The genealogy of Levi is at the chiastic center of the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9, and at the center of the genealogy of Levi is the description of the Levitical singers (1 Chronicles 6:31-32).
Prior to this point, the genealogies move forward in time, from Levi to his sons all the way down to Elkanah, Samuel, and his son Joel (6:272-28). After verses 31-32, the genealogies run backwards.
The genealogies on either side of these verses don’t match in every detail, but there are enough matches to make the point. The following names match:
1. Levi (6:1, 38)
2. Kohath (6:1, 2, 18-30, 38)
3. Izhar (6:2, 38)
4. Korah (6:22, 37)
5. Ebiasaph (6:23, 37)
6. Assir (6:22-23, 37)
7. Tahath (6:24, 37)
8. Elkanah (6:23, 36)
9. Amasai (6:25, 36)
10. Another Elkanah (6:26, 35)
11. Zuph/Zophai (6:26, 35)
12. Eliab/Eliel? (6:27, 34)
13. Jeroham (6:27, 34)
14. Another Elkanah (6:27, 34)
15. Samuel (6:28, 33)
16. Joel (6:28, 33)
“Heman the singer” (6:33) is the hinge of the structure, the center to which the rest of the genealogy points.
In a genealogy that runs from Adam to the exile and beyond, the climax is the appointment of Levitical servants who minister at the ark “with song.” 1 Chronicles 1-9 is a genealogical riff on Jesus’ announcement that the “Father seeks worshipers.” The aim of all human history is to create a human choir to join the angels at the throne of God.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
