Son of Levi, Gen. xlvi. 1l. signifies congregation, from Karah.
Ko´hath (assembly), son of Levi, and father of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel (Gen 46:11). The descendants of Kohath formed one of the three great divisions of the Levitical tribe. This division contained the priestly family which was descended from Aaron, the son of Amram. In the service of the tabernacle, as settled in the wilderness, the Kohathites had the distinguished charge of bearing the Ark and the sacred vessels (Exo 6:16; Num 4:4-6).
Son of Levi, Gen 46:11, and father of the Kohathites, who were appointed to carry the ark and sacred utensils of the tabernacle during the journeyings of the Israelites in the desert, Exo 6:16- 24; Num 4:4-15 .\par
Ko’hath. (assembly). Second of the three sons of Levi, from whom the three principal divisions of the Levites derived their origin and their name. Gen 46:11; Exo 6:16. In the journeyings of the Tabernacle, of the sons of Kohath (Kohathites) had charge of the most holy portions of the vessels. Num 4:1. Of the personal history of Kohath, we know nothing, except that he came down to Egypt with Levi and Jacob, Gen 46:11, that his sister was Jochebed, Exo 6:20, and that he lived to the age of 133 years. Exo 6:18. (B.C. about 1491).
("assembly".) Levi’s second son; came down to Egypt with Levi and Jacob (Gen 46:11). Died 133 years old (Exo 6:16; Exo 6:18). From him sprang Moses and Aaron (1Ch 6:2); but
Their charge on the march was on the S. side of the tabernacle, to bear (Num 4:15) the ark, the table, the candlestick, the altars, and vessels of the sanctuary, and the hangings, but not to take off the coverings put on by the sons of Aaron or touch them, on pain of death; Uzzah’s fatal error (2Sa 6:6-7). They held high office as judges and rulers in things sacred and secular, and keepers of the dedicated treasures, and singers in the sanctuary (1Ch 26:23-32; 2Ch 20:19). Samuel was Kohathite, and therefore so was Heman the singer, Samuel’s descendant. Their inheritance was in Manasseh, Ephraim, and Dan (1Ch 6:61-70; Jos 21:5; Jos 21:20-26).
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); KOHATHITES:
By: Emil G. Hirsch, M. Seligsohn
Kohath was the second son of Levi (Gen. xlvi. 11; Ex. vi. 16; Num. iii. 17; I Chron. vi. 1) and progenitor of the Levitical division of the Kohathites. Born in the land of Canaan, he was one of those who went with Jacob to Egypt (Gen. xlvi. 8, 11), where he died at the age of 133, leaving four sons (Ex. vi. 18). The division of the Kohathites was more important than the other two Levitical divisions. Even when wandering in the wilderness, the Kohathites were divided into four families (Num. iii. 27); the whole number of their males over a month old was 8,600 (ib. iii. 28) and from thirty to fifty years of age, 2,750 (ib. iv. 2, 3, 36). To them was entrusted the transportation of the sanctuary and its furniture (ib. iii. 31, iv. 4-15), a very honorable office, and one in which great precautions had to be taken not to touch the objects carried (ib. iv. 15, 18-20). In the camp their position was south of the Tabernacle (iii. 28); and when journeying they preceded the Gershonites (ib. iv.; Josh. xxi.). Owing to the great holiness of their burden, the Kohathites carried it upon their shoulders (Num. vii. 9). In the wilderness their chief was Elizaphan ben Uzziel (ib. iii. 30). After the settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan, thirteen cities out of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin were allotted to the priests, descendants of Kohath (Josh. xxi. 4, 13-19), and ten others out of Ephraim, Dan, and western Manasseh to the rest of the Kohathites (ib. xxi. 5, 20-26; I Chron. vi. 57-61, 67-70).
Besides Moses and Aaron, there were other eminent Kohathites; e.g., the prophet Samuel and his grandson Heman. In David's division of the Levites into groups, descendants of the four Kohathite families are mentioned as heads of fathers' houses (I Chron. xxiii. 12-20). They are described also as taking part in the Temple service in the time of Jehoshaphat (II Chron. xx. 19) and as cooperating in the cleansing of the Temple in the reign of Hezekiah (ib. xxix. 12, 14). There is no mention of the Kohathites after the Exile.