1 Chronicles 6:1-30

8. THE DESCENDANTS OF THE TRIBE OF LEVI (1 Chronicles 6:1-30)

TEXT

1 Chronicles 6:1. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 2. And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. 3. And the children of Amram: Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 4. Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua, 5. and Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi, 6. and Uzzi begat Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begat Meraioth, 7. Meraioth begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub, 8. and Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Ahimaaz, 9. and Ahimaaz begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Johanan, 10. and Johanan begat Azariah, (he it is that executed the priest's office in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem,) 11. and Azariah begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub, 12. and Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Shallum, 13. and Shallum begat Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begat Azariah, 14. and Azariah begat Seraiah, and Seraiah begat Jehozadak; 15. and Jehozadak went into captivity, when Jeohvah carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. 16. The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. 17. And these are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. 18. And the sons ot Kohath were Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. 19. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers-' houses. 20. Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, 21. Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. 22. The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, 23. Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son. 24. Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. 25. And the sons of Elkanah: Amasai, and Ahimoth. 26. As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah: Zophai his son, and Nahath his son, 27. Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. 28. And the sons of Samuel: the first-born Joel, and the second Abijah. 29. The sons of Merari: Mahi, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 30. Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 6:1. These are the names of the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, Merari. 2. Kohath's sons were: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. 3. Amram's descendants included: Aaron, Mpses, Miriam. Aaron's sons were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar. 4-15. The oldest sons of the successive generations of Aaron were as follows: Eleazar, the father of Phinehas, the father of Abishua, the father of Bukki, the father of Uzzi, the father of Zerahiah, the father of Meraioth, the father of Amariah, the father of Ahitub, the father of Zadok, the father of Ahima-az, the father of Azariah, the father of Johanan, the father of Azariah (the High Priest in Solomon's Temple at Jerusalem), the father of Amariah, the father of Ahitub, the father of Zadok, the father of Shallum, the father of Hilkiah, the father of Azariah, the father of Seraiah, the father of Jehozadak (who went into exile when the Lord sent the people of Judah and Jerusalem into captivity under Nebuchadnezzar). 16. As previously stated, the sons of Levi were: Gershom, Kohath, Merari. 17. The sons of Gershom were: Libni, Shime-i. 18. The sons of Kohath were: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel. 19, 20, 21. The sons of Merari were: Mahli, Mushi. The subclans of the Levites were: In the Gershom clan: Libni, Jahath, Zimmah, Joah, Iddo, Zerah, Jeatherai. 22, 23, 24. In the Kohath clan: Amminadab, Korah, Assir, Elkanah, Ebiasaph, Assir, Tahath, Uriel, Uzziah, Shaul. 25, 26, 27. The subclan of Elkanah was further divided into the families of his sons: Amasai, Ahimoth, Elkanah, Zophai, Nahath, Eliab, Jeroham, Elkanah. 28. The families of the sublcan of Samuel were headed by Samuel's sons: Joe, the oldest; Abijah, the second. 29, 30. The subclans of the clan of Merari were headed by his sons: Mahi, Libni, Shime-i, Uzzah, Shime-a, Haggiah, Asaiah.

COMMENTARY

The sons of Levi and their descendants are named in 1 Chronicles 6:1-30.[19] Levi attained a real importance among the twelve sons of Jacob. He and Simeon were guilty of taking vengeance upon the Shechemites (Genesis 34:25) for which action they were severely rebuked by their father. Jacob remembered this event (Genesis 49:5) at the time of the patriarchal blessing. Because of his share in the slaughter of the Shechemites, Levi was destined to be given the assignment of the priesthood and tabernacle service. His descendants would be scattered throughout Israel. The tribe of Levi was the smallest of the twelve tribes of Israel. Whatever glory was associated with the work the Levites were to do was theirs because they had distinguished themselves as faithful servants of Jehovah at Sinai when many other Hebrews were involved in worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32:26).

[19] Clarke, Adam, A Commentary and Critical Notes, Vol. II, Carlton and Porter, New York, n.d., p. 588.

Levi's sons were Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. The record here turns immediately to Kohath because his is the high priestly house. Kohath's sons are named and the most important of these is Amram because he was the father of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Aaron was the father of four sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.[20] Nadab and Abihu used strange fire in offering sacrifices and were struck down by Jehovah (Numbers 3:4). Aaron was the first high priest in Israel. He was succeeded by his son, Eleazar. The next twenty names in the list, from Phinehas through Seraiah, are believed to be names of high priests. Phinehas served as high priest in Joshua's day (Joshua 22:10-33). Seraiah (Jeremiah 52:24) was high priest in the days of Zedekiah, Judah's last king. Some significant events related to the lives of some of these men are recorded in the Bible. Ahitub is identified as the father of Zadok. There are several references to him in the books of Samuel and Kings. Zadok and Abiathar were the leading priests at the time of David's flight from Absalom (2 Samuel 15:24). Later, Abiathar cast his lot with Adonijah (1 Kings 1:7-8); but Zadok remained loyal to David. Zadok probably died before the Temple was built. Ahimaaz, Zadok's son, was faithful to David in the Absalom crisis (2 Samuel 15:36) and is well known as a post or a runner. In bringing the news of Absalom's death, Ahimaaz outran the Cushite messenger, but could not bring himself to tell David the bad news (2 Samuel 18:19 ff). Azariah (1 Chronicles 6:10) is identified as a priest who served in Solomon's Temple. Ahimaaz-' son was named Azariah and there was another priest by the same name who lived in Uzziah's day, about 750 B. C. (2 Chronicles 26:17; 2 Chronicles 26:20). Since some of these priestly names recur, it is not strange that the names of Ahitub and Zadok appear in 1 Chronicles 6:8 and also in 1 Chronicles 6:12. One of the most important names in this priestly list is that of Hilkiah. He was high priest when Josiah was king of Judah (640-609 B. C.). He was a leading spirit in the great religious revival of that era. This revival was launched with the discovery of the book of the Law in the house of the Lord (2 Kings 22:8). 2 Chronicles 35:1-19 describes the great Passover in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign under the leadership of Hilkiah. Seraiah is identified as the high priest in the days of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 52:24-27) when Jerusalem fell to Babylon. Jehozadak never attained to the high priestly office because of the overthrow of Jerusalem; but he is renowned as the father of Jeshua who served as high priest with Zerubbabel when Israel returned from Babylon.

[20] Spence, H. D. M. The Pulpit Commentary, I Chronicles, p. 83.

Having traced the high priestly register, the chronicler now turns (1 Chronicles 6:16-30) to a general listing of Levi's people. The principal families of Gershom, Kohath, and Merari are named in 1 Chronicles 6:17-19. Then the lines of descent are traced through Levi's grandsons. 1 Chronicles 6:22-28 trace the descendants of Kohath to Joel, Samuel's son. Elkanah, Samuel's father, was a Kohathite Levite. Samuel was the father of Joel and Abijah who were not good priests (1 Samuel 8:2-3).

The regular responsibilities of the Levites are detailed in 1 Chronicles 6:31-48. David gave special attention to the organization of worship after he set up a tent for the ark in Jerusalem. The Levitical ministry of sacred music comes into its own at that time and was well ordered by the time the Temple was built. Heman, son of Joel, a Kohathite Levite is called a singer.[21] Careful attention is given in tracing his pedigree back to Israel or Jacob. Asaph is identified as Heman's brother. He is brother in the sense that the two men hold similar offices. Asaph's lineage is traced back to Levi and Jacob through Gershom, son of Levi. Ethan shared the office of musical direction with Heman and Asaph. He descended from Merari, son of Levi. In these three men all of the branches of Levi's tribe were represented. We are advised in 1 Chronicles 6:48 that Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites continued to perform their respective duties at the tabernacle.

[21] Spence, H. D. M., The Pulpit Commentary, I Chronicles, p. 85.

Once more, in 1 Chronicles 6:49-53, Aaron's family is singled out for special attention. Some of Aaron's descendants down to the time of David are mentioned. Earlier (1 Chronicles 6:15), the list carried down to the overthrow of Jerusalem.

The rest of chapter six (1 Chronicles 6:54-81) is concerned about the villages of the Levites. When the land of Palestine was originally apportioned among the tribes of Israel, the tribe of Levi did not receive a designated plot like Judah or Ephraim. To the tribe of Levi forty-eight villages were assigned. These villages were located throughout Palestine and included the six cities of refuge (Numbers 35:1-8). The Kohathite villages were located in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh (1 Chronicles 6:57-61). Since the Kohathites would provide the officiating priests, their villages were nearer the location of the tabernacle and the temple. Among the Kohathite villages were Hebron and Shechem, cities of refuge. The Gershonite (Gershom) villages were situated in the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh (east of Jordan). Golan and Kedesh Naphtali were the Gershonite cities of refuge. The Merarite villages were located in the territories of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. The cities of refuge pertaining to Merari were Bezer and Ramoth. The suburbs of the Levitical cities encompassed an area extending one thousand cubits (about 500 yards) from the wall of the city all the way around the city (Numbers 35:4). This area was used as a pasture land for the Levites-' flocks.