1 Chronicleschapter 6
81 verses · Ezra, by tradition · 450 to 400 BC · History
Key verse
Now these are their dwelling places throughout their castles in their coasts, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites: for theirs was the lot.
It stands in Cities and pasture lands given to the Levites, verses 54 to 81.
The chapter
Chapter summary
The tribe of Levi gets the longest and most carefully built list, running from Levi through Aaron's house to Jehozadak, 'when Jehovah carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.' Between the priestly lines stand the singers. The men David set 'over the service of song in the house of Jehovah, after that the ark had rest'. Heman, Asaph on his right hand, Ethan on his left, whose names head psalms still sung. The chapter closes with the Levitical cities scattered through every tribe. For a people rebuilding worship, this is the deed of title: who may serve, who may sing, and where they belong.
Context
History · Ezra · 1 Chronicles overview
The world behind this chapter
1 Chronicles 6The history
The chapter belongs to Levi, the tribe that held no territory and served at the altar.
The high priesthood ran in one family, and the list traces it from Aaron through Phinehas and Zadok down to Jehozadak, who went into captivity when the LORD sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. That last name is the credential of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest who came home with Zerubbabel, so the list exists to prove he was who he said he was.
The rest of the history, and what it meant to them
The middle section names the three families of temple musicians and where each stood, Heman in the centre, Asaph at his right hand and the sons of Merari on the left. Many psalms carry those names in their headings, so the hymnbook and the duty roster match.
The last section is the map of Levi's towns. The tribe received towns with their surrounding pasturelands scattered through everyone else's land, so that teaching and sacrifice were within a walk of any region. The priestly families clustered near Jerusalem in Judah, Benjamin and Simeon, and the rest of Levi was spread to the north and east.
A first hearer knew what the arrangement cost and what it bought. A Levite lived among other tribes, drew his living from tithe and pasture, and held his place by a written line.
What it meant to them
Everything the second temple did rested on lines like these, who could enter the holy place, who could sing, who could carry and who could teach. This was the staff list of the building the hearers were standing in.
It carried a hard edge as well. A family that could not show its line did not serve, so in a community rebuilding from scratch the chapter was both a door and a wall.
Sources cited
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
- Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Chronicles , 1872
- Victor Hurowitz, I Have Built You an Exalted House , JSOT Supplement 115, 1992
Where the chapter sits
1 Chronicles 6 falls in Genealogies from Adam to Saul (chapters 1–9). The longest single genealogical block in Scripture; the Davidic-line focus; the Levitical emphasis; the post-exilic returnee list (ch. 9).
After it: David's reign: temple-framed, chapters 10–29.
The whole shape of 1 Chronicles→The structure of this chapter
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A. The high-priestly line carried away into exile
1. (vv. 1-3)
1 Chronicles 6:1
“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 Gen 46:11, from these sprung the three families of the Levites.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Chronicles 6:1
“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.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:1
“Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam, we have known much more of than their names, and cannot pass them over here without remembering that this was that Moses and Aaron whom God honoured in making them instruments of Israel's deliverance and settlement and figures of him that was to come, Moses as a prophet and Aaron as a priest.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Chronicles 6:2
“And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel,.... Given in the same order as in Exo 6:18; see Gill on Exo 6:18.”
1 Chronicles 6:3
“And the children of Amram, Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam,....”
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari: Levi's three sons open a line that will split three ways: the kingdom to Judah, the birthright to Joseph, and the priesthood to Levi, a division Gill draws directly from these opening verses. Amram's children stand together as three names, Aaron, Moses, and Miriam, the only place in the chapter where a woman is named among the sons. Aaron's four sons follow, and only two of them, Eleazar and Ithamar, carry forward the line the rest of the chapter will trace.
2. (vv. 4-15)
1 Chronicles 6:4
“Eleazar begat Phinehas - As the high priesthood continued in this family for a long time, the sacred historian confines himself to this chiefly, omitting Nadab and Abihu, and even the family of Ithamar.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:5
“Uzzi--It is supposed that, in his days, the high priesthood was, for unrecorded reasons, transferred from Eleazar's family to Ithamar's, in which it continued for several generations.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 6:8
“Ahitub begat Zadok - Through this person the high priesthood came again into the family of Eleazar.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:9
“Ahimaaz begat Azariah - It must, apparently, be this Azariah, and not the son of Johanan 1Ch 6:10, who was high priest at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple. For Zadok, who lived into the reign of Solomon 1Ki 4:4 cannot have been succeeded by a great-great-grandson. The notice in 1Ch 6:10, which is attached to the second Azariah, must, beyond a doubt, belong properly to the first.”
1 Chronicles 6:10
“Johanan - Supposed to be the same as Jehoiada. Executed the priest’s office - Probably this refers to the dignified manner in which Azariah opposed King Uzziah, who wished to invade the priest’s office, and offer incense in the temple. See 2Ch 26:17, 2Ch 26:18.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:10
“Commentary on Chapter VI 10. The priest's office - So did all the rest, but it is implied that he did it worthily, he filled his place, and valiantly discharged his office in Uzziah's time. Solomon built - In Solomon's temple; so called to distinguish it from the second temple which was built or in building when these books were written.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:11
“Ahitub - Between Amariah and Hilkiah 1Ch 6:13 this genealogy is most certainly defective, as it gives three generations only for a period for which nine generations are furnished by the list of the kings of Judah, and which cannot be estimated as much short of 200 years.”
1 Chronicles 6:14
“Azariah begat Seraiah--He filled the supreme pontifical office at the destruction of Jerusalem, and, along with his deputy and others, he was executed by Nebuchadnezzar's orders at Riblah (2Ki 25:18, 21).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 6:15
“Jehozadak - The meaning of the name is “Jehovah is righteous.” It has been noted as remarkable that the heads of both the priestly and the royal stock carried to Babylon should have had names (Zedekiah and Jehozadak) composed of the same elements, and assertive of the “justice of God,” which their sufferings showed forth so signally.”
Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua: The priestly line runs unbroken from Aaron's grandson Phinehas, whose zeal is remembered in Numbers 25, through Zadok who served David and Solomon, down to Jehozadak, who goes into captivity at verse 15 when the Lord carries Judah and Jerusalem away by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. Barnes flags a gap between Amariah and Hilkiah, three generations recorded for a span the list of Judah's kings shows lasted closer to two hundred years. The office keeps its own exile ledger alongside the throne David was promised, ending in Babylon exactly as the kingdom did.
B. The three houses of Levivv. 16-30
Gershom, Kohath, and Merari: The sons of Levi are named a second time to open the wider Levitical houses that did not descend from Aaron, and the list traces Gershom, Kohath, and Merari down toward David's own day. Kohath's branch is carried furthest, reaching Elkanah and Samuel the prophet, whose sons are recorded here under a name, Vashni, that Clarke and Jamieson Fausset and Brown both read as a copied Hebrew phrase for and the second rather than a proper name. Samuel never held the priesthood; his place in this family explains how a Levite living in Ephraim's hill country could judge Israel and anoint its first two kings.
1 Chronicles 6:16
“Gershom, &c.--This repetition (see 1Ch 6:1) is made, as the historian here begins to trace the genealogy of the Levitical families who were not priests. The list is a long one, comprising the chiefs or heads of their several families until David's reign, who made a new and different classification of them by courses.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 6:20
“Of Gershon, Libni his son,.... Whose genealogy runs thus, Jahath, called Jehiel, 1Ch 23:8. Zimmah, between whom was Shimei, 1Ch 6:42. Joah, the same with Ethan, 1Ch 6:42. Iddo, called Adaiah, 1Ch 6:41. Zerah, Jeaterai, whose name was also Ethni, 1Ch 6:41, the posterity of Shimei, the brother of Libni, are omitted.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:20
“Of Gershom - The names in this list are curiously different from those in 1Ch 6:41-43, which yet appear to represent the same line reversed. Probably both lists are more or less corrupted, and, as in many genealogies, omission is made, to reduce the number of the names to seven. Compare e. g. 1Ch 6:22-28 with 1Ch 6:33-38. Compare the other genealogy ties of this chapter; and see also Matt. 1:1-17.”
1 Chronicles 6:22
“Korah - See the history of this man, and his rebellion, Numbers 16:1-33.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:28
“The first-born Vashni, and Abiah - There is a great mistake in this verse: in 1Sa 8:2 we read, Now the name of his (Samuel’s) first-born was Joel; and the name of his second Abiah. The word יואל Joel is lost out of the text in this place, and ושני vesheni, which signifies the second, and which refers to Abiah, is made here into a proper name. The Septuagint, Vulgate, and Chaldee, copy this blunder; but the Syriac and Arabic read as in 1Sa 8:2. The MSS. have all copied the corrupted Hebrew in this place.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:29
“The sons of Merari; Mahli,.... The posterity of his brother Mushi are omitted; his genealogy is drawn thus, Libni, Shimei, Uzza, Shimea, Haggiah, Asaiah.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:29
“31 And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the L ORD , after that the ark had rest. 32 And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the L ORD in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
C. The singers David set over the house of the LORDvv. 31-48
the service of song: David set the singers apart only after the ark had rest, and their genealogies are traced with unusual care: Heman from Kohath's line back to Samuel and Korah, Asaph from Gershom's line standing at his right hand, and Ethan from Merari's line standing at his left. These three names stand behind dozens of Psalm titles, and Edersheim's Temple work traces the office to the Levitical standing recorded here rather than to any priestly rank. The Levites without a gift for song were not set aside; they were appointed unto all manner of service of the tabernacle, the roles Aaron's sons alone could not fill.
1 Chronicles 6:31
“David was raised up on high to be the sweet psalmist of Israel ( 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 ), not only to pen psalms, but to appoint the singing of them in the house of the Lord (not so much because he was musical as because he was devout), and this he did after that the ark had rest.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:31
“The genealogies of David’s three chief singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan or Jeduthun. 1Ch 6:32 They waited on their office - On the establishment and continuance of the choral service in the temple, see 2Ch 5:12, 2Ch 29:27-30; 2Ch 35:15. 1Ch 6:33 Heman - In general Asaph takes precedence of Heman and Jeduthun, but here Heman is placed first, because his family, that of the Kohathites, had the highest priestly rank, being the family which furnished the high priests (see 1Ch 6:2-15).”
1 Chronicles 6:32
“And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacles of the congregation with singing,.... Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; this service they performed before the ark, which was in a tent or tabernacle David pitched for it; and which the Targum here calls the tabernacle of time, or a temporary tabernacle: until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; the temple there: and then they waited on their office according to their order; performed it in the manner prescribed by David, see 1Ch 25:1.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:32
“This was a considerable time before the temple was built. they waited on their office according to their order--which David, doubtless by the direction of the Holy Spirit, had instituted for the better regulation of divine worship.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Chronicles 6:33
“And these are they that waited with their children,.... They and their posterity, who officiated in the service of singing psalms in the sanctuary: the three heads of them were of the three families of the Levites, as follow: of the sons of the Kohathites, Heman a singer; the chief of the singers, and who composed psalms and hymns, which are in the book of Psalms: the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel; or Samuel.”
1 Chronicles 6:39
“Asaph - This person, with Heman, the sons of Kora, Ethan, Jeduthun, etc., are celebrated in these books, and in the Psalms, for their skill in singing, and the part they performed in the public worship of God. It is very likely that their singing was only a kind of recitative or chanting, such as we still find in the synagogues. It does not appear that God had especially appointed these singers, much less any musical instruments, (the silver trumpets excepted), to be employed in his service.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:39
“Several of the psalms bear his name, being either penned by him or tuned by him as the chief musician. It is plain that he was the penman of some psalms; for we read of those that praised the Lord in the words of David and of Asaph. He was a seer as well as a singer, 2 Chron. xxix.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Chronicles 6:44
“And their brethren, the sons of Merari,.... Who were the brethren of the Kohathites and Gershonites, descending from the same ancestor Levi: stood on the left hand; that is, of Heman, see 1Ch 6:39, the chief of whom was Ethan, sometimes called Jeduthun, 1Ch 16:41 and often in the book of Psalms; his genealogy is traced up to Levi thus; Kishi, called Kushaiah, 1Ch 15:17 Abdi, Malluch, Hashabiah, Amaziah, Hilkiah, Amzi, Bani, Shamer, Mahli, Mushi, Merari, Levi.”
1 Chronicles 6:48
“Their brethren also the Levites,.... Who were not skilled in singing, and employed in that service, even the rest of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites: were appointed unto all manner of service of the tabernacle of the house of God; some were porters at the gates; others had the care of the vessels; others slew the beasts for sacrifices, flayed them, and cut them up, and brought the pieces to the altar of burnt offerings, for the priests to offer.”
D. Aaron's sons who served at the altar
1. (v. 49)
1 Chronicles 6:49
“They only were to sprinkle the blood and burn the incense; as for the work of the most holy place, that was to be done by the high priest only. Each had his work, and they both needed one another and both helped one another in it. Concerning the work of the priests we are here told, 1.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the place most holy: One verse draws the line the rest of the chapter assumes: Aaron and his sons alone offered on the altars and entered the place most holy to make atonement, a service no Levite genealogy could stand in for however carefully it was traced. Jamieson Fausset and Brown read the verse as the hinge between the office already described and the named men who filled it. The same distinction stands behind Uzziah's judgment for taking up the censer in 2 Chronicles 26.
2. (vv. 50-53)
1 Chronicles 6:50
“These are the sons of Aaron - We have already had a list of these, (see 1Ch 6:3-16); this is a second, but less extensive, and is a proof that the writer of this book had several lists before him, from which he borrowed as he judged proper.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the sons of Aaron; Eleazar his son: A second, shorter list of Aaron's sons repeats the priestly line from Eleazar down to Ahimaaz, the priest of David's own reign, without carrying it forward to the captivity as the first list did. Clarke reads the doubling as evidence the Chronicler had more than one older list in hand and drew on each where it served the record he was compiling.
E. Cities and pasture lands given to the Levites
1. (vv. 54-60)
1 Chronicles 6:54
“Theirs was the lot - All the tribes and families obtained their respective inheritances by lot, but to the sons of Aaron was the first lot; and so the Syriac and Arabic have understood this place. The first lot, says Jarchi, fell to Judah, that they might give to the priests and the Levites the cities marked below. See an account of the possessions of the priests and Levites, Jos 20:1-9, 21.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:56
“The writer evidently had before him Josh. 21, which he followed, as to its matter, closely. In some cases he perhaps modernised the ancient names (1Ch 6:58, 1Ch 6:60, 1Ch 6:72, etc.); in a few he substituted for the old an entirely new name, the modern apellation, probably, of the ancient site 1Ch 6:70, 1Ch 6:77. At one time, it would seem, his intention was to give the cities of the priests only, and to content himself with stating the mere number of the rest.”
1 Chronicles 6:60
“All their cities - were thirteen - But there are only eleven reckoned here, Gibeon and Juttah being omitted, and the names of some of the others changed. None of the versions give the full number of names, although they all give the whole sum thirteen.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Chronicles 6:60
“For the diffusing of the knowledge of himself and his law to all parts of the land of Israel. Every tribe had Levites' cities in it; and so every room was furnished with a candle, so that none could be ignorant of his duty but it was either his own fault or the Levites'.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
for theirs was the lot: The priests receive Hebron first, a city of refuge already bound to Caleb's conquest in Joshua, its fields kept for Caleb's own family while the town and its suburbs went to Aaron's sons. Twelve more towns across Judah, Simeon and Benjamin round out the priests' thirteen cities, a roster Gill sets beside Joshua 21 and finds matching with only a few names spelled differently.
2. (vv. 61-81)
1 Chronicles 6:65
“Which are called by their names - Probably each family gave its own name to the city that fell to its lot.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:69
“Aijalon with her suburbs - There are the two cities wanting here, Eltekeh and Gibethon. See Jos 21:23.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Chronicles 6:71
“We shall see from Jos 21:28, etc., that several of these cities have different names. How barren to us is this register, both of incident and interest! and yet, as barren rocks and sandy deserts make integral and necessary parts of the globe; so do these genealogical tables make necessary parts of the history of providence and grace in the maintenance of truth, and the establishment of the Church of Christ. Therefore no one that fears God will either despise or lightly esteem them.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
which were left of the family: The rest of the Levites receive their portion by lot from the remaining tribes: Kohath's remainder from Ephraim and half of Manasseh, Gershom's from Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Bashan, and Merari's from Reuben, Gad and Zebulun, closing the record of a tribe with no territory of its own. Henry notes that every region of Israel kept a Levite's city inside it, so that no part of the land lacked someone to teach the law. Among Kohath's grant stand cities of refuge such as Shechem, folding the sanctuary and the place of safety into the same set of towns.
This page carries no textual note on 1 Chronicles 6. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.