These were the heads of fathers’ houses, according to their generations, chief men. These lived in Jerusalem.
There is little or nothing of history in all these verses; we have not therefore much to observe. 1. As to the difficulties that occur in this and the foregoing genealogies we need not perplex ourselves. I presume Ezra took them as he found them in the books of the kings of Israel and Judah (Ezr 9:1), according as they were given in by the...
Commenting on 1 Chronicles 8:1-32
And Ner begat Kish,.... Who also is called Abiel, as the Targum here adds; for Ner had two names, as other Jewish writers likewise say (r), see Sa1 9:1, and Kish begat Saul; the first king of Israel, for whose sake chiefly the genealogy of Benjamin is revised and enlarged in this chapter: and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal, see Sa1 31:2.
These dwelt in Jerusalem--The ordinary and stated inhabitants of Jerusalem were Judahites, Benjamites, and Levites. But at the time referred to here, the chiefs or heads of the principal families who are enumerated (Ch1 8:14-27) established themselves in the city after their return from the captivity.