Assir

November 5, 2014

The Levite cantor Heman the Kohathite (1 Chr 6:33-6:38)

“These are the men who served the temple and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites there was Heman the singer, son of Joel, son of Samuel, son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel.”

This is really a passage about one person, Heman, the singer, who then traced his lineage right back to Israel in 22 generations, via (1) Levi, (2) Kohath, (3) Izhar, (4) Korah, (5) Ebiasaph, (6) Assir, (7) Tahath, (8) Zephaniah, (9) Azariah, (10) Joel, (11) Elkanah, (12) Amasai, (13) Mahath, (14) Elkanah, (15) Zuph, (16) Toah, (17) Eliel, (18) Jeroham, (19) Elkanah, (20) Samuel, (21) Joel and then himself (22) Heman. Heman is called a singer and not a musician. The names are pretty much the same as earlier in this chapter, but there are a few different names here compared to the earlier genealogy. Heman is clearly the grandson of the prophet Samuel via Joel. Instead of Eliab it is now Eliel which is the name of 9 different people in the biblical literature. Nahath has become Toah, but this is the only time that this name appears. Zophai has become Zuph, which is also a place. Mahath has been added since there is one other person beside this one. Amminadab has become Izhar. Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul have been dropped. Otherwise it is the same.

November 4, 2014

The descendents of Kohath (1 Chr 6:22-6:28)

“The sons of Kohath were Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. The sons of Elkanah were Amasai and Ahimoth, Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. The sons of Samuel were Joel his first-born and the second son Abijah.”

This genealogy goes to 22 generations. Right from the beginning there is a problem. (2) Amminadab is not listed as a son of (1) Kohath earlier in this chapter or elsewhere. Most believe that this is an error and it should refer to Izhar. Amminadab in Exodus, chapter 6, refers to the man of Judah, the father of Nahshon and Elisheba who married Aaron. (3) Korah is called the son of Izhar in the same passage. This Korah played a major role in the revolt against Moses in Numbers, chapter 16, where he was clearly called the son of Izhar, son of Kohath. He died with his whole family when the earth split and devoured him. There is another (4) Assir who is a son of (6) Ebiasaph, who was the son of (5) Elkanah who was the son of this Assir (7).   This Elkanah was the grandson of Korah who had rebelled against Moses. Notice that were 3 other people in this lineage who were also named (12) (15) Elkanah. (8) Tahath was both the name of a person and a place. There were a couple of people with the name of (9) Uriel. There were 5 people with the name of (10) Uzziah, including the famous King Uzziah or Azariah of Judah from 781-740. (11) Shaul is sometimes referred to as Saul, but this is not King Saul. There are 3 other people named (13) Amasai. This is the only mention of (14) Ahimoth and (16) Zophai. There were 3 people with the name of (17) Nahath but 7 people with the name of (18) Eliab. There were 7 people with the name of (19) Jeroham. However, this one is the father of (20) Elkanah who was the father of (21) Samuel as in 1 Samuel, chapters 1-2. There seems to be about 5 or 6 people with this name, mostly Levites. Samuel’s sons were (22) Joel and (22) Abijah as indicated in 1 Samuel, chapter 8, who did not follow in the footsteps of their father. Their official functional roles were laid out in Numbers, chapter 4.