1 Chronicles 6:4

[See comments on 1 Chronicles 6:3].

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

1 Chronicles 6:4 Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua,Ver. 4. And Eleazar begat Phineas.] Famous for his zeal, and God’ s promise thereupon, that he and his should be priests before him for ever. How Eli, of the lineage of Ithamar, came to be high priest, is nowhere expressed; but in this catalogue is no mention of him or his sons, but only of such as sprang from Eleazar.

(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.

Verse 4. Eleazar begat Phinehas] As the high priesthood continued in this family for a long time, the sacred historian confines himself to this chiefly, omitting Nadab and Abihu, and even the family of Ithamar.

4. Phinehas] Numbers 25:7 ff; Numbers 31:6; Joshua 22:13 ff.