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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
5:1-26 The Transjordanian Tribes. The Transjordanian tribe of Reuben (vv. 1-10), tribe of Gad (vv. 11-17), and half-tribe of Manasseh (vv. 23-26) are considered next, although by the Chronicler's time these tribes had largely lost their own identities as a consequence of the Assyrian invasions in the Nonetheless, the Chronicler still included within his conception of "all Israel" whatever remnants of the northern tribes still existed (see 2 Chron. 30:10-20).
5:1-2 On account of Reuben's grave sin against his father, he forfeited his birthright as Israel/Jacob's firstborn to Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh (see Gen. 35:22; 49:3-4), while leadership passed to Judah, from whose tribe David (a chief) arose. Yet the Chronicler expresses a receptive openness to the non-Judahite Israelites by stressing that the birthright belonged to Joseph, whose descendants formed the core of the former northern kingdom.
5:3-6 This is a fragmentary genealogy of Reuben's line, extending down to their exile by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III, in his conquest of Gilead (Transjordanian Israel) in See also 2 Chron. 28:19-21.
5:7-10 These verses recount an earlier expansion of the Reubenites into Gilead, a land later recaptured by the Moabites (in the ). The Hagrites were linked with the Moabites (Ps. 83:6) and were understood to be descendants of Hagar (Genesis 16).
5:11-17 The Chronicler's information about the descendants of Gad in Bashan (roughly, to the northeast of the Sea of Galilee) is taken from records (possibly a military census; see v. 18) dating from the reigns of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel (v. 17).
5:18-22 for they cried out to God (v. 20). The Chronicler has reworked a military census and battle report (v. 18) concerning the two and a half tribes to express one of his characteristic theological ideas: that God answers his people and grants them victory when they cry out to him in trusting prayer (see 2 Chron. 13:13-16; 14:9-15; 20:5-12, 22-23). They prevailed over them (1 Chron. 5:20) is literally, "they were helped against them," an allusion to divine aid in battle. For examples of "help" as a theological concept, see 12:18; 2 Chron. 25:8; 32:8.
5:22 because the war was of God. See also 2 Chron. 20:15 and 32:8 for the idea that God fights for his people.
5:23-24 The half-tribe of Manasseh lived east of the Jordan between the boundary of Gad's territory (Bashan) and Mount Hermon in Lebanon. These details are probably drawn from old military records. Their large numbers and their extensive lands indicate divine blessing.
5:25-26 Nevertheless, the half-tribe of Manasseh was defeated and exiled, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, into Assyrian lands by Tiglath-pileser (known as "Pulu" in the Babylonian Chronicle; see note on 2 Kings 15:16-22). However this may have looked from the perspective of worldly politics, the Chronicler attributes the defeat and exile to God's initiative in human affairs: the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul (see also 2 Chron. 21:16; 36:22). The writer's brief account is based on 2 Kings 17:7-23, along with particular details from 2 Kings 15:29; 17:6; 18:11, to which he has added his own characteristic emphasis, that because these idolatrous Israelites broke faith (Hb. ma‘al), they were punished by suffering foreign invasion and exile. Exactly the same fate will befall Judah for the same reasons (1 Chron. 9:1; 2 Chron. 36:14-20). Just as 1 Chron. 5:20-22 portrays the result of faithfulness to God, vv. 25-26 depict the consequences of the opposite attitude. This basic contrast will be reflected throughout the narrative. The fate of these Transjordanian tribes is representative of the other northern tribes' fate as well. The Chronicler does not, however, describe their invasion and deportation by the Assyrians, but only alludes to these events in 2 Chron. 30:6-7.
