1 Chronicles 6:23 Meaning and Explanation
“Elkanah his son, and Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son,”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Korah is remembered for rebelling against Moses and for the ground that opened under him. A reader might assume his family ended there. Verse 22 names Korah in the Kohathite line, and this verse carries that line forward through three more men. The record answers a question worth asking: what became of the household of a man judged by God?
A single link in the Kohathite chain: after Assir son of Korah come Elkanah, Ebiasaph, and a second Assir. The line of Korah continued, generation by generation, inside Levi's service.
The Context of 1 Chronicles 6:23
Chapter 6 is the long Levite chapter. Verses 1 to 15 trace the high-priestly line from Aaron to the exile. Verse 16 restarts with Levi's three sons, Gershom, Kohath, and Merari, and then follows each branch. Verses 22 to 24 give the Kohathite descent: Amminadab, Korah, Assir, then the men of this verse, then Tahath, Uriel, Uzziah, and Shaul. The formula his son marks each step. Later in the chapter, verses 33 to 38 trace Heman the singer back up through this same stretch of names, which shows why the chronicler recorded it.
What Does 1 Chronicles 6:23 Mean?
Three names, each followed by the same two words, his son. Elkanah, Ebiasaph, Assir. The repetition is the point, since it establishes descent step by step with nothing left to inference. Assir appears twice in this short stretch, once in verse 22 as Korah's son and again here two generations later, a common pattern in Israelite families where a grandson took a grandfather's name. Exodus 6:24 lists Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph together as sons of Korah, and Chronicles arranges them in sequence instead. The differences suggest these registers were kept independently, each preserving what its keepers knew.
Numbers 26:11 states that Korah's children did not die in the judgment that swallowed their father. This verse is the quiet continuation of that sentence. The Kohathites carried the holiest furniture of the tabernacle, and Korah's rebellion grew out of a quarrel over that nearness. The judgment fell on the men who claimed what was not given them, and the family line went on serving. Chronicles was written for a community that knew its own history of failure and exile, and a preserved line of a rebel's sons speaks directly to such readers. God's dealings with a family are not settled by its worst generation.
Follow this line far enough and it reaches the temple choir. Verses 33 to 37 trace Heman, whom David set over the service of song, back through Ebiasaph to Korah. Descendants of the man who grasped at holy office ended up leading Israel's praise, holding their place by God's appointment through David. Centuries later, 2 Chronicles 20:19 shows Korahites rising to praise the LORD aloud as Judah faced invasion. The register in this verse is the thread between those scenes. Mercy given to children in the wilderness became music in Jerusalem, and the chronicler expects his readers to notice.
1 Chronicles 6:23 in the Original Language
'elqanah (אֶלְקָנָה), 'Elkanah' -- built from El, God, with the verb qanah, to acquire or obtain; the name confesses that God gained this child for himself. Several Levites in this chapter carry it, which is why the name recurs so often.
Bible Verses Related to 1 Chronicles 6:23
“And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.”
- Exodus 6:24
“And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.”
- Numbers 16:32
“The son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,”
- 1 Chronicles 6:37
“And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.”
- 2 Chronicles 20:19
Where 1 Chronicles 6:23 Echoes in Scripture
Numbers 26:11 records the survival of Korah's children after the earth closed over the rebels, a single line dropped into a census. Chronicles supplies the sequel. Elkanah, Ebiasaph, and Assir are the actual sons and grandsons that verse was talking about, and their descendants staffed Israel's worship for centuries. Read together, the two passages show a family whose story includes both a fearful judgment and a long preservation, with the preservation lasting the longer of the two.
How to Apply 1 Chronicles 6:23 Today
Family histories carry hard chapters. Someone in our line made a wreck of things, and the damage can feel like a settled verdict over everyone who follows. The record here offers a different reading of such a past. A judged father did not determine the calling of his sons, and their descendants sang in God's house. We can name our family's failures honestly and still keep working, praying, and serving where we are placed. Where we hold responsibility for children or grandchildren, the way we handle our own failures teaches them what repentance looks like.
Reflection & Prayer
What part of my family's past have I treated as final, and what might God still be doing along that line? Lord God, you are just in your judgments and generous in your mercy. Thank you for keeping the sons of Korah and giving them a place in your house. Where our histories are painful, teach us to trust your patience, and make us faithful in the small service you have given us today. Amen.