Apart from the disputed locations of Gedor, Socoh and Zanoh, nothing is known of the people and places named in 1 Chronicles 4:17–18. All three of these names are listed as villages that were allotted to Judah, suggesting a connection between the town and its founder (see Joshua 15:34, Joshua 15:48, Joshua 15:58).
Keilah and Eshtemoa (1 Chronicles 4:19) are also known from the record of Judah’s tribal allotment. The history of Keilah is connected with the rivalry between Saul and David (1 Samuel 23:1–6), and the town was apparently resettled and rebuilt by returnees from the Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah 3:17–18). Eshtemoa was one of the cities in the hill country of Judah and was apparently loyal to David, as the elders of the town received loot from David’s plundering of the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:28).1
This section also gives prominence to women, namely, Miriam, a Calebite and relative of Ezrah, as well as Bithiah, daughter of Pharoah (1 Chronicles 4:17). She married Mered. This name occurs in a seemingly confusing genealogy in 1 Chronicles 4:17–18, as one of the sons of Ezra. Tradition identifies him with the time of Caleb and Moses. There is some debate as to whether Pharaoh is a royal title or not, but it does suggest that Egyptian elements were introduced into Judah. Nothing is known of Shimnon or Ishi and his descendants but most likely had some significance for the Chronicler’s original audience. Perhaps they were ancestors of some of the returning exiles returning from Babylon.
17 The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. These are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married; and she conceived and bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah, the father of Eshtemoa.