Izhar

Izhar is one of the four sons of Kohath, situated in the second generation of Levi's descendants. He appears only in genealogical lists, where his name marks a clan of the Kohathite line and the family from which Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri descend.

Son of Kohath

The first notice places Izhar among his brothers in the founding roster of the Kohathite house: "And the sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years" (Ex 6:18). The same fourfold list reappears in the Chronicler's compressed Levite genealogy (1Ch 6:2), is repeated a few verses later in the same chapter (1Ch 6:18), and recurs in the Davidic reorganization of the Levites with an explicit count: "The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four" (1Ch 23:12). Across each list the order is fixed — Amram, Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel — placing Izhar as the second-named son.

Father of Korah's Line

Izhar's own offspring are named directly after the Kohathite roster: "And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri" (Ex 6:21). The Davidic-era list narrows further to a single chief: "The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief" (1Ch 23:18). Izhar therefore stands at the head of a sub-clan within the Kohathites, and his line is the line through which Korah is traced.

Position in the Levite Genealogy

A descending genealogy in Chronicles fixes Izhar's place in the Levitical chain: "the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel" (1Ch 6:38). He is grandson to Levi and great-grandson to Israel, one link in the spine that runs from the patriarch down to the priestly and singing houses of the temple.

A different man named Izhar also appears in scripture, entirely outside the Levitical line. Among the sons of Helah in the Judahite genealogy, the Chronicler lists "Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan" (1Ch 4:7). This Izhar is a descendant of Judah through Ashhur and Helah, with no connection to the Kohathite clan that bears the same name.