.
verse value 1538
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 29 letters. The shortest word is "Ziph" (זִ֣יף, 3 letters) and the longest is "Jehallelel" (יְהַלֶּלְאֵ֑ל, 6 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Jehallelel" (יְהַלֶּלְאֵ֑ל), "Ziph" (זִ֣יף), "and·Ziphah" (וְזִיפָ֔ה). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jehallelel', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 4 words. Full calculation: וּבְנֵ֖י [and·sons·of] (68) + יְהַלֶּלְאֵ֑ל [Jehallelel] (106) + זִ֣יף [Ziph] (97) + וְזִיפָ֔ה [and·Ziphah] (108) + תִּירְיָ֖א [Tiria] (621) + וַאֲשַׂרְאֵֽל [and·Asarel] (538) = 1538.
Ralbag
And the sons of Jehallelel — It appears that he is Naam, and that he had two names.
Malbim
'And the sons of Jehallelel' — she was Caleb's second wife; [her sons] were Ziph, and so on. 'And the son of Ezrah' — the whole phrase is itself his proper name, like 'Ben-hanan' [and] 'Ben-zoheth' (in verse 20) (see also what is stated below, 8:31); and likewise Jether, Mered, and Jalon — all of these were sons of Jehallelel. 'And she conceived' — afterward, Jehallelel, Caleb's wife, conceived Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah — meaning that she conceived all three together, three in a single pregnancy; that is why it says 'and she conceived' rather than 'and she bore.'
And the sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon. And she bore Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa—
verse value 5268
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 54 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֥י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "Jether" (יֶ֥תֶר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·son·of·Ezrah" (וּבֶ֨ן־עֶזְרָ֔ה, 7 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·son·of·Ezrah" (וּבֶ֨ן־עֶזְרָ֔ה), "and·Mered" (וּמֶ֖רֶד), "and·Jalon" (וְיָל֑וֹן). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·son·of·Ezrah" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root אשתמע ("Eshtemoa") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Jalon', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. 7 of the verse's 11 words begin with the letter ו. Full calculation: וּבֶ֨ן־עֶזְרָ֔ה [and·son·of·Ezrah] (340) + יֶ֥תֶר [Jether] (610) + וּמֶ֖רֶד [and·Mered] (250) + וְעֵ֣פֶר [and·Epher] (356) + וְיָל֑וֹן [and·Jalon] (102) + וַתַּ֙הַר֙ [and·she·conceived] (611) + אֶת־מִרְיָ֣ם [Miriam] (691) + וְאֶת־שַׁמַּ֔י [and·Shammai] (757) + וְאֶת־יִשְׁבָּ֖ח [and·Ishbah] (727) + אֲבִ֥י [father·of] (13) + אֶשְׁתְּמֹֽעַ [Eshtemoa] (811) = 5268.
Ralbag
And the sons of Ezrah: Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon — It appears that Ezrah is Iru, and that he had two names. And she bore Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa — That is to say, she conceived and bore Shammai and Ishbah, and they were twins; or perhaps the text did not specify the name of the one who conceived, and states only that there was a pregnancy of one daughter and two sons. It appears that the first wife, the one who conceived these, was not ‘the Judahite,’ and therefore it says afterward, ‘and his wife the Judahite,’ referring to a different wife. It appears that these first children were the children of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took to himself, while the other two were borne to Mered by his wife the Judahite.
Metzudat David
'And she bore' — Mered's wife conceived and bore Miriam, and this is the name of a man.
and his wife Hajehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah—and these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom Mered took.
verse value 5813
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 83 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֤י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "father·of" (אֲבִ֤י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Jekuthiel" (וְאֶת־יְקוּתִיאֵ֖ל, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 13: father·of, father·of, father·of. 11 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·his·wife" (וְאִשְׁתּ֣וֹ), "Hajehudijah" (הַיְהֻֽדִיָּ֗ה), "Jered" (אֶת־יֶ֨רֶד). The root אב appears 3 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "bore" (root ילד, 117x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root גדור ("Gedor") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root חבר ("and·Heber") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Zanoah', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 7 words.
Rashi
And his wife the Judahitess Caleb’s wife, who was born of Judah. Jered, the father of Gedor, etc. the leaders of the cities, as it is written in Josh. (15:56): “and Jokdeam and Zanoah...,” (v. 58): “Halhul, Beth Zur, and Gedor,” (v. 36): “Jarmuth and Adullam, Soco and Azekah.” And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh The “vav” separates between the sons of the Judahitess and the sons of Bithiah. whom Mered married Caleb is Mered, who rebelled (שֶׁמָרַד) against the counsel of the spies, and so is the manner of the genealogy, that even for one, he says, “the sons of,” like (verse 15): “and the sons of Elah: Uknaz.”
Metzudat David
'And his wife Hajehudijah' — this refers to Mered's Judahite wife, for the first wife mentioned was not Judahite, since she was Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, as stated at the end of this verse. 'And these are' — referring to those mentioned in the preceding verse, namely Miriam, Shammai, etc.; these were the sons of Bithiah, etc.
Malbim
'And his wife Hajehudijah' — Caleb's third wife, whose name was Hajehudijah (and I have already explained above, at 2:52, that many names are found that begin with a heh, like Hazlelponi, and many more besides). She bore Jered, who was the father of Gedor. Now there were three distinct towns [that sound alike]: Beth-gader (2:51), Gedor (4:4), and this Gedor mentioned here; and according to some, a fourth, Gederah (4:23). And likewise Heber was the father of Soco. 'And these are the sons of Bithiah' — she was Caleb's fourth wife; afterward he took Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh (and we do not know whether this 'Pharaoh' is the name of an Israelite man, or the title of the king of Egypt; so, too, our Sages, of blessed memory, explained it (Megillah 13a)). It appears that this verse is joined to the one following it: 'and these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom [he] took' — meaning that Caleb took her — her sons were Mered and the sons of the wife of Hodiah, as will be explained.
And the sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maacathite.
verse value 3160
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 44 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֥י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "wife·of" (אֵ֣שֶׁת, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Eshtemoa" (וְאֶשְׁתְּמֹ֖עַ, 6 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Hodiah" (הֽוֹדִיָּ֔ה), "sister·of" (אֲח֣וֹת), "Naham" (נַ֔חַם). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles); "wife·of" (root אשה, 20x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root נחם ("Naham") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·Garmite', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 2 words. Full calculation: וּבְנֵי֙ [and·sons·of] (68) + אֵ֣שֶׁת [wife·of] (701) + הֽוֹדִיָּ֔ה [Hodiah] (30) + אֲח֣וֹת [sister·of] (415) + נַ֔חַם [Naham] (98) + אֲבִ֥י [father·of] (13) + קְעִילָ֖ה [Keilah] (215) + הַגַּרְמִ֑י [the·Garmite] (258) + וְאֶשְׁתְּמֹ֖עַ [and·Eshtemoa] (817) + הַמַּעֲכָתִֽי [the·Maacathite] (545) = 3160.
Ralbag
And the sons of the wife of Hodiah — That is to say, these too were the sons of a wife named Hodiah, who is ‘his wife the Judahite’ mentioned above; and it says that she was the sister of Naham, though it was not stated previously whose daughter she was.
Metzudat David
'The sister of Naham' — [Hodiah's wife,] who was the sister of Naham. 'The father of,' etc. — meaning, these were her sons: the father of Keilah, etc.
Malbim
'And the sons of the wife of Hodiah' — In the genealogical record from which [the author] copied, it was written that the sons of Bithiah were Mered, Hodiah, Shimon, and Ishi, and there the lineage of each one was recorded at length; it listed all of Hodiah's sons from several wives, whom Ezra skipped over because they were not distinguished. Among them, though, were the sons Hodiah had from his wife who was the sister of Naham, who were distinguished, and those he did mention. So [the verse] states that the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh whom [Caleb] took were Mered, and the sons of the wife of Hodiah who was the sister of Naham — for with this wife he begot the father of Keilah the Garmite, meaning that 'Garmite' is the name of the man who was the father of Keilah — and Eshtemoa, who was chief of the town of Maacah. And do not be surprised that 'Garmite' is the name of a man; I have already shown many such [cases] above (2:52).
And the sons of Shimon: Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi: Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth.
verse value 3400
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 54 letters. Verse gematria: 3400 is divisible by 50, the years to the Jubilee (yovel). The shortest word is "and·sons·of" (וּבְנֵ֣י, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·Ben-zoheth" (וּבֶן־זוֹחֵֽת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 68: and·sons·of, and·sons·of. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Shimon" (שִׁימ֔וֹן), "Amnon" (אַמְנ֣וֹן), "and·Rinnah" (וְרִנָּ֔ה). The root בן appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Tilon', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words.
Metzudat David
'Ben-hanan' — this was his actual name, and likewise 'Ben-zoheth.'
Malbim
'And the sons of Shimon' — likewise, the sons of Shimon were among the descendants of Bithiah, but Shimon himself was not counted, since he himself was not a head — only his sons were. 'Ben-hanan' — that was his actual name [as one word]. And likewise the sons of Ishi were heads of families among the descendants of Bithiah. 'Ben-zoheth' — that was his name.
The sons of Shelah the son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, and Ladah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of those who wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea;
verse value 4130
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 58 letters. Notable word values: "father·of" (אֲבִ֣י) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "Er" (עֵ֚ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "son·of·Judah" (בֶן־יְהוּדָ֔ה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 13: father·of, father·of. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Shelah" (שֵׁלָ֣ה), "Lecah" (לֵכָ֔ה), "and·Ladah" (וְלַעְדָּ֖ה). The root בן appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "to·house·of" (root בית, 115x in I Chronicles); "father·of" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root עבדה ("house·of·work·of") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Mareshah', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 5 words. Full calculation: בְּנֵי֙ [sons·of] (62) + שֵׁלָ֣ה [Shelah] (335) + בֶן־יְהוּדָ֔ה [son·of·Judah] (82) + עֵ֚ר [Er] (270) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + לֵכָ֔ה [Lecah] (55) + וְלַעְדָּ֖ה [and·Ladah] (115) + אֲבִ֣י [father·of] (13) + מָרֵשָׁ֑ה [Mareshah] (545) + וּמִשְׁפְּח֛וֹת [and·families·of] (840) + בֵּית־עֲבֹדַ֥ת [house·of·work·of] (888) + הַבֻּ֖ץ [the·byssus] (97) + לְבֵ֥ית [to·house·of] (442) + אַשְׁבֵּֽעַ [Ashbea] (373) = 4130.
Rashi
The sons of Shelah the son of Judah Since he did not yet trace his geneology, he traces it now. Because of David’s honor, he first traced the genealogy of the sons of Tamar: Perez and Zerah, from whom he [David] was descended; now that he has traced the genealogy of the families of Perez and Zerah, he commences to trace the genealogy of all the families that were in that generation. and the families of Beth Abodath Habbuz lit. the house of the linen work, for the curtains of the Sanctuary. They too were of the sons of Shelah.
Metzudat David
'And the families,' etc. — the families that worked the craft of fine linen, who were affiliated with the house of Ashbea.
Metzudat Zion
Fine linen (butz) - Flax, as in "held with cords of fine linen" (Esther 1:6).
Malbim
'The sons of Shelah' — after tracing the lineage of Perez and Zerah, [the author] goes on to trace the lineage of some of the heads of families among the sons of Shelah. 'And the families of the house of those who wrought fine linen' — they did their work in butz, which is fine, costly linen; Rashi explains that this butz was for the service of the Sanctuary. And this family was called 'the house of Ashbea.'
and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And the records are ancient.
verse value 3469
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "lehem" (לָ֑חֶם, 3 letters) and the longest is "that·they·ruled" (אֲשֶׁר־בָּעֲל֥וּ, 7 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Jokim" (וְיוֹקִ֞ים), "and·men·of" (וְאַנְשֵׁ֣י), "Cozeba" (כֹזֵבָ֗א). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·the·words" (root דבר, 41x in I Chronicles); "and·men·of" (root איש, 40x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root דבר ("and·the·words") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'lehem', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְיוֹקִ֞ים [and·Jokim] (172) + וְאַנְשֵׁ֣י [and·men·of] (367) + כֹזֵבָ֗א [Cozeba] (30) + וְיוֹאָ֧שׁ [and·Joash] (323) + וְשָׂרָ֛ף [and·Saraph] (586) + אֲשֶׁר־בָּעֲל֥וּ [that·they·ruled] (609) + לְמוֹאָ֖ב [to·Moab] (79) + וְיָשֻׁ֣בִי [and·Jashubi-] (328) + לָ֑חֶם [lehem] (78) + וְהַדְּבָרִ֖ים [and·the·words] (267) + עַתִּיקִֽים [ancient] (630) = 3469.
Rashi
And Jokim and the people of Kozeba until “and Jashubi Lehem.” All these were the sons of Shelah the son of Judah. and Joash and Saraph Our Sages say that these were Mahlon and Chilion. and the matters are ancient The meaning is: Do not say that since I began to trace the lineage of the people of our generation that they all came afterwards. All the people mentioned in this verse (were ancient) were early, [i.e.], they lived in earlier days. who married in Moab who married Moabite women.
Ralbag
and Joash, and Saraph, who had dominion in Moab — That is to say, who married the daughters of Moab. And the records are ancient — Meaning, that they are very ancient. It is possible that this was in the days of Moses at Shittim; it is possible that it was in the days of the Judges; and it is possible, further, that these were Mahlon and Chilion, who had two names each.
Metzudat David
'Who had dominion in Moab' — who fought against Moab and became their masters. 'And Jashubi-lehem' — this was the name of a man. 'And the records are ancient' — as if to say: even though I have spoken of war and victory without the matter being fully known, do not wonder at this, for these events are ancient — a long time has passed, and they have been forgotten by people.
Metzudat Zion
Had dominion (ba'alu) - An expression of mastery, as in "if its owner is with it" (Exodus 22:14). Ancient (atikim) - An expression of oldness, as in "the Ancient of Days" (Daniel 7).
Malbim
'And Jokim' — he was the head of a family. 'Who had dominion in Moab' — Radak explains that they conquered Moab and became rulers over it. 'And Jashubi-lehem' — he too was a head of this family. Some explain [the name to allude to the fact] that they had married Moabite women. 'And the records are ancient' — this account is a very old story, ancient in years, of which they had an old tradition; or it may mean that the details of the event were copied from a special scroll that Ezra had in hand at that time.
These were the potters, and those who dwelt among plantations and hedges; there they dwelt occupied in the king’s work.
verse value 2498
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 44 letters. The shortest word is "there" (שָֽׁם, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·potters" (הַיּ֣וֹצְרִ֔ים, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "the·potters" (הַיּ֣וֹצְרִ֔ים), "plantations" (נְטָעִ֖ים), "and·hedge" (וּגְדֵרָ֑ה). The root ישב appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "with·the·king" (root מלך, 91x in I Chronicles); "there" (root שם, 67x in I Chronicles); "and·dwellers·of" (root ישב, 44x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root יצר ("the·potters") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root מלאכת ("in·his·work") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·hedge', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: הֵ֚מָּה [these] (50) + הַיּ֣וֹצְרִ֔ים [the·potters] (361) + וְיֹשְׁבֵ֥י [and·dwellers·of] (328) + נְטָעִ֖ים [plantations] (179) + וּגְדֵרָ֑ה [and·hedge] (218) + עִם־הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ [with·the·king] (205) + בִּמְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ [in·his·work] (499) + יָ֥שְׁבוּ [they·dwelt] (318) + שָֽׁם [there] (340) = 2498.
Rashi
They, the potters They, Jokim, the people of Kozeba and Jashubi Lehem, were manufacturers of clay for the king’s work, and also for pots for the king’s food, and also for the priests. and the dwellers in plantations who were engaged in the king’s planting. and hedges craftsmen who made stone fences for the king’s work. with the king The meaning is that the king stationed them in those towns because they were doing his work. An example (in Mishpatim) concerning a borrower (Exod. 22:14): “But if its owner was with it, he shall not pay,” i.e., with it, in its work.
Ralbag
These were the potters — Meaning, that they made earthenware vessels. and those who dwelt among plantations and hedges — Meaning, that they dwelt outdoors in tents, and out of the plantings they made a hedge, placing some wood among the plantings to serve as a fence. The plantings stood in rows, one after another, and they filled the spaces between them with wood woven crosswise around them; and they dwelt there to carry out the king’s work.
Metzudat David
'These were the potters' — they shaped clay, and they dwelt in the place of the planters in order to plant them, and they were also masters of hedging, meaning builders of fences and walls. 'The king's work' — when they were engaged in the king's work, they dwelt there among the plantations for the sake of preparing their work, but not otherwise.
Malbim
'These were the potters' — they were craftsmen who worked in vessels of clay and in shaping forms out of any kind of stone, for all of this is included under the term 'yotzer' [shaper], as in 'as clay in the potter's [yotzer's] hand' (Jeremiah 18:6), and 'what profit is the carved image, that its maker [yotzero] has carved it?' (Habakkuk 2:18). They were likewise craftsmen in planting trees — hence it says 'and those who dwelt among plantations' — and in building hedges for flocks, so that their craft dealt with the inanimate, the vegetative, and the animate alike. It may also be explained that the places where they dwelt were themselves called 'Netaim' and 'Gederah,' because they were suited for plantations and sheep-hedges — hence it says 'there they dwelt,' meaning in these places — and they were with the king in his work, doing there the king's work.
The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, and Jamim, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul;
verse value 1545
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 29 letters. The shortest word is "sons·of" (בְּנֵ֖י, 3 letters) and the longest is "Simeon" (שִׁמְע֑וֹן, 5 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Nemuel" (נְמוּאֵ֣ל), "Jarib" (יָרִ֖יב). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "Shaul" (root שאול, 32x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Simeon', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 5 words. Full calculation: בְּנֵ֖י [sons·of] (62) + שִׁמְע֑וֹן [Simeon] (466) + נְמוּאֵ֣ל [Nemuel] (127) + וְיָמִ֔ין [and·Jamim] (116) + יָרִ֖יב [Jarib] (222) + זֶ֥רַח [Zerah] (215) + שָׁאֽוּל [Shaul] (337) = 1545.
Rashi
The sons of Simeon Since Simeon dwelt in Judah’s territory, he traces his lineage first and mentions his towns before those of Reuben.
Metzudat David
'The sons of Simeon' — since Simeon's territory bordered Judah's, Scripture traces his lineage right after Judah's, ahead of Reuben's.
Malbim
'The sons of Simeon: Nemuel,' and so on — 'Jarib' appears here in place of 'Jachin,' as [the sons of Simeon are listed] in the Torah (Numbers 26:12). And [the author] traces the lineage of Simeon right after that of Judah, because the inheritance of Simeon lay within [the territory of] the sons of Judah.
Verse structure: 6 words, 20 letters. Verse gematria: 1376 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "Shallum" (שַׁלֻּ֥ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "Mibsam" (מִבְשָׂ֥ם, 4 letters). Words sharing gematria 58: his·son, his·son, his·son. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Mibsam" (מִבְשָׂ֥ם). The root בן appears 3 times in this verse. 4 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "his·son" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). Full calculation: שַׁלֻּ֥ם [Shallum] (370) + בְּנ֛וֹ [his·son] (58) + מִבְשָׂ֥ם [Mibsam] (382) + בְּנ֖וֹ [his·son] (58) + מִשְׁמָ֥ע [Mishma] (450) + בְּנֽוֹ [his·son] (58) = 1376.
Metzudat David
'Shallum his son' — the son of Shaul mentioned just before him; and Mibsam was the son of Shallum, etc.
Malbim
'Shallum' — in my opinion, [the text] counted only the princes; and when it says 'Shallum his son,' this is not the son of Shaul [mentioned earlier among Simeon's sons], for Shaul's son was not a prince. Rather, [the author] skipped ahead in the genealogical record from which he copied, all the way to Shallum — who is Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai, the first prince of the sons of Simeon. In the book of genealogy it was written: 'Zurishaddai, Shallum his son,' and from there the princeship continues from son to son down to Mishma, where the princeship ceased [to run in that line]. [The author] then recorded 'and the sons of Mishma' without naming them, because they were not princes, until Hammuel, who arose from his line and was [again] a prince; after him Zaccur, and after him Shimei — these were the princes of the tribe, and the rest of the sons he did not mention, because none of them was a prince. It appears that this Shimei, with whom the princeship [of the whole tribe] ceased, is the same as the Shemaiah mentioned below (verse 37); therefore [the author] traces the lineage of Ziza son of Shiphi up to Shemaiah, though from Shemaiah to Ziza there was no longer a prince of the tribe, only a prince of the family, there being thirteen princes for thirteen families. Likewise in verse 35, 'and Jehu son of Josibiah,' and so on — all those counted there were princes of families, and that is why their lineage is recorded. And wherever the lineage is traced as far as this, [those named] were distinguished men, known by name, as I have stated elsewhere.
And the sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son.
verse value 1430
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 30 letters. Verse gematria: 1430 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "his·son" (בְּנ֛וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "Hammuel" (חַמּוּאֵ֥ל, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 58: his·son, his·son, his·son. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "Hammuel" (חַמּוּאֵ֥ל). The root בן appears 4 times in this verse. 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root זכור ("Zaccur") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Mishma', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 6 words. Full calculation: וּבְנֵ֖י [and·sons·of] (68) + מִשְׁמָ֑ע [Mishma] (450) + חַמּוּאֵ֥ל [Hammuel] (85) + בְּנ֛וֹ [his·son] (58) + זַכּ֥וּר [Zaccur] (233) + בְּנ֖וֹ [his·son] (58) + שִׁמְעִ֥י [Shimei] (420) + בְנֽוֹ [his·son] (58) = 1430.
And Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brethren had not many children, neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah.
verse value 4607
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 65 letters. The shortest word is "six" (שֵׁ֔שׁ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·to·Shimei" (וּלְשִׁמְעִ֞י, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 102: sons, sons. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·to·Shimei" (וּלְשִׁמְעִ֞י), "their·family" (מִשְׁפַּחְתָּ֔ם), "they·multiplied" (הִרְבּ֖וּ). The root בן appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "sons" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "and·to·his·brothers" (root אח, 95x in I Chronicles); "and·all" (root כל, 81x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root עשר ("ten") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root אין ("nothing") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'many', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 6 words.
Rashi
but his brothers did not have many sons and all their family did not multiply as much as the children of Judah They did not have as many children as the children of Judah. Since they were few, and Judah’s territory was too large for them, Judah accepted Simeon in its territory, because Simeon had no share in the land of Israel, as it says (Gen. 49:7): “I shall divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel,” and we learned in Genesis Rabbah (Shittah Hadashah): “I shall divide them among the Children of Israel to station scribes in Israel in the synagogues, etc.” Now how do we know that they agreed [to give them a share of their territory]? For it is written (Jos. 19:9): “Out of the lot of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon, for the portion of the children of Judah was too large for them; therefore the children of Simeon inherited in the midst of their inheritance,” lest the beasts of the field outnumber them. Now as regards the verse (ibid. v. 1): “And the second lot came out to Simeon,” this is what happened: They cast lots to choose which tribe would accept Simeon in its territory, and the lot fell upon the territory of Judah. And the meaning of the verse (Jud. 1:3): “And Judah said to Simeon his brother: Come up with me into my lot, and we will fight against the Canaanites, and I will also go with you into your lot,” refers to “the lot I have given you.”
Ralbag
neither did all their family multiply, like to the children of Judah — Meaning, that although Shimei had many sons and many daughters, still their whole family did not increase so as to equal the number of the children of Judah.
Metzudat David
'Neither did all their family multiply' — the descendants of Simeon did not multiply enough to approach the numbers of the children of Judah who dwelt alongside them; as if to say, it is not the place itself that causes children to multiply, for the children of Judah and the children of Simeon dwelt together, and yet these did not multiply like those.
Malbim
'[They] did not multiply like the children of Judah' — meaning, although they did multiply, as stated in verse 38, they did not multiply as much as the children of Judah; and therefore the inheritance of Simeon lay within [the territory of] the children of Judah, as mentioned in the Book of Joshua.
And they dwelt at Beer-sheba, and Moladah, and Hazar-shual;
verse value 1702
Insights
Verse structure: 5 words, 26 letters. The shortest word is "and·Hazar-" (וַחֲצַ֥ר, 4 letters) and the longest is "in·Beer-sheba" (בִּבְאֵֽר־שֶׁ֥בַע, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "in·Beer-sheba" (בִּבְאֵֽר־שֶׁ֥בַע), "and·Moladah" (וּמוֹלָדָ֖ה), "and·Hazar-" (וַחֲצַ֥ר). 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·they·dwelt" (root ישב, 44x in I Chronicles); "in·Beer-sheba" (root שבע, 29x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root חצר ("and·Hazar-") in I Chronicles. Full calculation: וַיֵּ֥שְׁב֛וּ [and·they·dwelt] (324) + בִּבְאֵֽר־שֶׁ֥בַע [in·Beer-sheba] (577) + וּמוֹלָדָ֖ה [and·Moladah] (91) + וַחֲצַ֥ר [and·Hazar-] (304) + שׁוּעָֽל [shual] (406) = 1702.
Rashi
They dwelt in Beersheba The children of Simeon dwelt in those towns of Judah.
Metzudat David
'And they dwelt at Beer-sheba,' etc. — these cities lay within the territory of the children of Judah and were given over to the children of Simeon to dwell in; they are mentioned in the Book of Joshua as well, some of them under different names.
Malbim
'And they dwelt at Beer-sheba' — see what I wrote in my commentary on Joshua 19. 'These were their cities until David reigned' — for once David became king, Ziklag belonged to the kings of Judah (as stated in I Samuel 27:6), and so it was withdrawn from the inheritance of the sons of Simeon.
Verse structure: 3 words, 17 letters. The shortest word is "and·in·Ezem" (וּבְעֶ֖צֶם, 5 letters) and the longest is "and·in·Bilhah" (וּבְבִלְהָ֥ה, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·in·Bilhah" (וּבְבִלְהָ֥ה), "and·in·Ezem" (וּבְעֶ֖צֶם), "and·in·Tolad" (וּבְתוֹלָֽד). 3 unique roots are used. First appearance of the root עצם ("and·in·Ezem") in I Chronicles. Full calculation: וּבְבִלְהָ֥ה [and·in·Bilhah] (50) + וּבְעֶ֖צֶם [and·in·Ezem] (208) + וּבְתוֹלָֽד [and·in·Tolad] (448) = 706.
Verse structure: 3 words, 20 letters. Verse gematria: 949 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "and·in·Hormah" (וּבְחׇרְמָ֖ה, 6 letters) and the longest is "and·in·Bethuel" (וּבִבְתוּאֵ֥ל, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·in·Bethuel" (וּבִבְתוּאֵ֥ל), "and·in·Hormah" (וּבְחׇרְמָ֖ה), "and·in·Ziklag" (וּבְצִֽיקְלָֽג). 3 unique roots are used. First appearance of the root צקלג ("and·in·Ziklag") in I Chronicles. Full calculation: וּבִבְתוּאֵ֥ל [and·in·Bethuel] (447) + וּבְחׇרְמָ֖ה [and·in·Hormah] (261) + וּבְצִֽיקְלָֽג [and·in·Ziklag] (241) = 949.
and at Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susim, and at Beth-biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities to the reign of David.
verse value 3380
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 54 letters. Notable word values: "these" (אֵ֥לֶּה) = 36, double chai. Verse gematria: 3380 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "these" (אֵ֥לֶּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·in·Shaaraim" (וּֽבְשַׁעֲרָ֑יִם, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 420: and·in·Beth-, and·in·Beth-. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "marcaboth" (מַרְכָּבוֹת֙), "and·in·Hazar-" (וּבַחֲצַ֣ר), "susim" (סוּסִ֔ים). The root בית appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "David" (root דוד, 182x in I Chronicles); "and·in·Beth-" (root בית, 115x in I Chronicles); "to·reign·of" (root מלך, 91x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·in·Shaaraim', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words. Full calculation: וּבְבֵ֤ית [and·in·Beth-] (420) + מַרְכָּבוֹת֙ [marcaboth] (668) + וּבַחֲצַ֣ר [and·in·Hazar-] (306) + סוּסִ֔ים [susim] (176) + וּבְבֵ֥ית [and·in·Beth-] (420) + בִּרְאִ֖י [biri] (213) + וּֽבְשַׁעֲרָ֑יִם [and·in·Shaaraim] (628) + אֵ֥לֶּה [these] (36) + עָרֵיהֶ֖ם [their·cities] (325) + עַד־מְלֹ֥ךְ [to·reign·of] (164) + דָּוִֽיד [David] (24) = 3380.
Rashi
these were their cities until David reigned The meaning is that when [the population of] the children of Judah grew, they complained about the children of Simeon in the days of Saul and wanted to drive them out of their land, but they could not drive them out, especially since all his [Saul’s] days were occupied with trouble and wars; but when David reigned, his tribe came to request from the children of Simeon the land that they had lent them, and David went and drove them out, for Saul had not been concerned with this matter because of [his] hatred for David, who was from Judah. This is the meaning of what is written: “... these were their cities until David reigned,” but when he reigned, he drove them out. [I heard this] from Rabbi Eliezer the son of Meshullam of blessed memory, and so did Rabbi Solomon the son of Levi, the brother of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan explain it.
Metzudat David
'These were their cities' — in which they dwelt. 'To the reign of David' — but once David became king, the men of his own tribe [Judah] grew powerful and drove them out of their territory, because Judah had multiplied and the place had become too cramped for them to dwell together with the children of Simeon.
And their villages were Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, and Tochen, and Ashan, five cities;
verse value 2490
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 34 letters. The shortest word is "five" (חָמֵֽשׁ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·their·villages" (וְחַצְרֵיהֶם֙, 7 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·their·villages" (וְחַצְרֵיהֶם֙), "and·Ain" (וָעַ֔יִן), "Rimmon" (רִמּ֥וֹן). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "cities" (root עיר, 39x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root רמון ("Rimmon") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Ashan', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְחַצְרֵיהֶם֙ [and·their·villages] (359) + עֵיטָ֣ם [Etam] (129) + וָעַ֔יִן [and·Ain] (136) + רִמּ֥וֹן [Rimmon] (296) + וְתֹ֖כֶן [and·Tochen] (476) + וְעָשָׁ֑ן [and·Ashan] (426) + עָרִ֖ים [cities] (320) + חָמֵֽשׁ [five] (348) = 2490.
Rashi
And their villages The villages which were they? Etam, and Ain, Rimmon, etc.
Metzudat David
'And their villages' — but the villages belonging to the cities mentioned earlier are Etam, etc.; and although the end of the verse calls them 'five cities,' still, in comparison to the cities mentioned first, they are counted as mere villages.
Metzudat Zion
And their villages (vechatzreihem) - These are the places adjoining a city, smaller than it, and not surrounded by a wall.
Malbim
'And their villages were Etam' — in the Book of Joshua only four cities are mentioned; one may say that after Ziklag was given to the kings of Judah, Etam was given to them in its place, and it was not a [walled] city, only an open, unwalled settlement.
and all their villages that were round about the same cities, to Baal. These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy.
verse value 3972
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֧ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·all·their·villages" (וְכׇל־חַצְרֵיהֶ֗ם, 9 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·all·their·villages" (וְכׇל־חַצְרֵיהֶ֗ם), "around" (סְבִיב֛וֹת), "their·habitations" (מֽוֹשְׁבֹתָ֔ם). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "these" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles); "that" (root אשר, 77x in I Chronicles); "the·cities" (root עיר, 39x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root סביב ("around") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root זאת ("this") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'until·Baal', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְכׇל־חַצְרֵיהֶ֗ם [and·all·their·villages] (409) + אֲשֶׁ֧ר [that] (501) + סְבִיב֛וֹת [around] (480) + הֶעָרִ֥ים [the·cities] (325) + הָאֵ֖לֶּה [these] (41) + עַד־בָּ֑עַל [until·Baal] (176) + זֹ֚את [this] (408) + מֽוֹשְׁבֹתָ֔ם [their·habitations] (788) + וְהִתְיַחְשָׂ֖ם [and·their·registering] (769) + לָהֶֽם [to·them] (75) = 3972.
Rashi
this was [the account of] their settlements, and they had their genealogical record The meaning is that although he traced part of their lineage here, do not say that there were only those, for there is another genealogical record in which the genealogy of every tribe appears. So it was, i.e. [this record] delineated the genealogy [of each tribe] by itself.
Metzudat David
'The same cities' — namely Etam, etc. 'To Baal' — the villages that extended as far as Baal. 'These' — this region remained theirs to dwell in. 'And they have their genealogy' — these places remained recorded as belonging to the children of Simeon. (And although the primary sense of the term "genealogy" was established to reveal a person's family — to know whose descendant he is — it was borrowed to apply also to identifying a city, to know to whom it belongs, and likewise to identify a person, to know from which nation or place he comes; and so the grammarians called the letter yod attached to words like "Mitzri" [Egyptian] and "Edomi" [Edomite] the "yod of relation.")
Malbim
'These were their habitations, and they have their genealogy' — meaning that the heads of the families were identified by the cities [where they settled], for each family chose a particular city as its dwelling place and was identified by that city's name — like 'Ashhur the father of Tekoa,' 'Mesha the father of Ziph,' 'Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim,' and the like.
And Meshobab, and Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah;
verse value 987
Insights
Verse structure: 4 words, 23 letters. The shortest word is "and·Jamlech" (וְיַמְלֵ֔ךְ, 5 letters) and the longest is "son·of·Amaziah" (בֶּן־אֲמַצְיָֽה, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Meshobab" (וּמְשׁוֹבָ֣ב), "and·Joshah" (וְיוֹשָׁ֖ה). 4 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "son·of·Amaziah" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). Full calculation: וּמְשׁוֹבָ֣ב [and·Meshobab] (356) + וְיַמְלֵ֔ךְ [and·Jamlech] (106) + וְיוֹשָׁ֖ה [and·Joshah] (327) + בֶּן־אֲמַצְיָֽה [son·of·Amaziah] (198) = 987.
Rashi
And Meshobab and all those written.
Malbim
'And Meshobab' — now, the cities of the sons of Simeon numbered thirteen (aside from the villages), and since [the families] were identified by these cities, they had thirteen heads of families; so [the text] lists thirteen chiefs, each family having its own head. Their names, in the days of Hezekiah (in whose time the event mentioned in verse 39 took place), were Meshobab, Jamlech, and so on.
and Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel;
verse value 1496
Insights
Verse structure: 5 words, 31 letters. The shortest word is "and·Joel" (וְיוֹאֵ֑ל, 5 letters) and the longest is "son·of·Joshibiah" (בֶּן־י֣וֹשִׁבְיָ֔ה, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "son·of·Joshibiah" (בֶּן־י֣וֹשִׁבְיָ֔ה), "son·of·Seraiah" (בֶּן־שְׂרָיָ֖ה), "son·of·Asiel" (בֶּן־עֲשִׂיאֵֽל). The root בן appears 3 times in this verse. 3 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "son·of·Joshibiah" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root יואל ("and·Joel") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·Joel', dividing the verse into phrases of 1 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְיוֹאֵ֑ל [and·Joel] (53) + וְיֵהוּא֙ [and·Jehu] (28) + בֶּן־י֣וֹשִׁבְיָ֔ה [son·of·Joshibiah] (385) + בֶּן־שְׂרָיָ֖ה [son·of·Seraiah] (567) + בֶּן־עֲשִׂיאֵֽל [son·of·Asiel] (463) = 1496.
and Elioenai, and Jaakobah, and Jeshoaiah, and Asaiah, and Adiel, and Jesimiel, and Benaiah;
verse value 1713
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 45 letters. The shortest word is "and·Asaiah" (וַעֲשָׂיָ֧ה, 5 letters) and the longest is "and·Elioenai" (וְאֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֡י, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 193: and·Elioenai, and·Jaakobah. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Jaakobah" (וְֽיַעֲקֹ֡בָה), "and·Jeshoaiah" (וִ֠ישׁוֹחָיָ֠ה), "and·Asaiah" (וַעֲשָׂיָ֧ה). 7 unique roots are used. First appearance of the root עשיה ("and·Asaiah") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root בניה ("and·Benaiah") in I Chronicles. 7 of the verse's 7 words begin with the letter ו. Full calculation: וְאֶלְיוֹעֵינַ֡י [and·Elioenai] (193) + וְֽיַעֲקֹ֡בָה [and·Jaakobah] (193) + וִ֠ישׁוֹחָיָ֠ה [and·Jeshoaiah] (345) + וַעֲשָׂיָ֧ה [and·Asaiah] (391) + וַעֲדִיאֵ֛ל [and·Adiel] (121) + וִישִׂימִאֵ֖ל [and·Jesimiel] (397) + וּבְנָיָֽה [and·Benaiah] (73) = 1713.
and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah;
verse value 1842
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 36 letters. The shortest word is "and·Ziza" (וְזִיזָ֨א, 5 letters) and the longest is "son·of·Shemaiah" (בֶּן־שְׁמַֽעְיָֽה, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "and·Ziza" (וְזִיזָ֨א), "son·of·Shiphi" (בֶן־שִׁפְעִ֧י), "son·of·Allon" (בֶן־אַלּ֛וֹן). The root בן appears 5 times in this verse. 2 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "son·of·Shiphi" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles). 5 of the verse's 6 words begin with the letter ב. Full calculation: וְזִיזָ֨א [and·Ziza] (31) + בֶן־שִׁפְעִ֧י [son·of·Shiphi] (512) + בֶן־אַלּ֛וֹן [son·of·Allon] (139) + בֶּן־יְדָיָ֥ה [son·of·Jedaiah] (81) + בֶן־שִׁמְרִ֖י [son·of·Shimri] (602) + בֶּן־שְׁמַֽעְיָֽה [son·of·Shemaiah] (477) = 1842.
these mentioned by name were princes in their families; and their fathers’ houses increased greatly.
verse value 3625
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 46 letters. Notable word values: "these" (אֵ֚לֶּה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "these" (אֵ֚לֶּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "in·their·families" (בְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָ֑ם, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "princes" (נְשִׂיאִ֖ים), "in·their·families" (בְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָ֑ם), "they·spread·out" (פָּרְצ֖וּ). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·house·of" (root בית, 115x in I Chronicles); "their·fathers" (root אב, 95x in I Chronicles); "these" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·their·families', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: אֵ֚לֶּה [these] (36) + הַבָּאִ֣ים [who·came] (58) + בְּשֵׁמ֔וֹת [by·names] (748) + נְשִׂיאִ֖ים [princes] (411) + בְּמִשְׁפְּחוֹתָ֑ם [in·their·families] (876) + וּבֵית֙ [and·house·of] (418) + אֲב֣וֹתֵיהֶ֔ם [their·fathers] (464) + פָּרְצ֖וּ [they·spread·out] (376) + לָרֽוֹב [in·abundance] (238) = 3625.
Rashi
These mentioned by name were princes in their families, and their fathers’ house spread exceedingly and they had no place to dwell in.
Metzudat David
'These mentioned by name' — meaning, those named here were princes within their families, and their fathers' houses grew strong and became numerous, so that they could not all remain in the region left to them.
Metzudat Zion
Increased (paretzu) - An expression of growing strong and numerous, as in "how you have broken forth!" (Genesis 35).
Malbim
'These mentioned by name were princes in their families' — meaning that they were not princes of the tribe — the last of whom, counted above, was Shimei — but rather princes of individual families, thirteen princes for thirteen families. 'And their fathers' houses increased greatly' — for in the days of Hezekiah they found that the place could not hold the multitude of their inhabitants, since the inheritance of Simeon was small; and therefore...
And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks.
verse value 1694
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 37 letters. The shortest word is "unto" (עַ֖ד, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·they·went" (וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙, 5 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "to·entrance·of" (לִמְב֣וֹא), "the·valley" (הַגָּ֑יְא). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·they·went" (root הלך, 23x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root הלך ("and·they·went") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root עד ("unto") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·valley', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיֵּֽלְכוּ֙ [and·they·went] (72) + לִמְב֣וֹא [to·entrance·of] (79) + גְדֹ֔ר [Gedor] (207) + עַ֖ד [unto] (74) + לְמִזְרַ֣ח [to·east·of] (285) + הַגָּ֑יְא [the·valley] (19) + לְבַקֵּ֥שׁ [to·seek] (432) + מִרְעֶ֖ה [pasture] (315) + לְצֹאנָֽם [for·their·flocks] (211) = 1694.
Rashi
And they went therefore to the approach to Gedor, etc. to seek pasture for their flocks.
Ralbag
And they went to the entrance of Gedor, even to the east side of the valley — Gedor is the name of a city.
Metzudat David
'And they went' — therefore they went as far as the entrance leading to Gedor, etc., in search of pasture.
Malbim
And they went to the entrance of Gedor ... and “was quiet and peaceable” — meaning they had no war from without and no rebellion from within (for that is the definition of peacefulness), and therefore they were unprepared for war, since they were descendants of Ham who had dwelt there beforetime and had held the land from of old, since its earliest days.
And they found fat pasture and good, and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable; for they who dwelt there formerly were of Ham.
verse value 4104
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 59 letters. Verse gematria: 4104 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·they·found" (וַֽיִּמְצְא֤וּ, 6 letters). 9 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "fat" (שָׁמֵ֣ן), "and·good" (וָט֔וֹב), "and·the·land" (וְהָאָ֙רֶץ֙). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "for" (root כי, 69x in I Chronicles); "there" (root שם, 67x in I Chronicles); "formerly" (root פנים, 63x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root מצא ("and·they·found") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root שמן ("fat") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·peaceable', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַֽיִּמְצְא֤וּ [and·they·found] (153) + מִרְעֶה֙ [pasture] (315) + שָׁמֵ֣ן [fat] (390) + וָט֔וֹב [and·good] (23) + וְהָאָ֙רֶץ֙ [and·the·land] (302) + רַחֲבַ֣ת [wide·of] (610) + יָדַ֔יִם [hands] (64) + וְשֹׁקֶ֖טֶת [and·quiet] (815) + וּשְׁלֵוָ֑ה [and·peaceable] (347) + כִּ֣י [for] (30) + מִן־חָ֔ם [from·Ham] (138) + הַיֹּשְׁבִ֥ים [the·dwellers] (367) + שָׁ֖ם [there] (340) + לְפָנִֽים [formerly] (210) = 4104.
Rashi
for the dwellers of yore were from Ham They dwelt in peace and tranquility, and no one came to harm them; therefore, they did not beware when they came upon them to fight, and an example of this is found in Judges (18:27): “... and they came to Laish, to a people tranquil and secure etc.,” (verse 7): “... and they had no bond with any man.” Because they were tranquil, they were not afraid, and they did not make a pact with anyone to help them; therefore, five hundred men defeated them. It is also written above (verse 7): “... after the manner of the Zidonians, tranquil and secure, etc.”
Metzudat David
'Wide' — broad, expansive lands. 'And quiet, and peaceable' — its people dwelt in tranquility, unguarded against war. 'For they... were of Ham' — for they were descendants of Ham who had dwelt there from ancient times, and no one contested their land, so they had no need to guard against war.
Metzudat Zion
Wide (yadim) - [Here the word] means "places" [i.e., expanses], as in "Absalom's Monument" (II Samuel 18).
And these written by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and smote their tents, and the Meunim who were found there, and destroyed them utterly, to this day, and dwelt in their stead; because there was pasture there for their flocks.
verse value 6589
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 119 letters. Notable word values: "these" (אֵ֩לֶּה֩) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "there" (שָֽׁם, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·Meunim" (וְאֶת־הַמְּעוּנִ֨ים, 10 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "who·were·written" (הַכְּתוּבִ֨ים), "Hezekiah" (יְחִזְקִיָּ֣הוּ), "their·tents" (אֶת־אׇהֳלֵיהֶ֜ם). The root שם appears 2 times in this verse. 18 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "king·of·Judah" (root מלך, 91x in I Chronicles); "these" (root אלה, 89x in I Chronicles); "that" (root אשר, 77x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root כתב ("who·were·written") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root זה ("this") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'instead·of·them', dividing the verse into phrases of 18 and 3 words.
Ralbag
and the Meunim — Now, the word ‘hamme’unim’ should be read like ‘me’onim,’ with a holam; the sense of it is the built-up places where shepherds dwelt, or where they had towers to bring in the produce of their fields and vineyards, and to house their flocks. And all of this they struck down. This happened in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and it appears that this was after the exile of the Ten Tribes, and that these people remained there.
Metzudat David
'These written by name' — namely Meshobab, Jamlech, etc. 'Their tents' — meaning, the dwellers of the tents. 'The Meunim' — the name of a nation, Maon. 'To this day' — meaning, they were utterly destroyed and wiped out from that place, and to this day they have never returned, even after Israel itself was exiled from its land. 'And dwelt' — at the time they destroyed them, they settled in their place, for it was a place of pasture and it pleased them.
Malbim
And these written by name came — these are the thirteen heads of families mentioned above, and this was in the days of Hezekiah. and smote their tents — for the people there were shepherds and tent-dwellers. and the Meunim — the name of a nation, mentioned [elsewhere] (Judges 10:12; II Chronicles 26:7). to this day — meaning that even after the sons of Simeon were later exiled, they did not return there.
And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
verse value 4682
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 72 letters. The shortest word is "to·mount·of" (לְהַ֣ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·Pelatiah" (וּפְלַטְיָ֡ה, 6 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "they·went" (הָֽלְכוּ֙), "to·mount·of" (לְהַ֣ר), "and·Pelatiah" (וּפְלַטְיָ֡ה). The root בן appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "from·sons·of" (root בן, 665x in I Chronicles); "in·their·head" (root ראש, 73x in I Chronicles); "men" (root איש, 40x in I Chronicles). First appearance of the root מן ("and·from·them") in I Chronicles. First appearance of the root הר ("to·mount·of") in I Chronicles. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'hundred', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 7 words.
Metzudat David
'And some of them' — Scripture returns to specify: some of the sons of Simeon. 'Having for their captains' — these men were their leaders.
Malbim
And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon — for although their captains were descended from Manasseh (as our sages said, that this Ishi is the same Ishi mentioned below, 5:24, among the sons of Manasseh), nevertheless the sons of Manasseh did not share with them in their inheritance there.
And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and dwelt there to this day.
verse value 2569
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 37 letters. The shortest word is "there" (שָׁ֔ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "remnant·of" (אֶת־שְׁאֵרִ֥ית, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in I Chronicles. Unique to this verse in I Chronicles (hapax): "remnant·of" (אֶת־שְׁאֵרִ֥ית), "the·escape" (הַפְּלֵטָ֖ה), "of·Amalek" (לַעֲמָלֵ֑ק). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "there" (root שם, 67x in I Chronicles); "and·they·dwelt" (root ישב, 44x in I Chronicles); "the·day" (root יום, 39x in I Chronicles). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'of·Amalek', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיַּכּ֕וּ [and·they·smote] (42) + אֶת־שְׁאֵרִ֥ית [remnant·of] (1312) + הַפְּלֵטָ֖ה [the·escape] (129) + לַעֲמָלֵ֑ק [of·Amalek] (270) + וַיֵּ֣שְׁבוּ [and·they·dwelt] (324) + שָׁ֔ם [there] (340) + עַ֖ד [unto] (74) + הַיּ֥וֹם [the·day] (61) + הַזֶּֽה [this] (17) = 2569.
Rashi
And they smote the remnant... that had escaped from being annihilated by David, for David destroyed every male in Edom.
Metzudat David
'The remnant... who escaped' — those who remained, whom Saul and David had not wiped out; regarding David it is said, 'until he had cut off every male in Edom' (I Kings 11:16), and Amalek is descended from Edom. 'To this day' — for they returned to dwell there when the exiles came back from Babylon.
Metzudat Zion
The remnant (hapeleitah) - An expression of what remains, as in "remnant and survivor" (Joshua 8:22).
Malbim
the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped — who survived after Saul and David had struck them down.
Ralbag
Metzudat David
Malbim