The interpretation timeline

1Chr 4:40

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

1 Jewish · 1 Methodist · 1 Catholic · 1 Lutheran

1Chr 4:40 · Douay-Rheims

“And they found fat pastures, and very good, and a country spacious, and quiet, and fruitful, in which some of the race of Cham had dwelt before.”

Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500

1105

A.D.

Rashi Jewish

1040–1105

“for the dwellers of yore were from Ham They dwelt in peace and tranquility, and no one came to harm them; therefore, they did not beware when they came upon them to fight, and an example of this is found in Judges (18:27): “... and they came to Laish, to a people tranquil and secure etc.,” (verse 7): “... and they had no bond with any man.” Because they were tranquil, they were not afraid, and they did not make a pact with anyone to help them; therefore, five hundred men defeated them. It is also written above (verse 7): “... after the manner of the Zidonians, tranquil and secure, etc.””

Source

727 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet

Post-Reformation c. 1650 – 1900

1832

A.D.

Adam Clarke Methodist

1762–1832

“They of Ham had dwelt there of old - These were probably either Philistines or Egyptians, who dwelt at Gedor, which was situated in the environs of Joppa and Samnia. Those whom the five hundred Simeonites expelled from Seir were Amalekites, Ch1 4:43.”

Source

1849

A.D.

George Leo Haydock Catholic

1774–1849

“Cham. It is not certain that the Philistines, who came from the country of the Casluim, were descendants of Mezraim, Genesis x. 14. But it is very clear that the Egyptians sprung from Cham, Psalm lxxvii. 51.”

Source

1875

A.D.

Keil & Delitzsch Lutheran

1861–1875

“And some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to Mount Seir,.... In the land of Edom: having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi; these four captains are said, by the ancient Rabbins, to be of the tribe of Manasseh, as Kimchi observes; see Ch1 5:24 but as the five hundred they were at the head of were of the sons of Simeon, the captains, no doubt, were of the same race.”

Source

Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.