seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Chronicles 23:7 Belonging to the Gershonites:
Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan:
Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei:
Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.
These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
10 And the sons of Shimei:
Jahath, Ziza,[a] Jeush and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
11 Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.
12 The sons of Kohath:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram:
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 The sons of Moses the man of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The descendants of Gershom:
Shubael was the first.
17 The descendants of Eliezer:
Rehabiah was the first.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
18 The sons of Izhar:
Shelomith was the first.
19 The sons of Hebron:
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli:
Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
23 The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.
Ladan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan:
Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.
9 The sons of Shimei:
Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.
These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
10 And the sons of Shimei:
Jahath, Ziza,[a] Jeush and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
11 Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.
12 The sons of Kohath:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.
13 The sons of Amram:
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever. 14 The sons of Moses the man of God were counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
15 The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.
16 The descendants of Gershom:
Shubael was the first.
17 The descendants of Eliezer:
Rehabiah was the first.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
18 The sons of Izhar:
Shelomith was the first.
19 The sons of Hebron:
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third and Jekameam the fourth.
20 The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
21 The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli:
Eleazar and Kish.
22 Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
23 The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.
a. 1 Chronicles 23:10 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina
The easy English has a lot to say about what appears to be a list.
The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. All the Levites were descendants of these three sons. David divided the Levites into the clans and families that came from these three men.
These lists do not give us the complete history of the clans. In verse 8, these were not the actual sons of Ladan. They were among his descendants. Shimei in verse 9 is a man who belonged to the clans of Ladan. He is not the same as Shimei in verses 7 and 10.
The 4 sons of Shimei were not his actual sons. They were his descendants and they may have lived in the time of David.
Because they had few children, David combined the families of Jeush and Beriah. So there were 9 groups out of the clan of Gershon. 6 of these groups were from Ladan (three of which were from Shimei in verse 9). The other three groups were from the other man called Shimei in verse 10.
The ranks of the Levites did not include the descendants of Aaron. They were a special family. They were the priests. And the chief priests always came from this family. They had to make the sacrifices to the LORD. They were the agents of the people in relation to the LORD. And they were the agents of the LORD to the people. But the count of the Levites did include the descendants of Moses.
From the clans of Kohath there were another 9 groups of Levites.
The clans of Merari made a further 6 groups. This is not clear from these verses. But the chiefs of the groups of Mahli came from Jaaziah (24:26-27), and Kish. The daughters of Eleazar married their cousins. By this means their families continued. The third group came either from another son of Jaaziah or from the daughters of Eleazar. The chiefs of the groups of Mushi came from his three sons.
There were 9 groups from Gershon, 9 groups from Kohath and 6 groups from Merari. This made a total of 24 groups.
These lists do not give us the complete history of the clans. In verse 8, these were not the actual sons of Ladan. They were among his descendants. Shimei in verse 9 is a man who belonged to the clans of Ladan. He is not the same as Shimei in verses 7 and 10.
The 4 sons of Shimei were not his actual sons. They were his descendants and they may have lived in the time of David.
Because they had few children, David combined the families of Jeush and Beriah. So there were 9 groups out of the clan of Gershon. 6 of these groups were from Ladan (three of which were from Shimei in verse 9). The other three groups were from the other man called Shimei in verse 10.
The ranks of the Levites did not include the descendants of Aaron. They were a special family. They were the priests. And the chief priests always came from this family. They had to make the sacrifices to the LORD. They were the agents of the people in relation to the LORD. And they were the agents of the LORD to the people. But the count of the Levites did include the descendants of Moses.
From the clans of Kohath there were another 9 groups of Levites.
The clans of Merari made a further 6 groups. This is not clear from these verses. But the chiefs of the groups of Mahli came from Jaaziah (24:26-27), and Kish. The daughters of Eleazar married their cousins. By this means their families continued. The third group came either from another son of Jaaziah or from the daughters of Eleazar. The chiefs of the groups of Mushi came from his three sons.
There were 9 groups from Gershon, 9 groups from Kohath and 6 groups from Merari. This made a total of 24 groups.
Just a list.... Just the most important people in the Temple. They were in charge of cleaning, repairing, maintaining, sacrificing, law, and music.
This is from the enduringword.com.
And Aaron was set apart, he and his sons forever: Among the Levites, the descendants of Aaron were chosen for the priestly duties described in these verses. Being a member of the tribe of Levi was not enough to be a priest; one had to be a descendant of this particular family of Aaron.
According to the same commentary... these are the duties of the Levites.
- That he should sanctify the most holy things: The priest was have an active concern for holiness, and to be able to discern between what was holy and what was not. This means that holiness had to touch the life of the priest; he had to represent God before the people.
- To burn incense before the LORD: Incense is a picture of intercessory prayer. The priest had to represent the people before the Lord. “The fragrant incense stealing heavenward is a beautiful emblem of intercessory prayer. Let us pray more, not for ourselves so much as for others. This is the sign of grown in grace, when our prayers are fragrant with the names of friend and foe, and mingled with the coals of the golden altar.” (Meyer)
- To minister to Him: The priest was busy with people and the work of ministry, but he must never forget his ministry to God Himself. He was to spend time in personal devotion, worship, and attention given to God in the secret place.
- To give the blessing in His name forever: The priest was blessed so that he could bless others. “It is not enough to linger in soft prayer within the vail, we must come forward to bless mankind. He who is nearest to God is closest to man.” (Meyer)
While I was posting the verses and commentary.... I got to thinking about the preachers that I've known personally in my life.
My uncle was a preacher. He's retired now. I only heard him preach a couple times. One thing I can honestly say about my uncle is that he genuinely felt drawn to pray with people. He has a tender heart for those in need. One more thing about him.... he's capable of biting the head off a nail if someone talks bad about God.
My grandmother helped build a church up in the mountains. Then when the weather went foul, my grandmother would open up the church on Sunday, teach the Sunday School and then preach the sermon. She had a leather bound Bible. It was well worn and yet it was perfectly in tact.... which is how I would describe her relationship with Jesus. One more thing about my grandmother... her Bible was never in the same place.... I mean wherever she was reading it... that's where she would leave it... the bedroom, the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, out on the porch swing... out under the tree. My grandmother's Bible was so mobile because she was always reading it.
My dad was the man who introduced me to Jesus. Daddy didn't have a ton of time for reading. While he was a deacon at the local Baptist Church that met in the local community center.... Daddy was also in the Navy, working part time selling pots and pans door to door, and he was also building a custom kitchen on to our little house. Daddy wouldn't quote chapter and verse when he talked about Jesus. He talked about love. Daddy didn't preach but his Bible was worn too... in spite of his schedule.
It's only another list in the Bible.... right?
