18 Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. These were Azubah’s sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, and she bore Hur to him. 20 Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel. 21 After this, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead.(A) Hezron had married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore Segub to him. 22 Segub fathered Jair, who possessed twenty-three towns in the land of Gilead. 23 But Geshur and Aram captured[a] Jair’s Villages[b] along with Kenath and its surrounding villages—sixty towns. All these were the descendants of Machir father of Gilead. 24 After Hezron’s death in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore[c] Ashhur to him. He was the father of Tekoa.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:23 Lit took from them
  2. 2:23 Or captured Havvoth-jair
  3. 2:24 LXX, Vg read death, Caleb slept with Ephrath (Hezron’s wife was Abijah) and she bore

Caleb’s Descendants

18 Caleb son of Hezron fathered sons by his wife Azubah (also known as Jerioth).[a] Her sons were Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. 19 When Azubah died, Caleb married[b] Ephrath, who bore him Hur. 20 Hur was the father of Uri, and Uri was the father of Bezalel.

21 Later[c] Hezron slept with[d] the daughter of Makir, the father of Gilead. (He had married[e] her when he was sixty years old.) She bore him Segub. 22 Segub was the father of Jair, who owned twenty-three cities in the land of Gilead. 23 (Geshur and Aram captured the towns of Jair,[f] along with Kenath and its sixty surrounding towns.) All these were descendants of Makir, the father of Gilead.

24 After Hezron’s death, Caleb slept with Ephrath, his father Hezron’s widow, and she bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.[g]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 2:18 tn Heb “and Caleb son of Hezron fathered [children] with Azubah, a wife, and with Jerioth.” Jerioth could be viewed as a second wife (so NLT; cf. also NASB, NIV, NRSV), but the following context mentions only “her [presumably Azubah’s] sons.” Another option, the one chosen in the translation, is that Jerioth is another name for Azubah.
  2. 1 Chronicles 2:19 tn Heb “took for himself.”
  3. 1 Chronicles 2:21 sn This means “later” in relation to the births of the three sons (Jerahmeel, Ram and Caleb) mentioned in v. 9.
  4. 1 Chronicles 2:21 tn The expression בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations.
  5. 1 Chronicles 2:21 tn Heb “he took,” referring to taking in marriage.
  6. 1 Chronicles 2:23 tn Or “Havvoth Jair” (NIV, NRSV). Some translations do not translate the phrase (“havvoth” = “the towns of”), but treat it as part of the place name.
  7. 1 Chronicles 2:24 tc Heb “And after the death of Hezron in Caleb Ephrathah, and the wife of Hezron, Abijah, and she bore to him Ashhur the father of Tekoa.” The translations assumes three diferences from the MT. 1) Where the MT preserves only the preposition ב (bet, “in”), the NET agrees with the text behind the LXX and Vulgate in reading בָּא ב (baʾ b-, “went to”). Caleb is thus the subject of the verb rather than an otherwise unattested place name, and Ephrath(a) is a reference to his wife (see vv. 19 and 50). A directional he on the end of Ephratha would be unusual on a personal name but the he also appears in v. 50 where it cannot be a directional he. Also the phrase בָּא ב is viewed as a euphemism for sexual relations, rather than a description of entering the town of Ephrath (or Bethlehem). 2) The ו (vav, “and”) is not read before “wife of Hezron.” 3) A ו (vav) is restored after אֲבִיָּה (ʾaviyyah, “Abijah”) to make אָבִיהוּ (ʾavihu, “his father”). This less common form of the noun with the suffix also occurs in 1 Chron 26:10 and 2 Chron 3:1. Thus “the wife of Hezron his father” is a descriptor of Caleb’s second wife, Ephrath. Some translations follow the MT on the first point to make Abijah the subject of the following verb as in “after Hezron died in Caleb Ephrathah, Abijah, Hezron’s wife, bore to him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, the preterite verb form cannot properly be preceded by its subject in this fashion. One would need to suppose that the phrase “and the wife of Hezron, Abijah” is not appositional but rather a parenthetic clause “and the wife of Hezron was Abijah.” R. Braun (1 Samuel [WBC], 40) is favorable to the idea that “the name of Hezron’s wife represents a misplaced gloss on v 21” (citing Williamson, JBL 98, 355). In the reading adopted here, this would mean that Caleb’s second wife, Ephrath, had actually been his late father’s wife (probably Caleb’s stepmother). Perhaps the text was subsequently altered because Caleb’s actions appeared improper in light of the injunctions in Lev 18:8; 20:11; Deut 22:30; 27:20 (which probably refer, however, to a son having sexual relations with his stepmother while his father is still alive).