=1‒15.= In the finished system of the Jewish hierarchy, the Levitical order is found to be in three main divisions, “families,” who in the prevailing fashion, believed themselves to be descended from the sons of Levi; Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. In verses 1‒3 this view is expressed, and the connection is traced from Levi to Aaron, the first of the traditional line of high-priests, which in verses 4‒15 is given through Zadok down to the time of the Captivity. (1) The intention of the list in verses 4‒15 is clear. It is given to declare the legitimacy of Jehozadak the high-priest who went into exile at the fall of Jerusalem and was accounted the father of Jeshua the high-priest of the Return (see Ezra iii. 2, etc.; Nehemiah xii. 26; Haggai i. 1; Zechariah vi. 11). Thus upon Jehozadak’s legitimacy depended the legitimacy of the post-exilic priesthood of Jerusalem. (2) The mechanical nature of the list is very evident when it is considered chronologically. Allowing the standard 40 years for each of the twenty-three priests in the list we get 40 × 12 + 40 × 11 = 920 years. This is in agreement with the unhistorical but beautifully regular chronology of the Priestly conception of the history, which allowed 480 years from the Exodus (Aaron) to Solomon’s Temple, and again 480 years to the foundation of the second Temple (Jeshua)――the Captivity (Jehozadak) being reckoned as taking place in the _eleventh_ generation of the second period. (3) The list presents some noteworthy features. The line of high-priests from Eli to Abiathar is ignored, but this is natural, since the ascendancy of the Zadokite line was ascribed to the Divine anger against the house of Eli (1 Samuel iii. 12‒14; 1 Kings ii. 27). It is curious, however, that this list of the high-priests omits Jehoiada (mentioned in 2 Kings xi. 9; 2 Chronicles xxii. 11) and Urijah (2 Kings xvi. 11 ff.) and an Azariah in the reign of Uzziah (2 Chronicles xxvi. 20) who should come between Amariah of Jehoshaphat’s reign and Hilkiah in the time of Josiah. (4) Finally note that the list of high-priests as far as the reign of David is repeated in verses 50‒53. It is a very difficult problem to determine the relation between the two lists (see the head-note to verse 50). ¹The sons of Levi; Gershon¹, Kohath, and Merari. ¹ In verse 16, _Gershom_. =1.= _The sons of Levi_] So Genesis xlvi. 11; Exodus vi. 16; Numbers iii. 17, xxvi. 57――all from P. ²And the sons of Kohath; Amram, Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. =2.= _the sons of Kohath_] So Exodus vi. 18; Numbers iii. 19. ³And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. And the sons of Aaron; Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. =3.= _Aaron, and Moses_] The same order in Exodus vi. 20. Aaron was the elder (Exodus vii. 7). _And the sons of Aaron_] So Exodus vi. 23. Nadab and Abihu perished childless; Leviticus x. 1 ff.