1 Chronicles 26:10

10 Of Hosah, of the sons of Merari: Simri, the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief)

1 Chronicles 26:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 26:10

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.

1 Chronicles 26:10 In-Context

8 All these of the sons of Obededom; they and their sons and their brethren, valiant men strong for the ministry, were sixty-two, of Obededom.

9 And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren, valiant men, eighteen.

10 Of Hosah, of the sons of Merari: Simri, the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him the chief)

11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah, the third, Zechariah, the fourth; all the sons and brethren of Hosah were thirteen.

12 Among these were the divisions of the porters, even among the chief men, having wards one against another two by two, to minister in the house of the LORD.