Levi, Aaron and the Singers

"The sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari." From Aaron through Eleazar, Phinehas and Zadok to "Jehozadak [who] went into captivity, when the LORD carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar."

"And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest." Heman the singer, son of Joel, son of Samuel, back to Levi; Asaph on his right hand; Ethan of Merari on the left.

"But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy." The cities of refuge and the Levites' towns with their pasture lands follow, as in Joshua 21.

Samuel a Levite?

1 Samuel 1:1 calls Samuel's father Elkanah an Ephrathite (of Ephraim). Chronicles places him in the Levite line of Kohath (6:27–28, 33–34). Explanations: Levites lived among other tribes and could be called by their region; or Chronicles incorporated Samuel into the Levites because he served at the sanctuary.

Numbering

Hebrew Bibles number this chapter differently: English 6:1–15 is Hebrew 5:27–41, so every verse of chapter 6 is fifteen numbers lower in Hebrew. The library lines them up.

Levitical cities

The list closely matches Joshua 21 with variations in names and order. Whether it reflects an actual system of the monarchy, an ideal, or a later arrangement is debated; some listed towns (Gezer, Taanach) were not Israelite until later.