[1][2] The book is compiled from older sources by an unknown person or group, designated by modern scholars as "the Chronicler", and had the final shape established in late fifth or fourth century BCE.

[3] This chapter contains the genealogies of tribes settled north of Judah: Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim and Asher.

Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;

[6][a] The whole chapter belongs to an arrangement comprising 1 Chronicles 2:3–8:40 with the king-producing tribes of Judah (David; 2:3–4:43) and Benjamin (Saul; 8:1–40) bracketing the series of lists as the priestly tribe of Levi (6:1–81) anchors the center, in the following order:[11] The list parallels Genesis 46:13 and Numbers 26:23–25, but with additional information about the tribe of Issachar whose allotted land was located southwest of the Sea of Galilee.

[19][4] The list is difficult to understand because of possible transmission corruption in some places since it differs from older source (Numbers 26:29–34).