Reuben part 1

by John Thomas Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

His Name is Wonderful!
(Exodus 6:14-25)
14 These are the heads of their fathers' households. The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. 16These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. 17The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; and the length of Kohath's life was one hundred and thirty-three years. 19The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. 21The sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri. 22The sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri. 23Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24The sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. 25Aaron's son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' households of the Levites according to their families.

Commentary
(6:14) These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
"These were the heads of their families:" Not of the families of Moses and Aaron, but the children of Israel, though only the heads of three tribes are mentioned; and some think that these three are taken notice of, to show that they were accepted by God, though they seem to be somewhat cursed than blessed by Jacob; and that though they were guilty of very great crimes, as Reuben of incest, and Simeon and Levi of murder, yet they truly repented, and obtained mercy from God, and were honored in their offspring, of whom an account is given here; but the first two seem to be taken notice of for the sake of the third, and that order might be observed, and that it might appear that the deliverers of Israel were Israelites:
The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
These are the families of Reuben, the heads of them, or from whence they sprung.
Names and the order in which they appear are the same as in Genesis 46:9.


(6:15) The sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.
These are the heads of their fathers' houses—chiefs or governors. The insertion of this genealogical table in this part of the narrative was intended to authenticate the descent of Moses and Aaron. Both of them were commissioned to act so important a part in the events transacted in the court of Egypt and afterward elevated to such high offices in the government and Church of God that it was of the utmost importance that their lineage should be accurately traced. Reuben and Simeon being the oldest of Jacob's sons, a passing notice is taken of them. Then the historian advances to the enumeration (a record) of the principal persons in the house of Levi (Ex 6:16-19).
These are the heads - We have in the following verses not a complete genealogy but a summary account of the family of the two brothers. Moses records for the satisfaction of Hebrew readers, to whom genealogical questions were always interesting, the descent and position of the designated leaders of the nation. See Exodus 6:26-27.

The sons of Simeon. The list corresponds precisely, both in the names and in the order, with that given in Genesis 46:9-10 but differs considerably from 1 Chronicle 4:24 and Numbers 26:12. In both the latter places, Jemuel appears as Nemuel, Zohar as Zerah, and Obad is omitted. In 1 Chronicle 4:24, Jachin appears as Jarib. It would seem that the family of Obad died out and disappeared soon after the Israelites left Egypt. On the other hand, the family of Shaul increased and multiplied (1 Chronicle 4:25-27).
The list corresponds precisely, both in the names and in the order, with that given in Genesis 46:10 but differs considerably from 1 Chronicle 4:24 and Numbers 26:12. In both the latter places, Jemuel appears as Nemuel, Zohar as Zerah, and Obad is omitted. In 1 Chronicle 4:24, Jachin appears as Jarib. It would seem that the family of Obad died out and disappeared soon after the Israelites left Egypt. On the other hand, the family of Shaul, the son of a Canaanitish woman, increased and multiplied (1 Chronicle 4:25-27). The clan Shaul must have had in it a mixing of Canaanite blood.


(6:16) These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari; and the length of Levi's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.
And these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations. Whose sons, according to the order of their birth, were as follow: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari; see (Genesis 46:11), And these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations.
Moreover, the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years; and Polyhistor assigns precisely the same number of years to him from Demetrius, a Heathen writer. Jarchi says that the reason why the years of the life of Levi are reckoned is to show how long the bondage lasted; for there was no servitude as long as any of the tribes (or of the sons of Jacob) remained, according to Exodus 1:6 and the Jewish chronologers affirm that Levi was the last of the patriarchs that died; and that he died in the year of the world 3332, and lived in Egypt ninety-four years; and from his time to the going out of Egypt, were only one hundred and sixteen years; and they further say the bondage could not last longer than one hundred and sixteen years, nor shorter than eighty-seven. Bishop Usher places his death in A. M.1 (above mentioned) 2385, and before Christ 1619: according to the Targum of Jonathan, he lived to see Moses and Aaron the deliverers of Israel; but that is false since Joseph, and all his brethren died before Moses was born, Exodus 1:6.


(6:17) The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families.
These are the heads - We have in the following verses not a complete genealogy but a summary account of the family of the two brothers. Moses records for the satisfaction of Hebrew readers, to whom genealogical questions were always interesting, the descent and position of the designated leaders of the nation. See Exodus 6:26-27.


(6:18) The sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar and Hebron and Uzziel; the length of Kohath's life was one hundred and thirty-three years.
The sons of Kohath. The same names are given in 1 Chronicle 6:2 and 15. Kohath, who was probably about twenty at the time of the descent into Egypt, must have considerably outlived Joseph, who died about seventy years after the descent. His eldest son, Amram, is not likely to have been born much later than his father's thirtieth year. (See Genesis 11:12-24.) Amram would thus have been contemporary with Joseph for above fifty years.


(6:19) The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations.
And the sons of Merari, Mahali, and Mushi, from whence sprung the families of the Mahalites and Mushites, Numbers 3:33, are the families of Levi, according to their generations: the families that descended from him and his sons, according to their order of birth.
The sons of Merari. The same names occur in 1 Chronicle 6:19 and 23. Mahali, by a difference of pointing: to give added force, emphasis, or piquancy (spiciness) to becoming Mahli. The Mahlites and Mushites were among the most important of the Levitical families (Numbers 3:33; Numbers 26:58). Exodus 6:19
The Merarites, who formed two families comprising 6200 males, were to encamp on the north side of the tabernacle, under their prince Zuriel, and to observe the boards, bolts, pillars, and sockets of the dwelling-place (Exodus 26:15, Exodus 26:26, Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:37), together with all the vessels thereof (the plugs and tools), and all that had to be done in connection in addition to that, also the pillars of the court with their sockets, the plugs and the cords (Exodus 27:10, Exodus 27:19; Exodus 35:18); that is to say, they were to take charge of these when the tabernacle was taken down, to carry them on the march, and to fix them when the tabernacle was set up again (Numbers 4:31-32)