Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 6:28

"And the sons of Samuel: the first-born [Joel], and the second Abijah." — 1 Chronicles 6:28 (ASV)

And the sons of Samuel. —Hebrew, Shemuel. This is the third break in the Kohathite list.

We see from 1 Chronicles 6:33–34 that Samuel (Shemuel, name of God) is the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham; therefore, we might suppose that the clause “Samuel his son” has been accidentally omitted at the end of 1 Chronicles 6:27. However, it is quite possible that the writer assumed this connection was too well known to require specification, or that he has here assembled three independent genealogical fragments.

Compare with 1 Chronicles 6:27–28 the pedigree of Elkanah in 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 much as to obliterate their identity. For instance, Elihu ("El is He") is equivalent to Eliab and Eliel; Tohu, a fuller form of Toah, is equivalent to 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 read, “Joel the firstborn, and the second Abiah.”

Reviewing the Kohathite list (1 Chronicles 6:22–28), we conclude that it represents three statistical fragments that have been juxtaposed by the chronicler or the author whom he followed. This arrangement was made in accordance with the actual connection between the members, as becomes clear on comparison with the continuous list immediately following 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 counted. Ussher’s chronology dates the descent of Jacob and his sons into Egypt at 1706 B.C. Twenty generations represent approximately six hundred years. According to this calculation, the sons of Samuel would have been living around 1106 B.C. and later.

However, Ruth 4:18–22 lists only ten generations from Judah to Jesse, the father of David. This difference again shows that in their genealogical tables, the Hebrews did not uniformly supply every link but were often content with stating only the principal names.