The final collapse of the southern kingdom of Judah as an independent nation came at the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon in 586 B.C. Judah had already become a vassal of Egypt in 609 B.C. when King Josiah was killed by Pharaoh Neco at Megiddo (see “Josiah Battles Neco” map). Then in 605 B.C., after Egypt and Assyria were defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, Judah’s vassal loyalty transferred to Babylon. At that time, some of the Judean nobility were sent into exile, including Daniel and his friends (Daniel 1:1-7). Several years later in 597 B.C. a second exile occurred in retaliation for King Jehoiakim’s refusal to continue paying tribute to Babylon, and this likely included the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:1-3). Finally, in 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar conquered many of the fortified towns throughout Judah and destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple after King Zedekiah refused to submit to his Babylonian overlords any longer. Nebuchadnezzar began this campaign into Judah by heading south along the Great Trunk Road and dividing his forces near Aphek, sending some of them to Jerusalem from the north and others from the southwest. At some point during his siege of Jerusalem, King Hophra of Egypt advanced toward Judah to support Judah’s rebellion against Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege to confront Hophra (Jeremiah 37:5-8). It is unclear exactly what transpired between Hophra’s forces and Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, but apparently Hophra’s forces returned to Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar’s forces returned to finish besieging Jerusalem. When the Babylonians finally breached the main northern wall, it became clear that all hope was lost, and King Zedekiah and his sons fled on horseback through a gate at the southeastern corner of Jerusalem (see “Jerusalem during the Early Old Testament” map). They followed the Ascent of Adummim toward Jericho, perhaps seeking to escape to Ammon, but the Babylonians captured Zedekiah and his sons on the plains of Jericho and sent them to Riblah. There they killed Zedekiah’s sons, blinded Zedekiah, and sent him to Babylon to die in exile. After completely destroying Jerusalem and the Temple, the Babylonians sent many other Judean nobles and their families to Babylon (see “Judah Is Exiled to Babylon” map) and appointed a Judean named Gedaliah as governor over the region at Mizpah, thus bringing an end to the independent kingdom of Judah. Around this time it also appears that the Edomites took advantage of Judah’s vulnerable situation and captured territory for themselves in the Negev. In response, the prophets Obadiah and Ezekiel pronounced blistering curses upon the Edomites (Obadiah 1:1-21; Ezekiel 25:12-14).
Though Scripture affords Othniel son of Kenaz a mere six verses to detail his accomplishments, the significance of what he accomplished should not be underestimated. Othniel is first mentioned during the initial conquest of the land, and it is noted that he was the son of Kenaz, the younger brother of Joshua. As the Israelites were seeking to capture Kiriath-sepher (later renamed Debir), Caleb offered the reward of his daughter Achsah (Othniel’s cousin) as a wife for whoever could take the town. Othniel took the town and received Achsah as his wife, and Caleb also granted him the nearby springs. After this, the writer of Judges recounts how the Israelites lived among the pagan inhabitants of the land, intermarried with them, and worshiped their gods. Therefore the Lord became angry with them, and he allowed them to be dominated by King Cushan-rishathaim of Aram-naharaim, who ruled over most of northwest Mesopotamia. This was the same land where Abraham lived before journeying on to Canaan (Genesis 11:27-31; also see “The World of the Patriarchs” map), the homeland of Isaac’s wife Rebekah (Genesis 24:10), the land to which Jacob fled to escape the wrath of his twin brother Esau (Genesis 28; also see “Jacob Goes to Paddan-Aram” map), and the homeland of Balaam son of Beor (Numbers 22:4-5; also see “Balaam Blesses Israel” map). As the first judge of Israel, Othniel led Israel from about 1374-1334 B.C., so it is likely that the kingdom of Cushan-rishathaim was the Mitanni kingdom, which ruled Aram-naharaim from about 1600-1260 B.C. If this is true, it is likely that Cushan-rishathaim was Eriba-Adad I, who ruled Mitanni from about 1390–1366 B.C. The name Cushan-rishathaim, meaning “Cush of the two wickednesses,” may have been an intentional corruption in Hebrew of an otherwise unknown name of Eriba-Adad I. By Othniel’s time, the Mitanni kingdom was beginning a period of decline, so their oppression of the newly established Israelite tribes may have been an attempt to reestablish their dominance throughout the region. Scripture succinctly notes that “the spirit of the Lord came upon [Othniel],” and he waged war against Cushan-rishathaim and defeated him, and the land of Israel had rest for forty years (Judges 3:10-11). Othniel’s bravery during this early period of Israel’s settlement in Canaan ultimately led the nation to victory and survival during a very vulnerable period of their history. And although the Mitanni kingdom continued to rule Aram-naharaim for another century, Othniel’s actions undoubtedly contributed to its continued decline and eventual collapse.
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Author’s Note: This article and the accompanying maps grew out of research on the genealogies of the tribe of Judah, Jabez, the Kenites, and the Rechabites provided by Nancy Dawson (independent scholar and author of the book, All the Genealogies of the Bible, Zondervan Academic, 2023) and location identifications provided by Chris McKinney (Director of Research at Gesher Media,cmckinny@geshermedia.com) for Jabez, Salma, and the Shimeathites. I am grateful for their willingness to share their work.
1 Chronicles 2:55
Like an intriguing mystery rife with consequence, uncertainty, and cryptic leads, the elusive backstory of the scribal community at Jabez begins with a single biblical reference in 1 Chronicles 2:55: “The families also of the scribes that lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, father of the house of Rechab.” With no other references to the town of Jabez in the entire Bible, this obscure verse might seem to be a hopeless dead end for tracking down the origins of Jabez and the Kenites who lived there. But when all the threads of information are carefully teased from this verse, they unravel a fascinating story of a location that became home to a people eventually commended by none other than the prophet Jeremiah as an example for God’s people to follow regarding faithfulness to God’s laws (Jeremiah 35).
The town of Jabez was likely founded by or renamed after the now-famous biblical character of the same name, who was a descendant of Judah and a distant relative of Judah’s great-grandson Hur (1 Chronicles 2:18-55; 4:1-10). Hur and his descendants appear to have founded or renamed a number of towns in Israel, as shown on the first map. Given that Judah and his brothers went down to Egypt with their families for four hundred years (Genesis 46-47; Exodus 12:40; Galatians 3:17), it is not clear exactly when these men, including Jabez, founded or renamed these towns. Most of these towns are mentioned in the book of Joshua in connection with the allotments of the tribes (Joshua 15:20-63), suggesting that they, along with Jabez, are at least as old as the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites around 1406 B.C.
The writer of 1 Chronicles 2:55 also mentions “the Kenites who came from Hammath.” The Kenites were not ethnic Israelites but instead were the descendants of Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, and they accompanied the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land, eventually settling in the general area of Arad near the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea (Exodus 4:18; Judges 1:16). Some scholars have proposed that the Kenites were a clan of nomadic blacksmiths, based on linguistic studies of the term Kenite, but others have disagreed, since this role is never clearly associated with the Kenites in any ancient sources. Around 1215 B.C.–shortly before the Israelite judge Deborah called upon Barak to defend Israel against Jabin of Canaan and his commander Sisera, and nearly 200 years after the Kenites settled near Arad–a Kenite named Heber and his wife Jael moved away from the Kenites of Arad to the Oak of Zaanannim (literally, Elon-bezaanannim) near Kedesh-naphtali, Barak’s hometown. King Jabin of Canaan and Heber formed a treaty, so when Jabin’s commander Sisera was fleeing on foot from the battle with the Israelites, Sisera sought refuge in the tent of Heber and Jael, but Jael showed loyalty to Israel by killing Sisera in his sleep (Judges 4; also see “Deborah and Barak Defeat Sisera” map). It is possible that “the Kenites who came from Hammath” along the Sea of Galilee were descendants of Heber and Jael.
The next part of 1 Chronicles 2:55 reads that Hammath was the “father of the house of Rechab,” and though it might be tempting for readers today to gloss over this seemingly meaningless reference, the original readers of 1 & 2 Chronicles would have immediately recognized who the Rechabites were and understood why it was significant that they were associated with Hammath and, indirectly, with Jabez. Centuries earlier, around 841 B.C., the newly anointed King Jehu of Israel was on his way to destroy the family of King Ahab and the worshipers of Baal when he came across a Kenite named Jehonadab son of Rechab, and he invited him to join him. After arriving in Samaria, Jehu invited all worshipers and priests of Baal throughout Israel to offer a sacrifice at the temple of Baal. Once everyone was assembled, Jehu and Jehonadab ordered their men to put everyone in the temple to the sword (2 Kings 9-10; also see “Jehu Executes Judgment” map). Jehonadab later instructed his descendants, the Rechabites, to live in tents (a trait likely already characteristic of many Kenites–see Judges 5:24), build no houses, plant no vineyards or fields, and drink no wine. For centuries the Rechabites faithfully carried out Jehonadab’s instructions, and it seems that during this time many Kenites from Hammath, who were probably also Rechabites, relocated to the scribal community of Jabez. It seems likely, then, that many of them became scribes and perhaps gave up their characteristically nomadic lifestyle.
As mentioned earlier, the man Jabez was a relative of Hur, so it is likely that his town was located within the general region occupied by Hur’s descendants. Likewise, since Jabez was a scribal community, it makes sense that this town would have been located near Jerusalem and the Temple. First Chronicles 2:55 also mentions the clans of “the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites.” About eight miles south of Jerusalem there are ruins whose names may identify them as the locations of Jabez (Khirbat Abu Sebai`a) and the Shimeathite clan (Khirbat ash Sham`a).
By the time of Jeremiah, however, the political climate of Judah had changed significantly, and threats from the Babylonians and the Arameans led many Rechabites to relocate to the safety of Jerusalem and its walls (Jeremiah 35). This is also when the prophet Jeremiah tested whether the Rechabites would continue to obey the instructions of their ancestor Jehonadab, and he found them to be faithful. Jeremiah then commended the Rechabites as an example for Israel to follow regarding faithfulness to the instructions God had given them, and he prophesied that the Rechabites would never lack a descendant to stand before the Lord.
What became of Jabez and the Kenites after this is unclear. The only other mention made of them in Scripture besides 1 Chronicles 2:55 is found in Nehemiah 3:14, where it notes that a Rechabite named Malchijah was ruler of the district of Beth-hakkerem, and he headed up the efforts of those who repaired Jerusalem’s Dung Gate in 445 B.C. after Judeans returned from exile. Given that many Rechabites had moved to Jerusalem during Jeremiah’s time and that 1 Chronicles 2:55 is written in the past tense, it seems likely that Jabez was no longer home to Kenites after the exile. And since Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Babylonians, perhaps Jabez’s role as a scribal community had come to an end as well.
The story of Ruth is set in the time of the Judges, a few generations before the birth of King David. While much animosity often existed between Israel and Moab (Judges 3:12-30; 10:6-12:7; 2 Samuel 8:2; 10; 2 Kings 3:4-27; 2 Chronicles 20; see also Nations across the Jordan River map), other times the two nations appear to have enjoyed a somewhat congenial relationship, as is demonstrated by Naomi’s willingness to relocate to Moab to seek relief from a famine. Later Naomi’s sons also marry Moabite women, and Ruth’s devotion to Naomi and her God no doubt speaks highly of the character of many Moabites. Many years later Ruth’s great-grandson David placed his parents in the care of the king of Moab while he was on the run from King Saul (1 Samuel 22:3-4).
