1 Chronicles 6:3

See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:10 Ver. 10. See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:11 Ver. 11. See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:12 Ver. 12. See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:13 Ver. 13. See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:14 Ver. 14. See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:15 Ver. 15. See Gill on "1 Chronicles 6:3". 1 Chronicles 6:16 Ver. 16. The sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Which is repeated from 1 Chronicles 6:1 for the sake of their posterity, whose names are given in the three following verses, in the same manner as in Exodus 6:17. 1 Chronicles 6:17

6:1-81 Genealogies. - We have an account of Levi in this chapter. The priests and Levites were more concerned than any other Israelites, to preserve their descent clear, and to be able to prove it; because all the honours and privileges of their office depended upon their descent. Now, the Spirit of God calls ministers to their work, without any limit as to the families they came from; and then, as now, though believers and ministers may be very useful to the church, none but our great High Priest can make atonement for sin, nor can any be accepted but through his atonement.

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 hence to the end of the fifteenth verse, where it ends: Jehozadak is the same with Josedech, Haggai 1:1 who went young into Babylon, and whose son Joshua, born in the captivity, came out of it on the proclamation of Cyrus, Ezra 2:2. According to Josephus (e), and other Jewish writers (f), in the times of Uzzi, 1 Chronicles 6:6 the priesthood was translated into the family of Ithamar, of which Eli was the first high priest; where it continued to the times of Solomon, when it was restored to Zadok, of the line of Eleazar.

It is particularly observed of Azariah, 1 Chronicles 6:10 that he it was that executed the priest's office in the temple built by Solomon; not that he was the first that officiated in it, that was Zadok; but this seems to be Azariah, who was the high priest in the times of Uzziah, who opposed him when he would have offered incense in the temple, 2 Chronicles 26:17, which may be the reason why he is so particularly taken notice of here; though some think this is to be understood of Johanan, the father of Azariah, supposed to the same with Jehoiada, who, in the times of Athaliah, was the instrument of preserving both church and state, 2 Kings 11:4, the temple in which he ministered is described as built by Solomon, because at the time of the writing of this there was another temple built, or building, by Zerubbabel. (e) Antiqu. l. 5. c. 11. sect. 5. (f) Juchasin, fol. 136. 1.

( 1 Chronicles 5:27-41 ). The family of Aaron, or the high-priestly line of Aaron, to the time of the Babylonian exile. - 1 Chronicles 6:1-3 . In order to exhibit the connection of Aharon (or Aaron) with the patriarch Levi, the enumeration begins with the three sons of Levi, who are given in 1 Chronicles 6:1 as in Genesis 46:11 ; Exodus 6:16 , and in other passages. Of Levi's grandchildren, only the four sons of Kohath ( 1 Chronicles 6:2 ) are noticed; and of these, again, Amram is the only one whose descendants - Aaron, Moses, and Miriam - are named ( 1 Chronicles 6:3 ); and thereafter only Aaron's sons are introduced, in order that the enumeration of his family in the high-priestly line of Eleazar might follow. With 1 Chronicles 6:2 cf. Exodus 1:18 , and on 1 Chronicles 6:34 see the commentary on Exodus 6:20 . With the sons of Aaron ( 1 Chronicles 6:44 ) compare besides Exodus 6:23 , also Numbers 3:2-4 , and 1 Chronicles 24:1-2 . As Nadab and Abihu were slain when they offered strange fire before Jahve ( Leviticus 10:1 .), Aaron's race was continued only by his sons Eleazar and Ithamar. After Aaron's death, his eldest son Eleazar was chosen by God to be his successor in the high priest's office, and thus the line of Eleazar came into possession of the high-priestly dignity.