And the sons of Samuel. — Heb., Shemuel The third break in the Kohathite list.
We see from 1 Chronicles 6:33-34 that Samuel (Shemuel, name of God) is son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham; hence we might suppose that the clause “Samuel his son” has been accidentally omitted at the end of 1 Chronicles 6:27. But it is quite possible that the writer assumed the connection to be too well known to require specification, or that he has here thrown together three independent genealogical fragments. Comp. with 1 Chronicles 6:27-28 the pedigree of Elkanah, 1 Samuel 1:1 : “Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph.” Here again the names vary, yet not so as to obliterate their identity. Elihu (“El is He”) = Eliab, Eliel; Tohu, a fuller form of Toah = Nahath.
The firstborn Vashni, and Abiah. — Vashni is not a proper name, but a corrupt form of the Hebrew phrase “and the second” (shçnî, secundus). The sons of the prophet Samuel were Joel, the firstborn, and Abiah, 1 Samuel 8:2 (see also 1 Chronicles 6:33 below). Joel has fallen out of the text here; it should run, “Joel the firstborn, and the second Abiah.”
Reviewing the Kohathite list (22-28) we conclude that it represents three statistical fragments which have been put in juxtaposition by the chronicler or the author whom he has followed, and that in accordance with the real connection between the members, as appears on comparison with the continuous list which immediately follows in 1 Chronicles 6:33-38. The fact that “Samuel his son” is the missing link between 1 Chronicles 6:27-28, makes it likely that “Elkanah his son” is the true connection between 1 Chronicles 6:24-25.
From Levi to the sons of Samuel about twenty generations are reckoned. Usher’s chronology dates the descent of Jacob and his sons into Egypt at 1706 B.C. Twenty generations are six hundred years. The sons of Samuel would, according to this, be living about 1106 B.C. and later. Ruth 4:18-22 reckons only ten generations from Judah to Jesse, the father of David. This again shows that in their genealogical tables the Hebrews did not uniformly supply every link, but were often content with a statement of the principal names.