Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

1 Chronicles 2

The chapter places David within Judah’s wider family record, preserving names alongside accounts of wrongdoing, loss, and descent.

The genealogy begins with Israel’s twelve sons, then follows Judah’s descendants through several family branches. One line runs through Perez and Hezron to Jesse and David; others trace the households of Jerahmeel and Caleb. Alongside fathers and sons, the record names women, an Egyptian servant, and families linked to towns. Brief notices interrupt the lists: Er’s wickedness and death, Achar’s trespass, lost towns, and men who died without children.

sermon or Bible study notes
Read
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 the LORD’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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
45The son of Shammai was Maon; and Maon was the father of Beth Zur.
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.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
1 Chronicles 2:1The opening list sets Judah’s genealogy within the whole people of Israel before narrowing to one tribe.
1 Chronicles 2:3Judah’s family record begins with a judgment notice, preserving Er’s wickedness and YHWH’s action alongside his ancestry.
1 Chronicles 2:13Jesse’s sons introduce David’s immediate family, placing the future king among named brothers and sisters.
Where this chapter reaches

Genesis shares the names of Israel’s sons and the account of Judah’s family, including Er, Tamar, and Perez; Ruth and Matthew share the ancestral line leading to David. The family names around Jesse and David also connect with people appearing in 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.

1 Chronicles 2's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which brief notice interrupts the list of names for you, and what makes it stand out?

Write on this

What do you notice about David’s place among the many other families recorded here?

Write on this

Questions people ask about 1 Chronicles 2

Why does 1 Chronicles 2 focus on Judah?

After listing Israel’s twelve sons, the chapter follows Judah’s descendants, including the line that leads to David. This establishes David’s place within Israel and within a larger network of families. The chapter does not explain the choice in a separate statement; its structure makes Judah and David prominent.

What does “father of Bethlehem” mean in 1 Chronicles 2?

The closing verses connect ancestors with towns and groups of families. In that setting, “father of Bethlehem” identifies Salma as an ancestor or founding figure associated with Bethlehem’s people. The text does not explain the precise relationship, so it should not be read as though Bethlehem were an individual child.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on 1 Chronicles 2. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

1 Chronicles · 29 chapters
1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).