1 Chronicles 5:17
All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel. All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
The verse stands within the genealogical records of 1 Chronicles 5-7 and belongs to the reading of 1 Chronicles 4-6. Unlike the corresponding records in Samuel, these chapters in Chronicles contain genealogies, and comparison shows that Samuel omits the genealogies. The reckoning by genealogies is dated to the days of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel, showing that the records were carefully maintained across those reigns. The genealogical record preserved the identities and integrity of Israel's tribes, and after the exile such records were needed to establish hereditary claims to land and duties in temple service.
Its place among the genealogical records shows God is particular about recording His people, so the faithful earthly records point to a record of every soul in the books of heaven. Long reckonings dated to the days of Jotham and Jeroboam belong to inspired Scripture even when they are not read in family worship or private devotion and their value is not seen. Not all of the Bible is equally interesting and valuable to all persons under all circumstances; the plain parts nourish the uneducated while deep things such as these lists are given to engage scholars. God made the Bible for all classes and not for one class only, knowing people would arise who study ethnology, so He recorded the origin and distribution of races and placed spiritual truths along the path of human research so that those seeking only human knowledge would find what is divine.