And the sons of Josiah were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Jehoiakim, the third Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum.
The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are filled almost wholly with genealogies, forming a parallel history in which Chronicles gives more of the details of Judah while Kings deals with the ten-tribe division of the kingdom. The verse records Josiah's family genealogy, giving the names and birth order of his sons as Johanan the firstborn, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, and Shallum the fourth. It is part of a record made up nearly entirely of names, illustrating that many Bible verses are genealogical or other lists rather than expressed promises. Genealogies like this are part of the inspired Bible and were preserved for instruction, though they are not all equally interesting or instructive.
The verse preserves the record of God's children and the integrity of the tribes by carefully keeping the unbroken genealogy of the tribe of Judah, through whom Christ came, to establish Jesus' descent from Judah and the family of David. The recorded genealogies show that God preserves a faithful record of each soul. The verse helps identify the royal line leading to Joseph, and compared with Matthew's genealogy shows that Matthew's list is a line of royal inheritance rather than a father-to-son record at every step, since some kings in the line were grandsons or great-grandsons of earlier kings and names could be omitted.
The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles are filled almost wholly with genealogies, forming a parallel history in which Chronicles gives more of the details of Judah while Kings deals with the ten-tribe division of the kingdom. The verse records Josiah's family genealogy, giving the names and birth order of his sons as Johanan the firstborn, Jehoiakim the second, Zedekiah the third, and Shallum the fourth. It is part of a record made up nearly entirely of names, illustrating that many Bible verses are genealogical or other lists rather than expressed promises. Genealogies like this are part of the inspired Bible and were preserved for instruction, though they are not all equally interesting or instructive.
The verse preserves the record of God's children and the integrity of the tribes by carefully keeping the unbroken genealogy of the tribe of Judah, through whom Christ came, to establish Jesus' descent from Judah and the family of David. The recorded genealogies show that God preserves a faithful record of each soul. The verse helps identify the royal line leading to Joseph, and compared with Matthew's genealogy shows that Matthew's list is a line of royal inheritance rather than a father-to-son record at every step, since some kings in the line were grandsons or great-grandsons of earlier kings and names could be omitted.