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1These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, 2Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

3The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, and Shelah, which three were born to him of Shua’s daughter the Canaanitess. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in Yahweh’s sight; and he killed him. 4Tamar his daughter-in-law bore him Perez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.

5The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. 6The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara—five of them in all. 7The son of Carmi: Achar, the troubler of Israel, who committed a trespass in the devoted thing. 8The son of Ethan: Azariah.

9The sons also of Hezron, who were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai. 10Ram became the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah; 11and Nahshon became the father of Salma, and Salma became the father of Boaz, 12and Boaz became the father of Obed, and Obed became the father of Jesse; 13and Jesse became the father of his firstborn Eliab, Abinadab the second, Shimea the third, 14Nethanel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 15Ozem the sixth, and David the seventh; 16and their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three. 17Abigail bore Amasa; and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmaelite.

18Caleb the son of Hezron became the father of children by Azubah his wife, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19Azubah died, and Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. 20Hur became the father of Uri, and Uri became the father of Bezalel.

21Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he took as wife when he was sixty years old; and she bore him Segub. 22Segub became the father of Jair, who had twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. 23Geshur and Aram took the towns of Jair from them, with Kenath, and its villages, even sixty cities. All these were the sons of Machir the father of Gilead. 24After Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.

25The sons of Jerahmeel the firstborn of Hezron were Ram the firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. 26Jerahmeel had another wife, whose name was Atarah. She was the mother of Onam. 27The sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerahmeel were Maaz, Jamin, and Eker. 28The sons of Onam were Shammai and Jada. The sons of Shammai: Nadab and Abishur. 29The name of the wife of Abishur was Abihail; and she bore him Ahban and Molid. 30The sons of Nadab: Seled and Appaim; but Seled died without children. 31The son of Appaim: Ishi. The son of Ishi: Sheshan. The son of Sheshan: Ahlai. 32The sons of Jada the brother of Shammai: Jether and Jonathan; and Jether died without children. 33The sons of Jonathan: Peleth and Zaza. These were the sons of Jerahmeel. 34Now Sheshan had no sons, but only daughters. Sheshan had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Jarha. 35Sheshan gave his daughter to Jarha his servant as wife; and she bore him Attai. 36Attai became the father of Nathan, and Nathan became the father of Zabad, 37and Zabad became the father of Ephlal, and Ephlal became the father of Obed, 38and Obed became the father of Jehu, and Jehu became the father of Azariah, 39and Azariah became the father of Helez, and Helez became the father of Eleasah, 40and Eleasah became the father of Sismai, and Sismai became the father of Shallum, 41and Shallum became the father of Jekamiah, and Jekamiah became the father of Elishama.

42The sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel were Mesha his firstborn, who was the father of Ziph, and the sons of Mareshah the father of Hebron. 43The sons of Hebron: Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. 44Shema became the father of Raham, the father of Jorkeam; and Rekem became the father of Shammai. 45The son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth Zur. 46Ephah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Haran, Moza, and Gazez; and Haran became the father of Gazez. 47The sons of Jahdai: Regem, Jothan, Geshan, Pelet, Ephah, and Shaaph. 48Maacah, Caleb’s concubine, bore Sheber and Tirhanah. 49She bore also Shaaph the father of Madmannah, Sheva the father of Machbena and the father of Gibea; and the daughter of Caleb was Achsah.

50These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah: Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim, 51Salma the father of Bethlehem, and Hareph the father of Beth Gader. 52Shobal the father of Kiriath Jearim had sons: Haroeh, half of the Menuhoth. 53The families of Kiriath Jearim: the Ithrites, the Puthites, the Shumathites, and the Mishraites; from them came the Zorathites and the Eshtaolites. 54The sons of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth Beth Joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites. 55The families of scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

Place

Hebron

Type
City
Location
31.524, 35.109
Site Study | Brian Kvasnica

Beyond the important connections between Abraham, the other patriarchs, and the matriarchs centered around the Machpelah Cave (see above at Gen 23:3), Hebron continued to be a central city in Biblical history, earning the place of one of the four most sacred cities in Jewish tradition. Hebron was a city of refuge and a Levitical city (Josh 21:11-13 and 1 Chr 6:55-57)  as well as the place where David first centered his reign: at the pool (traditionally connected with Birket es-Sultan), David executed the two sons of Rimmon who had murdered Saul’s son Ishboshet (2 Sam 4:12); and  where David was crowned king (2 Sam 2:3-4; 5:5)  and reigned for 7 ½ years where six sons were born to him before conquering Jerusalem where he had 13 more sons.  Even after the Exile in the sixth century BC, Jews returned to Hebron (Neh 11:25) probably living alongside Edomites.  In the second-century BC Simon Maccabeus took Hebron from the Edomites (1 Macc 5:65; Josephus, Antiquities, XII, viii, 6) and in the Great revolt of AD 70, first Simon bar-Gioras captured the city (Josephus, War, IV, ix, 7), and then Vespasian’s general Cerealis conquered it, slaughtering its inhabitants and burning it (War IV, ix, 9).

Hebron in the Land of Canaan

Site Study | Brian Kvasnica | Hebron

23:2 Hebron was first built as a Canaanite city seven years prior to Zoan (Greek Tanis) in Egypt (Num 13:22) and is located 3,040 ft. above sea-level in the southern tribal allotment of Judah.  The city is also called Kiriath-Arba (Gen 23:2, etc.) possibly after a forefather of the Anakim (Josh 14:15; 15:13), or as of the four cities, thus “City-of-Four” (Hebrew arba, “four”; see Josh 15:54; 2 Sam 2:3; Neh 11:25). Here Abram’s name was changed to Abraham (Gen 17:5) and here (in conjunction with Mamre), came the three angels with the promise of a son (18:1 ff.).  At Hebron, Isaac and Jacob often lived (35:27; 37:14).  From Hebron Jacob sent Joseph to seek his brothers (37:14).  There also Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt (46:1).  Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah from Ephron in order to bury Sarah (Genesis 23), and Abraham himself was buried there (Gen 25:9-10), as was Isaac (Gen 35:27-29), and all the patriarchs and their wives except Rachel (49:30ff; 50:13).  Today the site is known as Tel Hebron or Jebel Rumeidah and is inhabited by a few dozen Jewish families after excavations were carried out by P.C. Hammond in the 1960’s but not published and in the 1980’s by A. Ofer as well as M. Anbar and N. Na’aman.  More recently Emanuel Eisenberg excavated the north side of the tell and Jeffrey Chadwick is beginning to write up Hammond’s report.  In Arabic today, the town is known as el Khalil ("the friend” of God), a favorite name for Abraham, as seen also in James 2:23.  The gigantic edifice built by Herod the Great still stands and is a place for many pilgrimages even today.  For later Biblical and post-biblical connections see further site study on Hebron at 1 Chr 3:1.

Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.