SEV Biblia, Chapter 4:40
Y hallaron gruesos y buenos pastos, y tierra ancha y espaciosa, y quieta y reposada, porque los hijos de Cam la habitaban de antes.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Chronicles 4:40
Verse 40. They of Ham had dwelt there of old.] These were probably either Philistines or Egyptians, who dwelt at Gedor, which was situated in the environs of Joppa and Samnia. Those whom the five hundred Simeonites expelled from Seir were Amalekites, ver. 43.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 40. And they found fat pasture and good , etc.] In or near the valley of Gedor: and the land was wide, and quiet, and peaceable ; there was room enough for them and their flocks, and they had no enemies on either side to disturb them: for [they] of Ham had dwelt there of old ; either the Canaanites who descended from Canaan the son of Ham, and had never been expelled from thence; or the Philistines, who were a colony of the Egyptians, the posterity of Ham; and these inhabitants being of this cursed race, the Simeonites scrupled not to dispossess them. Ver. 41 . And these written by name , etc.] Before in ( 1 Chronicles 4:34-37), came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah ; as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, not within the first fourteen years of his reign, when the Syrian army was abroad, and none dost peep out, but in his last fifteen years, when the army was destroyed and gone: and smote their tents ; the tents of those who dwelt there for the sake of feeding their flocks, and whose pasturage the Simeonites wanted: and the habitations that were found there ; or the Meunaim or Maonites, which the Septuagint Version here calls Mineans, a people sometimes mentioned along with the Philistines, and others: (see Judges 10:11,12 1 Chronicles 26:6,7) and destroyed them utterly unto this day : to the writing of this book; they had not then recovered their possessions: and dwelt in their room, because there was pasture there for their flocks ; which was the thing they were in search of.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Genealogies.
--In this chapter we have a further account of Judah, the most numerou and most famous of all the tribes; also an account of Simeon. The mos remarkable person in this chapter is Jabez. We are not told upon what account Jabez was more honourable than his brethren; but we find tha he was a praying man. The way to be truly great, is to seek to do God' will, and to pray earnestly. Here is the prayer he made. Jabez praye to the living and true God, who alone can hear and answer prayer; and in prayer he regarded him as a God in covenant with his people. He doe not express his promise, but leaves it to be understood; he was afrai to promise in his own strength, and resolved to devote himself entirel to God. Lord, if thou wilt bless me and keep me, do what thou wilt with me; I will be at thy command and disposal for ever. As the text read it, this was the language of a most ardent and affectionate desire, O that thou wouldest bless me! Four things Jabez prayed for. 1. That God would bless him indeed. Spiritual blessings are the best blessings God's blessings are real things, and produce real effects. 2. That He would enlarge his coast. That God would enlarge our hearts, and s enlarge our portion in himself, and in the heavenly Canaan, ought to be our desire and prayer. 3. That God's hand might be with him. God's han with us, to lead us, protect us, strengthen us, and to work all ou works in us and for us, is a hand all-sufficient for us. 4. That he would keep him from evil, the evil of sin, the evil of trouble, all the evil designs of his enemies, that they might not hurt, nor make him Jabez indeed, a man of sorrow. God granted that which he requested. God is ever ready to hear prayer: his ear is not now heavy __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
וימצאו 4672 מרעה 4829 שׁמן 8082 וטוב 2896 והארץ 776 רחבת 7342 ידים 3027 ושׁקטת 8252 ושׁלוה 7961 כי 3588 מן 4480 חם 2526 הישׁבים 3427 שׁם 8033 לפנים׃ 6440
