Old Testament Commentary - 1 Chronicles 5

by Don R. Hender


Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
Commentary & Explanation
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
              CHAPTER 5                 

Joseph received Reuben's birthright—Judah became ruler in Israel—The line of Reuben down to the captivity is given—Assyrians carry Reubenites, Gadites, and half of Manasseh into captivity.

Joseph received the priesthood birthright of the fathers after the order of Melchizedek and that everlasting covenant of God made with man from the time of Adam through fathers which is the patriarchal order—The 'birthright' priesthood not to be after the genealogy of Reuben the firstborn son of Jacob, but rather through Joseph—Those of the blood of Judah but of the legal right of Ephraim through Mahlon and others became the ruler's of Israel—Genealogies of Reuben and Gad given—Matters and events concerning those east of the river Jordan, being Reubenites, Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh, given.
 

An 'Implied and Intended Assertion' of the Birthright Genealogy

Between the direction given Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37 of preparing a stick or record of Judah and perhaps as late as the time of Ezra the prophet, the Old Testament scripts were compiled, edited and set forth. Prior to the Babylonian captivity it is of scholarly consensus that no such formal accumulation was held or at least had been disrupted by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and therefore needed to be reformed into an 'authorized' or 'authentic' set of records. It is quite obvious that the books of the chronicles have been so developed from vaious earlier records, including those of Samuel and Kings. It is of some importance to understand that the chronicle record dates post Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and assuredly well after the scattering of the 'lost' tribes of Israel. Thus it is not very surprising that those of Judah would be very prone to conceive that 'Judah had so prevailed above his brethern', Judah being the only complete tribe of the twelve tribes of Jacob remaining.

It is from this post Babylon perspective that the first two verses of 1 Chronicles chapter 5 may be considered and so shown to hold an 'Implied Assertion' betwix the 'birthright which it truthfully attributes to Joseph and his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, Eprhaim being particularly dominante and the eventual birthright tribe. When the logic read within the parentheses, is followed, it would seem that the versification is somewhat artificial as will as the supplied punctutation. The logic seem to be that the genealogy did not follow the birthright 'for' or because only the tribe of Judah had prevailed. And therein is the implied assertion that if Judah had not so 'prevailed' or been the only remaining complete tribe, then the true order of the genealogy of the 'birthright' ought to have followed Joseph, that is to say Israel of Ephraim.

This brings us to the need to so stipulate just 'whose' or 'what' genealogy is so being spoken of. Now as to the birthright, the important genealogy is that of the 'promised seed' or that genealogy of the promised Messiah. This genealogy of that 'seed' had been tracked ever since the time of Adam and was according to the blessings of the 'Birthright'. Here now arises some extended implications beyond the mere obvious one of 'whose' genealogy is here being spoken of. And rather than to unfold the whole of it here, as space does not allow, one ought to follow the link to Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph. Simply stated, Joseph by way of Ephraim held a claim in that genealogy and that claim included the legal and rightful heirship of Obed, Jesse, David and soforth, to the right to be the ancestor to the promised Messiah. Obed was the seed of Mahlon and Elimelech, Ephraimites through the surrogate parentage of Boaz and Ruth according to the Law of Moses found in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, see also Ruth 4:5 & 10, etc. Now in that respect, Israel or the House of Ephraim and his companions held a 'greater right' in David though David after being 'condemned of the Lord' as to his sin against Uriah, David had so 'chosen Judah over Israel'. He had selected his bloodline ancestry over his 'birthright heirship ancestry' from the birthright of the covenant which he held from Joseph, he also so being an 'Ephraimite' as so was his father Jesse so also distinguished according to the words of scripture.

Now here is the extented 'rub' of the matter. The small book of 'Ruth' was once a part of the record of the Judges as prepared by Samuel the prophet. In that day when all of Israel polictially abandoned the Lord's system of Judges, and the people looking to Jehovah as their ultimate king, they then sought after an earthly king as the surrounding nations had; the prophet Samuel here so placed in position as a part of the record of Judges and Jehovah being King the detailed record of the ancestry of the Messiah to come, who would later again be the King of Israel. Even the name of the father of that ancestral family was 'Elimelech', meaning 'God is King'. Later those few 'chapters' were separated from the record of Judges and placed into the 'Book of Ruth' and added commentary of Jewish clarification was added, likely during the post Babylon destruction of Jerusalem period. And significantly there in the ending verses of chapter four of the Book of Ruth, the genealogy of Judah is inserted and emphasized, 'For Judah had prevailed above his brethern' as the chronicle record so stipulated.

 1 NOW the sons of aReuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bbed, his abirthright was given unto the csons of dJoseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthrighta.
 2 For aJudah aprevailed above his brethrena, and of him came the chief bruler; but the cbirthright was Joseph's:)

Who Did Prevail?
(Part 1) 
There seems to be a scriptural disparity between who prevailed in Israel, Judah or Joseph and Joseph's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. From the very Jewish slant of the compiled 'stick of Judah' prepared by the hand of the Jews, the perspective given here in 1 Chronicles chapter 5 is that 'Judah prevailed above his brethren'. And that the 'chief ruler' came of Judah. In a 'past tense' of the compiled history of the Chronicles, that 'chief ruler' would have been seen to be King David. And it was King David who was promised that the Messiah would be one of his descendants. And the Jewish compilers of the record of the Jews had tended to well set out that David was a descendant of Boaz, who was a descendant of Judah, as presented in the Book of Ruth. And in truth King David and Jesus Christ are of bloodline descent from Boaz and thus from Judah. So 'Judah' did prevail in respect to the 'chief ruler' in Israel.
 1a the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright Just what does this statement mean? The 'birthright' is that of the patriarchal order of the priesthood of the 'firstborn', meaning the 'firstborn Son of God'. The 'patriarchal order of the priesthood' is by two factors, 1) lineage and 2) worthiness. Jehovah was the worthy firstborn son of God the Father in the spirit and the Only Begotten Son in the flesh. And he was the worthy heir of the Father. But worthiness counts more than order of birth. Cain was born before either Abel or Seth. Abraham was not the firstborn of Tarah. Isaac was not the firstborn of Abarham. Jacob was not the firstborn of Isaac. Joseph was not the firstborn of Jacob. And Ephraim was not the firstborn of Joseph. But Ephraim is the 'firstborn' in Israel and of the rigth to the patriarchal order of the priesthood by which the blessings of the Covenant of God, the Covenant of Abraham is to be carried forth unto all the world.
   Rather than trying to explain the reckoning of 'genealogy' and the 'birthright' which is the right to the priesthood. It needs to be simply stated that the right to the 'patriarchal order of the priesthood', that higher priesthood of the order of Melchizedek or the order of the Son of God, did pass from Jacob through Joseph to the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim being the recepiant of the greater blessing of being the 'firstborn' in Israel (See Jeremiah 31:9).
 2a prevailed above his brethern Judah hath envied Joseph and Ephraim for he hath coveted the birthright and would lay claim to 'rule' in Israel. But Judah is not he who has prevailed in Israel. Historically it was Joseph, though sold into Egypt by the suggestion of Judah so that Judah might rid himself of Jospeh, Joseph did then prevail over Judah and over all Israel. So shall Joseph so prevail in the latter days. As it is Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, who doth bring forth the blessing of the gospel and kingdom of God. And in deed in this thing doth Joseph and Ephraim prevail in Israel. But that is not all. Now David was also legally and rightfully of the tribe of Ephraim, not Judah, but only by blood. For Boaz performed as surrogate father, raising up Obed as seed to the dead according to the Law of God, the Law of Moses. Thus while Christ is of the blood of Judah and while Obed, Jesse and David are of the blood of Judah through Boaz, by right, by that priesthood birthright of heirship to the covenant blessings of heaven, they are Ephrathites, meaning Ephraimites. (See Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph).
 1a Gen. 29:32; Gen. 49:3 (3-4);
     Deut. 33:6
  b TG Sexual Immorality
 1a JST Gen. 48:5; Gen. 48:5
  c Josh. 14:4
  d TG Israel, Jospeh, People of
 2a TG Israel, Judah, People of
 2a Gen. 49:26; Gen. 37:5-8;
     Gen. 37:9-11;
     JST Gen. 48:10-11
  b Micah 5:2; Matt. 2;6;
     John 7:42
  c TG Birthright;
     TG Priesthood, History of;
     TG Priesthood, Melchizedek;
     D&C 86:8-11; D&C 113:5-6

Who Did Prevail?
(Part 2) 
Now scripturally from the inspiration of the patriarchal blessing of Joseph by Jacob, we have the perspective that Joseph was to prevail. It states in Genesis 49:26 that 'The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.' This does not sound as though Judah prevails but that Joseph prevails over all of Israel. And this perspective of Joseph prevailing in the patriarchal order of the high and holy priesthood is confirmed by who the Doctrine and Covenants states that those blessings and promised where preserved through (See D&C 27;10).
   Certainly it is Joseph and his sons Ephraim and Manasseh who received the birthright of the priesthood blessings of the fathers, those blessing of the everlasting covenant. This is well set out in Doctrine and Covenants section 86.

1 Chronicals 5:1-2 - Simply Stated


     Simply stated, these first two verses of 1 Chronicals 5:1-2 are concerning the matter of the ancestry of the Messiah of the house of David, who turns out to be Jesus Christ. The Jews who have kept this record are determined to claim a right in the Messiah. They cannot claim the 'birthright' of the Messiah of the House of David because that is clearly been given to Joseph and then Ephraim under the hand of Jacob himself (Genesis 48 & JST Genesis 48). But since Ephraim, the kingdom thereof was scattered and Judah remained by whom the Old Testament record was prepared, Judah has here claimed the Genealogy of the Messiah to be that of the Jews because Obed was the 'blood' son of Boaz. Side-stepping the Law of God, that Boaz was raising up seed to the dead (the house of Mahlon and Elimelech of which Naomi was the survivor of and whose son Obed was stated to be) (See: Ruth 4:5, 10-11 & 13-17; Deuteronomy 25:5-10). Also, so is Zechriah 4, the vision of the two Olive Trees representative of the two house whose oil did 'blend' to feed the Menorah of the Lord from the House of Ephraim/Joseph as the source of the birthright priesthood right and from the House of Judah of who blood lineage he was of the house of David who held the sceptre. This is the discussion and context of these two verses.
 3 The sons, I say, of aReuben the firstborn of Israel were, Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
 4 The sons of Joel; Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,
 5 Micah his son, Reaia his son, Baal his son,
 6 Beerah his son, whom aTilgath-pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive: he was prince of the Reubenites.
 7 And his brethren by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned, were the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,
 8 And Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in Aroer, even unto Nebo and aBaal-meon:
 9 And eastward he inhabited unto the entering in of the wilderness from the river Euphrates: because their cattle were multiplied in the land of aGilead.
 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.
 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 11 ¶ And the children of Gad dwelt over against them, in the land of Bashan unto Salchah:
 12 Joel the chief, and Shapham the next, and Jaanai, and Shaphat in Bashan.
 13 And their brethren of the house of their fathers were, Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jachan, and Zia, and Heber, seven.
 14 These are the children of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;
 15 Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house of their fathers.
 16 And they dwelt in Gilead in Bashan, and in her towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, upon their borders.
 17 All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of aJotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 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 ahelped 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 bintreated of them; because they put their ctrust 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.
 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 23 ¶ And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baal-hermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon.
 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.
 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 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.
 26 And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria, and he acarried them away, even the Reubenites, and the bGadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day.
 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands

 14a Zechariah 10:7 (6-12);
       D&C 109:60-61;
       D&C 133:34;
       TG Israel, Joseph, People of
    b Septuagint; crosing his hands