And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,
The verse opens Jesse's list of sons by giving the first three in birth order, Eliab the firstborn, Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, with the reckoning continuing on through David. Counted in that continued list David stands as the seventh son Jesse begot, set against the Samuel accounts in which seven sons passed before Samuel before David was called and yet Jesse is said to have had eight sons. The wider passage marks Jesse as the father of David and treats Mahash and Jesse as the same person, thereby fixing Joab and Amasa as close relatives of David and of each other. The genealogy belongs to Judah, the tribe through which Christ came, and forms part of the record tracing Jesus' descent from Judah and the family of David.
Genealogies of this kind are inspired and preserved for instruction, yet they are not as interesting or instructive as portions such as the Gospels and need not be read or studied as often, since all parts of the Bible bear inspiration though they are not of equal value for study.
The keeping of such genealogies shows that God preserves a faithful record of each soul. He remembers by name every obscure ordinary person entered there, though people forgot them thousands of years ago, whether they were prosperous or failures like any ordinary person about whom nothing else is known. Because God does not change, He also keeps the name of each obscure person today safe and sure in His own lists, put away safe and sure, and this gives comfort when downhearted.
The verse opens Jesse's list of sons by giving the first three in birth order, Eliab the firstborn, Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, with the reckoning continuing on through David. Counted in that continued list David stands as the seventh son Jesse begot, set against the Samuel accounts in which seven sons passed before Samuel before David was called and yet Jesse is said to have had eight sons. The wider passage marks Jesse as the father of David and treats Mahash and Jesse as the same person, thereby fixing Joab and Amasa as close relatives of David and of each other. The genealogy belongs to Judah, the tribe through which Christ came, and forms part of the record tracing Jesus' descent from Judah and the family of David.
Genealogies of this kind are inspired and preserved for instruction, yet they are not as interesting or instructive as portions such as the Gospels and need not be read or studied as often, since all parts of the Bible bear inspiration though they are not of equal value for study.
The keeping of such genealogies shows that God preserves a faithful record of each soul. He remembers by name every obscure ordinary person entered there, though people forgot them thousands of years ago, whether they were prosperous or failures like any ordinary person about whom nothing else is known. Because God does not change, He also keeps the name of each obscure person today safe and sure in His own lists, put away safe and sure, and this gives comfort when downhearted.