1 Chronicles 23:32 King James Version (KJV)

32 And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of the LORD.


1 Chronicles 23:32 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

32 And that they should keep H8104 the charge H4931 of the tabernacle H168 of the congregation, H4150 and the charge H4931 of the holy H6944 place, and the charge H4931 of the sons H1121 of Aaron H175 their brethren, H251 in the service H5656 of the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068


1 Chronicles 23:32 American Standard (ASV)

32 and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.


1 Chronicles 23:32 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

32 And they have kept the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah.


1 Chronicles 23:32 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

32 and they kept the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, in the service of the house of Jehovah.


1 Chronicles 23:32 World English Bible (WEB)

32 and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the house of Yahweh.


1 Chronicles 23:32 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

32 And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.

Cross Reference

Numbers 1:53 KJV

But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.

Numbers 3:6-9 KJV

Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle. And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.

Numbers 3:38 KJV

But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.

1 Chronicles 9:27 KJV

And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them.

1 Kings 8:4 KJV

And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up.

Commentary on 1 Chronicles 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 23

1Ch 23:1. David Makes Solomon King.

1. when David was old … he made Solomon … king—This brief statement, which comprises the substance of 1Ki 1:32-48, is made here solely to introduce an account of the preparations carried on by David during the latter years of his life for providing a national place of worship.

1Ch 23:2-6. Number and Distribution of the Levites.

2. he gathered together all the princes of Israel—All important measures relating to the public interest were submitted for consideration to a general assembly of the representatives of the tribes (1Ch 13:1; 15:25; 22:17; 26:1-32).

3. the Levites were numbered … thirty and eight thousand—Four times their number at the early census taken by Moses (see on Nu 4:1-49; 26:1-51). It was, in all likelihood, this vast increase that suggested and rendered expedient that classification, made in the last year of David's reign, which the present and three subsequent chapters describe.

by their polls, man by man—Women and children were not included.

4. twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord—They were not to preside over all the services of the temple. The Levites were subject to the priests, and they were superior to the Nethinim and other servants, who were not of the race of Levi. But they had certain departments of duty assigned, some of which are here specified.

5. praised the Lord with the instruments which I made—David seems to have been an inventor of many of the musical instruments used in the temple (Am 6:5).

6. David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi—These are enumerated according to their fathers' houses, but no more of these are mentioned here than the twenty-four thousand who were engaged in the work connected with the Lord's house. The fathers' houses of those Levites corresponded with the classes into which they [Josephus, Antiquities] as well as the priests were divided (see on 1Ch 24:20-31; 1Ch 26:20-28).

1Ch 23:7-11. Sons of Gershon.

7-11. the Gershonites—They had nine fathers' houses, six descended from Laadan, and three from Shimei.

1Ch 23:12-20. Of Kohath.

12. The sons of Kohath—He was the founder of nine Levitical fathers' houses.

13. Aaron was separated—as high priest (see on 1Ch 25:1-19).

14. concerning Moses—His sons were ranked with the Levites generally, but not introduced into the distinctive portion of the descendants of Levi, who were appointed to the special functions of the priesthood.

1Ch 23:21-23. Of Merari.

21-23. The sons of Merari—They comprised six fathers' houses. Summing them together, Gershon founded nine fathers houses, Kohath nine, and Merari six: total, twenty-four.

1Ch 23:24-32. Office of the Levites.

24-27. These were the sons of Levi … that did the work … from the age of twenty years and upward—The enumeration of the Levites was made by David (1Ch 23:3) on the same rule as that followed by Moses (Nu 4:3), namely, from thirty years. But he saw afterwards that this rule might be beneficially relaxed, and that the enrolment of Levites for their proper duties might be made from twenty years of age. The ark and tabernacle being now stationary at Jerusalem, the labor of the Levites was greatly diminished, as they were no longer obliged to transport its heavy furniture from place to place. The number of thirty-eight thousand Levites, exclusive of priests, was doubtless more than sufficient for the ordinary service of the tabernacle. But this pious king thought that it would contribute to the glory of the Lord to employ as many officers in his divine service as possible. These first rules, however, which David instituted, were temporary, as very different arrangements were made after the ark had been deposited in the tabernacle of Zion.