The following scheme discloses itself
amid the accompanying matters: "The sons of Hezron are Jerahmeel
and Celubai" (Caleb) (ver. 9). "and the sons of Jerahmeel, the
first-born of Hezron, were..." (ver. 25). "These were the
sons of Jerahmeel. And the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel
were..." (ver. 42). "These were the sons of Caleb " (ver. 50 a).
That which is thus formally defined and kept by itself apart
(compare in this connection "Jerahmeel the first-born of Hezron,"
"Caleb the brother of Jerahmeel") is materially also distinguished
from all else. It is the kernel of the whole, and refers to the
pre-exilian time. Even the unusual _et fuerunt_ (vers. 25, 33,
50) points to this conclusion, as well as, in the case of Caleb,
the positive fact that the towns named in ver. 42-49 are all
situated near Hebron and in the Negeb of Judah, where after the
exile the Idumaeans were settled, and, in the case of Jerahmeel,
the negative circumstance that here no towns at all are mentioned
among the families, Molid, ver. 29, being perhaps a single
exception, and thus the extreme south is indicated. But this
kernel is amplified by a number of post-exilian additions.
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