The list of names is taken exclusively from the
Book of Genesis and reduced to a 'skeletal framework', with some omissions of those 'whose lines ended with their deaths', such as
Cain's descendants and
Abraham's brothers. It links the origin of Israel to the origin of all people – Abraham's ancestry in Adam and Noah's – and thus, within the whole human history. Verses 1–4 (from Adam to Noah) match closely to the genealogy in ; verses 5–12 (the genealogy of Noah's sons) match that in ; verses 13–27 (Shem's descendants until Abraham) parallel the genealogy in . Verse 27 contains "Abram, that is, Abraham" (the name first given by God in ), representing a jump from
Genesis 11 to
Genesis 17.
Verse 1 :
Adam, Seth, Enosh; Noah was the immediate descendant of
Seth, so it is not necessary to mention
Cain and Abel, or any of the other sons of Adam.
Verse 4 :
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. • "
Shem,
Ham, and
Japheth": these are the sons of
Noah, and not successive generations, as can be read in the
Book of Genesis (
Genesis 5–
10), which is apparently a source for the Books of Chronicles. These names are listed this way in
Masoretic Text and Latin
Vulgate, whereas the Greek
Septuagint (LXX) adds "the sons of Noah" before "Shem,..."
Verse 6 :
And the sons of Gomer; Ashchenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. • "Riphath": the same as in (), following many medieval Hebrew manuscripts,
LXX and
Vulgate, and used in some English translations (NAB, NIV, NLT, etc.), while others (ASV, NASB, NRSV, etc.) follow the
Masoretic Text in using "Diphath" (). ==The descendants of Abraham (1:28–54)==