Commentary - 1 Chronicles 23:21-23

Bird's-eye view

We come now to a small portion of the Levitical genealogies, a section of Scripture that many modern readers are tempted to skim. But we must not do that. God does not waste ink, and the details of these family lines are recorded for our instruction. These lists are far more than a dry accounting of who begat whom; they are the skeletal structure on which the story of redemption is built. Here in 1 Chronicles 23, David is organizing the service of the Temple, and the Levites are being put in their proper order. This is not just bureaucratic shuffling. This is about the right worship of the one true God, and everything must be done decently and in order. The passage before us deals with the sons of Merari, one of the three sons of Levi, and it presents us with a particular situation that required a particular solution, one that was grounded squarely in the law of God. It is a beautiful illustration of how God’s law provided for the preservation of His people, their inheritance, and their calling, all of which are faint pictures of a much greater reality in Christ.

In these few verses, we see the importance of the family name, the necessity of maintaining the Levitical lines for the service of God's house, and the practical outworking of God's inheritance laws. An apparent dead end in a family line is resolved through a lawful marriage, ensuring that the family’s role and portion are not lost in Israel. This is a microcosm of God's grander purpose. God is in the business of preserving His covenant line, and He will not allow any branch to be cut off in a way that thwarts His ultimate design. The solution here is not a cultural workaround; it is a covenantal provision. And as with all such provisions, it points us forward to the one who secures for us an eternal inheritance that can never be lost.

Outline

Context In 1 Chronicles

The book of 1 Chronicles, written after the exile, has a central concern: to remind the returned remnant of their identity as the people of God. The author does this by tracing their history, with a heavy emphasis on the reigns of David and Solomon and the establishment of the Temple worship. The extensive genealogies in the opening chapters are not filler; they are foundational. They establish the continuity of God's covenant people from Adam down to the present generation. They are saying, "This is who you are. You have a history, a lineage, a calling from God Himself."

Our specific text sits within the detailed account of David's organization of the Levites. As David's reign is drawing to a close, he is setting the house of God in order for the future. This is a kingly, priestly, and prophetic act. The Levites were set apart for the service of the sanctuary, and their duties were of paramount importance for the spiritual health of the nation. The meticulous listing of their families and roles underscores the seriousness with which Israel was to approach the worship of God. The small family matter recorded in verses 21-23 is included because it was essential for maintaining the divinely appointed structure of this service. The integrity of the worship of God depended on these details being handled faithfully.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 21 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli were Eleazar and Kish.

The chronicler begins this section with a straightforward genealogical statement. Merari was the third son of Levi, and his descendants formed one of the three main divisions of the Levites. His two sons, Mahli and Mushi, are the heads of the two principal families of the Merarites. This is all straightforward. The account then begins to focus on the line of Mahli, who had two sons himself: Eleazar and Kish. Pay attention here, because the Bible is a book of details. These are not just names on a page; they are real men, heads of families, with a specific calling from God. The structure is clear: Merari, then his son Mahli, then his sons Eleazar and Kish. They are brothers.

v. 22 And Eleazar died and had no sons, but daughters only,

Here we come to the heart of the matter, the problem that needed a solution. Eleazar, one of the two sons of Mahli, dies without leaving any male heirs. In the patriarchal society of ancient Israel, this was a significant crisis for a family line. A name, a lineage, and an inheritance were all passed down through the sons. To have no sons meant, in a very real sense, that your family line was facing extinction. Your name would be forgotten in Israel. For a Levite, this had further implications. The specific duties and portions assigned to Eleazar's house were now in jeopardy. Who would carry on his family's role in the service of the Lord? This is not just a personal tragedy; it is a covenantal problem. The text states it plainly: "no sons, but daughters only." The daughters are not the problem, of course, but their existence in the absence of sons creates a legal and spiritual question that must be addressed.

v. 22 so their brothers, the sons of Kish, took them up as wives.

And here is the solution, presented just as plainly as the problem. The solution is found within the family, and within the law of God. The daughters of Eleazar marry "their brothers, the sons of Kish." Now, we must be careful here. The word "brothers" in Hebrew can mean, and often does mean, close kinsmen. Since verse 21 established that Eleazar and Kish were brothers, their children were first cousins. This was not a violation of the Mosaic law concerning incestuous relationships laid out in Leviticus 18. Rather, it was a fulfillment of another aspect of the law, one designed for precisely this kind of situation.

The precedent was set in the case of the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27 and 36. When a man died with no sons, his daughters could inherit his property, but with a crucial stipulation: they had to marry within their own tribe and clan. This was to ensure that the inheritance did not pass from one tribe to another, which would disrupt the God-ordained allotment of the land. Though the Levites did not have a tribal land inheritance in the same way, they did have cities and pasturelands, and more importantly, they had an inheritance of service and position. The principle still applied. By marrying their cousins, the sons of Kish, these women ensured that their father Eleazar's lineage, name, and Levitical responsibilities would continue through their children. The children born to these unions would be reckoned as belonging to the house of Eleazar, preserving his line. This was an act of covenantal faithfulness. The sons of Kish were not just getting wives; they were doing their duty to their kinsman and to the Lord, ensuring the stability of the Levitical order.

v. 23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

After resolving the issue in the line of Mahli, the chronicler briefly returns to the other main branch of the Merarites. The line of Mushi, Merari's other son, is listed without any such complication. He had three sons: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth. This line was straightforward. The inclusion of this simple list serves as a contrast to the previous verse, highlighting that the situation with Eleazar's daughters was a specific case that needed to be recorded for the sake of clarity and to demonstrate the law's sufficiency. The number "three" is added at the end, a common feature in these lists, emphasizing the completeness of the record. The house of God is being set in order, and every family, every man, has his designated place. Nothing is left to chance.

Application

So what does this brief genealogical note about Levitical cousins have to do with us? Everything. First, it shows us that God cares about the details. Our God is a God of order, not chaos. The meticulous care with which He arranged the worship in the Old Testament should give us a holy reverence for the way we approach Him in worship today. We do not have the Levitical priesthood, because Christ is our great High Priest. But the principle of doing things decently and in order remains.

Second, we see here a picture of God's determination to preserve His people. A family line was in danger of being extinguished, but God had already provided a solution in His law. No name would be blotted out that God intended to preserve. This points us to the gospel. We were all without hope, facing a true extinction, cut off from the family of God with no inheritance. But God, in His mercy, provided a solution. He sent our great Kinsman-Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Through faith in Him, we who were spiritual orphans are adopted into the family of God. We are made co-heirs with Christ (Rom 8:17). Our names are written in the Lamb's book of life, and our inheritance is secure, guarded in heaven for us.

Finally, this passage is a call to covenantal faithfulness within our own families. The sons of Kish did their duty to their family. They acted to preserve their uncle's line. In our day, the family is under relentless attack. We must see our families not as mere social arrangements, but as covenantal units with a divine purpose. Husbands, wives, parents, and children all have God-given duties to one another. Fulfilling these duties is not just about keeping a peaceful home; it is about honoring God and advancing His kingdom. Just as the sons of Kish played their small but necessary part in maintaining the order of God's house, so we, in our faithfulness in the ordinary course of family life, play our part in the building of God's eternal temple, the Church.