1 Chronicles 6:1-53

The Line of Priests to the Captivity

v. 1. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, Genesis 46:11; Exodus 6:16.

v. 2. And the sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel, Exodus 6:18.

v. 3. And the children of Amram: Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. The sons also of Aaron: Nadab and Abihu, these two losing their lives when offering sacrifice against God's will, Leviticus 10:1, Eleazar and Ithamar.

v. 4. Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua,

v. 5. and Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi. It is true that members of the line of Ithamar occupied the office of high priest for a number of generations at this time, Eli being one of them, 1 Samuel 2:30; but this does not alter the fact that the line of Eleazar alone was really legitimate, and was later restored to its rightful position.

v. 6. And Uzzi begat Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begat Meraioth,

v. 7. Meraioth begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub,

v. 8. and Ahitub begat Zadok, 2 Samuel 8:17, and Zadok begat Ahimaaz, 2 Samuel 15:27,

v. 9. and Ahimaaz begat Azariah, and Azariah begat Johanan,

v. 10. and Johanan begat Azariah, (he it is that executed the priest's office in the Temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem, namely, at the time of King Uzziah, 2 Chronicles 26:17-Job :,)

v. 11. and Azariah begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub,

v. 12. and Ahitub begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Shallum,

v. 13. and Shallum begat Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begat Azariah,

v. 14. and Azariah begat Seraiah, the man who was put to death at Riblah by order of Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings 25:18-Ecclesiastes :, and Seraiah begat Jehozadak,

v. 15. and Jehozadak went into captivity when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. The absence of such names as Jehoiada and Uriah is readily explained by the custom of having two names, which was not confined to the kings.

v. 16. The sons of Levi: Gershom (or Gershon), Kohath, and Merari.

v. 17. There follows the genealogy of the Levitical families who were not priests. And these be the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.

v. 18. And the sons of Kohath were Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel.

v. 19. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers.

v. 20. of Gershom: Libni, his son; Jahath, his son; Zimmah, his son;

v. 21. Joah (or Ethan), his son; Iddo (or Adaiah), his son; Zerah, his son; Jeatarai (or Ethni), his son.

v. 22. The sons of Kohath: Amminadab (or Izhar), his son; Korah, his son; Assir, his son;

v. 23. Elkanah, his son; and Ebiasaph, his son; and Assir, his son;

v. 24. Tahath, his son; Uriel, his son; Uzziah, his son; and Shaul, his son.

v. 25. And the sons of Elkanah: Amassai and Ahimoth.

v. 26. As for Elkanah, probably a different one from him who is mentioned above; the sons of Elkanah: Zophai (or Zuph), his son; and Nahath, his son;

v. 27. Eliab, his son; Jeroham, his son; Elkanah, his son.

v. 28. And the sons of Samuel, who himself was also a son of Elkanah: the firstborn, Vashni (or rather, Joel, 1 Samuel 8:2), and Abiah.

v. 29. The sons of Merari, continued from

v. 19. : Mahli; Libni, his son; Shimei, his son; Uzza, his son;

v. 30. Shimea, his son; Haggiah, his son; Asaiah, his son.

v. 31. And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the Lord, in the tent which he had erected in Jerusalem, after that the ark had rest, its transfer to Jerusalem having been completed successfully, 1 Chronicles 16:1. David arranged for a proper liturgical service in connection with the Tabernacle worship, the Levites here enumerated being in charge of this part of divine worship.

v. 32. And they ministered before the dwelling-place of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, after David had erected these temporary quarters, with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and then they waited on their office according to their order, not only their grouping, but also the position of the various groups having been arranged by the great poet-king.

v. 33. And these are they that waited with their children, in charge of the liturgical part of worship. of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman, a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel, that is, Samuel,

v. 34. the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah (or Nahath),

v. 35. the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,

v. 36. the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,

v. 37. the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,

v. 38. the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel, the descending line of Heman thus being traced back to the ancestor of the nation.

v. 39. And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, namely, during the chanting in the Tabernacle and Temple services, even Asaph, the son of Berachiah, the son of Shimea,

v. 40. the son of Michael the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchiah,

v. 41. the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah,

v. 42. the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei,

v. 43. the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi. So Asaph was the brother of Heman not only by virtue of a common office, but also of a close relationship.

v. 44. And their brethren, the sons of Merari, stood on the left hand: Ethan (or Jeduthun), the son of Kishi (or Kushaiah), the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,

v. 45. the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah,

v. 46. the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shamer,

v. 47. the son of Mahli, this name occurring several times in the case of near relatives, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

v. 48. Their brethren also, the Levites, namely, the other Levites besides the singers just mentioned, were appointed unto all manner of service of the Tabernacle of the house of God, certain tasks being assigned to the various families or groups.

v. 49. But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, that was their first duty, to offer the sacrifices, and on the altar of incense, which was burned at the regular morning and evening hour of worship, and were appointed for all of the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel, the offering on the great Day of Atonement being entirely in the hands of the high priest, according to all that Moses, the servant of God, had commanded. Cf Numbers 18:1-Judges :; 1 Chronicles 28:13; Leviticus 16:32.

v. 50. And these are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar, his son; Phinehas, his son; Abishua, his son;

v. 51. Bukki, his son; Uzzi, his son; Zerahiah, his son;

v. 52. Meraioth, his son; Amariah, his son; Ahitub, his son;

v. 53. Zadok, his son; Ahimaaz, his son, this repetition of the high priests, names bringing the list down to the time of Solomon. A well-regulated, beautiful order of services, if not attended by dead orthodoxy, is very well-pleasing to the Lord.