Commentary on 1 Chronicles 8:8–12 (Summary)

Nothing else is known of Shaharaim apart from the Chronicler’s genealogy. This genealogy, therefore, is unparalleled in the Old Testament and also does not bear any relationship with the lineage of Benjamin presented here. Like other genealogies in the Chronicler’s construction, this list provides information on this particular group’s geographical settlements.1

The setting for the family of Shaharaim is the land of Moab, which was a satellite state during the reign of David and Solomon (2 Samuel 8:2). Moab regained self-rule at the time of King Joram during the time of the divided kingdom (2 Kings 3:5). Mesha was the name of a Moabite king (not the same person as in 1 Chronicles 8:9) who revolted against King Joram of Israel (2 Kings 3:4). Malcam (1 Chronicles 8:9) was the name that was related to the god Molech of the Ammonites (1 Kings 11:7). The appearance of such names in the genealogy indicates the measure to which the Israelites absorbed the surrounding Moabite culture. The account of Shaharaim reflects a period of peaceful relations and free movement between the nations of Israel and Moab or a time when Moab was controlled by Israel. This is paralleled in passages such as 1 Samuel 22:3 and Ruth 1:1–22, which would have been unlikely after Moab regained independence.²

Various clans are listed as descendants of an otherwise unknown Shaharaim and his three named wives. The geographic spread is expansive, divided in the text under those who are called heads of fathers’ houses (1 Chronicles 8:8, 1 Chronicles 8:13, 1 Chronicles 8:28).³ The spread was from Moab, east of the Dead Sea (1 Chronicles 8:8) to Ono and Lod. The reference to Shemed, a son of Elpaal, who built Ono and Lod (1 Chronicles 8:12), must certainly mean that he rebuilt or fortified these cities. These cities were in the west of the land in the coastal plain near Joppa (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 11:35). The towns Ono and Lod are known in Egyptian records from the days of Thutmose III (1490–1436 BC) before Israelite times.⁴ When Palestine was divided among the twelve tribes, Joppa was assigned to Dan (Joshua 19:46). Being situated in the west of the land, how did Ono and Lod come to be counted in Benjamin? In earlier times they were in Dan, as Joshua 19:40–46 clearly states, Dan is over against (or opposite) Joppa (NRSV).5 With the growth and expansion of the tribe of Ephraim, it took control of the cities of Ono and Lod. Since Benjamin shared a border with Ephraim and Judah coalesced with Benjamin about the time of the division of the kingdom, it is makes sense that Ono and Lod could be seen as part of Benjamin, since the returning exiles were said to have gone back to their former places (Ezra 2:1). Benjaminites lived at Ono and Lod (Nehemiah 11:35).⁶

The Benjaminite genealogy includes an unusual report that sons were born to Shaharaim by a third wife, Hodesh, after he had divorced two other wives of his (1 Chronicles 8:9). The reasons for the divorce are not mentioned but by including this account, the Chronicler adds a personal touch to his material, highlighting the plight of marginalized people like women and non-Hebrews. It may well be that this report of Shaharaim having sons after divorcing Hushim and Baara ties in with the enforced divorces of the Israelite men from their foreign wives during the religious reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 10:11–17).⁷ One of the divorced women, Hushim, is given prominence because she was the mother of Elpaal, whose descendants form the focus of the next section of the Benjaminite genealogy.