The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
World English Bible
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The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.
World English Bible
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Ezra 8:18 calls Mahli "the son of Levi, the son of Israel" — a direct father-son claim. But every Torah and Chronicles list of Levi's sons (Gen 46:11; Exod 6:16; 1 Chr 6:1, 16; 23:6) names only Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward reconciliation.
Genealogy
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
1 Samuel 1:1 introduces Samuel's father Elkanah as 'an Ephrathite' from the hill country of Ephraim — making Samuel an Ephraimite by tribal affiliation. 1 Chronicles 6:22-28 traces the same Elkanah back through Korah to Kohath son of Levi, making Samuel a Levite.
Critical scholarship: Leans toward a genuine contradiction.
Genealogy
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"1 Chronicles 6:16 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/1-chronicles/6/16?version=WEB (retrieved 26 August 2026).