[circa 1471 BC] Verse 18:[1] And Caleb the son of Hezron begat children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth: her sons are these; Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon.
[Caleb the son of Hezron] This Caleb is diverse from that spy, Numbers 13:6. For that one was the son of Jephunneh; concerning whom below, 1 Chronicles 4:15 (Piscator).
Caleb the son of Hezron: Not that Caleb, Numbers 13:6, for he was the son of Jephunneh, of whom he speaks, 1 Chronicles 4:15; but another Caleb.
[He took a wife, Azubah by name, of whom he begat Jerioth,הוֹלִ֛יד אֶת־עֲזוּבָ֥ה אִשָּׁ֖ה וְאֶת־יְרִיע֑וֹת] This place is difficult (Mariana). [They render it variously.] Verbatim it is read, he begat Azubah his wife and Jerioth (Castalio). But it does not make sense for a wife to be said to be begotten by her husband. The cause of the mistake appears to have been that the language of begetting is so often repeated in this chapter (Castalio). Others: he begat Azubah his wife, and Jerioth (Pagnine, Montanus, Mariana); he begat of Arubah [or Azubah] his wife Jeduthun (Syriac, Arabic) [or Jerioth: But the Syriac and Arabic often take this liberty with proper names, of substituting in the place of those that are found in the text other names, substitutes, as it were]. He begat, or had begotten (understanding, sons [Dutch]) of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth (Junius and Tremellius, Dutch, Piscator, Kimchi in Mariana). They take אֶת[2] to be in the place of מִן/from/of, as in Exodus 9:29[3] and elsewhere (Mariana, similarly Malvenda). [There is rather an ellipsis of מִן/from/of, so that אֶת might be in the place of מֵאֶת, from with, which is customary.] He begat with Azubah, and with Jerioth, who also was a wife of his; of these two, I say, he begat a number of children (Osiander). He begat Azubah of his wife (understanding, Azubah [Munster]) and Jerioth (Munster, Tigurinus). Jerioth is ambiguous, and is able to the name of a man or of a woman (Malvenda). He begat Azubah, having the same name as his wife, and Jerioth (Strigelius[4]). He begat Azubah, Ishah, and Jerioth (Vatablus), so that Ishah is a name of a wife, or another daughter of Caleb (Vatablus in Tigurinus Notes[5] and in Mariana). He took Azubah to wife, and Jerioth (Septuagint, Castalio, Mariana). It is soon evident that Azubah was his wife, when, with the death of Azubah, he is said to take Ephrath (Castalio). Jerioth appears to have been the name of another wife, and he appears to have had both at the same time. But Jerioth gives him no sons, nor does he call her a wife. Perhaps she was a concubine (Mariana). הוֹלִיד is in the Hiphil conjugation, and I thus translate it, Caleb caused to beget (or cased to bear [Malvenda]) Azubah, that is, he joined with her (Mariana, Malvenda); and also Jerioth: he had two wives, either at the same time, or successively (Malvenda).
[And there were sons of her, וְאֵ֣לֶּה בָנֶ֔יהָ] Not of Caleb, for the pronoun is feminine (Malvenda); but either of Azubah (Mariana, Malvenda), or of Jerioth (Piscator, Malvenda), which is the closest antecedent: and they maintain that the sons of Azubah are surveyed below in verses 42 and following (certain interpreters in Malvenda).
Her sons, that is, the sons, either, 1. Of Jerioth, she being last mentioned; or rather, 2. Of Azubah, who is by way of distinction called his wife, when Jerioth probably was only his concubine, and, as it may seem, barren; and therefore upon Azubah’s death he married another wife,verse 19. And those other sons of this Caleb, mentioned below, 1 Chronicles 2:42, are his sons by some other wife distinct from all these.
Verse 19:[6] And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took unto him (1 Chron. 2:50) Ephrath, which bare him Hur.
[And when Azubah was dead, Caleb took Ephrath to wife] Perhaps because Jerioth was barren (Osiander). After this woman was the city Bethlehem Ephratah[7] named (certain interpreters in Malvenda).
Verse 20:[8] And Hur begat Uri, and Uri begat (Ex. 31:2) Bezaleel.
[Uri begat Bezaleel] This is one other than that Bezaleel in Exodus 38:22, nor is it strange that the names of fathers and grandfathers agree in both (Mariana).
[1] Hebrew: וְכָלֵ֣ב בֶּן־חֶצְר֗וֹן הוֹלִ֛יד אֶת־עֲזוּבָ֥ה אִשָּׁ֖ה וְאֶת־יְרִיע֑וֹת וְאֵ֣לֶּה בָנֶ֔יהָ יֵ֥שֶׁר וְשׁוֹבָ֖ב וְאַרְדּֽוֹן׃ [2] The direct object marker. [3] Exodus 9:29: “And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city (כְּצֵאתִי֙ אֶת־הָעִ֔יר), I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the Lord’s.” [4] Victorinus Strigelius (1524-1569) was a Melanchthonian Lutheran scholar and Professor of Philosophy at Jena, and then at Leipzig. He wrote Libri Samuelis, Regum, et Paralipomenon, ad Veritatem Hebraicam Recogniti et Breviis Commentarii Explicati. [5] The marginal notes in the Tigurinus Version are properly attributed to Vatablus, having been preserved by his students from his oral lectures. [6] Hebrew: וַתָּ֖מָת עֲזוּבָ֑ה וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ל֤וֹ כָלֵב֙ אֶת־אֶפְרָ֔ת וַתֵּ֥לֶד ל֖וֹ אֶת־חֽוּר׃ [7] See Ruth 4:11; Micah 5:2. [8] Hebrew: וְחוּר֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־אוּרִ֔י וְאוּרִ֖י הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־בְּצַלְאֵֽל׃