Ethan ... Dara] Read, Darda with Vulgate, Targum, Peshitṭa The same four names in the same order occur 1 Kings iv. 31 as the names of wise men whom Solomon surpassed in wisdom. They are there called sons of “Mahol” who may have been either a nearer or remoter ancestor than Zerah. Ethan however is there called the Ezrahite (= probably “son of Zerah”). [Psalms lxxxviii., lxxxix. bear respectively the names “Heman the Ezrahite,” “Ethan the Ezrahite,” but these (it seems) were Levites (compare xv. 17, 19, where see note).]
⁷And the sons of Carmi; Achar[¹], the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing. ⁸And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.
[¹] In Joshua vii. 1, Achan.
7. the sons of Carmi] Carmi is probably to be taken as the son of Zimri (= Zabdi, Joshua vii. 1). Targum however has “Carmi who is Zimri.” See note on Zimri, verse 6.
Achar] This form of the name (instead of “Achan,” Joshua vii. 1) is used by the Chronicler to bring out better the play on the Hebrew word for “troubler.” The Hebrew runs, “Achar ocher Israel.”
⁹The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.
9. Jerahmeel] For his descendants see verses 25–41. The descendants of his younger brother Ram are given first. They purport to be the ancestry of David and his family.
Chelubai] Another form of “Caleb”; see note on verse 42.
¹⁰And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; ¹¹and Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz; ¹²and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse;
10. Ram] The descent of David from Judah is given also in Ruth iv. 18–22 and Matthew i. 3–6. Ram as a clan parallel with the great clans of Caleb and Jerahmeel is strange; for it is not known otherwise in the Old Testament Further, as the descendants of Ram given in verses 10–12 are the family tree of David (contrast the clans and cities in the lines of Caleb and Jerahmeel) it may be supposed that Ram owes his position here simply to the Chronicler’s desire to incorporate Ruth iv. 19, where also this pedigree of David is given. Note also that in verse 25 a Ram is mentioned as a son of Jerahmeel and grandson of Hezron.