1 Chronicles 6:16-20

6:16 (6:1) ¹  The sons of Levi:

Gershom, ²  Kohath, and Merari.

6:17 These are the names of the sons Gershom:

Libni and Shimei.

6:18 The sons of Kohath:

Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

6:19 The sons of Merari:

Mahli and Mushi.

These are the clans of the Levites by their families. ³ 

6:20 To Gershom:

His son Libni, his son Jahath, his son Zimmah,

1 Chronicles 6:49-50

6:49 But Aaron and his descendants offered sacrifices on the altar for burnt offerings and on the altar for incense as they had been assigned to do in the most holy sanctuary. ⁴  They made atonement for Israel, just as God’s servant Moses had ordered. ⁵ 

6:50 These were the descendants of Aaron:

His son Eleazar, his son Phinehas, his son Abishua,

1 Chronicles 12:26-28

12:26 From Levi there were 4,600. 12:27 Jehoiada, the leader of Aaron’s descendants, brought 3,700 men with him, 12:28 along with Zadok, a young warrior, and twenty-two leaders from his family.

Exodus 6:16-22

6:16 Now these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their records: ⁶  Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (The length of Levi’s life was 137 years.)

6:17 The sons of Gershon, by their families, were Libni and Shimei.

6:18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (The length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.)

6:19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records.

6:20 Amram married ⁷  his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (The length of Amram’s life was 137 years.)

6:21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri.

6:22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.

Numbers 3:4

3:4 Nadab and Abihu died ⁸  before the Lord ⁹  when they offered ¹⁰  strange ¹¹  fire ¹²  before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. ¹³  So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests ¹⁴  in the presence of ¹⁵  Aaron their father.

[6:16]  ¹ sn Chapter 6 of 1 Chr begins here in the Hebrew text; 6:16-81 ET = 6:1-66 HT. See the note at 6:1.

[6:16]  ² tn The name “Gershom” (also in vv. 17, 20, 43, 62, 71) appears as “Gershon” in 1 Chr 6:1.

[6:19]  ³ tn Heb “by their fathers.”

[6:49]  ⁴ tn Heb “for all the work of the holy of holies.”

[6:49]  ⁵ tn Heb “making atonement for Israel according to all which Moses the servant of God commanded.”

[6:16]  ⁶ tn Or “generations.”

[6:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “took for a wife” (also in vv. 23, 25).

[3:4]  ⁸ tn The verb form is the preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, literally “and Nadab died.” Some commentators wish to make the verb a past perfect, rendering it “and Nadab had died,” but this is not necessary. In tracing through the line from Aaron it simply reports that the first two sons died. The reference is to the event recorded in Lev 10 where the sons brought “strange” or foreign” fire to the sanctuary.

[3:4]  ⁹ tc This initial clause is omitted in one Hebrew ms, Smr, and the Vulgate.

[3:4]  ¹⁰ tn The form בְּהַקְרִבָם (bÿhaqrivam) is the Hiphil infinitive construct functioning as a temporal clause: “when they brought near,” meaning, “when they offered.” The verb קָרַב (qarav) is familiar to students of the NT because of “corban” in Mark 7:11.

[3:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “prohibited.” See HALOT 279 s.v. זָר 3.

[3:4]  ¹² tn The expression אֵשׁ זָרָה (’esh zarah, “strange fire”) seems imprecise and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC 4], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from some place other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” [אִישׁ זָר, ’ish zar] in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” [קְטֹרֶת זָרָה, qÿtoret zarah] on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).

[3:4]  ¹³ sn The two young priests had been cut down before they had children; the ranks of the family of Aaron were thereby cut in half in one judgment from God. The significance of the act of judgment was to show that the priests had to sanctify the Lord before the people – they were to be examples that the sanctuary and its contents were distinct.

[3:4]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is the Piel preterite from the root כָּהַן (kahan): “to function as a priest” or “to minister.”

[3:4]  ¹⁵ tn The expression “in the presence of” can also mean “during the lifetime of” (see Gen 11:28; see also BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֶה II.7.a; cf. NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV).