View source for Kehath

{{Short description|Biblical character}}
[[File:Caath and Amram.jpg|alt=Caath cum filio Amram in Epitome historico-chronologica a Bartholomaeo Gai|thumb|Kohath with his son Amram in Epitome historico-chronologica by Bartolomeo Gai ]]
According to the [[Torah]], '''Kehath''' ({{langx|he|קְהָת}}, ''Qəhāṯ'') or '''Kohath''' was the second of the sons of [[Levi]]<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|3:17|HE}}</ref> and the patriarchal founder of the [[Kehathites]], one of the four main divisions of the [[Levites]] in [[Hebrew Bible|biblical]] times. In some [[apocrypha]]l texts, such as the ''[[Testament of Levi]]'' and the [[Book of Jubilees]], Levi's wife, Kehath's mother, is ''Milkah'', a daughter of [[Aram, son of Shem|Aram]].<ref>Jubilees 34:20</ref><ref>''Testament of Levi'' 11</ref>

==Onomastics==
According to [[biblical criticism|biblical scholars]], the meaning of Kehath's name is unknown, though it may derive from an [[Aramaic]] word meaning ''obey''.<ref>Cheyne and Black, ''[[Encyclopaedia Biblica]]''</ref>

In the [[Testament of Levi]], Kehath's birth when his father Levi was 35 years old was accompanied by a vision of Kehath "on high in the midst of all the congregation";<ref>Testament of Levi, 3:52 in Rutherford H. Platt Jr. edition (1926) [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe274.htm]</ref> in the vision, Kehath's name is given as meaning "the beginning of majesty and instruction" and prophesies his being raised above his siblings.<ref>''Testament of Levi.'' The quote "beginning of majesty and instruction" is from chapter 3, verse 53 according to the numbering in Rutherford Platt's translation (1926) [http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe274.htm]. It is numbered as XI, 7 (page 50) in the edition by R. H. Charles (1908) [https://books.google.com/books?id=RfMoAAAAYAAJ&q=Kohath]</ref>

==Genealogy==
In the ''[[Book of Exodus]]'', Kehath has four sons, [[Amram]], [[Izhar]], [[Hebron (biblical figure)|Hebron]] and [[Uzziel]]. Amram marries [[Jochebed]] and sires [[Moses]], [[Aaron]], and [[Miriam]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Exodus|6:16-20|}}</ref> Although some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the [[Septuagint]] version of the Torah state that Jochebed was Kehath's cousin,<ref>Exodus 6:16-20, LXX</ref> the Hebrew Masoretic Text states that she was his sister<ref>''[[New American Bible]]'', footnote to Exodus 6:20</ref>&mdash;that is, Amram's aunt&mdash;and Jochebed's relationship to Levi is otherwise described unambiguously as his daughter in the ''[[Book of Numbers]]'' 26:59. According to ''Numbers'', Kehath gained 8,600 descendants during the lifetime of his grandson. However these names were prominent clans, and not always direct linear descendants as expected in western genealogies.

==Theories==
[[Julius Wellhausen]]'s [[documentary hypothesis]] asserts that the [[Torah]] was compiled in the fifth century BC from several independent, contradictory, hypothetical (nonextant) documents, including the [[Jahwist]], [[Elohist]], [[Deuteronomic]], and [[priestly source]]s and the [[Book of Generations]]. Advocates of this hypothesis, such as [[Richard Elliott Friedman]], attribute Levi's biblical genealogy to the "Book of Generations".<ref name=ref>[[Richard Elliott Friedman]], ''Who Wrote The Bible?''.</ref> Others attribute Moses's birth narrative, which also mentions Amram and Jochebed, to the earlier "Elohist source". According to this theory, the Levite genealogy is a myth to explain away the fact that four different groups claimed descent from Levi&mdash;the [[Gershonites]], [[Kehathites]], [[Merarites]], and [[Aaronides]]. Since Aaron could not have been a brother to Gershon, Kehath, and Merari, since he was the son of one of Kehath's sons, he had to belong to a following generation. The hypothetical reconstruction of the "Elohist source" mentions only that both parents were Levites without identifying their names ({{Bibleverse||Exodus|2:1-2}}). Some scholars suspect that the "Elohist source" attributes to Moses both [[matrilinear descent|matrilineal]] and [[patrilinear descent|patrilineal]] descent from Levites in order to enhance his religious credentials.{{Citation needed|date=March 2013}}

==Family tree==
According to the [[Book of Genesis]] and the [[Book of Exodus]] Kohath's family tree looks like this:
{{Levi to Moses family tree}}

==See also==
*[[Kohathites]]
*[[Testament of Qahat|Testament of Kohath]]

==Notes and citations==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Levites]]
[[Category:Book of Exodus people]]
[[Category:Tribe of Levi]]
[[Category:Book of Jubilees]]