Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The sons, that is descendants, of Levi, and from them the singers and ministers of the temple appointed by David. The descendants of Aaron, the priests, are enumerated by name, and the priestly cities and cities of refuge.
Vulgate Text: 1 Paralipomenon 6:1-81
1. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 2. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 3. The sons of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam; the sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 4. Eleazar begot Phinehas, and Phinehas begot Abishua. 5. Abishua begot Bukki, and Bukki begot Uzzi. 6. Uzzi begot Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begot Meraioth. 7. Meraioth begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub. 8. Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Ahimaaz. 9. Ahimaaz begot Azariah, Azariah begot Johanan. 10. Johanan begot Azariah: he is the one who served as priest in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem. 11. Azariah begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub. 12. Ahitub begot Zadok, and Zadok begot Shallum. 13. Shallum begot Hilkiah, and Hilkiah begot Azariah. 14. Azariah begot Seraiah, and Seraiah begot Jehozadak. 15. Jehozadak went into exile when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. 16. The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 17. These are the names of the sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei. 18. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 19. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their clans. 20. Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, 21. Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. 22. The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, 23. Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, 24. Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, Shaul his son. 25. The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth 26. and Elkanah. The sons of Elkanah: Zophai his son, Nahath his son, 27. Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. 28. The sons of Samuel: the firstborn Vashni, and Abiah. 29. The sons of Merari: Mahli; Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 30. Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son. 31. These are they whom David set over the singing in the house of the Lord, after the ark was placed there. 32. They ministered before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting with singing, until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem; and they stood in their proper order for their service. 33. These are they who stood with their sons: of the sons of Kohath, Heman the singer, son of Joel, son of Samuel.
34. son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, 35. son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, 36. son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, 37. son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, 38. son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel. 39. And his brother Asaph, who stood at his right hand: Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimea, 40. son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malchijah, 41. son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, 42. son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, 43. son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi. 44. The sons of Merari, their brothers, on the left: Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch, 45. son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, 46. son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, 47. son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi. 48. Their brothers also the Levites, who were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of the Lord. 49. But Aaron and his sons burned incense on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. 50. These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, 51. Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, 52. Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, 53. Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. 54. These are their dwelling places according to their settlements within their borders: for the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, for theirs was the first lot. 55. They gave them Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands, 56. but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 57. To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah and its pasturelands, 58. Jattir also, and Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, and Hilen and Debir with their pasturelands, 59. Ashan also, and Beth-shemesh and their pasturelands. 60. From the tribe of Benjamin: Geba and its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, Anathoth also with its pasturelands: all their cities throughout their families, thirteen. 61. To the rest of the sons of Kohath from the family of the tribe, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave ten cities as a possession. 62. To the sons of Gershom according to their families, from the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Asher, the tribe of Naphtali, and the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities. 63. To the sons of Merari according to their families, from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, they gave by lot twelve cities. 64. The children of Israel also gave to the Levites cities with their pasturelands. 65. They gave by lot, from the tribe of the children of Judah, the tribe of the children of Simeon, and the tribe of the children of Benjamin, these cities which they called by name. 66. And to those who were of the families of the sons of Kohath, there were cities within their borders from the tribe of Ephraim. 67. They gave them the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasturelands, 68. Jokmeam also with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon likewise, 69. and also Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon in the same way. 70. From the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner and its pasturelands, and Bileam and its pasturelands, for the rest of the family of the sons of Kohath. 71. To the sons of Gershom, from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands, and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands. 72. From the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and its pasturelands, and Daberath with its pasturelands, 73. Ramoth also and its pasturelands, and Anem with its pasturelands. 74. From the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasturelands, and Abdon likewise, 75. Hukok also and its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands. 76. From the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim and its pasturelands. 77. To the rest of the sons of Merari, from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and its pasturelands, and Tabor with its pasturelands; 78. and beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho, to the east of the Jordan, from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasturelands, and Jahzah with its pasturelands, 79. Kedemoth also and its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands. 80. And from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, and Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 81. also Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands.
Verse 3: The Sons of Aaron
3. THE SONS OF AARON: NADAB AND ABIHU — who, offering strange fire, were slain by God, Leviticus X, verse 2; therefore only two survived, Eleazar and Ithamar. Eleazar was the elder and therefore succeeded Aaron in the pontificate, and his descendants continued down to Uzzi, about whom shortly.
Verse 5: Bukki Begot Uzzi
5. BUKKI BEGOT UZZI. — After this Uzzi, Eli became High Priest, who was a great-great-grandson of Ithamar, not of Eleazar. Four of Eli's descendants succeeded him, the last of whom was Abiathar, who was deprived of the pontificate by Solomon because of his conspiracy with Adonijah against him, and Zadok, who was from the descendants of Eleazar, was appointed in his place; whence the pontificate remained in his descendants until the Babylonian captivity. Therefore the four intermediaries who are named here from Uzzi to Zadok, namely Zerahiah, Meraioth, Amariah, and Ahitub, were not high priests; but the others after Zadok were.
Verse 14: Azariah Begot Seraiah
14. AZARIAH BEGOT SERAIAH. — This 'Azariah' was that courageous High Priest who resisted Uzziah, or Azariah the king, when he wanted to offer incense, and ejected him from the temple, as is said in Book II, chapter XXVI. The son of Azariah was Seraiah, who was High Priest after his father until the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, and was killed by Nebuchadnezzar together with seventy leaders of the Jews, as was said in 4 Kings, last chapter, 18. The son of Seraiah was Jehozadak, who was carried off to Babylon and from there led the Jewish captives back with Zerubbabel as leader in the first year of Cyrus; the son of Jehozadak was Joshua or Jesus the High Priest, who with Zerubbabel restored the temple, as is said in 1 Ezra V, 2, as God had commanded him through Zechariah, chapter III.
Verse 22: Korah His Son
22. KORAH HIS SON. — This is Korah, who rebelling against Moses was swallowed alive when the earth opened, together with his followers; but his innocent sons were preserved unharmed by God through a miracle, and they are therefore listed here. Among them was Elkanah the father of Samuel the Prophet, as is clear from verses 27, 34, and 37.
Verse 28: The Sons of Samuel
28. THE SONS OF SAMUEL — who was the son of Elkanah named just above in verse 27. For he is named immediately after him, to indicate that he was his son. So Vatablus.
THE FIRSTBORN VASHNI, AND ABIAH. — You will object: 1 Kings VIII, 2, says 'the name of his (Samuel's) firstborn son was Joel; and the name of the second, Abiah'; I respond that Joel had two names, and was also called Vashni. Or certainly Joel has dropped out here, and Vashni in Hebrew ושני means 'and the second, Abiah'; whence the Septuagint clearly translates 'and the sons of Samuel, his firstborn Joel, and the second Abiah.' These are they who, degenerate from Samuel, gave the people occasion to ask for a king, whence Samuel gave them Saul as king, 1 Kings VIII.
Verse 54: The Priestly Cities
54. THESE DWELLING PLACES — as if to say: These are the priestly cities assigned to them by Joshua, chapter XXI, where they are listed in nearly the same order as here.