Commentary - 1 Chronicles 8:33-40

Bird's-eye view

At first glance, this passage appears to be just another dry list of names, the kind of biblical terrain that many a daily Bible reader has gotten bogged down in. But we must never think that way. God does not waste ink, and He certainly does not include nine chapters of genealogies at the beginning of 1 Chronicles just to fill space. These lists are theological documents. This particular section, detailing the lineage of King Saul, is especially potent. The Chronicler, writing to the returned exiles, is reminding them of their history, and not just the glorious parts. Here is the line of the first king, the failed king, from the troublesome tribe of Benjamin. Yet, God did not blot out his name or his line. The genealogy extends for many generations after Saul's catastrophic failure, demonstrating God's meticulous providence and covenant faithfulness even to a rejected royal house. It shows that God remembers. He remembers the people He has made, and even in judgment, He does not simply erase them. This detailed preservation of Saul's family tree is a quiet testament to a God who is sovereign over the failures of men and who weaves even the loose ends of a failed monarchy into His grand, overarching story of redemption.

Furthermore, the passage ends with a note about the military prowess of Saul's distant relatives, the sons of Ulam. They are "mighty men of valor, archers," with a huge number of descendants. This serves as a reminder that the tribe of Benjamin, despite its past sins and the failure of its most famous son, was still capable of producing strength and fruitfulness. It is a subtle picture of common grace and a reminder to the post-exilic community that God's purposes are not easily thwarted. Even from a failed line, God can bring forth strength. This points us forward to the ultimate Son of David, who came from a royal line that had long since lost its earthly throne, yet was the fulfillment of all God's promises.

Outline

Context In 1 Chronicles

The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are a massive genealogical undertaking, designed to reconnect the returned exiles with their covenant history. After the devastation and dislocation of the Babylonian exile, it was essential for the people to know who they were. They were not a random collection of refugees; they were the covenant people of God, with a story stretching back to Adam. The Chronicler is establishing their identity by rooting them in God's past faithfulness. He gives special attention to the lines of Judah and David, from whom the Messiah would come, and to the tribe of Levi, who were responsible for the temple worship that was being restored. The inclusion of this detailed genealogy of Saul and the tribe of Benjamin is significant. It demonstrates the Chronicler's commitment to the whole history of Israel, not just the highlights. It acknowledges the monarchy's rocky start and God's judgment on Saul's house, but it does so within a framework of God's ongoing, sovereign care for all His people, even the descendants of a failed king.

Key Issues

God Remembers His Own

When we read the Bible, we must do so with the conviction that every word is from God and is profitable. That includes the long lists of names. These genealogies are not filler; they are the skeletal structure of redemptive history. God is a God of particulars. He doesn't just love "humanity," He knows His people by name. He tracks their lineage with meticulous care because His great promise of redemption was a promise that would travel down a particular bloodline, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of David.

This passage is a powerful demonstration of this principle. Saul was a disaster. He was the king the people asked for in rebellion, and he ended his life in rebellion. God explicitly rejected his dynasty (1 Sam. 13:13-14). And yet, here in God's inspired history, the Chronicler takes the time to trace Saul's descendants for over ten generations. Why? To show that God's rejection of Saul's dynasty was not a petulant erasure of his family. God is not like a pagan despot who liquidates the entire family of his rival. He is a just Judge, but He is also a faithful Creator. These were still His people, members of the covenant community, and He remembered them. This is a profound comfort. Even when men fail spectacularly, God's memory and His providential care for His creation do not fail.

Verse by Verse Commentary

33 Ner became the father of Kish, and Kish became the father of Saul, and Saul became the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

The genealogy begins with Saul's immediate family. We are reminded that Saul, the towering first king of Israel, was a man with a father and a grandfather. He came from somewhere. He was part of a family line, just like everyone else. The list of his sons is familiar from the historical accounts in Samuel, with one notable difference. The fourth son is named Eshbaal, meaning "man of Baal." In 2 Samuel, he is called Ish-bosheth, meaning "man of shame." It is likely that his given name was Eshbaal, but that the later biblical writers, out of piety, substituted the shameful "bosheth" for the pagan "baal." The Chronicler, writing a straightforward historical record, uses the original name, a stark reminder of the casual syncretism that was present in Israel even in the household of the king.

34 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal, and Merib-baal became the father of Micah.

The line continues not through the failed king Eshbaal, but through the noble Jonathan, David's beloved friend. Here again we see the name change. Jonathan's son is Merib-baal, which means "Baal is my advocate" or "contender against Baal." In 2 Samuel, he is the familiar Mephibosheth, "dispeller of shame." This is the crippled son of Jonathan to whom David showed such extraordinary kindness for his father's sake (2 Sam. 9). The fact that God's record traces the line through Jonathan, the man of faith, and that this line leads to the man who would receive covenant grace from King David, is theologically rich. God preserves the line of the faithful, and that line becomes the recipient of royal mercy.

35-36 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. Ahaz became the father of Jehoaddah, and Jehoaddah became the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza.

The list now unfolds, generation by generation. These are names that appear nowhere else in Scripture. They are not famous kings or prophets. They are simply men who lived, had sons, and died. But God knows their names. He recorded them in His book. This is a powerful antidote to our obsession with fame and earthly significance. To be written in God's book is the only significance that ultimately matters. The line continues, a quiet stream of ordinary providence, a testament to God's faithfulness in the mundane business of begetting and birth.

37-38 Moza became the father of Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

The genealogy continues to branch out. Azel is blessed with six sons. Their names are recorded with care. This is the tenth generation from Jonathan. A man who could have been king, but who submitted to God's will for David to be king, has a flourishing posterity. There is a quiet lesson here about the nature of God's blessing. Jonathan sought God's kingdom first, not his own, and his family line was preserved and multiplied. Saul grasped for the kingdom and lost it for his descendants. God's economy often works in this inverse way.

39 The sons of Eshek his brother were Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

The Chronicler briefly turns to a collateral line, the descendants of Azel's brother, Eshek. This serves to broaden the picture of the tribe of Benjamin. It is not just one single line that is being traced, but a whole family network that is being remembered.

40 The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons and grandsons, 150 of them. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.

The genealogy concludes with this striking summary. Generations after Saul, this branch of his extended family is characterized by two things: martial strength and great fruitfulness. They are mighty men of valor, a term for elite warriors. Specifically, they are archers, a skill for which the tribe of Benjamin was historically famous (Judges 20:16). And they are numerous, 150 men in this one family branch. This is a picture of God's common grace. Despite the failure of their royal kinsman, this family is strong and blessed with many children. For the returning exiles, this was a word of encouragement. Their past failures, even the great national failure of the monarchy that led to the exile, did not have the final say. God was still able to produce strength and fruitfulness among His people. The tribe of Benjamin, once nearly wiped out for its sin (Judges 20), and the producer of the failed King Saul, is here shown to be alive and well, producing valiant men. God's grace is resilient.

Application

There are at least two central applications for us in this dense passage. The first is that God's memory is perfect, and His providence is meticulous. We live in an age that prizes the ephemeral and forgets the past. But God forgets nothing. He knows our name, our family, our story. This is both a comfort and a warning. It is a comfort because it means our lives are not meaningless accidents. We are part of a story God is writing. It is a warning because God also remembers our sins. Our only hope is to be found in Christ, whose blood erases the record of our sin from God's book of judgment.

The second application has to do with failure. Saul's failure was about as public and catastrophic as it gets. He lost his kingdom, his honor, and his life. Yet, God did not abandon his family. God's grace continued to flow through common providence, preserving his line and even granting it strength and fruitfulness generations later. This should encourage us when we are confronted with our own failures, or the failures of our family or our church. Our sin is grievous, but it is not ultimate. God's purposes cannot be derailed by our rebellion. He is a God of redemption, able to bring strength out of weakness and life out of a rejected line. The story of Saul's descendants is a small picture of the greater story of the gospel, where God chose a rejected and crucified Messiah to be the King of kings, and through Him brings an innumerable family of mighty sons and daughters into His everlasting kingdom.