Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons; Simri the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief;)

Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the first-born, yet his father made him chief),

And of Hosa, that is, of the sons of Merari: Semri the chief, (for he had not a firstborn, and therefore his father made him chief.)

And Hosah, of the sons of Merari, had sons: Shimri the head, for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the head;

Also Hosah of the children of Merari, had sons; Simri the chief, (for though he was not the first-born, yet his father made him the chief;)

and to Hosah, of the sons of Merari, are sons: Shimri the head (though he was not first-born, yet his father setteth him for head),

And Hosah, a son of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief (for though he was not the oldest, his father made him chief);

Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief-for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief-

Now, from Hosah, that is, from the sons of Merari: Shimri the leader, for he had not had a firstborn son, and so, because of this, his father had appointed him as the leader,

Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons,.... Who was a fellow porter of Obededom's at the ark, 1-Chronicles 16:38.
Simri the chief (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief); the firstborn being unfit for service, either through want of an intellectual capacity, or of strength of body, or through some defect or another; according to the Syriac version, he was dead; so some understand the words, he, the father, had no firstborn remaining or living.

Simri the chief . . . though . . . not the first-born--probably because the family entitled to the right of primogeniture had died out, or because there were none of the existing families which could claim that right.

The Merarites. Hosah's sons and brothers. חוסה has been already mentioned (1-Chronicles 16:38) along with Obed-edom as doorkeeper. Hosah made Shimri head of the Merarites, who served as doorkeepers, because there was no first-born, i.e., because his first-born son had died without leaving any descendant, so that none of the families descended from Hosah had the natural claim to the birthright. All the sons and brothers of Hosah were thirteen. Meshelemiah had eighteen (cf. 1-Chronicles 26:9), and Obed-edom sixty-two (1-Chronicles 26:8); and all taken together they make ninety-three, whom we are (according to 1-Chronicles 26:12.) to regard as the heads of the 4000 doorkeepers. In 1-Chronicles 9:22 the number of the doorkeepers appointed by David is stated to be 212, but that number most probably refers to a different time (see on 1-Chronicles 9:22). Bertheau further remarks: "According to 1-Chronicles 16:38, sixty-eight are reckoned to Obed-edom and Hosah, in our passage seventy-five; and the small difference between the numbers is explained by the fact that in the first passage only the doorkeepers before the ark are referred to." Against this we have already shown, in our remarks on 1-Chronicles 16:38, that the number there mentioned cannot be held with certainty to refer to the doorkeepers.

Made him the chief - Not in inheriting the estate; (this was forbidden by the law) but in this service, for which he was better qualified than his elder brother.