1 And David and the captains of the host separated for the service those of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun who were to prophesy with harps and lutes and cymbals; and the number of the men employed according to their service was:
And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand: Asaph, the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,
And these are they that attended, and their sons: Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, to hold the dedication with gladness, both with thanksgivings, and with singing, [with] cymbals, lutes and harps.
And the men did the work faithfully. And over them were appointed Jahath and Obadiah, Levites, of the children of Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the children of the Kohathites, for the oversight; and all these Levites were skilled in instruments of music.
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel, with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang alternately together in praising and giving thanks to Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout to the praise of Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.
And I saw as a glass sea, mingled with fire, and those that had gained the victory over the beast, and over its image, and over the number of its name, standing upon the glass sea, having harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses bondman of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and wonderful [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; righteous and true [are] thy ways, O King of nations. Who shall not fear [thee], O Lord, and glorify thy name? for [thou] only [art] holy; for all nations shall come and do homage before thee; for thy righteousnesses have been made manifest.
But if all prophesy, and some unbeliever or simple [person] come in, he is convicted of all, he is judged of all; the secrets of his heart are manifested; and thus, falling upon [his] face, he will do homage to God, reporting that God is indeed amongst you. What is it then, brethren? whenever ye come together, each [of you] has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done to edification.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet; praise him with lute and harp; Praise him with the tambour and dance; praise him with stringed instruments and the pipe; Praise him with loud cymbals; praise him with high sounding cymbals.
{A Psalm, a Song, for the Sabbath day.} It is good to give thanks unto Jehovah, and to sing psalms unto thy name, O Most High; To declare thy loving-kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness in the nights, Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the lute; upon the Higgaion with the harp.
And that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy; and also the women and the children rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off. And at that time men were appointed over the chambers of the treasures for the heave-offerings, for the first-fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them, out of the fields of the cities, the portions assigned by the law for the priests and the Levites; for Judah rejoiced over the priests, and over the Levites that waited. And, with the singers and the doorkeepers, they kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David [and] of Solomon his son. For of old, in the days of David and Asaph, there were the chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgivings to God.
And the chief Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brethren over against them, to praise [and] to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.
And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests, and the Levites after their divisions, every man according to his service, as well the priests as the Levites, for burnt-offerings and for peace-offerings, to serve and to give thanks and to praise in the gates of the courts of Jehovah.
And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
And she looked, and behold, the king stood on his dais at the entrance, and the princes and the trumpets were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets; and the singers [were there] with the instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. And Athaliah rent her garments, and said, Conspiracy! Conspiracy!
And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of the hundreds king David's spears and shields and targets, which were in the house of God.
And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of the hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.
And they were divided by lot, one with another; for the princes of the sanctuary and the princes of God were of the sons of Eleazar and of the sons of Ithamar. And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, [one] of the Levites, inscribed them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the chief fathers of the priests and Levites: one father's house was drawn for Eleazar, and one drawn for Ithamar.
and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, [said David,] to praise [therewith]. And David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Of the Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei.
and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, because his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever; and with them, [with] Heman and Jeduthun, trumpets and cymbals for those that should sound aloud; and the musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were at the gate.
And he appointed certain of the Levites to do the service before the ark of Jehovah, and to celebrate, and to thank and praise Jehovah the God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of lutes and with harps; and Asaph sounding with cymbals;
And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren, the singers, with instruments of music, lutes, and harps, and cymbals, that they should sound aloud, lifting up the voice with joy. And the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; and with them their brethren of the second [rank], Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers; and the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, to sound aloud with cymbals of brass; and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with lutes on Alamoth; and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to lead [the singing].
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 25
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 25 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The twenty-four classes of musicians . - 1 Chronicles 25:1. “David and the princes of the host separated for the service the sons of Asaph,” etc. הצּבא שׂרי are not princes of the Levite host; for although the service of the Levites is called צבא צבא in Numbers 4:23, yet the princes of the Levites are nowhere called הצבא שׂרי . This expression rather denotes either the leaders of the army of the chiefs of Israel, as the host of Jahve, Exodus 12:17, Exodus 12:41, etc. Here it is used in the last signification, as synonymous with princes of Israel (1 Chronicles 23:2); in Exodus 24:6 we have simply the princes, along with whom the heads of the fathers'-houses of the priests and the Levites are mentioned. לעבדה הבדּיל , separate for the service; cf. Numbers 16:9. The ל in אסף לבני is nota acc . Since Asaph was, according to 1 Chronicles 6:39-43, a descendant of Gershon, Heman, according to 1 Chronicles 6:33-38, a descendant of Kohath, and Jeduthun (= Ethan) a descendant of Merari (1 Chronicles 6:44-47), all the chief families of Levi had representatives among the singers. The Kethibh הנביאים is an orthographical error for הנּבּאים ( Keri ), partic. Niph., corresponding to the singular הנּבּא , 1 Chronicles 25:2 and 1 Chronicles 25:3. נּבּא , prophetare , is here used in its wider signification of the singing and playing to the praise of God performed in the power of the Divine Spirit. In reference to the instruments of these chief musicians, cf. 1 Chronicles 15:16. The suffix in מספּרם refers to the following noun, which is subordinated to the word מספּר as genitive; cf. the similar construction עצל נפשׁו , his, the sluggard's, soul, Proverbs 13:4, and Ew. §309, e . “Their number (the number) of the workmen for the service, i.e., of those who performed the work of the service, was (as follows).”
With אסף לבני the enumeration beings: “Of Asaph's sons were, or to Asaph's sons belonged, Zacchur,” etc. Four are here named, but the number is not stated, while it is given in the case of the sons of Jeduthun and Heman, 1 Chronicles 25:3 and 1 Chronicles 25:5. על־יד , at the hand, alternates with על־ידי (1 Chronicles 25:3 and 1 Chronicles 25:6), and אסף יד על does not of itself express a different relationship to Asaph than that expressed by המּלך ידי על with reference to the king. It signifies only “under (according to) the direction of;” and in 1 Chronicles 25:6 the king, Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman are co-ordinated, inasmuch as the musical part of the worship was arranged by David and the three chief musicians in common, although only the latter were concerned in its performance. In 1 Chronicles 25:3 לידוּתוּן is placed at the beginning, because the choir of singers led by him bore his name; and so also in the case of Heman, 1 Chronicles 25:4. “As to Jeduthun, were sons of Jeduthun.” The word sons in these catalogues denotes not merely actual sons, but those intellectually sons, i.e., scholars taught by the master. This is clear from the fact that the twenty-four classes, each of which numbered twelve men, consist of sons and brothers of the leaders. The names given as those of the sons of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, in 1 Chronicles 25:2-5, do not represent the whole number of the scholars of these masters, but only the presidents of the twenty-four classes of Levites who were engaged under their leadership in performing the sacred music. Only five sons of Jeduthun are named in our text, while according to the number given there should be six. A comparison of the names in vv. 9-31 shows that in 1 Chronicles 25:3 the name שׁמעי (1 Chronicles 25:17) has been dropped out. בּכּנּור belongs to ידוּתוּן : under the direction of their father Jeduthun (the master), upon the kinnor (see on 1 Chronicles 15:16), who was inspired to sing praise, i.e., who played inspiredly to bring praise and honour to the Lord; cf. 1 Chronicles 16:4; 1 Chronicles 23:30, etc.
Fourteen sons of Heman are enumerated. עזר רממתּי is one name, cf. 31, although עזר is without doubt to be supplied also after גּדּלתּי . Probably also מחזיאות is to be supplied in thought after the names. מלותי , I made full, and הותיר , increased.
(Note: On these names Ewald ways, ausf. Lehrb. der Hebr. Sprache, §274, S. 672, der 7 Ausg.: “ It is thought that the utterance of a great prophet is to be found cut up into names of near relatives, when the words,
עזר רממתּי גּדּלתּי
מחזיאות הותיר מלותי
'I have given great and lofty help,
I have to fulness spoken oracles,'
which manifestly form a verse, and may have been the commencement of a famed ancient oracle, are found transferred to the five musical sons of Heman, Giddalti(ezer), Romamtiezer, Mallothi, Hothir, and Machazioth. ” )
Heman is called in 1 Chronicles 25:5 the seer of the king in the words of God, because he, along with his gift of song, was endowed also with the prophetic gift, and as seer made known to the king revelations of God. In 2 Chronicles 35:15 the same thing is predicated also of Jeduthun, and in the same sense the prophet Gad is called in 1 Chronicles 21:9 David's seer. קרן להרים the Masoretes have connected with the preceding, by placing Athnach under the קרן , and the phrase has been wholly misunderstood by the Rabbins and Christian commentators. Berth., e.g., connects it with האלהים בּדברי , and translates, “to sound loud upon horns, according to the divine command,” referring to 2 Chronicles 29:15, where, however, both meaning and accentuation forbid us to connect יהוה בּדברי with what follows. This interpretation of the words is thoroughly wrong, not only because the Levites under Heman's direction did not blow horns, the horn not being one of the instruments played by the Levites in connection with the worship, but also because on linguistic grounds it is objectionable. קרן הרים קרן .el never has the signification to blow the horn; for to elevate the horn signifies everywhere to heighten the power of any one, or unfold, show power; cf. 1 Samuel 2:10; Lamentations 2:17; Psalms 148:14; Psalms 89:18; Psalms 92:11, etc. That is the meaning of the phrase here, and the words are to be connected, according to their sense, with what follows: “to elevate the horn,” i.e., to give power, God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters; i.e., to make Heman's race mighty for the praise of God, God gave him so many sons and daughters.
1 Chronicles 25:6 is the subscription to the enumeration, 1 Chronicles 25:2-5. כּל־אלּה are not the fourteen sons of Heman, but all the sons of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman. All these were under the direction of their fathers for song in the house of Jahve, with cymbals ... for the service in the house of God under the direction of the king, etc. אביהם is used distributively of each father of the sons named. Bertheau supplies after אביהם the name Heman, and thereby the first half of the verse contradicts the second, which he correctly understands to refer to the twenty-four persons enumerated. - In 1 Chronicles 25:7 the total number is given. Their number (the number) of the sons of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman (i.e., of the twenty-four 4 + 6 + 14 mentioned by name), with their brethren, was 288 (24 x 12); whence we learn that each of those named had eleven אחים , all of them שׁיר מלמּדי שׁיר , learned, practised in song for Jahve. In כּל־המּבין the sons and the brothers are both included, in order to give the total number. מבין , having understanding, knowledge of a thing, denotes here those who by education and practice were skilled in song - the accomplished musicians. Their number was 288, and these were divided into twenty-four choirs (classes). David had, according to 1 Chronicles 23:5, appointed 4000 Levites for the performance of the music. Of these, 288 were מבינים skilled in song; the others were scholars ( תּלמידים ), as 1 Chronicles 25:8 shows, where מבין and תּלמיד are the two categories into which the musicians are divided.
They cast lots, משׁמרת גּורלות , κλήρους ἐφημερίων (lxx), by which the משׁמרת , the waiting upon the service, was fixed, that is, the order of their succession in the official service. לעמּת is variously translated. As no name follows, R. Shel. and Kimchi would repeat the preceding משׁמרת : one class as the other; and this is supported by 1 Chronicles 26:16 and Nehemiah 12:24, and by the fact that in 1 Chronicles 17:5, after ממּשׁכּן , the words משׁכּן אל have been dropped out. But according to the accentuation משׁמרת belongs to גּורלות , and so the proposed completion is at once disposed of. Besides this, however, the thought “class like class” does not appear quite suitable, as the classes were only formed by the lots, and so were not in existence so as to be able to cast lots. We therefore, with Ewald, §360, a , and Berth., hold the clause כּגּדול כּקּטן to be the genitive belonging to לעמּת , since עמּת is in Ecclesiastes 5:15 also connected with a clause: “in the manner of, as the small, so the great,” i.e., the small and the great, the older as the younger. This is further defined by “the skilled as the scholars.” From these words it is manifest that not merely the 288 cast lots, for these were כּל־מבין (1 Chronicles 25:7), but also the other 3712 Levites appointed for the service of the singers; whence it further follows that only the 288 who were divided by lot into twenty-four classes, each numbering twelve persons, were thoroughly skilled in singing and playing, and the scholars were so distributed to them that each class received an equal number of them, whom they had to educate and train. These, then, were probably trained up for and employed in the temple music according to their progress in their education, so that the ἐφημερία which had at any time charge of the service consisted not only of the twelve skilled musicians, but also of a number of scholars who assisted in singing and playing under their direction.
The order of succession was so determined by lot, that the four sons of Asaph (1 Chronicles 25:3) received the first, third, fifth, and seventh places; the six sons of Jeduthun, the second, fourth, eighth, twelfth, and fourteenth; and finally, the four sons of Heman (first mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25:4), the sixth, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth places; while the remaining places, 1 Chronicles 25:15-24, fell to the other sons of Heman. From this we learn that the lots of the sons of the three chief musicians were not placed in separate urns, and one lot drawn from each alternately; but that, on the contrary, all the lots were placed in one urn, and in drawing the lots of Asaph and Jeduthun came out so, that after the fourteenth drawing only sons of Heman remained.
(Note: Bertheau, S. 218, draws quite another conclusion from the above-mentioned order in which the lots were drawn. He supposes “ that two series, each of seven, were first included in the lot: to the one series belonged the four sons of Asaph and the three sons of Heman, Mattaniah, Uzziel or Azarel, and Shebuel or Shubael; to the other, the six sons of Jeduthun and Bukkiah the son of Heman. A lot was drawn from each series alternately, commencing with the first, so that the four sons of Asaph and the three sons of Heman obtained the places 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13; while to the six sons of Jeduthun, and the son of Heman added to them, fell the places 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. The still remaining ten sons of Heman were then finally drawn for, and received the placed from the 15th to the 24th. ” This very artificial hypothesis explains, indeed, the order of the lots, but we cannot think it probable, because (1) for the supposed dividing of the lots to be drawn into divisions of 10 and 14 no reason can be assigned; (2) by any such division the sons of Heman would have been placed at a disadvantage from the beginning as compared with the sons of Asaph and Jeduthun, since not only Asaph ' s four sons, but also all Jeduthun ' s six sons, would have been placed in the first rank, while only four sons of Heman accompany them, Heman ' s ten remaining sons having had the last place assigned them.)
As to the details in 1 Chronicles 25:9, after Joseph we miss the statement, “he and his sons and his brothers, twelve;” which, with the exception of the הוּא , used only of the second lot, and omitted for the sake of brevity in all the other cases, is repeated with all the 23 numbers, and so can have been dropped here only by an error. The words ליוסף לאסף are to be understood thus: The first lot drawn was for Asaph, viz., for his son Joseph. In the succeeding verses the names are enumerated, sometimes with and sometimes without ל . Some of the names diverge somewhat in form. Izri, 1 Chronicles 25:11, stands for Zeri, 1 Chronicles 25:3; Jesharelah, 1 Chronicles 25:14, for Asarelah, 1 Chronicles 25:2; Azarel, 1 Chronicles 25:18, for Uzziel, 1 Chronicles 25:4 (like the king's names Uzziah and Azariah, 1 Chronicles 3:12, and 2 Chronicles 26:1); Shubael, 1 Chronicles 25:20, for Shebuel, 1 Chronicles 25:4 (cf. 1 Chronicles 23:16 with 1 Chronicles 24:20); Jeremoth, 1 Chronicles 25:22, for Jerimoth, 1 Chronicles 25:4; Eliyathah, 1 Chronicles 25:27, for Eliathah, 1 Chronicles 25:4. Besides these, the fuller forms Nethanyahu (1 Chronicles 25:12), Hashabyahu (1 Chronicles 25:3), Hananyahu (1 Chronicles 25:23), are used instead of the shorter Nethaniah, etc. (1 Chronicles 25:2, 1 Chronicles 25:19, 1 Chronicles 25:4). Of the 24 names which are here enumerated, besides those of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, only Mattithiah recurs (1 Chronicles 15:18, 1 Chronicles 15:21) in the description of the solemnities connected with the bringing in of the ark; “but we are not justified in seeking there the names of our twenty-four classes” (Berth.).