sons of Jeconiah, [1]the captive; Shealtiel his son, 18and Malchiram, and Pedaiah, and Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. 19And the sons of Pedaiah; Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the [2]sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah; and Shelomith was their sister: 20and Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five.
A minor difficulty that Shealtiel (= Salathiel) is here connected with David through Solomon, whereas in Luke iii. 27-31 his descent is traced through Solomon's brother Nathan, could be explained by an intermarriage at some point in the genealogy between the two Davidic families.
17. the sons of Jeconiah] That Jeconiah had sons is not at variance with Jeremiah's denunciation of him (Jer. xxii. 30). That passage gives the answer to Jeconiah's expectation of a speedy return to his kingdom (ib. ver. 27); Jeremiah says that neither he nor any of his seed shall recover the lost throne: "Reckon him childless, for no son of his shall succeed him on his throne."
the captive] Heb. assir, which the R.V. mg. (= A.V.), following the ancient Versions, has wrongly taken to be a proper name. The R.V. mg. is here only a survival of A.V. The rendering of the text (the captive) no doubt expresses the real judgment of the Revisers.
Shealtiel] the Greek form Salathiel (A.V.) occurs in Luke iii. 27 (A.V.).
19. the sons of Zerubbabel] so the LXX. The Heb. has son, as R.V. mg.
19 b-24. The Davidic Line from Zerubbabel.
The text of these verses is very uncertain. In ver. 20 the names of five sons are given, but their father's name (perhaps Meshullam) is wanting. In vv. 21, 22 the LXX. differs from the Heb. in such a way as to affect the number of steps in the genealogy; the Heb. seems to reckon but one generation between Hananiah and Shemaiah, the LXX. on the contrary reckons six; the result on the whole genealogy being that the LXX. counts eleven generations after Zerubbabel as against six in the Heb. In ver. 22 again the sons of Shemaiah are reckoned to be six, but only five names are given in both Heb. and LXX. For the bearing of these verses upon the date of Chronicles, see the Introd. § 3.
20. and Hashubah] Perhaps we should read "The sons of Meshullam: Hashubah." See above.
Jushab-hesed] The name means "Mercy is restored." Many such significant names are found in the present list, and, in general, are characteristic of the exilic and later periods.
