1 These are the sons of Israel; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun,   2 Dan, Joseph, and Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.   3 The sons of Judah; Er, and Onan, and Shelah: which three were born unto him of the daughter of Shua the Canaanitess. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the LORD; and he slew him.   4 And Tamar his daughter in law bare him Pharez and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five.   5 The sons of Pharez; Hezron, and Hamul.   6 And the sons of Zerah; Zimri, and Ethan, and Heman, and Calcol, and Dara: five of them in all.   7 And the sons of Carmi; Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing accursed.   8 And the sons of Ethan; Azariah.   9 The sons also of Hezron, that were born unto him; Jerahmeel, and Ram, and Chelubai.   10 And Ram begat Amminadab; and Amminadab begat Nahshon, prince of the children of Judah;   11 And Nahshon begat Salma, and Salma begat Boaz,   12 And Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,   13 And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third,   14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth,   15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh:   16 Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.   17 And Abigail bare Amasa: and the father of Amasa was Jether the Ishmeelite.

      Here is, I. The family of Jacob. His twelve sons are here named, that illustrious number so often celebrated almost throughout the whole Bible, from the first to the last book of it. At every turn we meet with the twelve tribes that descended from these twelve patriarchs. The personal character of several of them was none of the best (the first four were much blemished), and yet the covenant was entailed on their seed; for it was of grace, free grace, that it was said, Jacob have I loved--not of works, lest any man should boast.

      II. The family of Judah. That tribe was most praised, most increased, and most dignified, of any of the tribes, and therefore the genealogy of it is the first and largest of them all. In the account here given of the first branches of that illustrious tree, of which Christ was to be the top branch, we meet, 1. With some that were very bad. Here is Er, Judah's eldest son, that was evil in the sight of the Lord, and was cut off, in the beginning of his days, by a stroke of divine vengeance: The Lord slew him, v. 3. His next brother, Onan, was no better, and fared no better. Here is Tamar, with whom Judah, her father-in-law, committed incest, v. 4. And here is Achan, called Achar--a troubler, that troubled Israel by taking of the accursed thing, v. 7. Note, The best and most honourable families may have those belonging to them that are blemishes. 2. With some that were very wise and good, as Heman and Ethan, Calcol and Dara, who were not perhaps the immediate sons of Zerah, but descendants from him, and are named because they were the glory of their father's house; for, when the Holy Ghost would magnify the wisdom of Solomon, he declares him wiser than these four men, who, though the sons of Mahol, are called Ezrahites, from Zerah, 1 Kings iv. 31. That four brothers should be eminent for wisdom and grace was a rare thing. 3. With some that were very great, as Nahshon, who was prince of the tribe of Judah when the camp of Israel was formed in the wilderness, and so led the van in that glorious march, and Salman, or Salmon, who was in that post of honour when they entered into Canaan, v. 10, 11.

      III. The family of Jesse, of which a particularly account is kept for the sake of David, and the Son of David, who is a rod out of the stem of Jesse, Isa. xi. 1. Hence it appears that David was a seventh son, and that his three great commanders, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel, were the sons of one of his sisters, and Amasa of another. Three of the four went down slain to the pit, though they were the terror of the mighty.