Exodus 6:16
in Exodus 6These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were a hundred thirty and seven years.
KJV
And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.
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This verse in Exodus 6
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations,.... Whose sons, according to the order of their birth, were as follow: Gershom, and Kohath, and Merari; see Gen 46:11, and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty seven years; and exactly the same number of years is assigned him by Polyhistor from Demetrius (c), an Heathen writer.
This site's exposition
the names of the sons of Levi
on Exodus 6:16-19
Gershon, Kohath and Merari become the three carrying divisions of the tabernacle in Numbers 3 and 4. So this list is also the roster of who will move the tent.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
10 ); for now that God's Israel was multiplied and had become a great nation, and divine revelation was by the hand of Moses committed to writing and no longer trusted to tradition, the two great reasons for the long lives of the patriarchs had ceased, and therefore henceforward fewer years must serve men.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The years of the life of Levi - “Bishop Patrick observes that Levi is thought to have lived the longest of all Jacob’s sons, none of whose ages are recorded in Scripture but his and Joseph’s, whom Levi survived twenty-seven years, though he was much the elder brother. By the common computation this would be twenty-three years: by Kennicott’s computation at the end of Genesis 31. (See Clarke’s note at Gen 31:55) Levi’s birth is placed twenty-four years before that of Joseph; his death, therefore, would be only three years later.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֵ֨לֶּה | veeleh | and these | H428 → | 746 times |
| שְׁמ֤וֹת | shemot | [were] [the] names of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| בְּנֵֽי־ | benei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לֵוִי֙ | levi | Levi | H3881 → | 291 times |
| לְתֹ֣לְדֹתָ֔ם | letoledotam | to descendants their | H8435 → | 39 times |
| גֵּרְשׁ֕וֹן | gereshon | Gershon | H1648 → | |
| וּקְהָ֖ת | ukehat | and Kohath | H6955 → | 32 times |
| וּמְרָרִ֑י | umerari | and Merari | H4847 → | |
| וּשְׁנֵי֙ | ushenei | and [the] years of | H8141 → | 877 times |
| חַיֵּ֣י | chaiyei | [the] life of | H2416 → | 498 times |
| לֵוִ֔י | levi | Levi | H3878 → | 59 times |
| שֶׁ֧בַע | sheva' | [were] seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֛ים | usheloshim | and thirty | H7970 → | 172 times |
| וּמְאַ֖ת | umeat | and one hundred | H3967 → | 581 times |
| שָׁנָֽה׃ | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
וְאֵ֨לֶּהand these
veelehH428 →746 times
שְׁמ֤וֹת[were] [the] names of
shemotH8034 →864 times
בְּנֵֽי־[the] sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
לֵוִי֙Levi
leviH3881 →291 times
לְתֹ֣לְדֹתָ֔םto descendants their
letoledotamH8435 →39 times
גֵּרְשׁ֕וֹןGershon
gereshonH1648 →
וּקְהָ֖תand Kohath
ukehatH6955 →32 times
וּמְרָרִ֑יand Merari
umerariH4847 →
וּשְׁנֵי֙and [the] years of
usheneiH8141 →877 times
חַיֵּ֣י[the] life of
chaiyeiH2416 →498 times
לֵוִ֔יLevi
leviH3878 →59 times
שֶׁ֧בַע[were] seven
sheva'H7651 →394 times
וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֛יםand thirty
usheloshimH7970 →172 times
וּמְאַ֖תand one hundred
umeatH3967 →581 times
שָׁנָֽה׃year[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Chronicles 6:1The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
it leads to
- Genesis 46:11
The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 26:57
Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.
- 1 Chronicles 23:6
Then David divided the Levites into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
- Genesis 46:11
Through
Numbers 26:57Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.
it leads to
- Exodus 6:16–19
These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 6:1
The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Chronicles 6:16–30
The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
- Exodus 6:16–19
Through
Genesis 46:11The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
it leads to
- Numbers 26:57–58
Now these were the Levites numbered by their clans: The Gershonite clan from Gershon, the Kohathite clan from Kohath, and the Merarite clan from Merari.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 29:34
Once again Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named…
- Numbers 26:57–58
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
About Exodus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
