_and the Meunim_] Here, and in 2 Chronicles xx. 1 (see note), xxvi. 7, the LXX. has Minaeans, an Arabian people who from the 8th or 9th century B.C. or perhaps much earlier exercised great authority in South Arabia (see _Encyclopedia Britannica_¹¹ II. 264). The Meunim of _the present_ passage are to be connected with an Edomitic city or tribe not far from Petra, south of the Dead Sea; or (so Macalister, p. 336) are simply the people of Maon, a township near Hebron in Judah. 2 Chronicles xx. 1 (note) and xxvi. 7, Revised Version. _destroyed them utterly_] or, as margin, =devoted them= (compare Joshua vi. 18, 21, Revised Version). See note 2 Chronicles xx. 23. ⁴³And they smote the remnant of the Amalekites that escaped, and dwelt there, unto this day. =43.= _the remnant of the Amalekites_] i.e. the descendants of those who had escaped the attacks of Saul and David (1 Samuel xiv. 48, xv. 3 ff.). They had apparently found refuge in some part of the Edomite territory, for _mount Seir_ is a synonym for _the land of Edom_. CHAPTER V. =1‒10.= THE GENEALOGY OF REUBEN. ¹And the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s couch, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. =1.= _he defiled_] Genesis xxxv. 22, xlix. 4. _his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph_] Compare Genesis xlviii. 5, “Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine,” words of Jacob which might be interpreted to mean that the rights of the firstborn were to pass from Reuben and Simeon to Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph. _the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright_] i.e. though the birthright of Reuben has been given to Joseph, yet the genealogy of Joseph is not to be given before that of Reuben. Verse 2 intimates that, though Joseph possessed the birthright, Judah had a primacy as supplying the royal family. In this confusion of claims the natural order is followed and the genealogy of Reuben is given first. ²For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the prince¹; but the birthright was Joseph’s:) ¹ Or, _leader_. =2.= _Judah prevailed above his brethren_] Compare Genesis xlix. 8 (Jacob to Judah) “Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.” _the prince_] The Hebrew word is _nāgīd_. The immediate reference is to David (Saul being virtually ignored by the Chronicler). ³the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. =3.= _the sons of Reuben_] The same four names (with one unimportant variation in spelling in Authorized Version) appear Genesis xlvi. 9; Exodus vi. 14. _Hanoch_] the correct spelling of the familiar name _Enoch_; compare i. 3.