Week 19 1 Chronicles 4
Chapter four begins: the sons of Judah were Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur and Shobal. I think: hold-on-for-just-one-second! I haven’t memorized family name lists but that doesn’t sound right. For one thing I have a clear memory of that off-kilter Judah Story (it not only interrupts the flow of Joseph’s Long Story in Genesis but it sticks in memory as one of those what’s-the-point? bafflers). And for another thing I just read seventy-seven verses ago that: the sons of Judah were Er, Onan, and Shelah…(and) Perez and Zerah.
I cross-reference back and see that the 1 Chronicles 2 list matches with Genesis 38 – Judah had five sons: Er Onan Shelah Perez & Zerah.
In 1 Chronicles the only common name in its two lists is Perez. But I also see that chapter two says Perez had a son named Hezron (who’s in the chapter four list). I cross-reference back to another Genesis list of Judah’s sons: Er and Onan and Shelah and Perez and Zerah…And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
Okay…so Perez is Judah’s son…but Hezron is his grandson.
Finally I check two other bible versions. I wish I’d done it earlier because they both say that Perez Hezron Carmi Hur & Shobal were: the descendants of Judah. So…not necessarily sons.
I wonder why writer’s in the ancient near east didn’t just use the same kinship terminology we use in Alberta. So there’s another Reader’s Alert for me.
Note: quotes from 1 Chronicles 4:1 (NASB NIV & NLT) and 2:3-4, Genesis 46:12 (NASB)