Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 6:29-30

"The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son." — 1 Chronicles 6:29-30 (ASV)

A short list of Merarite names. (Compare Numbers 3:20 and 1 Chronicles 6:14, referenced above, for the two sons of Merari—Mahli and Mushi—after whom the clans of the Merarites were designated.) The present list traces the line of Mahli to the seventh generation; all these names are unknown. Later, in 1 Chronicles 6:44–47, we have another line going back to Mushi, brother of Mahli.

Why did the chronicler preserve the three lists found in 1 Chronicles 6:19–30? The process from Levi to the worthless sons of Samuel, and the utterly unknown names of Jeaterai and Asaiah, reads like an anticlimax. But it should not be forgotten that these fragments, though no longer significant in themselves, are genuine relics of ancient family registers. As such, they may have had more than merely an antiquarian value in the chronicler's day.

1 Chronicles 6:31–32 are a prelude to the pedigrees of Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, the three great masters of David’s choirs (these pedigrees are found in 1 Chronicles 6:33–48). The nature, time, and place of their special duties are described in these introductory verses.