This is by far the shortest genealogy in Chronicles. The shortness and fragmented character of this verse have led certain interpreters to conclude that this is due to extensive scribal loss in the source(s) the Chronicler is relying on. This may also account for the omission of Dan and Zebulun from the Chronicler’s list.¹ It may indeed have been here that the Chronicler originally inserted the record of Zebulun and Dan. This proposal has some merit and could explain why this passage deviates from the norm (its anomalous character).²

Information on Naphtali’s descendants is no different from Genesis 46:24 or Numbers 26:48–49. Shillem and Shallum are variant spellings.³

Worth noting is that Bilhah, who was one of Jacob’s concubines and the mother of Naphtali, is included in this list. This comment may have been included because of some controversy among the Chronicler’s readers. There may well have been some who questioned the legitimacy of including Naphtali's descendants in the list because they were the children of a concubine. If this was so, the Chronicler asserted here that the descendants of Naphtali certainly belonged among the people of God.⁴