4 Of these to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah `are' twenty and four thousand, and officers and judges six thousand,
And also in Jerusalem hath Jehoshaphat appointed of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the heads of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of Jehovah, and for strife; and they turn back to Jerusalem,
`Judges and authorities thou dost make to thee within all thy gates which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, for thy tribes; and they have judged the people -- a righteous judgment.
`When anything is too hard for thee for judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke -- matters of strife within thy gates -- then thou hast risen, and gone up unto the place on which Jehovah thy God doth fix, and hast come in unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge who is in those days, and hast inquired, and they have declared to thee the word of judgment, and thou hast done according to the tenor of the word which they declare to thee (`they' of that place which Jehovah doth choose; and thou hast observed to do according to all that they direct thee.
And their brethren the Levites are put to all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
And `some' of them `are' over the vessels of service, for by number they bring them in, and by number they take them out. And `some' of them are appointed over the vessels, even over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices. And `some' of the sons of the priests are mixing the mixture for spices. And Mattithiah, of the Levites (he `is' the first-born to Shallum the Korahite), `is' in office over the work of the pans. And of the sons of the Kohathite, `some' of their brethren `are' over the bread of the arrangement, to prepare `it' sabbath by sabbath.
for their station `is' at the side of the sons of Aaron, for the service of the house of Jehovah, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the cleansing of every holy thing, and the work of the service of the house of God, and for the bread of the arrangement, and for fine flour for present, and for the thin unleavened cakes, and for `the work of' the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all `liquid' measure and `solid' measure; and to stand, morning by morning, to give thanks, and to give praise to Jehovah, and so at evening; and for all the burnt-offerings -- burnt-offerings to Jehovah for sabbaths, for new moons, and for appointed seasons, by number, according to the ordinance upon them continually, before Jehovah. 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.
And of the Levites, Ahijah `is' over the treasures of the house of God, even for the treasures of the holy things. Sons of Laadan: sons of the Gershonite, of Laadan, heads of the fathers of Laadan the Gershonite: Jehieli. Sons of Jehieli: Zetham, and Joel his brother, over the treasures of the house of Jehovah, for the Amramite, for the Izharite, for the Hebronite, for the Uzzielite. And Shebuel son of Gershom, son of Moses, `is' president over the treasures. And his brethren, of Eliezer, `are' Rehabiah his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomith his son. This Shelomith and his brethren `are' over all the treasures of the holy things, that David the king, and heads of the fathers, even heads of thousands, and of hundreds, and heads of the host, sanctified; from the battles, even from the spoil they sanctified to strengthen the house of Jehovah;
Of the Izharite, Chenaniah and his sons `are' for the outward work over Israel, for officers and for judges. Of the Hebronite, Hashabiah and his brethren, sons of valour, a thousand and seven hundred, `are' over the inspection of Israel, beyond the Jordan westward, for all the work of Jehovah, and for the service of the king. Of the Hebronite, Jerijah `is' the head, of the Hebronite, according to his generations, for the fathers -- in the fortieth year of the reign of David they have been sought out, and there are found among them mighty ones of valour, in Jazer of Gilead --
And in the second year of their coming in unto the house of God, to Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those coming from the captivity to Jerusalem, and they appoint the Levites from a son of twenty years and upward, to overlook the work of the house of Jehovah. And Jeshua standeth, `and' his sons, and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, sons of Judah together, to overlook those doing the work in the house of God; the sons of Henadad, `and' their sons and their brethren the Levites.
And Joel son of Zichri `is' inspector over them, and Judah son of Senuah `is' over the city -- second.
And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem `is' Uzzi son of Bani, son of Hashabiah, son of Mattaniah, son of Micha: of the sons of Asaph, the singers `are' over-against the work of the house of God,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 23
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.