Bible Commentaries

1 Chronicles 6:3 And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. The sons also of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Ver. 3. And Miriam] See Micah 6:4. {See Trapp on "Micah 6:4"}

1 Chronicles 6:4 Eleazar begat Phinehas, Phinehas begat Abishua,

Ver. 4. And Eleazar begat Phineas.] Famous for his zeal, and God’s promise thereupon, that he and his should be priests before him for ever. [Numbers 25:13] How Eli, of the lineage of Ithamar, came to be high priest, is nowhere expressed; but in this catalogue is no mention of him or his sons, but only of such as sprang from Eleazar.

1 Chronicles 6:5 And Abishua begat Bukki, and Bukki begat Uzzi,

Ver. 5. And Bukki begat Uzzi.] In this man’s time it is supposed that Eli (and so his posterity after him) got the high priest’s office - sed quo iure quave iniuria, parum constat - till after four generations it was resettled by Solomon upon Zadok, the son of Ahitub, [1 Kings 2:27; 1 Kings 2:35] who [with his descendants] were high priests till after the captivity.

1 Chronicles 6:10 And Johanan begat Azariah, (he [it is] that executed the priest’s office in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem:)

Ver. 10. And Johanan.] Alias Jehoiadah. [2 Chronicles 23:1]

He it is that executed the priest’s office.] Whether we understand it of the father or the son, we do not amiss: Nam uterque se strenue gessit in sacerdotio, they were gallant men both.

1 Chronicles 6:14 And Azariah begat Seraiah, and Seraiah begat Jehozadak,

Ver. 14. And Azariah begat Seraiah.] Who was the father, or grandfather, of Ezra the scribe. [Ezra 7:1]

1 Chronicles 6:15 And Jehozadak went [into captivity], when the LORD carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

Ver. 15. And Jehozadak went into captivity.] Where he begat Joshua, the high priest, who helped Zerubbabel in rebuilding the city and temple. [Haggai 1:1]

1 Chronicles 6:22 The sons of Kohath; Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,

Ver. 22. Korah his son.] This was that sinner against his own soul, [Numbers 16:1] whom the earth swallowed up quick. Howbeit his children came to good, many of them, as Elkanah, Samuel, the sons of Korah, in David’s days. Dathan and Abiram, his fellow sinners, are stigmatised for their stubbornness, [Numbers 26:9] as before them was Cain, [Genesis 4:15] and after them Ahaz. [2 Chronicles 28:22]

1 Chronicles 6:28 And the sons of Samuel; the firstborn Vashni, and Abiah.

Ver. 28. The firstborn Vashni.] Alias Joel. [1 Samuel 8:2] The Septuagint render the text thus: And the sons of Samuel were, the firstborn, Joel; and the second (Vashni signifieth, And the second), Abiah.

1 Chronicles 6:33 And these [are] they that waited with their children. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Shemuel,

Ver. 33. Heman.] He was Samuel’s grandchild, by Joel. The posterity (haply, not immediate) of the righteous shall be blessed.

1 Chronicles 6:54 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.

Ver. 54. Throughout their castles.] Or, Palaces. The priests dwelt not in poor cottages, but in fair and fitting houses.

1 Chronicles 6:55 And they gave them Hebron in the land of Judah, and the suburbs thereof round about it.

Ver. 55. Hebron, the city of refuge.] The six cities of refuge were cities of the Levites, where guilty persons might be instructed and comforted, King James was wont to say, that if God did allow him to kill a man by any means, he should think God did not love him.