Read 1 Chronicles 9 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
9:1 {s} Israel registered by their genealogies/ carried captive to Babylon because of unfaithfulness
9:2-4 {s} Of Judah (Perez) who dwelt in Jerusalem
9:5-9 {s} Of Judah (Shelah, Zerah)/ Of Benjamin who dwelt in Jerusalem
9:10-11 {s} Of Aaron (Ahitub) ruler over the house of God
9:12-34 {s} Priests and Levites and their service in the house of God
9:35-38 {s} Benjaminites from Gibeon who dwelt in Jerusalem
9:39-44 {p} The genealogy of Saul and the descendants of Jonathan
The Strong theme:
9:1-44 {sx6+p} The summary of those who dwelt in Jerusalem/ Saul’s genealogy and the sons of Jonathan
The Chiastic structure:
The Outline of the Book so far:
1:1-42 Adam to Abraham and his sons
1:43-54 Kings of Edom
2:1-2 The sons of Israel
2:3-3:9 Judah to David and his sons
3:10-4:14 Kings of Judah/ house of David from the captivity/ Towns in Judah (Perez)
4:15-43 Towns in Judah (Caleb and Shelah) / Simeon dispersed in Judah
5:1-26 Reuben, Gad, half Manasseh (east of the Jordan)
6:1-81 Levi to Aaron, Gershon, Kohath, Merari
7:1-13 Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali
7:14-19 Half Manasseh (west of the Jordan)
7:20-29 Ephraim
7:30-40 Asher
8:1-40 Benjamin to Saul and his sons
Or, the genealogies from Adam to the return from captivity. Adding chapter 9:
9:1 INTRODUCTION All Israel enrolled themselves in genealogies, and behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was exiled to Babylon for their unfaithfulness. {s}
9:2-3 SUMMARY of this chapter: Priests, Levites, and temple servants who did not have a possession of land, who dwelt in Jerusalem; and Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh, who did have a possession of land, who dwelt in Jerusalem.
9:4 JUDAH (from his son Perez). {s}
9:5 JUDAH (from his son Shelah).
9:6 JUDAH (from his son Zerah).
9:7-9 BENJAMIN from his sons. {s}
9:10-11 PRIESTS of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God. {s}
9:12-13 PRIESTS of Immer, mighty men of valor for the work of the service of the house of God.
9:14-34 LEVITES who served in the house of God, and their duties. {s}
The enumeration begins with the tribes (Judah and Benjamin), but the {s} paragraph marker at the end of verse 4 divides the Judah paragraph before it finishes.
Then the same thing happens again: the enumeration begins with the priests, but the {s} paragraph marker at the end of verse 11 divides the priests and Levites paragraph before it finishes.
I am sure these divisions, which do not make sense to human logic, are one of the reasons the English translators discarded them from the Bible. But they testify of the thumbprint of the Holy Spirit: if this book was a book of human origin, then the paragraph markers would not be oddly placed in the middle of paragraphs, would they? No indeed.
The key to the puzzle lies in verse 11. Ahitub was a grandson of Eli the high priest (1 Sam 14:3) – Eli raised Samuel from a young child (1 Sam 1-2) – and was chief officer or ruler of the house of God. The paragraph marker sets the ruler of the house of God apart from the rest of the priests and the Levites.
So then in verse 4. Perez, the son of Judah, was the ancestor of David, and thus was the ancestor of Messiah Yeshua. The paragraph marker sets the Ruler of the House of God apart from the rest of the tribes.
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