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 to Judah, the birthright to Joseph, and the priesthood to Levi: the immediate sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari ; as in Genesis 46:11 , from these sprung the three families of the Levites. read more
And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel ,.... Given in the same order as in Exodus 6:18 ; see Gill on Exodus 6:18 . read more
And the children of Amram, Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam ,.... Very memorable persons: Aaron was the high priest, Moses the prophet and lawgiver, and Miriam a prophetess, see Micah 6:4 , the sons also of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar ; the two first were destroyed by fire from heaven for offering strange fire, Leviticus 10:1 and the third succeeded his father in the high priesthood; the line of which is drawn from Aaron through him unto the Babylonish captivity, from... read more
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. read more
This verse gives the three branches of Levi,and is in agreement with the enumeration of them in Genesis 46:11 and Exodus 6:16 , viz. Gershon, Kohath , and Merari . We have not the third parallel passage in the place of mention of the other tribes ( Numbers 1:47-54 ), but it is compensated for somewhat later ( Numbers 3:14-20 ). read more
EXPOSITION The tribe of Levi is now taken. The first three verses prepare the way for running rapidly down the line of high priest descent, from Aaron's son Eleazar to Jehozadak, who is reached at the twenty-fifth name from Levi, though not necessarily the twenty-fifth generation, as there appear ( 1 Chronicles 6:11-13 ) to be some omissions. Nor are all the names which are given those of high priests, for the genealogy of Jehozadak did not always pass though such. read more
The second son, Kohath , rather Kehath, is at once singled out, in order to get at the priest line. He was one of the travellers with Jacob into Egypt, was probably about twenty years the junior of Joseph, lived thirty years after his death, and attained the age of one hundred and thirty-three years, after a residence in Egypt of about one hundred and fifteen years in all. The Kohathites are expressly mentioned in their sacred duties in the time of David ( 1 Chronicles 15:5-8 ), and in the... read more
Once more, Aaron is singled out, and Eleazar , the third of his four sons, fixes the exact channel of descent required. read more
The genealogy of the high priestly stem to the captivity. read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Chronicles 6:1-30
The priests and Levites were more concerned than any other Israelites to preserve their pedigree clear and to be able to prove it, because all the honours and privileges of their office depended upon their descent. And we read of those who, though perhaps they really were children of the priests, yet, because they could not find the register of their genealogies, nor make out their descent by any authentic record, were, as polluted, put from the priesthood, and forbidden to eat of the holy... read more