1 Chronicles 7:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a brief account of several tribes.

I. The tribe of Issachar. Jacob had compared Issachar to a strong donkey, lying down between two burdens (Genesis 49:14). It was an industrious tribe, one that paid close attention to farming and was content to live quietly at home (Deuteronomy 33:18). Here we see, first, that they were a large tribe, because they had many wives. Their land was so fruitful that they had no fear of overusing it, and their people were so skillful that they could keep everyone busy. No people should complain about being numerous, as long as they do not let anyone sit idle. Second, they were a brave tribe, full of able men (1 Chronicles 7:2, 1 Chronicles 7:5), and chief men among them (1 Chronicles 7:3). People who are used to work and steady duties are often the best fitted to serve their country when needed. The number of their families, as listed in David’s time, comes to more than 145,000 men able for war. Some think this count was taken when Joab numbered the people (2 Samuel 24), but I think it was probably another count made among themselves, since (1 Chronicles 27:24) says that record was not put into David’s official chronicles, because it angered God.

II. The tribe of Benjamin. We are given only a short account of this tribe here, because a fuller one comes in the next chapter. Their fighting force was not quite 60,000, but they are still called mighty men of courage (1 Chronicles 7:7, 1 Chronicles 7:9, 1 Chronicles 7:11). Jacob had said, “Benjamin shall tear prey like a wolf” (Genesis 49:27). It was an honor to this tribe that it produced Saul, Israel’s first king, and an even greater honor that it stayed loyal to the rightful kings from David’s family when the other tribes rebelled. In (1 Chronicles 7:12) we read of Hushim, the sons of Aher. The sons of Dan are called Hushim in (Genesis 46:23), so some take Aher as meaning “another,” as if it means the sons of another man, or the sons of a stranger. Israelites should not have been strangers in this way, yet the Danites acted like that when they set up Micah’s carved and cast image among them.

III. The tribe of Naphtali (1 Chronicles 7:13). Only the first fathers of that tribe are named here, the same men listed in (Genesis 46:24), except that Shillem there is called Shallum here. None of their descendants are named, perhaps because their family records were lost.

IV. The tribe of Manasseh, meaning that part of Manasseh settled west of the Jordan River. The other part had already been mentioned before (1 Chronicles 5:23 and following). Of this tribe, observe first that one man married an Aramitess, that is, a Syrian woman (1 Chronicles 7:14). This happened during their slavery in Egypt, so early did they begin to mix with the nations. Second, though the father had married a Syrian woman, Machir, the son of that marriage, perhaps seeing the trouble it caused in his father’s house, married a daughter of Benjamin (1 Chronicles 7:15). Children do well to learn from their fathers’ mistakes and avoid the same fault. Third, Bedan is mentioned here (1 Chronicles 7:17). He may be the same Bedan named as one of Israel’s deliverers in (1 Samuel 12:11). Jair, who belonged to Manasseh (Judges 10:3), may have been that man.