³¹And the sons of Appaim; Ishi. And the sons of Ishi; Sheshan. And the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai. ³²And the sons of Jada the brother of Shammai; Jether, and Jonathan: and Jether died without children[¹]. ³³And the sons of Jonathan; Peleth, and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel.
[¹] Or, sons.
31. the sons of Sheshan; Ahlai] Ahlai is perhaps a gentilic name, not the name of an individual, since in verse 34 Sheshan is said to have had “no sons, but daughters.” More probably however the Chronicler is using a different source for verses 34–41.
³⁴Now Sheshan had no sons, but daughters. And Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha.
34. an Egyptian] Hebrew Miṣri. Render probably a Muṣrite, i.e. inhabitant of the north Arabian district to the south of Palestine, known as Muṣri and apparently confused at times with Miṣraim (Egypt). For some suggestive conjectures regarding this table of Jarha’s descendants see S. A. Cook, Encyclopedia Biblica II. 2364.
³⁵And Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant to wife; and she bare him Attai. ³⁶And Attai begat Nathan, and Nathan begat Zabad; ³⁷and Zabad begat Ephlal, and Ephlal begat Obed; ³⁸and Obed begat Jehu, and Jehu begat Azariah; ³⁹and Azariah begat Helez, and Helez begat Eleasah; ⁴⁰and Eleasah begat Sismai, and Sismai begat Shallum; ⁴¹and Shallum begat Jekamiah, and Jekamiah begat Elishama.
35. Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha] This was equivalent to making his servant his heir. Thus Abraham at first (Genesis xv. 2, 3) regarded Eliezer his steward as his heir. The list of thirteen descendants of Jarha ending with Elishama (verse 41) is perhaps a proper genealogy: at least the names may be those of individuals, although it is impossible to say why this pedigree of Elishama should have been so carefully preserved (so Curtis). On the other hand Cook (see previous note) regards Jarha as perhaps an eponym of Jerahmeel, and, connecting Sheshan with the Hebronite Sheshai, thinks the genealogy may signify a northward movement of Jerahmeel from Muṣri to the district of Hebron.
42–49 (compare verses 18–24).
The Descendants of Caleb.
⁴²And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, which was the father of Ziph; and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. ⁴³And the sons of Hebron; Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema. ⁴⁴And Shema begat Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem begat Shammai.
42. Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel] Called Chelubai (verse 9) and Caleb the son of Hezron (verse 18). As eponym of the tribe Caleb is described as “son” of Hezron “son” of Judah, and of course is not to be distinguished from the Caleb son of Jephunneh who is classed as a Kenizzite in various passages (iv. 15; Numbers xiii. 6; Joshua xiv. 6).