Show Bible Commentary For A Bible Verse

Click here to show/hide instructions.

Selected Verse: 1 Chronicles 5:18 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
1Ch 5:18	King James	The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

Open All | Close All Open All | Close All

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Hagarites--or, "Hagarenes," originally synonymous with "Ishmaelites," but afterwards applied to a particular tribe of the Arabs (compare Psa 83:6). Jetur--His descendants were called Itureans, and the country Auranitis, from Hauran, its chief city. These, who were skilled in archery, were invaded in the time of Joshua by a confederate army of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, who, probably incensed by the frequent raids of those marauding neighbors, took reprisals in men and cattle, dispossessed almost all of the original inhabitants, and colonized the district themselves. Divine Providence favoured, in a remarkable manner, the Hebrew army in this just war.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Hagarites--or, "Hagarenes," originally synonymous with "Ishmaelites," but afterwards applied to a particular tribe of the Arabs (compare Psa 83:6).

Jetur--His descendants were called Itureans, and the country Auranitis, from Hauran, its chief city. These, who were skilled in archery, were invaded in the time of Joshua by a confederate army of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, who, probably incensed by the frequent raids of those marauding neighbors, took reprisals in men and cattle, dispossessed almost all of the original inhabitants, and colonized the district themselves. Divine Providence favoured, in a remarkable manner, the Hebrew army in this just war.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
War of the trans-Jordanic tribes of Israel with Arabic tribes. - As the half-tribe of Manasseh also took part in this war, we should have expected the account of it after Ch1 5:24. Bertheau regards its position here as a result of striving after a symmetrical distribution of the historical information. "In the case of Reuben," he says, "the historical information is in Ch1 5:10; in the case of the half-tribe of Manasseh, in Ch1 5:25, Ch1 5:26; as to Gad, we have our record in Ch1 5:18-22, which, together with the account in Ch1 5:25, Ch1 5:26, refers to all the trans-Jordanic Israelites." But it is much more likely that the reason of it will be found in the character of the authorities which the author of the Chronicle made use of, in which, probably, the notes regarding this war were contained in the genealogical register of the Gadites. Ch1 5:18 חיל מן־בּני belongs to the predicate of the sentence, "They were the sons of Valour," i.e., they belonged to the valiant warriors, "men bearing shield and sword (weapons of offence and defence), and those treading (or bending) the bow," i.e., skilful bowmen. מלחמה למוּדי, people practised in war; cf. the portrayal of the warlike valour of Gad and Manasseh, Ch1 12:8, Ch1 12:21. "The number 44,760 must be founded upon an accurate reckoning" (Berth.); but in comparison with the number of men capable of bearing arms in those tribes in the time of Moses, it is somewhat inconsiderable: for at the first numbering under him Reuben alone had 46,500 and Gad 45,650, and at the second numbering Reuben had 43,730 and Gad 40,500 men; see on Num 1-4 (1:2, S. 192). Ch1 5:19 "They made was with the Hagarites and Jethur, Nephish and Nodab." So early as the time of Saul the Reubenites had victoriously made war upon the Hagarites (see Ch1 5:10); but the war here mentioned was certainly at a later time, and has no further connection with that in Ch1 5:10 except that both arose from similar causes. The time of the second is not given, and all we know from Ch1 5:22 is that it had broken out before the trans-Jordanic Israelites were led captive by the Assyrians. הגריאים, in Psa 83:7 contracted into הגרים, are the Ἀγραῖοι, whom Strabo, xvi. p. 767, introduces, on the authority of Eratosthenes, as leading a nomadic life in the great Arabico-Syrian desert, along with the Nabataeans and Chaulotaeans. Jetur, from whom the Itureans are descended, and Nephish, are Ishmaelites; cf. on Gen 25:15. Nodab, mentioned only here, is a Bedouin tribe of whom nothing more is known. Ch1 5:20 The Israelites, with God's help, gained the victory. יעזרוּ, "it was helped to them," i.e., by God "against them" - the Hagarites and their allies. שׁעמּהם contracted from עמּהם אשׁר. נעתּור is not an uncommon form of the perf. Niph., which would not be suitable in a continuous sentence, but the inf. absol. Niph. used instead of the third pers. perf. (cf. Gesen. Heb. Gramm. 131, 4): "and (God) was entreated of them, because they trusted in Him." From these words we may conclude that the war was a very serious one, in which the possession of the land was at stake. As the trans-Jordanic tribes lived mainly by cattle-breeding, and the Arabian tribes on the eastern frontier of their land were also a shepherd people, quarrels could easily arise as to the possession of the pasture grounds, which might lead to a war of extermination. Ch1 5:21 The conquerors captured a great booty in herds, 50,000 camels, 250,000 head of small cattle (sheep and goats), 2000 asses, and 100,000 persons - all round numbers; cf. the rich booty obtained in the war against the Midianites, Num 31:11, Num 31:32. Ch1 5:22 This rich booty should not surprise us, "for there fell many slain," i.e., the enemy had suffered a very bloody defeat. "For the war was from God," i.e., conducted to this result: cf. Ch2 25:20; Sa1 17:47. "And they dwelt in their stead," i.e., they took possession of the pasture grounds, which up to that time had belonged to the Arabs, and held them until they were carried away captive by the Assyrians; see Ch1 5:26.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

War of the trans-Jordanic tribes of Israel with Arabic tribes. - As the half-tribe of Manasseh also took part in this war, we should have expected the account of it after Ch1 5:24. Bertheau regards its position here as a result of striving after a symmetrical distribution of the historical information. "In the case of Reuben," he says, "the historical information is in Ch1 5:10; in the case of the half-tribe of Manasseh, in Ch1 5:25, Ch1 5:26; as to Gad, we have our record in Ch1 5:18-22, which, together with the account in Ch1 5:25, Ch1 5:26, refers to all the trans-Jordanic Israelites." But it is much more likely that the reason of it will be found in the character of the authorities which the author of the Chronicle made use of, in which, probably, the notes regarding this war were contained in the genealogical register of the Gadites.

Ch1 5:18

חיל מן־בּני belongs to the predicate of the sentence, "They were the sons of Valour," i.e., they belonged to the valiant warriors, "men bearing shield and sword (weapons of offence and defence), and those treading (or bending) the bow," i.e., skilful bowmen. מלחמה למוּדי, people practised in war; cf. the portrayal of the warlike valour of Gad and Manasseh, Ch1 12:8, Ch1 12:21. "The number 44,760 must be founded upon an accurate reckoning" (Berth.); but in comparison with the number of men capable of bearing arms in those tribes in the time of Moses, it is somewhat inconsiderable: for at the first numbering under him Reuben alone had 46,500 and Gad 45,650, and at the second numbering Reuben had 43,730 and Gad 40,500 men; see on Num 1-4 (1:2, S. 192).

Ch1 5:19

"They made was with the Hagarites and Jethur, Nephish and Nodab." So early as the time of Saul the Reubenites had victoriously made war upon the Hagarites (see Ch1 5:10); but the war here mentioned was certainly at a later time, and has no further connection with that in Ch1 5:10 except that both arose from similar causes. The time of the second is not given, and all we know from Ch1 5:22 is that it had broken out before the trans-Jordanic Israelites were led captive by the Assyrians. הגריאים, in Psa 83:7 contracted into הגרים, are the Ἀγραῖοι, whom Strabo, xvi. p. 767, introduces, on the authority of Eratosthenes, as leading a nomadic life in the great Arabico-Syrian desert, along with the Nabataeans and Chaulotaeans. Jetur, from whom the Itureans are descended, and Nephish, are Ishmaelites; cf. on Gen 25:15. Nodab, mentioned only here, is a Bedouin tribe of whom nothing more is known.

Ch1 5:20

The Israelites, with God's help, gained the victory. יעזרוּ, "it was helped to them," i.e., by God "against them" - the Hagarites and their allies. שׁעמּהם contracted from עמּהם אשׁר. נעתּור is not an uncommon form of the perf. Niph., which would not be suitable in a continuous sentence, but the inf. absol. Niph. used instead of the third pers. perf. (cf. Gesen. Heb. Gramm. 131, 4): "and (God) was entreated of them, because they trusted in Him." From these words we may conclude that the war was a very serious one, in which the possession of the land was at stake. As the trans-Jordanic tribes lived mainly by cattle-breeding, and the Arabian tribes on the eastern frontier of their land were also a shepherd people, quarrels could easily arise as to the possession of the pasture grounds, which might lead to a war of extermination.

Ch1 5:21

The conquerors captured a great booty in herds, 50,000 camels, 250,000 head of small cattle (sheep and goats), 2000 asses, and 100,000 persons - all round numbers; cf. the rich booty obtained in the war against the Midianites, Num 31:11, Num 31:32.

Ch1 5:22

This rich booty should not surprise us, "for there fell many slain," i.e., the enemy had suffered a very bloody defeat. "For the war was from God," i.e., conducted to this result: cf. Ch2 25:20; Sa1 17:47. "And they dwelt in their stead," i.e., they took possession of the pasture grounds, which up to that time had belonged to the Arabs, and held them until they were carried away captive by the Assyrians; see Ch1 5:26.

Top

⁶ The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;

²⁶ And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.

⁴⁷ And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will give you into our hands.

²⁰ But Amaziah would not hear; for it came of God, that he might deliver them into the hand of their enemies, because they sought after the gods of Edom.

²² For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

³² And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,

¹¹ And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.

²¹ And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand.

²⁰ And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.

¹⁵ Hadar, and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah:

⁷ Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;

²² For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

¹⁰ And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east land of Gilead.

¹⁹ And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab.

²¹ And they helped David against the band of the rovers: for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.

⁸ And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David into the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains;

²⁵ And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

¹⁸ The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.
¹⁹ And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab.
²⁰ And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him.
²¹ And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand.
²² For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

²⁵ And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.

¹⁰ And in the days of Saul they made war with the Hagarites, who fell by their hand: and they dwelt in their tents throughout all the east land of Gilead.

²⁴ And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers.