1 Chronicles 6:3, commentary and pictures

1 Chronicles 6:3 belongs to the long genealogical lists in 1 Chronicles 4-19, specifically the genealogy of Levi, which record names and events with particular attention to Judah and the priesthood. It names the children of Amram as Aaron, Moses, and Miriam, and the sons of Aaron as Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The long, tedious record of names is usually considered dry and uninteresting and may not seem equally interesting or useful to every reader, yet it forms part of the Bible's deeper material.

The record has largely to do with chronology. The genealogical records preserve hereditary descent needed to assign land and maintain temple service. The record preserves the records of God's children and the integrity of the tribes. The genealogical records preserve information about human origins and ancestry that can interest scholars of ethnology, while the Bible also contains spiritual truth for readers who pursue other kinds of knowledge.

Aaron's sons listed here continued the Aaronic priesthood until it was superseded by Christ's priesthood. Together with the verses that follow it to verse 15, the verse begins the full priestly line running from Aaron through his sons and later descendants down to Ezra's time, naming intermediate generations. The fuller list proves Ezra was truly descended from Aaron even though his own list names only selected ancestors and drops several generations found here. Son here means descendant of a remote ancestor in the wide Hebrew sense, giving part for the whole when the design is only to show relation to Aaron and to guard the prerogatives of the priesthood, not to spread out every link. Its fuller series must be used when calculating time, since much more time may have elapsed than Ezra's shortened list alone would suggest. The family list shows that God remembers each person by name, including people long forgotten by others.