SUMMARY
This genealogical list, based upon others in Genesis, traces the history of Israel from AdamThe first man God created. More to Israel.
ANALYSIS
Several genealogical lists, drawn from Genesis 5; 10-11; 25; and 35-36, provide the raw material for the Chronicler’s first genealogyGenealogy involves the study and tracing of families through the generations - in short, family history. One genealogy in Genesis traces the nations descended from Noah. In the New Testament Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Abraham, while Jesus' genealogy in Luke goes... More, moving from Adam to Israel. The material is carefully arranged to make a particular point. By presenting secondary lines of descent first, these lines are essentially done away with, leaving the primary line of descent in rhetorical exposure. Since this line ultimately becomes Israel, this procedure serves to emphasize Israel’s place in the wider context of humanity and points to their election by God. For example, in the list chronicling Abraham’s line the descendants are not arranged in chronological order but by their various mothers: first HagarSarah's maidservant, Abraham's concubine, Ishamel's mother. More (1 Chronicles 1:29-31), then Keturah (1:32-33), and finally SarahAbraham's wife and mother of Isaac More (1:34). In Chronicles, “Jacob” is always referred to as “Israel.”
