Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Chronicles
Chapter 5: They Cried to God in the Battle
The tribes east of the Jordan, Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, are set before us with two great lessons framing their story. Reuben, the firstborn, lost his birthright through sin, and the promise passed on. Later these tribes won a stunning victory because they cried to God and trusted Him, for the war was of God. But in the end they turned to other gods, and the same God who fought for them stirred up Assyria to carry them away. Faith brings blessing; unfaithfulness brings ruin.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Chronicles chapter 5. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Reuben the Firstborn (1 Chronicles 5:1-2)
The firstborn loses his birthright through sin, and the double portion and the rulership pass to others.
Of Him Came the Chief Ruler
"Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's:)"
Word Study
"birthright," Hebrew bekorah (בְּכֹרָה), the firstborn's double portion and privilege. Reuben was Jacob's firstborn, and to the firstborn belonged the bekorah, a double inheritance and the leadership of the family. But Reuben forfeited it: "forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed" (Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4), he lost the honor his birth had given him. The Chronicler then makes a careful distinction that shapes the whole book. The birthright (the double portion) went to Joseph, whose two sons Ephraim and Manasseh each became a tribe. But the rulership went to Judah: "Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler (nagid, prince, leader)." So the two great privileges of the firstborn were divided, the material inheritance to Joseph, the kingship to Judah. This explains why Chronicles, though it faithfully records all the tribes, keeps returning to Judah, for from Judah "came the chief ruler," David, and beyond David the Messiah. Reuben's sin did not frustrate God's plan; it simply meant the promise flowed through the channels God had chosen, honoring not the accident of birth order but His sovereign purpose.
Explanation
The Chronicler pauses before listing Reuben's descendants to explain an important fact. Reuben was indeed the firstborn son of Israel, but because he had defiled his father's bed, sleeping with his father's concubine, he lost his birthright. That birthright, the double portion of inheritance, was given instead to the sons of Joseph, while the leadership and kingship passed to the tribe of Judah, from which the "chief ruler," David, and ultimately the Messiah, would come. So although Reuben kept his place as the eldest by birth, the privileges of the firstborn were redistributed by God's design. It is the Chronicler's way of showing why the story keeps its focus on Judah rather than on Reuben.
Gospel Focus
Reuben's tragedy is a solemn warning that privilege can be forfeited by sin. He had everything by birth, yet "unstable as water," he lost the excellency of his position (Genesis 49:4). Esau likewise "sold his birthright" (Hebrews 12:16), and the New Testament warns us not to be like him, treating holy things lightly. But the deeper note is grace: God transferred the birthright and the rulership according to His own purpose, and through Judah He raised up "the chief ruler." That ruler is finally Jesus, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda" (Revelation 5:5), the true Firstborn, "the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29), who never forfeited His place and who shares His inheritance with all who are His. What Reuben lost by sin, we receive by grace, for in Christ believers belong to the "church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven" (Hebrews 12:23). The birthright we could never keep on our own is secured for us in the One who prevailed above His brethren and reigns as chief ruler for ever.
They Put Their Trust in Him (1 Chronicles 5:18-22)
The eastern tribes cry to God in battle and win, because the war was of God.
Because the War Was of God
"The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war. And they made war with the Hagarites, with Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab. And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that were with them: for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him. And they took away their cattle; of their camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men an hundred thousand. For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity."
Word Study
"he was intreated of them," Hebrew na'tor from atar (עָתַר), to be entreated, to grant a plea. This is one of the loveliest verses in the genealogies. The eastern tribes had 44,760 skilled warriors, "valiant men... skilful in war," a formidable army. Yet the Chronicler is careful to tell us that their victory did not come from their skill or numbers. "They were helped against them... for they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them (atar, He answered their plea); because they put their trust in him (batach, בָּטַח, to trust, to lean upon in confidence)." Three things stand together: they cried out, God answered, and the reason given is their trust. The result was overwhelming victory and enormous spoil. And the summary explains the true cause: "there fell down many slain, because the war was of God." The battle was theirs to fight, and they fought it as trained soldiers, but the outcome was God's, because they leaned on Him and called on Him in the fight. Human effort and divine help are not rivals here; the men who trusted God most were the men who took up buckler and bow and went to war, and God gave the victory to their faith.
Explanation
The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh mustered nearly forty-five thousand trained, well-armed soldiers and went to war against the Hagarites and their allies. They won a decisive victory and took vast plunder, tens of thousands of animals and captives. But the Chronicler makes clear where the victory came from: they were helped because they cried out to God during the battle, and God answered them, because they trusted in Him. The war, he says plainly, "was of God." Their military strength was real, but it was their prayer and their faith that turned the battle. They then settled in the conquered lands and lived there until the later captivity, a note that quietly foreshadows the sad turn coming in the next verses.
Gospel Focus
Here is the pattern of every true victory in the life of faith: we take up our weapons and go to the battle, and yet we cry to God and trust Him for the outcome, "for the battle is the LORD's" (1 Samuel 17:47). These soldiers were skilful in war, yet they prayed in the thick of the fight, and God "was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him." This is the balance Scripture everywhere strikes: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5), and yet "watch and pray" and stand and fight (Ephesians 6:11-18). The Christian's warfare against sin and the powers of darkness is real and demands our effort, but the victory is won by the God who is "intreated" of those who trust Him. And the deepest comfort is that our great battle has already been won for us by Christ, who "spoiled principalities and powers... triumphing over them" (Colossians 2:15). When we cry to Him in our battles and lean wholly on Him, we fight from His finished victory. Trust Him in the fight, for the war is of God, and He is entreated by every soul that leans on Him.
They Transgressed and Were Carried Away (1 Chronicles 5:23-26)
The same tribes that God helped turn to other gods, and the God of Israel stirs up Assyria to carry them off.
The God of Israel Stirred Up the Spirit of Assyria
"And the children of the half tribe of Manasseh dwelt in the land: they increased from Bashan unto Baalhermon and Senir, and unto mount Hermon. And these were the heads of the house of their fathers, even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valour, famous men, and heads of the house of their fathers. And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day."
Word Study
"went a whoring," Hebrew zanah (זָנָה), to commit fornication, used of spiritual adultery. The contrast with the previous section is stark and deliberate. The very tribes God had so mightily helped, "mighty men of valour, famous men," now "transgressed (ma'al, מָעַל, to act treacherously, to break faith) against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring (zanah) after the gods of the people of the land." Scripture regularly describes idolatry as adultery, because Israel was bound to the LORD in a covenant like marriage, and to turn to other gods was to break faith with the One who loved and redeemed them. The bitter irony is sharp: they chased "the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them" — they worshiped the very idols whose worshipers God had already judged and cast out. So the same divine power that won their battles now turned against them: "the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul... and Tilgathpilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away." The God who is "intreated" by faith (v20) is the same God who raises up the invader against unfaithfulness. The eastern tribes, the first to settle and the first to fall, became the first to go into exile, carried to Halah, Habor, Hara, and Gozan, "unto this day."
Explanation
The half-tribe of Manasseh grew numerous and spread through the northern regions, and their leaders were mighty and famous men. But prosperity did not keep them faithful. They broke faith with the God of their fathers and turned to worship the false gods of the surrounding peoples, the very nations God had destroyed to give them the land. In judgment, the God of Israel moved the Assyrian kings Pul and Tiglath-pileser to invade and deport them. The Reubenites, Gadites, and half-tribe of Manasseh, the eastern tribes, were carried away to distant regions of the Assyrian empire, where they remained "unto this day." The same tribes God had helped to victory when they trusted Him were now removed from their land because they forsook Him.
Gospel Focus
The whole chapter is a mirror: verse 20 shows what faith obtains, verse 25 shows what unfaithfulness forfeits. The God who was "intreated" by their trust "stirred up" the enemy against their treachery. This teaches us that yesterday's victory is no guarantee of tomorrow's faithfulness; we must go on trusting and go on cleaving to the Lord. It also reveals the seriousness of idolatry as spiritual adultery, breaking faith with the God who loves us. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" (James 4:4). Prosperity and past blessing can lull the soul into forgetting God, and the New Testament warns, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). Yet even this sad ending is not without mercy, for God's discipline aims at repentance, and He is the God who gathers the scattered. The gospel calls the unfaithful back to the faithful God, who in Christ "abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself" (2 Timothy 2:13), and who receives every wandering heart that returns to Him. Learn from the eastern tribes: trust Him and be helped; cleave to Him and be kept.
Chapter in Review
First Chronicles 5 records the eastern tribes, Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, and frames their story with two great lessons. It opens by explaining that Reuben, though the firstborn, forfeited his birthright through sin, so that the double portion passed to Joseph and the rulership to Judah, from whom the chief ruler and the Messiah would come. It then recounts a stunning victory over the Hagarites, won not by the tribes' considerable military skill but because "they cried to God in the battle, and he was intreated of them; because they put their trust in him," for "the war was of God." But the chapter ends in tragedy: these same mighty men "transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after" idols, and the God who had helped them "stirred up" Assyria to carry them into exile. The whole chapter contrasts the blessing of trust with the ruin of unfaithfulness, and points beyond forfeited and failing Israel to Christ, the true Firstborn and chief ruler, who never fails.
Key Takeaways
- Privilege can be forfeited by sin. Reuben lost his birthright; do not treat holy things lightly, as Esau did.
- God's promise flows through His chosen channel. The rulership passed to Judah, from whom came David and Christ.
- Trust God in the battle. The eastern tribes fought as skilled soldiers yet cried to God and trusted Him, and He was entreated.
- The war is of God. The outcome belongs to the Lord; we fight from the victory Christ has already won.
- Yesterday's help is no license for today's unfaithfulness. The helped tribes fell to idolatry and exile; cleave to the Lord and be kept.
Questions for Reflection
- Are you guarding the spiritual privileges God has given you, or treating them lightly?
- In your battles against sin and trial, do you both act and cry to God, trusting Him for the outcome?
- Do you truly believe "the war is of God," or are you fighting in your own strength?
- Has past blessing or present prosperity made you careless about cleaving to the Lord?
- Where have you let the "gods of the people of the land" draw your heart from the God who redeemed you?
References
- Scripture: 1 Chronicles 5:1-26, King James Version (commentary focuses on verses 1-2, 18-22, and 23-26).
- Cross-references: Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4; 1 Samuel 17:47; Proverbs 3:5; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 10:12; Ephesians 6:11-18; Colossians 2:15; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 12:16, 23; James 4:4; Revelation 5:5.
- Hebrew word meanings: standard lexical sources (Strong's, BDB) for bekorah, nagid, atar, batach, ma'al, and zanah; background on the eastern tribes, the Hagarites, and the Assyrian deportation.