1 Chronicles 5

Tribes east of the Jordan

Reuben’s family tree

1Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son. Normally, he would have gotten a double share of the family inheritance. That was his birthright—usually a given for the oldest son. But he lost it when he has sex with one of his father’s concubines. [1] Jacob gave Reuben’s double share to the two grandsons, Joseph’s boys. [2] 2Judah became the dominate leader among his brothers—and his tribe became the dominate tribe in Israel. But the birthright of the family’s traditional leader went to Joseph’s sons.

Reuben had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

3Joel [3] had three sons: Shemaiah, Gog, and Shimei. 5Joel’s descendants included: Micah, Reaiah, Baal, 6and Beerah. Beerah led Reuben’s tribe when Assyrian King Tiglath-pileser invaded and took him captive into exile, with others.

7Joel’s descendants kept records about who the family members were. Those descendants, listed in generations of genealogy, included: the tribal leader Jeiel and Zechariah. 8There was also Shema, his son Azaz, and his grandson Bela. They lived in the town of Aroer, as far north and Nebo and Baal-meon. 9They also grazed their herds of cattle as far east as the edge of the desert on the western side of the Euphrates River. They needed the extra land because the herds grew so large in Gilead territory.

10When King Saul was still alive, Joel’s descendants overran the local Hagrites and took their land and property throughout Gilead.

Gad’s family tree

11Gad’s tribe lived east of the Jordan River in the land of Bashan. Families scattered throughout the area and made their homes as far away as the town of Salecah. 12Tribal leaders in Bashan: Joel, Shapham, Janai, and Shaphat. 13Some of their relatives were: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber. 14Those were the descendants of: Abihail, whose family—one generation after another—included Huri, Jaroah, Gilead, Michael, Jeshishai, Jahdo, Buz, 15Ahi, Abdiel, and Guni, who led their clan.

16They lived in towns scattered through the regions of Gilead and Bashan. And they grazed their livestock there, and in the fields of Sharon. [4] 17These family records come from the time when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

18Two and a half tribes lived east of the Jordan River: Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. They could field an army of 44,760 battle-hardened soldiers. These men were expert at fighting with sword and shield or bow and arrow—and always ready at a moment’s notice. 19They fought for the land. They waged war on Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20They needed help conquering the Hagrites. They prayed to God during the battle, and he helped them because they trusted him to do that.

21Tribes took the property of the people they killed: 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They took 100,000 captives as well. 22Many enemies died because God joined the battle by helping the Israelites. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh lived in the land until invaders [5] and forced them into exile.

Family tree of East Manasseh

23East Manasseh [6] grew and scattered with their herds and flocks. They lived in places from Bashan territory to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. 24Clan leaders: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were skilled warriors and famous leaders. 25But they messed up. They started worshiping regional idols of the people they had conquered. [7]

26So, Israel’s God nudged Assyrian kings in their direction—King Pul and King Tiglath-pileser. Assyrians defeated and deported the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. To this day, their descendants live abroad in Halah, Habor, Hara, and along the Gozan River.

Footnotes

Intro Notes to 1 Chronicles

15:1

Genesis 35:22.

25:1

Joseph’s boys, Ephraim and Manasseh, produced descendants who became the two tribes named after them.

35:3

Joel who? No one seems to know. The writer doesn’t describe the relationship between Joel and Reuben.

45:16

It’s unclear if Sharon is a town or a region. But it doesn’t seem likely to refer to Sharon on Israel’s coast. That’s on the opposite side of the Jordan River from where Gad’s tribe lived.

55:22

Assyrians in 722 BC deported and exiled the northern tribes of Israel. The people became known as Jews, and they never came back to reconstitute their nation. More than a century later, in 586 BC, Babylonians from what is now Iraq exiled the southern tribe of Judah—the last remaining Jewish nation. But they returned when Persia conquered Babylon and then freed the political prisoners. Judah didn’t regain its place as a nation, but as a province of Persia. Jews at that time had a governor, not a king.

65:23

One clan in Manasseh’s tribe wanted to live east of the Jordan River. Israelites under Moses had already captured some of the land. It was Machir’s clan—half of Manasseh’s tribe—who decided to stay. They said the grazing fields were perfect for their herds and flocks. So Moses gave them permission to stay (Numbers 32:40).

75:25

Many people in ancient times seemed to believe that nations with the strongest god would win the war. So, even from a human point of view, it looked foolish for them to worship gods of the people that Israel’s God helped them defeat.