Tohu

Tohu was an ancestor of Samuel the prophet, appearing in the genealogy given in 1 Samuel 1:1. His name means that lives or that declares in Hitchcock's system. He is the same individual called Nahath in 1 Chronicles 6:26 and Toah in 1 Chronicles 6:34, with the variant spellings reflecting different textual traditions in the parallel genealogical lists.

His significance lies entirely in his genealogical role as a link in the chain connecting Samuel to the tribe of Levi through the line of Kohath. The apparent discrepancy between his Ephraimite identification in 1 Samuel 1:1 and his Levitical lineage in Chronicles is generally explained by Elkanah's family residing in Ephraim while being of Levitical descent — a common situation given the Levites' dispersal throughout the tribes rather than possession of a single tribal territory.