The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi. The sons of Mahli; Eleazar, and Kish.
The verse names the two sons of Merari as Mahli and Mushi, and then names the two sons of Mahli as Eleazar and Kish. It stands within the genealogical record of Chronicles, which assumes the reader's knowledge of the preceding books while adding new and important facts omitted from Samuel and Kings. That record centers attention on Judah and on the divinely ordered service of the temple, rather than on the northern kingdom. Its genealogies provide strict legal proof of hereditary descent, proof required after the exile for returning the land to its hereditary owners and for restoring the temple service to those whose hereditary duty it was to perform it.
The verse names the two sons of Merari as Mahli and Mushi, and then names the two sons of Mahli as Eleazar and Kish. It stands within the genealogical record of Chronicles, which assumes the reader's knowledge of the preceding books while adding new and important facts omitted from Samuel and Kings. That record centers attention on Judah and on the divinely ordered service of the temple, rather than on the northern kingdom. Its genealogies provide strict legal proof of hereditary descent, proof required after the exile for returning the land to its hereditary owners and for restoring the temple service to those whose hereditary duty it was to perform it.