1 Chronicles 6:1

The sons of Levi,.... After an account of the chief of the tribes of Judah and Simeon, of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, follows that of Levi, and his posterity; the kingdom being given

The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. No JFB commentary on these verses.

(1-15) THE LINE OF AARON THROUGH ELEAZAR TO .(1-3) Aaron’s descent from Levi. (1) The sons of Levi; Gershon . . .—So Genesis 46:11; Exodus 6:16, and uniformly in the Pentateuch. In 1 Chronicles 6:16 we have the spelling Gershom, which perhaps indicates a difference of source. (2) The sons of Kohath.—The names are the same as in Exodus 6:18. Kŏ ?hath, or Kĕ ?hath, was the chief house of Levi. The name is put second in the series, perhaps for euphonic reasons. (Comp. “Sheni, Ham, and Japhet” with Genesis 9:24; Genesis 10:21.) (3) And the children.—Heb., sons (bnκ ‘Βmrβm).Aaron, and Moses.—Exodus 6:20. And Miriam.—Numbers 26:59 : “the prophetess, the sister of Aaron” (Exodus 15:20). The sons also of Aaron.—Heb., ‘Aharon; Arab., Hβrϋn. Exodus 6:23, Numbers 26:60 name the four sons of Aaron in the same order as here. “Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the Lord” (Numbers 26:61). A fuller account is given in Leviticus 10:1-7. (4-15) Twenty-two successors of Aaron, for the interval between his death and the Babylonian exile (circ. 588 B.C.). How many centuries that interval comprises is uncertain. The Exodus has been placed at various dates from 1648 B.C. (Hales), and 1491 (Usher) to circ. 1330 (Lepsius and other modern scholars), and even so late as 1265. It is premature, therefore, to object, as some have done, that twenty-two generations are too few for the period they are supposed to cover. If the later dates assigned for the Exodus be nearer the truth, an allowance of about thirty years to the generation would justify the list. At least we have no right to say that the list requires a reckoning of forty or fifty years to the generation. On the other hand, it may well be the case that some links in the chain are wanting. Comp. Ezra 7:1-7, where this list recurs in an abridged form, giving only fifteen names instead of twenty-two. (4) Eleazar begat Phinehas.—Numbers 20:22-28 tells how Moses, by Divine command, made Eleazar priest in Aaron’s room. Joshua 14:1; Joshua 17:4 represent him as acting with Joshua in Canaan. Joshua 24:33 records his death and place of burial. For Phinehas, son of Eleazar, see Exodus 6:25; Numbers 25:7; Numbers 25:11; Judges 20:28 (as ministering before the Ark at Bethel). The list before us appears to ignore the line of Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining son. 1 Chronicles 24:1-6, however, proves that the chronicler was well aware that there had been other personages of high-priestly rank besides those registered here (see especially 1 Chronicles 6:5 : “for there had been princes of the sanctuary and princes of God, of the sons of Eleazar and of the sons of Ithamar”). The line of Eleazar alone is here recorded as being at once the elder and legitimate, and also the permanent one from the time of Solomon onwards. (5) Uzzi is assumed to have been contemporary with Eli, whose immediate descendants to the fourth generation exercised the office of the high-priest, according to the data of the Books of Samuel and Kings.

CHAPTER VI The genealogy of Levi and Aaron, 1-30. The offices of the priests and Levites, 31-53. The cities assigned them, 54-81. NOTES ON CHAP. VI Verse 1. The sons of Levi] It has been well remarked that the genealogy of Levi is given here more ample and correct than that of any of the others. And this is perhaps an additional proof that the author was a priest, felt much for the priesthood, and took care to give the genealogy of the Levitical and sacerdotal families, from the most correct tables; for with such tables we may presume he was intimately acquainted.

Ch. 1 Chronicles 6:1-15 (= 5:27–41 according to the Heb. division). The Descent of the High-priests from Levi. Their Line to the Captivity Clearly the list of highpriests given in 1 Chronicles 6:4-14 is not exhaustive. (1) In the first place allowing 20 years for each generation mentioned we get a space of 440 years only from the Mosaic age to the Captivity. The real interval must have been not less (and was probably much more) than 700 years. (2) In the second place some priests (doubtless highpriests) mentioned in the course of history find no place here, e.g. Eli, Ahimelech (son of Ahitub), Abiathar (David’s fellow-exile), Azariah (the contemporary of the leper-king Uzziah), Urijah (the contemporary of king Ahaz), and Azariah (2 Chronicles 31:10). The object of the list seems to be simply to shew the legitimacy of the position of Jehozadak whose son Jeshua continued the succession after the Return. 1. The sons of Levi] So Genesis 46:11; Exodus 6:16.

The genealogy of the high priestly stem to the captivity.