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8:1-40 The Tribe of Benjamin. Although Benjamin has already been considered (7:6-12), a second, more detailed genealogy of this tribe is given here that has little in common with the earlier list and serves a different function. The structure of Judah-Levi-Benjamin is completed here. The other tribes are enclosed within an ideal conception of Israel as a nation led by the royal tribe of Judah in partnership with its neighbor Benjamin, with Levi at the center to remind the people of their spiritual vocation. Although most of Benjamin sided with the north in the disruption of the kingdom under Rehoboam, the Benjaminite area around Jerusalem as far as Bethel remained loyal to the Davidic king (see 1 Kings 12:21). Judah (including Simeon) and Benjamin formed the southern kingdom, and they are regularly mentioned together in this book (2 Chron. 11:1-3, 10; 14:8; 15:2, 9; 31:1). Together they were the legitimate heirs of Israel as it existed under the united monarchy. Judah and Benjamin also formed the core of the postexilic community in Jerusalem and Judah (cf. Ezra 1:5; Neh. 11:4-9). Verses 1-28 of 1 Chronicles 8 are especially concerned with the location of the Benjaminite settlements in Jerusalem and further afield (vv. 6, 12, 13, 28, 29, 32). Most of the details in this section are probably from preexilic sources. They would have reminded the Chronicler's readers of their identity and ancient claim to the land, founded on God's promise and gift (16:17-18; 2 Chron. 20:7).

8:1-7 The descendants of the famous judge Ehud (Judg. 3:15), who settled in the Benjaminite city of Geba (see 1 Kings 15:22) before their removal to Manahath (probably in Judah).

8:8-27 These are the descendants of Elpaal, who led a westward expansion into the coastal plain (vv. 12-13) and settled in Jerusalem (v. 28).

8:29-40 This is the genealogy of the most famous Benjaminite family, detailing the ancestry of Saul and his descendants through 15 generations. (Ner, in 1 Sam. 14:50, has the same name as Saul's ancestor.) The first section of the list is probably of early preexilic origin, since it contains names that would have been unacceptable in later times because of possible pagan connotations (Baal, 1 Chron. 8:30; Eshbaal, v. 33, is known elsewhere as Ishbosheth, 2 Sam. 2:8; and Merib-baal, 1 Chron. 8:34, is known as Mephibosheth, 2 Sam. 4:4). First Chronicles 8:35-38 extends the family line into the late preexilic time. These details are not known from other earlier sources, and were preserved among those families that prized the memory of their descent from Israel's first king.

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