And of the sons of Benjamin,.... Who were of the tribe of Benjamin, and went with Judah into captivity, and returned with them, and such of them as dwelt in Jerusalem before that:

Sallu the son of Meshullam; whose pedigree is differently given, Nehemiah 11:7,

the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenaah; perhaps these men had two names, there called Joel and Pedaiah.

Of the sons of Benjamin, i.e., of the Benjamites, four heads are named, Sallu, Ibneiah, Elah, and Meshullam; and of the first and fourth of these, three generations of ancestors are mentioned, of the second only the father, of the third the father and grandfather. "And their brethren according to their generations, 956;" cf. on 1 Chronicles 9:6. "All these men" are not the brethren whose number is given, but the heads who have been mentioned by name. Now, if we compare this with Nehemiah 11, we meet in 1 Chronicles 9:7-9 with only one of the four heads of Benjamin, Sallu, and that too, as in the Chronicle, as a son of Meshullam, while the ancestors of both are different. Instead of the three others in 1 Chronicles 9:8, we have סלּי גּבּי, 928; and in 1 Chronicles 9:9, as overseer (prefect), and Jehudah as ruler over the city.

And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah,

9:1-44 Genealogies. - This chapter expresses that one end of recording all these genealogies was, to direct the Jews, when they returned out of captivity, with whom to unite, and where to reside. Here is an account of the good state into which the affairs of religion were put, on the return from Babylon. Every one knew his charge. Work is likely to be done well when every one knows the duty of his place, and makes a business of it. God is the God of order. Thus was the temple a figure of the heavenly one, where they rest not day nor night from praising God, Re 4:8. Blessed be His name, believers there shall, not in turn, but all together, without interruption, praise him night and day: may the Lord make each of us fit for the inheritance of the saints in light.