3. these were the sons of the father of Etam] The Hebrew has not got the words the sons of, and is certainly corrupt. The LXX. reads, These were the sons of Etam. Correction is difficult, largely owing to the obscurity of Etam. If Etam had been named as a son of Shobal in verse 2, we might follow the LXX. It is perhaps best to suppose that Etam begins the list of descendants of Hur, and to read “these were the sons of Hur the father of Etam.” Etam was a place, but whether near Bethlehem (the Etam of 2 Chronicles xi. 6) or in southern Judah (the Simeonite Etam of verse 32) is uncertain.
⁴and Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, the father of Beth-lehem.
4. Hur] the first born of Ephrathah (= Ephrath) one of the wives of Caleb (ii. 19). Hur was father of Bethlehem through his son Salma (ii. 50, 51, LXX.). For the name of the city compare Genesis xxxv. 19 (Ephrath the same is Bethlehem) and Micah v. 2 (Revised Version Thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah).
⁵And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶And Naarah bare him Ahuzzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷And the sons of Helah were Zereth, Izhar[¹], and Ethnan.
[¹] Another reading is, and Zohar.
5. Ashhur the father of Tekoa] Ashhur is probably only a variant of Hur (see note ii. 24). Hur then is the exilic or post-exilic “father” (founder) of the Calebite population of Tekoa (5 miles from Bethlehem), and of Bethlehem, etc., through his sons (ii. 50–52).
Helah and Naarah] Neither the names of the wives nor those of the children yield any certain information.
⁸And Hakkoz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.
8. And Hakkoz] But Hebrew Koz. The absence of connection with the preceding verse is striking. Perhaps Koz was properly one of the sons of Helah (verse 7), and a motive for the severance of his name may be found in the wish to make less obvious his Calebite (i.e. non-Levitical) origin, in case he were identified with the priestly Hakkoz of xxiv. 10; Ezekiel ii. 61, a family who were unable to prove an untainted pedigree.
⁹And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying. Because I bare him with sorrow.