1 Chronicles 4:21, commentary and pictures

The verse records the descendants of Shelah the son of Judah, naming Er the father of Lecah and Laadah the father of Mareshah, together with the families of the house of those who worked fine linen, of the house of Ashbea. It is a simple record of names of persons, one of over five hundred verses in twelve chapters of 1 Chronicles that are nearly all names, standing with the records of Adam's posterity, the descendants of Noah's sons, and the posterity of Esau, Jacob, Reuben, and Aaron, as well as the courses of the priests, the heads of Israel, and David's great men. It belongs to the genealogies of Chronicles, which stand alongside the histories of David, of Solomon, and of the remaining kings of Judah.

It is part of the carefully preserved genealogy of Judah, the tribe through which Christ came. It takes for granted a knowledge of the preceding books of the Bible and gives new and important facts left out of Samuel and Kings, saying scarcely anything about the northern kingdom or about sinful acts. Its detailed family record exists because such records were needed after the exile, when the land came to be assigned to its hereditary owners and the temple service to be taken up by those whose hereditary duty it was.

The verse is an example of the Bible's long lists of names, which may not be equally interesting or valuable to every reader but are part of an inspired book containing material for people of different interests and capacities. Such passages record the origin and distribution of families and races, and can interest those who study ethnology. As part of a genealogy, the verse illustrates that God is particular and that a faithful record of every soul is kept in the books of heaven. It is not an expressed promise to God's people and cannot be counted among the exceeding great and precious promises, showing that every verse of the Bible is not a promise.