1 Crónicas 3

Verse-by-verse explanation

1. 1 Crónicas 3:1This list of David’s sons, some born in Hebron and others already in Jerusalem, is a court record: it shows the kingdom’s transition from a small city to the capital, and the royal custom of the time of having several children by several different wives.
2. 1 Crónicas 3:2Among the sons born in Hebron are Absalom, who years later will rebel against his own father, and Adonijah, who will also contend for the throne — but Chronicles saves those stories for elsewhere and here only records the names.
3. 1 Crónicas 3:3Two more sons of David born in Hebron, Shephatiah and Ithream, by different mothers — ancient kings usually had several wives, and each one is named to make clear whose son is whose.
4. 1 Crónicas 3:4A quick summary of David’s entire reign: seven and a half years in Hebron, where these six sons were born, and then thirty-three years in Jerusalem — forty years on the throne in all.
5. 1 Crónicas 3:5Already in Jerusalem, four more sons are born, among them Solomon, by Bath-shua, daughter of Ammiel — this is the same person as Bathsheba, but notice that Chronicles never tells the story of the adultery with David, it only records the son.
6. 1 Crónicas 3:6Three more sons born in Jerusalem — Ibhar, Elishama, and Eliphelet — names that show the size of David’s royal family after he becomes king of all Israel.
7. 1 Crónicas 3:7The sons born in Jerusalem continue: Nogah, Nepheg, and Japhia, part of a group of nine boys the list is about to close out.
8. 1 Crónicas 3:8This group closes with three more names, two of them repeating names already mentioned before (Elishama and Eliphelet) — common at the time, since several mothers might choose the same name for their sons.
9. 1 Crónicas 3:9The final summary: all these are David’s sons by his wives, not counting the sons of the concubines, and it also names Tamar, their sister — the same Tamar whom Amnon, another son of David, will violate in a much sadder story told in Samuel.
10. 1 Crónicas 3:10The direct list of the kings of Judah begins, father to son: from Solomon comes Rehoboam, then Abia, then Asa, then Jehoshaphat — four generations of kings summarized in a single sentence.
11. 1 Crónicas 3:11The royal line continues: Joram, then Ahaziah, then Joash — kings whose full stories, full of war and intrigue, are told in more detail in Kings.
12. 1 Crónicas 3:12Two more kings in the sequence, Amaziah and Jotham — notice that this list skips over Uzziah (also called Azariah), who appears at this same point elsewhere in the Bible.
13. 1 Crónicas 3:13The royal line continues: Ahaz, then Hezekiah — one of the kings most remembered for his faith — and then Manasseh, one of those most remembered for the opposite.
14. 1 Crónicas 3:14The last two kings before the end of the kingdom: Amon and Josiah, the king who carries out Judah’s last great religious reform shortly before the exile to Babylon.
15. 1 Crónicas 3:15The four sons of Josiah mark the tragic end of the monarchy: among them Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, the last two kings of Judah, who will reign under foreign domination until the fall of Jerusalem.
16. 1 Crónicas 3:16Jehoiakim has a son named Jeconiah, the still-young king carried captive to Babylon, and a Zedekiah of his own, a name that repeats within the royal family of this period.
17. 1 Crónicas 3:17Even after being carried captive, Jeconiah has descendants on record — proof that David’s line does not disappear with the exile, it just comes to live far from the promised land.
18. 1 Crónicas 3:18More grandsons of Jeconiah listed in captivity — among them Shenazar and Pedaiah, names that will matter in the next verse because of an even better-known grandson.
19. 1 Crónicas 3:19The list continues well past the end of the kingdom, down to the sons of Zerubbabel, the same man who leads the return from exile. This shows that David’s line does not disappear once the kings are gone: the chronicler makes a point of proving that it survives down to the time of the book’s first readers, still alive even without a throne.
20. 1 Crónicas 3:20The sons of Zerubbabel continue, the same man who will later lead the return of the exiles and the rebuilding of the temple — David’s line, even without a throne, is still carefully recorded.
21. 1 Crónicas 3:21The royal genealogy keeps advancing generations after the return from exile — proof that, even with no more kings, David’s descendants were still known and counted in the time of the first readers of Chronicles.
22. 1 Crónicas 3:22One more generation of the post-exilic royal line, closing with the number of sons counted — a care repeated throughout the chapter to make sure no one gets lost in the list.
23. 1 Crónicas 3:23Three sons of Neariah continue this line that is already far removed from the days of David, but that the chronicler insists on documenting down to the most recent generation he knows.
24. 1 Crónicas 3:24The chapter closes with seven sons of Elioenai — the royal list carries David’s genealogy well past the exile, showing the first readers that the promise of an everlasting line had not been lost.