The sons of Hashum — Mattenai, Mattattah, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jeremai, Manasseh, and Shimei — present yet another cluster of men from the same extended family network who had entered into intermarriages. The repetition of family groups suggests that patterns of intermarriage were often connected to clan networks and geographic proximity to non-Israelite communities. The Chronicler's careful enumeration insists that collective sin must be addressed collectively and individually simultaneously. Each name is a testimony that no one's private choices are purely personal when the holiness of the entire covenant community is at stake.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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