1 Chronicles 15:17

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

1 hapax legomenon — only here in the Hebrew Bible
1 first appearance in the Hebrew Bible

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קֽוּשָׁיָֽהוּ

qûwshâyâhûw

H6984

“Kushaiah”

Noun, Proper

Appears 1× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears here

Full BDB Definition

Origin: from the pass part of H6983 and H3050

TWOT: None

Kushaiah = "bow of Jehovah" - father of Ethan the Merarite - same as 'Kish' or 'Kishi'

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

18: words
13: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

1 hapax legomenon — a word that appears only here in the entire Hebrew Bible:

קֽוּשָׁיָֽהוּ Kushaiah H6984

First appearance in Scripture

This word makes its first canonical appearance in the Hebrew Bible here:

קֽוּשָׁיָֽהוּ Kushaiah H6984

Shared distinctive vocabulary

אֵיתָ֖ן Ethan H387 occurs in 8 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
14 nouns
2 prepositions
1 particle

Verb forms

וַיַּעֲמִ֣ידוּ Hiphil · Sequential Imperfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

בֶּן son H1121 ×4
אֶחָ֔יו brother H251 ×2
וּמִ֨ן from H4480 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 31 words from the Hebrew and 33 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 18 Hebrew tokens and 25 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 1 Chronicles 15:17 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Chronicles 6:33 These are those who waited, and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,
1 Chronicles 6:39 His brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,
1 Chronicles 6:44 On the left hand their brothers the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,
1 Samuel 8:2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beersheba.
1 Chronicles 15:19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, [were appointed] with cymbals of brass to sound aloud;
1 Chronicles 25:1–5 Moreover, David and the captains of the host set apart for the service certain of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of those who did the work according to their service was:
Psalms 73:1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart.
Psalms 83:1 God, don't keep silent. Don't keep silent, And don't be still, God.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 1 Chronicles 15:17 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיַּעֲמִ֣ידוּ הַלְוִיִּ֗ם אֵ֚ת הֵימָ֣ן בֶּן יוֹאֵ֔ל וּמִ֨ן אֶחָ֔יו אָסָ֖ף בֶּן בֶּֽרֶכְיָ֑הוּ וּמִן בְּנֵ֤י מְרָרִי֙ אֲחֵיהֶ֔ם אֵיתָ֖ן בֶּן קֽוּשָׁיָֽהוּ

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 1 Chronicles 15:17 Septuagint · lemma form

καί ἵστημι ὁ λευίτης ὁ αιμαν υἱός ιωηλ ἐκ ὁ ἀδελφός αὐτός ασαφ υἱός βαραχια καί ἐκ ὁ υἱός μεραρι ἀδελφός αὐτός αιθαν υἱός κισαιας

So the Levites appointed Aeman the son of Joel; Asaph the son of Barachias was one of his brethren; and Aethan the son of Kisaeus was of the sons of Merari their brethren;

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on 1 Chronicles 15:17 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17. - Heman - Asaph - Ethan] These were the three chief musicians in the time of David; see 1Ch 6:31.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(17) Heman . . . Asaph . . . Ethan (or Jeduthun) were the precentors of David’s three choirs of Levitical minstrels (1Ch_6:31-44). Heman was of Kohath, and Asaph of Gershon, as Ethan of Merari.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

17. Herman the son of Joel] a descendant of Samuel the prophet; 1Ch_6:33 (1Ch_6:18, Heb.). Cp. Psalms 88 (title). As Heman was descended from Kohath, Asaph from Gershom, and Ethan from Merari, each division of the Levites was represented by a chief musician. Heman was king’s seer (1Ch_25:5).

Asaph the son of Berechiah] a descendant of Gershom; 1Ch_6:39-43 (24–28, Heb.). Asaph was the chief of the musicians; 1Ch_16:5; 1Ch_16:7. One of the small collections of Psalms from which our Psalter was compiled was named after him; cp. the titles of Psalms 50, 73-83.

Ethan the son of Kushaiah] a descendant of Merari; 1Ch_6:44-47. Cp. Psalms 89 (title). He is apparently called Jeduthun in 1Ch_25:1-6.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel,.... The grandson of Samuel the prophet, Ch1 6:33.

and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; a famous singer, often mentioned in the Psalms, Ch1 6:39.

and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; the same with the son of Kishi, Ch1 6:44, these were the chief of the singers.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

CHAPTER XV.

Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were masters of the first band of musicians, in the reign of David. They played on the cymbals of brass, ver. 19.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

17. Heman… Asaph… Ethan — These three distinguished Levites became immortalized in sacred history by this appointment as chief musicians. Each of the three great divisions of the tribe of Levi had thus a representative family in the choir. Their genealogy is given in 1Ch_6:31-47. At the close of David’s reign the Levitical musicians numbered four thousand. 1Ch_23:5.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Keil & Delitzsch

C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch

So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel,.... The grandson of Samuel the prophet, Ch1 6:33.

and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; a famous singer, often mentioned in the Psalms, Ch1 6:39.

and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; the same with the son of Kishi, Ch1 6:44, these were the chief of the singers.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

1 Chronicles, in the Historical, opens this verse with 18 words (13 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is qûwshâyâhûw (“Kushaiah”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word qûwshâyâhûw carries the sense “Kushaiah.” How does it shape the verse?
1 word here appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. Why might the author reach for such rare wording?
This is the first place “Kushaiah” appears in Scripture (first appears here). What does its debut here establish?
How does 1 Kings 4:31, which shares the word «Ethan», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “son” (4× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«וַיַּעֲמִ֣ידוּ» is a Hiphil Sequential Imperfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Adam Clarke's Commentary and Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible.
1 word makes its first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
This verse counts 18 Hebrew ↔ 25 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 4 words in this verse.
“son” occurs 4× in this single verse.