1 Chronicles 1 is the first chapter of the Books of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible or the First Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE. The content of this chapter is the genealogy list from Adam to Israel (=Jacob) in the following structure: Adam to Noah (verses 1âÂÂ4); Noah's descendants from his three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth: the Japhethites (verses 5âÂÂ7), Hamites (verses 8âÂÂ23), Semites (verses 24âÂÂ27); the sons of Abraham (verses 28âÂÂ34a); the sons of Isaac (34bâÂÂ54; continued to 2:2 for Israel's sons). This chapter belongs to the section focusing on the list of genealogies from Adam to the lists of the people returning from exile in Babylon ( to ).
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and is divided into 54 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; <sup>B</sup>; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; <sup>A</sup>; 5th century).
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 â Abraham's ancestry in Adam and Noah's â and thus, within the whole human history. Verses 1âÂÂ4 (from Adam to Noah) match closely to the genealogy in ; verses 5âÂÂ12 (the genealogy of Noah's sons) match that in ; verses 13âÂÂ27 (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.
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.
This section focuses on the offsprings of Abraham (but none of his brothers'). Verses 32âÂÂ40 lists Abraham's sons other than Isaac and Ishmael with the direct connection to verse 28 and has been more extensively reworked than other genealogies in this chapter, whereas verses 43âÂÂ54 contain an extensive reworking of Genesis 36 to list the descendants of Edom who are Judah's neighbors with 'the closest ties through the best and worst of times'.