Mehir's son, Eshton, "Fiery," begat Beth-rapha, "House of healing;" and Paseah, which might mean "Lame," but may refer as well to the "Passover;" while Tehinnah speaks of "Supplication," and gave birth to one whose name, Ir-naash, signifies," City of the serpent." Who can help feeling that the father who gave these names delighted to recall Israel's past history and God's ways? The healing-the passover-the supplication and the hint of the serpent, too, all declare this. Nehemiah and Ezra would wish such memories to revive in their time.

"These are the men of Rechah." What this means we cannot tell; it is literally, "These are men of 7." It may be the name of a place known at that time, and its signification is Tenderness."

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Ver. 13, 14.-"And the sons of Kenaz; Othniel, and Seraiah: and the sons of Othniel; Hathath. And Meonothai begat Ophrah: and Seraiah begat Joab, the father of the valley of Charashim; for they were craftsmen."

"The valley of craftsmen," or Charashim, at once reminds us of Nehemiah's time (chap. xi. 35). That spot, peopled again in his day by returning exiles, who had taken down their harps from the willows of Babylon, had been occupied and made famous in early days by ancestors of these exiles who are here mentioned. And among these Seraiah's name was one familiare.g. Ezra ii. 2, and vii. 1, and Neh. xi. 11. Joab, too, in Ezra ii. 6, and Neh. vii. 11, may have had some connexion with the Joab here; and the Mehunim, or, more strictly, Meonim, of Ezra ii. 50, may have had connexion with Meonothai.

We read in chap. i. 36 of a son of Esau, who bore the name Kenaz. Living near the border of Edom, this man of Judah may have got his name from some reference to that Edomite chief. (See Shobal, chap. i. 38 and ii. 50, in like manner.) He was a younger brother of Caleb (Judg. i. 13), so that his father's name must have been Jephunneh (ver. 15).

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Othniel is "Lion of God!" the very name that suited the conqueror of Kirjath-sepher (Josh. xv. 17). Seraiah is Prince of Jehovah." Hathath is "Terror." All very warlike! all becoming men who breathed the spirit of Judah's lion! and worthy to be recorded even for the sake of rousing up, in the more languid men of Nehemiah's days, something of their father's spirit.

It is supposed (see ver. 8) that Hathath begat Meonothai, whose name, unlike his father's, expresses something domestic, Belonging to the dwelling;" while his son's name, Ophrah, The fawn," is equally pacific. Joab, "Jehovah is father,"

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turned his thoughts to the useful arts of life. He taught his children and dependents to use implements of art and skill. That must have been an interesting valley, where you ever heard, not the sound of trumpet, or of clang of sword and shield, but the hum of artificers and the ringing of their hammers. But where in Judah this " Valley of Charashim," i.e. Craftsmen's Valley, was situated, is not known.

Ver. 15.-" And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh; Iru, Elah, and Naam: and the sons of Elah, even Kenaz."

Elah

In chap. ii. 42, we had only descendants of this Caleb; here we have his real sons, his immediate posterity. And so, we found him described in chap. ii. under the character of descendant,* or son, of Hezron; but here we have his own proper father, Jephunneh, "One who is looked upon," greatly regarded; or, as others, "Versatile; one who can be turned about." His sons' names are expressive:-Iru, "Watchful," or "Active;" Elah, "Oak-tree;" Naam, "Pleasant." bore an Edomite name (chap. i. 52), and gave the Edomite name of one of his relatives (ver. 13) to his only son. He called him "Kenaz," or "Ve-Kenaz." This may have been equivalent to our way of putting "junr." to the name of a younger person who bears his father, or uncle, or cousin's name. This man was not "Kenaz" properly, but " Ve-Kenaz," or "Ukenaz;" q.d. another Kenaz, another "Huntsman." Just as the modern Jews call their intercalary month, "Ve-Adar," the second Adar; and those of old distinguished the foreign Dan from their own by calling it Ve-dan, Ezek. xxvii. 19 (Hebrew).

It was surely well to bring Caleb often forward to the view of the men of Judah who had returned from Babylon—that man who "followed the Lord fully," and earned the reward. The very mention of his name was like summoning Judah by a trumpet-sound to follow the Lord fully in their day, and enter in due time on the " recompence of the reward.' Let it have the same blessed effect on us in our day. Ver. 16.-"And the sons of Jehaleleel; Ziph, and Ziphah, Tiria, and Asareel.” Jehaleleel, "God be praised!" may have been a son of this Ve-Kenaz. His name reminds us of the patriarch in chap. i. 2, and that other in Nehemiah xi. 4. It was suitable in all ages in the patriarchal time, or in the days of Caleb, or in Nehemiah's eventful times. His sons' names breathe a spirit of

* "Son" and "daughter" have frequently the sense of "descendant," as in chap. ii. 18. Thus, 2 Chron. xi. 18, "Jerimoth, son of David;" ver. 21, "Maachah, daughter of Absalom." So, Gen. xxix. 5, Laban is called " son of Nahor," though he was grandson. On the same principle, we find 2 Chron. xxviii. 1, in reference to King Ahaz, using the expression, "David, his father," i.e. ancestor; and in reference to Josiah, chap. xxxiv. 2, "David, his father."

godly dependence: Ziph, "Bestowed;" Ziphah, "A loan;” Tiria, "Fear;" Asareel, "Blessed be God!"

Ver. 17.-" And the sons of Ezra were, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon and she bare Miriam, and Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa."

There is a name here that carries us back to one in ancient days-Epher, the son of Keturah (chap. i. 33); while Ezra carries us onwards to the later days of Israel. Who was this Ezra's father we cannot tell; it may have been Asareel, the last-mentioned name. Jether is introduced thus in the Hebrew, "And the son of Ezra was Jether." The name itself signifies, as in chap. ii. 53, "Excellency;" Mered is "Rebellion;" Epher, "Dust;" Jalon, "Night-lodging." Do these tell of circumstances in the family history? The first-born is excellency, in the parents' view; but lo! there soon rose rebellion; the dust is the humiliating place they must take, for they are strangers who tarry but for a night.

Jalon is a female name. She was mother to one who bore a familiar ancient name, Miriam, "Exaltation,"* mother also to Shammai," Renowned," and to Ishbah," Commendation," who in turn gave birth to a son called Eshtemoa, "Obedience.” Let the men of Nehemiah's day remember what the expressive names of their ancestors teach; and let us learn along with them. The father of the three sons is not mentioned; but all these are descendants of the Ezra spoken of in the commencement of the verse. The next verse speaks of him still.

Ver. 18, 19.-"And his wife Jehudijah bare Jered the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. And these are the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, which Mered took. And the sons of his wife Hodiah the sister of Naham, the father of Keilah the Garmite, and Eshtemoa the Maachathite." The men of Zanoah were prominent in Nehemiah's day (chap. iii. 13), helping to set up the valley-gate and building a thousand cubits on the wall; and (chap. xi. 36) their ancient town was re-peopled at this time. They are here shewn that they had ancestors in early days who were no mean men. And with like considerateness, the men of Keilah, who (Neh. iii. 17, 18) appear among the returning exiles that came up to rebuild Jerusalem, are here gratified by a notice of their ancestry.

But there are difficulties here. The names themselves are obvious enough:-Jered, "Descent," an old patriarchal name (chap. i. 2); he rebuilds the town Gedor. Heber, "Companion," or friend, rebuilds Socho; Jekuthiel, "The fear of God" (q.d. Eusebius), rebuilds Zanoah. Bithiah," Daughter of Jehovah,"

*This may, however, have become a man's name also, as in the case of Timna; see chap. i. 51, and note.

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is one of this circle, who, with Jehudijah, "The woman of Judah," and Hodiah, "The praise of Jehovah," hold a position which we must try to ascertain. Naham signifies "Repentance," or "Consolation." The rebuilder of Keilah is called The Garmite," probably founding a town that bore the name Gerem, "Bone," or "Strength." His brother Eshtemoa (so called from the relative of the same name, ver. 17) founded a town whose name contrasted with his brother's town, being Maacah," Oppressed," and from it he was called "The Maachathite."

But let us return to the peculiar difficulty of these verses. Some have tried to identify the three names, Jehudijah, Bithiah, and Hodiah. This cannot stand examination. On the other hand, however, Jehudijah and Bithiah must be the same person, for the sons of the former are the sons of the latter also. The case stands thus. We have the relics of a singular story, fragments of a romantic history. A daughter of Pharaoh became the second wife of this man Ezra! She became a proselyte also; and hence she gave up her original Egyptian name, and was known as "His wife the Jewess" (); and, more significantly still, adopted as her new name, "Bithiah," "Daughter of Jehovah." Daughter of Pharaoh, yet daughter of Jehovah! Here is a soul rescued from Egyptian darkness. In the latter days, Egypt is to share in Israel's blessing, as Isa. xix. 23-25 so fully tells; and here are foretastes, even as chap. ii. 34. But how did Mered take her, if she was his father's wife? It is not possible for us, with so brief a record in our possession, to give a reply that is altogether satisfactory. It appears as if Mered had taken Bithiah, his stepmother, for his own wife after the death of his father. But we are inclined rather to understand "took" in the sense of receiving into a home. It is thus used, Gen. v. 24, Ps. xlix. 16, and elsewhere. Like the "Maße eis Tà idia" of John xix. 27, it may tell us that when this interesting believer in Jehovah, the God of Israel, was left desolate, Mered kindly took her to his own home, and treated her as if she had been his mother.

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This difficulty being so far settled, the other is not so hard. In ver. 19, Hodiah is called "sister of Naham." Hodiah is thus made a female name, though it seems the same as Hodevah in Neh. vii. 43, and Ezra ii. 40, Hodaviah. But the Hebrew reads thus, "The sons of the wife of Hodiah." This wife of Hodiah was "sister of Naham". -a man, obscure now, but known in his day by some special mark. Her sons were Keilah and Eshtemoa.

Was not Nehemiah led by the Spirit to make mention here of so many female names-Jalon, Miriam, Bithiah or Jehudijah, Naham's sister, and the wife of Hodiah-all in order to encourage the women of Judah and Benjamin who had returned from the Babylonish captivity? The women are not forgotten by the Lord. Especially let the case of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh, teach those who have forsaken kindred and earthly advantages, that the Lord remembers such, and will write them in His book for honour and reward at the Great Day. And if among the company of returning exiles there was some lonely woman of Babylon who had joined herself to the people of God, how fitted was a notice like this to cheer her heart; for here she might read the love, and see the open arms, of our God and Father.

Ver. 20." And the sons of Shimon were, Amnon, and Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were, Zoheth, and Ben-zoheth. Shimon, "Wilderness," or "Settlement," may have been of the family of Keilah or Eshtemoa. His sons were—. -Amnon, "Faithful," a name borrowed from King David's family, while at the same time expressive of the father's heartfelt satisfaction with the faithfulness of God. Rinnah," Singing," is a good accompaniment. Ben-hanan, "Son of graciousness," and Tilon, "Gift," are equally significant.

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A son of one of these was Ishi (y), a name in chap. ii. 31, Having salvation." His sons are Zoheth, "Removal," and Ben-zoheth, "Son of removal"-shewing it was no new thing in Israel for men of Judah to feel themselves sojourners and pilgrims, driven to and fro. The names in this verse suggest thoughts that may have something like the effect of sympathy on the meditative soul; for they say, "Others have endured trials like yours."

III. FAMILIES FROM COTEMPORARIES OF PHAREZ, SON OF JUDAH. Ver. 21. The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were, Er the father of Lecah, and Laadah the father of Mareshah."

Shelah, “Prayer” ( properly), gave birth to the founders of two towns, Lecah, "Progress," and Mareshah, "Inheritance;" Er, " Watchful" (so called from his uncle who was cut off, Gen. xxxviii. 3), being the founder of the one, and Laadah, "Order," of the other. But Shelah was progenitor of another race :

"And the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen, of the house of Ashbea."

These were what we would call " the corporation of workers