Matthew Henry's Complete Bible Commentary

Verses 35—44

1 Chronicles 9:35-9:44 are the very same with 1 Chronicles 8:29-8:38, giving an account of the ancestors of Saul and the posterity of Jonathan. There it is the conclusion of the genealogy of Benjamin; here it is an introduction to the story of Saul. We take the repetition as we find it; but if we admit that there are in the originals, especially in these books, some errors of the transcribers, I should be tempted to think this repetition arose from a blunder. Some one, in copying out these genealogies, having written those words, 1 Chronicles 9:34 (These dwelt in Jerusalem), cast his eye on the same words, 1 Chronicles 8:28. (These dwelt in Jerusalem), and so went on with what followed there, instead of going on with what followed here; and, when he perceived his mistake, was loth to make a blot in his book, and so let it stand. We have a rule in our law, Redundans non nocet—Redundancies do no harm. MHBCC 348.12