פירוש על דברי הימים א 7:43

And of the sons of Issachar: Tola, and Puah, and Jashub, and Shimron In the Pentateuch (Gen. 46:13) it is written: “and Job.” Job was his name [originally], but since they settled themselves (נִתְיַשְּׁבוּ) to learn Torah, as it is written (below 12:33): “And of the sons of Issachar, who possessed understanding of the times,” he merited and was called Jashub (יָשוּב).

And the sons of Tola, etc. “Their number in David’s time was twenty-two thousand and six hundred.” All these were the sons of Tola, aside from the sons of Uzzi.

And the sons of Uzzi, etc. “thirty-six thousand for they had many wives and sons.” And all these were aside from those twenty-two thousand and six hundred of the sons of Tola.

And their brethren of all the families both of the sons of Tola, both of the sons of Uzzi, both all David’s mighty warriors were eighty-seven thousand.

all having genealogical records This means: according to all their genealogical records.

Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael This is the one called Ashbel in the “Book of the Just.” (Gen. 46:21).

And Shuppim and Huppim, the sons of Ir, Hushim, the sons of Aher Ezra, who wrote this book of genealogy, did not know whether they were of the sons of Benjamin or not. He therefore listed them alone. He was also in doubt because it is written: “And Machir took a wife of Huppim.”

The sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, etc. And why was no more of his genealogy traced? This is the reason, as explained at the end of Megillah Yerushalmi0 (see Com. Dig. 8:29): Ezra found three books, and each one of them contained part of the genealogy; that which he found he did not write, and of the sons of Naphtali he did not find any more. For this reason, the entire genealogy is traced with omissions, because he skipped from one book to another and combined them. And that which he could not write in this Book, he wrote in the Book of Ezra. You should know [that this is true] because it is written close by (9:1): “And all Israel traced their genealogy, and behold they are written in the book of the kings of Israel, and Judah was exiled to Babylon because of its treachery.” The meaning is that if you wish to know the genealogy of the Ten Tribes, go to Halah and Habor, the Gozan River, and the cities of Media, because their annals were exiled with them, but as for Judah I found their records in Babylon, and that which I found, I wrote.

The sons of Manasseh: Asriel whom she bore The meaning is: whom his wife bore to him. A similar case is (Num. 26:59): “... whom she bore to Levi in Egypt.” But his Aramean concubine bore Machir.

and the men of Gath, etc. slew them because they came down to take their cattle They were unfamiliar with the ways of the roads and the ways out of the land, and the men of Gath, the natives of the land, slew them because they were familiar with that land.

And his daughter was Sheerah, and she built... Beth Horon Sheerah built it.

and Uzzen Sheerah She named the city after herself.

And Rephah was his son [i.e., the son] of Beriah.

and Resheph and Telah the sons of Rephah. This is the way he counts the generations.

And alongside the sons of Manasseh were: Beth Shean Heb. וְעַל יְדֵי, lit., on the hands of or on the place of. The meaning is: alongside the sons of Manasseh, like (Num. 2:17): “every one in his position עַל יָדוֹ according to their standards.”

the father of Birzaith the governor of that city. But in Genesis Rabbah (71:9)[it says]: “Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Simon [gave different interpretations of Birzaith]. Rabbi Levi says: It means that his daughters were beautiful and were married to [high] priests who were anointed with olive oil. Rabbi Simon says: [It means] that his daughters were beautiful and married to kings who were anointed with the anointment oil, and since they had plenty of oil, they [the daughters] would anoint themselves with it. Therefore, they were beautiful, for concerning Asher it is written (Deut. 33:24): ‘and dip his foot in oil,’ and Rabbi Hanina said: “The warm water and the oil with which my mother anointed me restored me to my youth.”