Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah: Since the previous verse ends with the words “his son,” some interpreters have thought that these six men were the sons of Shealtiel rather than his brothers. But the Hebrew here is literally “and Malchiram and Pedaiah and Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah.” The presence of the conjunction before the name Malchiram suggests that he and those whose names follow are brothers of Shealtiel. The ancient Syriac translation has the words “his son” after each name in this verse, making this list a linear genealogy of seven generations.

In the past scholars thought that Shenazzar and “Sheshbazzar” (Ezra 1.8, 11; 5.14, 16) were variant spellings of an Akkadian name, and that the same person was referred to by the two different names. More recent studies, however, indicate that these two names most likely do not refer to the same person. So the name should appear in translation as it is in Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and virtually all other modern translations; that is, the spelling of these names should not be harmonized but should be spelled differently.

The line of descent, which began with Adam in chapter 1, continues with Pedaiah and his sons. Pedaiah is the fifty-second generation from Adam.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .