(44-47) The pedigree of Ethan the Merarite, traced back through twelve names to Levi. Ethan is no doubt the same as Jeduthun, 1 Chronicles 25:1; 2 Chronicles 35:15.
(44) And their brethren the sons of Merari. — We should say their comrades or kinsmen (see Note on 1 Chronicles 6:39). “Brethren,” or “brothers,” is the natural style for the members of a guild, whether religious like the monastic bodies, or commercial like the city companies of London, or benevolent like the Freemasons. The plural pronoun refers to the two preceding guilds of Heman and Asaph. The Ethanites stood on the left of the Hemanites in the sanctuary, as the Asaphites stood on their right, and this arrangement was hereditary.
Kishi is a contraction of Kushaiah, like Zabdi of Zebadiah.
(47) Son of Manli, the son of Mushi. — In 1 Chronicles 6:19 Mahli and Mushi appear as two sons of Merari; so also at Lev. 3:20. Mahli son of Mushi here must be nephew of the Mahli of those two passages, if the genealogical form is in each case to be understood literally. It is difficult on a first inspection to perceive any connection between the present list and that of the Merarites in 1 Chronicles 6:29-30. The series there is:
Mahli, Libni, Shimei, Uzza, Shimea, Haggiah, and Asaiah.
Here we have:
Mushi, Mahli, Shamer, Bani, Amzi, Hilkiah, Amaziah, Hashabiah, Malluch, Abdi, Kishi, and Ethan.
Now it is quite possible that both lines spring from Mushi son of Merari. We have only to suppose that the name of Mushi has either dropped out or been omitted by design in 1 Chronicles 6:29. In that case, of course, Mahli in each line becomes identical. Next we remark that Libni in Hebrew adds but one letter (1) to Bani; and these two may be variants of the same name. The second line is again more complete than the first, as it supplies Shamer (Shemer) between Mahli and Bani-Libni. Further. Uzzi and Amzi express the same idea — that of strength — and may therefore indicate identity of person. The names Shimei and Shimeah are perhaps inadvertent duplicates of each other; which may also be the case with Amzi and Amaziah in the second series. Haggiah perhaps answers to Hilkiah.
Thus it may be right to regard this pedigree of Ethan as related to the Merarite line of 1 Chronicles 6:29-30, in the same way as those of Heman and Asaph are related to the first drafts of the Kohathite and Gershonite lines of descent, although the connection is not so evident in the present instance, owing perhaps to corruption of the text.
1 Chronicles 6:48-49 constitute the transition from the pedigrees of the three Levitical choir-masters to the line of the sons of Aaron — Eleazar, which is here repeated from Aaron to Ahimaaz. The form of the list is, however, different. Instead of “Eleazar begat Phinehas,” it runs “Phinehas his son” &c. It is more likely that the chronicler found this list already connected with what follows in the source which he used for this section, than that he merely chose to repeat part of what he had already given under a slightly altered form.