1 Chronicles 2:52

And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

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

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Caleb the son of Hur - Hur was the son, not the father, of Caleb 1 Chronicles 2:19. The text should perhaps be read: "These (the list in 1 Chronicles 2:42-49) were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the first-born of Ephratah, were Shobal, etc."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

42. the sons of Caleb—(compare 1Ch 2:18, 25). The sons here noticed were the fruit of his union with a third wife.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Haroeh; which may signify an overseer, a prophet, or teacher, or ruler; but here is a proper name, as appears from 1 Chronicles 4:2, where he is called Reaiah, with no great variation in the Hebrew.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Shobal, the father of Kirjathjearim had sons,.... Which shows that Kirjathjearim is not the name of a man, or of any of Shobal's sons, who are next mentioned, but of a place of which he was prince: the first is

Haroeh, who is called Reaiah, 1 Chronicles 4:2 a word of the same signification:

and half of the Manahethites; which Kimchi takes to be the proper name of a man called Chatzihamanaheth, another son of Shobal's; but Jarchi interprets it of the name of a place or province called Manahath, 1 Chronicles 8:6 over half of which Haroeh was governor.

Geneva Study Bible

And Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim had sons; Haroeh, and half of the Manahethites.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

52. Haroeh and half of the Manahethites] R.V. Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. If the text be sound, render, Who provided for half the resting-places, the description applying to Shobal, whose work apparently was to supervise some of the halting-stations of the caravans which passed through the territory of Judah. Cp. similar details in 1 Chronicles 4:21-23. Seraiah (Jeremiah 51:59), who accompanied king Zedekiah to Babylon, bore the title of Prince of the resting-places, doubtless because he was entrusted with the duty of selecting the halting-places on the king’s journey. Some however would read Reaiah as in 1 Chronicles 4:2, and would find the name of another son concealed in the phrase half of the Manahethites (Menuhoth); cp. 1 Chronicles 2:54, where however the Heb. word is different.

1 Chronicles 2:52

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Shobal had sons, המּנחות חצי הראה. These words, which are translated in the Vulgate, qui videbat dimidium requietionum, give, so interpreted, no fitting sense, but must contain proper names. The lxx have made from them three names, Ἀραὰ καὶ Αἰσὶ καὶ Ἀμμανίθ, on mere conjecture. Most commentators take הראה for the name of the man who, in 1 Chronicles 4:2, is called under the name Reaiah, ראיה, the son of Shobal. This is doubtless correct; but we must not take הראה for another name of Reaiah, but, with Bertheau, must hold it to be a corruption of ראיה, or a conjecture arising from a false interpretation of המּנחות חצי by a transcriber or reader, who did not take Hazi-Hammenuhoth for a proper name, but understood it appellatively, and attempted to bring some sense out of the words by changing ראיה into the participle ראה. The המּנחתּי חצי ה in 1 Chronicles 2:54 corresponds to our המּנחות חצי, as one half of a race or district corresponds to the other, for the connection between the substantive המּנחות and the adjective המּנחתּי cannot but be acknowledged. Now, although מנוּחה signifies resting-place (Numbers 10:33; Judges 20:43), and the words "the half of the resting-place," or "of the resting-places," point in the first instance to a district, yet not only does the context require that Hazi-Hammenuhoth should signify a family sprung from Shobal, but it is demanded also by a comparison of our phrase with hmnchty chtsy in 1 Chronicles 2:54, which unquestionably denotes a family. It does not, however, seem necessary to alter the המּנחות into המּנחתּי; for as in 1 Chronicles 2:54 Bethlehem stands for the family in Bethlehem descended from Salma, so the district Hazi-Hammenuhoth may be used in 1 Chronicles 2:52 to denote the family residing there. As to the geographical position of this district, see on 1 Chronicles 2:54.