The descendents of Caleb (1 Chr 2:42-2:45)

“The first born son of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel was Mareshah, who was the father of Ziph. Another son of Mareshah was Hebron. The sons of Hebron were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and Shema. Shema was the father of Raham, who was the father of Jorkeam. Rekem became the father of Shammai. The son of Shammai was Maon, who became the father of Bethzur.”

Once again, we are back at Caleb, whom this biblical writer is very interested in. This is the 3rd time that we see descendents of (1) Caleb. He clearly was the brother of Jerahmeel called Chelubai, a very busy man. So far he had 3 sons by his 1st wife Azubah, Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. Then he had 1 son with his 2nd wife Ephrath called Hur. Finally he had Ashhur by Abijah, his step mother. Here we have 10 generations of his children through (2) Mareshah, his first born, whose children were Ziph and (3) Hebron. There was a town in Judah named after Mareshah. Hebron was also the name of a town, but it is one of the most ancient cities existing today, nearly 4,000 years old, with a connection to Abraham, in Genesis, chapter 13. Ziph was also a town mentioned in Joshua, chapter 15. It also was a place that David visited. Hebron’s sons were Korah, Tappuah, Rekem, and (4) Shema. We do not hear about the children of his brother Ziph, Korah or Tappuah. Shema had a son named (5) Raham and his son was called (6) Jorkeam. (7) Rekem had a son named (8) Shammai who had a son named (9) Maon who had a son named (10) Bethzur. There were 4 people with the name of Korah, but the most famous is the Levite in Numbers, chapter 26, who used the wrong incense. There are a couple of towns with the name Tappuah. Besides this Rekem, that was the name of one of the 5 kings of Midian in Numbers, chapter 31. His son was Shammai, the same name as the son of Onam. Maon, his son, as well as Bethzur were also places in Judah. Finally Shema was also a name of a Benjamite and a Simeonite as well as a place in Judah. His son was Raham, and Raham’s son was Jorkeam, both of which only appear here in the biblical literature. This may have been a way to show how towns got their names.


