1 Kings 4:31

For (Heb. and ) he was wiser than all men [Keil adds "of his time," but we have no right to restrict the words to his contemporaries (see note on 1 Kings 3:12 ). It is very doubtful whether the names mentioned presently are those of contemporaries] than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda [It is impossible to say whether these are the same persons as the Ethan and Heman and Chalcol and Dara of 1 Chronicles 2:6 , or the Ethan and Heman who were David's singers. The resemblance is certainly remarkable. Not only are the names practically the same , but they occur in the same order. Our first impression, consequently, is that the two lists represent the same persons, and if so, these four sages were the "sons" of Zerah, the son of Judah ( Genesis 38:30 ). But against this it is urged that Ethan is here called the Ezrahite, as are both Ethan and Heman in the titles of Psalms 89:1-52 , and Psalms 88:1-18 . respectively. The resemblance, however, of Ezrahite ( אֶזְרָתִי ) to Zerahite ( זַרְתִי ) is so close as to suggest identity rather than difference. There is, perhaps, more weight in the objection that Chalcol and Darda are here distinctly said to be "the sons of Mahol," though here again it has been observed that Mahol ( מָחוֹל ) means pipe or dance, and the "sons of Mahol," consequently, may merely be a synonym, agreeably to Eastern idiom ( Ecclesiastes 12:4 , with which cf. 2 Samuel 19:35 ), for "musicians." We may therefore allow that the four names may be those of sons ( i.e; descendants) of Zerah. But the question now presents itself: Are Ethan and Heman to be identified with the well known precentors of David? Against their identity are these facts:

1 . That Ethan the singer ( 1 Chronicles 6:31 ) is described as the son of Kishi ( 1 Chronicles 6:44 ), elsewhere called Kushaiah ( 1 Chronicles 15:17 ), and of the family of Merari; as a Levite that is, instead of a descendant of Judah, and that Heman, who is called the singer, or musician ( 1 Chronicles 6:33 ), and the "king's seer" ( 1 Chronicles 25:5 ) is said to be a son of Joel, a grandson of the prophet Samuel, and one of the Kohathite Levites ( 1 Chronicles 15:17 ). The first impression in this case, therefore, is that they must be distinct. But it should be remembered