31. and Zecher] Read with ix. 37, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.
³²And Mikloth begat Shimeah[¹]. And they also dwelt with their brethren in Jerusalem, over against their brethren.
[¹] In chapter ix. 38, Shimeam.
32. with their brethren, etc.] i.e. with some of their brethren in Jerusalem over against other of their brethren in Gibeon and other places. “They” would seem to refer to Mikloth and Shimeah, but the clause is far from clear, and it may be noted that verse 32b looks like the heading of a list that has been lost.
³³And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchi-shua, and Abinadab[¹], and Eshbaal[²].
[¹] In 1 Samuel xiv. 49, Ishvi.
[²] In 2 Samuel ii. 8, Ishbosheth.
33. begat Kish] here and in ix. 39, read begat Abner—as in 1 Samuel xiv. 51, etc.
Jonathan ... Abinadab] Slain with Saul on Mt Gilboa; x. 2; 1 Samuel xxxi. 2.
Eshbaal] In 2 Samuel ii. 8 called Ish-bosheth. In the (more generally read) Samuel text the offensive name Eshbaal, “Man (i.e. worshipper) of Baal,” has been changed to Ishbosheth, “Man of the Shameful-thing” (i.e. of the idol), but it has been left standing in the less-used text of Chronicles The title Baal (“Lord”) was applied in early days (e.g. in the days of Saul) to the national God of Israel, but in later days the prophets objected to it because of its general use in designation of the heathen gods also. Hosea (ii. 17), for example, declares that the true worshippers of Jehovah must no longer call him “My Baal” (Baali). Thus to Saul and Samuel the name Eshbaal was acceptable as meaning “Man of the Lord,” i.e. of Jehovah, but to the late reviser of the book of Samuel it was offensive as signifying “Man of Baal,” i.e. of one of the gods worshipped by the old Canaanite peoples or by the neighbouring nations. Since the text of Chronicles has retained such forms as Eshbaal (here), Ashbel (verse 1), it seems that the conscientious alterations of such forms in the books of Samuel, Kings, etc., are later than the time of the Chronicler.