and 956 of their relatives according to their genealogy. All these men were heads of their families.
The first verse looks back upon the foregoing genealogies, and tells us they were gathered out of the books of the kings of Israel and Judah, not that which we have in the canon of scripture, but another civil record, which was authentic, as the king's books with us. Mentioning Israel and Judah, the historian takes notice of their being carried away to Babylon for their transgression.
Commenting on 1 Chronicles 9:1-13
And Azariah the son of Hilkiah,.... That is, the son of Azariah, whose name was Seraiah, see Ch1 6:13, whose pedigree is traced up from Hilkiah through Meshullam, called Shallum, Ch1 6:12. Zadok, Meraioth, to Ahitub: the ruler of the house of God; high priest in it; which is to be understood of Ahitub, and not of Azariah or Seraiah in the time of Ezra...
1Ch 9:7-9 Of the sons of Benjamin, i.e., of the Benjamites, four heads are named, Sallu, Ibneiah, Elah, and Meshullam; and of the first and fourth of these, three generations of ancestors are mentioned, of the second only the father, of the third the father and grandfather. “And their brethren according to their generations, 956;” cf. on 1Ch 9:6.
Commenting on 1 Chronicles 9:7-9