The First Book of the Chronicles

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- Chapter 5 -

Reuben was the oldest son of Jacob. Therefore, he should have received the special rights that belonged to firstborn sons. But he slept with his father’s slave wife, so his father gave those rights to the sons of his younger brother Joseph. And in the family records, Reuben is not mentioned first, as the firstborn sons always are.

Although Judah became more influential than his brothers, and a ruler of Judah descended from him, Joseph’s family received the rights that belonged to firstborn sons.

But Reuben was Jacob’s oldest son. Reuben’s sons were Hanok, Pallu, Hezron, and Karmi.

Another descendant of Reuben was Joel. Joel’s son was Shemaiah. Shemaiah’s son was Gog. Gog’s son was Shimei.

Shimei’s son was Micah. Micah’s son was Reaiah. Reaiah’s son was Baal.

Baal’s son was Beerah. Beerah was a leader of the tribe of Reuben. But Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria captured him and took him to Assyria.

The names of these clans are listed here according to what is written in their family records. The names written were: Jeiel (the leader), then Zechariah,

and then Bela son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel. Reuben’s clan was very large. Some of them lived near the city of Aroer as far north as the city of Nebo and the city of Baal Meon.

Some of them lived further east, as far as the edge of the desert south of the Euphrates River. They went there because they had a huge amount of cattle, with the result that there was not enough pastureland for them in the region of Gilead.

When Saul was king of Israel, the men in the tribe of Reuben fought against the descendants of Hagar and defeated them. After that, they lived in the tents that the descendants of Hagar had lived in previously, in all the area east of the region of Gilead.

The Descendants of Gad

The tribe of Gad lived near the tribe of Reuben; they lived in the region of Bashan, all the way east to the city of Salekah.

Joel was their leader; Shapham was his assistant; other leaders were Janai and Shaphat in Bashan.

Other members of the tribe belonged to seven clans, whose leaders were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jakan, Zia, and Eber.

They were descendants of Abihail. Abihail was son of Huri, Huri was the son of Jaroah, Jaroah was the son of Gilead, Gilead was son of Michael, Michael was the son of Jeshishai, Jeshishai was the son of Jahdo, and Jahdo was the son of Buz.

Ahi was Abdiel’s son. Abdiel was Guni’s son. Ahi was the leader of their clan.

The descendants of Gad lived in the towns in the regions of Gilead and Bashan, and on all the pastureland on the Plain of Sharon.

All of those names were written in the records of the clans of Gad during the time that Jotham was the king of Judah and Jeroboam was the king of Israel.

There were 44,760 soldiers in the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh. They all carried shields and swords and bows and arrows. They were all trained to fight well in battles.

They attacked the descendants of Hagar and the people in the cities of Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.

The men from those three tribes prayed to God during the battles, requesting him to help them. So he helped them, because they trusted in him. He enabled them to defeat the descendants of Hagar and all those who were helping them.

They took the animals that belonged to the descendants of Hagar: They took fifty thousand camels, 250,000 sheep, and two thousand donkeys. They also captured 100,000 people.

But many descendants of Hagar were killed because God helped the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. After that, those three tribes lived in that area until the army of Babylonia captured them and took them away to Babylon.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

There were many people who belonged to the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh. They lived in the region of Bashan east of the Jordan River, as far north as Baal Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon.

Their clan leaders were Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were all strong, brave, and famous soldiers, and leaders of their clans.

But they sinned against God, the one whom their ancestors had worshiped. They began to worship the gods that the people of that region had worshiped, the people whom God had enabled them to destroy.

So the God whom the Israelites worshiped incited Pul, the king of Assyria, to want to conquer those tribes. Pul’s other name was Tiglath-Pileser. His army captured the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh, and took them to various places in Assyria: Halah, Habor, Hara and near the Gozan River. They have lived in those places from that time to the present time.

The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be listed according to the birthright.

For Judah prevailed above his brothers, and from him came the prince; but the birthright was Joseph’s)—

the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,

Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,

and Beerah his son, whom Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria carried away captive. He was prince of the Reubenites.

His brothers by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was listed: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,

and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, even to Nebo and Baal Meon;

and he lived eastward even to the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, because their livestock were multiplied in the land of Gilead.

In the days of Saul, they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they lived in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead.

The Descendants of Gad

The sons of Gad lived beside them in the land of Bashan to Salecah:

Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan.

Their brothers of their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven.

These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz;

Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers’ houses.

They lived in Gilead in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of Sharon as far as their borders.

All these were listed by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

The sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, able to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred sixty that were able to go out to war.

They made war with the Hagrites, with Jetur, and Naphish, and Nodab.

They were helped against them, and the Hagrites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them; for they cried to God in the battle, and he answered them because they put their trust in him.

They took away their livestock: of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred fifty thousand, and of donkeys two thousand, and of men one hundred thousand.

For many fell slain, because the war was of God. They lived in their place until the captivity.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

The children of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They increased from Bashan to Baal Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon.

These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel—mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses.

They trespassed against the God of their fathers, and played the prostitute after the gods of the peoples of the land whom God destroyed before them.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried away the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day.