1 CHRONICLES 23 COMMENTARY EDITED BY GLENN PEASE The Levites 1When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. BARNES, "See the marginal references and notes. 1Ch_23:28-32 give the most complete account in Scripture of the nature of the Levitical office. CLARKE, "David was old and full of days - On the phrase full of days, see the note on Gen_25:8. GILL, "So when David was old and full of days,.... Perhaps was now in the last year of his age, about seventy years old, though before he was bedridden; see 1Ch_28:2, he made Solomon his son king over Israel; declared him to be his successor; this was before the affair of Adonijah, for then he ordered him to be anointed king, and placed on the throne; and this aggravated the rebellion of Adonijah, that it was against the declared and known will of his father. HENRY, "Here we have, I. The crown entailed, according to the divine appointment, 1Ch_23:1. David made Solomon king, not to reign with him, or reign under him, but only to reign after him. This he did, 1. When he was old and full of days. He was but seventy years old when he died, and yet he was full of days, satur dierum - satisfied with living in this world. When he found himself going off, he made provision for the welfare 1
Transcript
1 CHRONICLES 23 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
The Levites
1When David was old and full of years, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
BARNES, "See the marginal references and notes. 1Ch_23:28-32 give the most complete account in Scripture of the nature of the Levitical office.
CLARKE, "David was old and full of days - On the phrase full of days, see the note on Gen_25:8.
GILL, "So when David was old and full of days,.... Perhaps was now in the last year of his age, about seventy years old, though before he was bedridden; see 1Ch_28:2,
he made Solomon his son king over Israel; declared him to be his successor; this was before the affair of Adonijah, for then he ordered him to be anointed king, and placed on the throne; and this aggravated the rebellion of Adonijah, that it was against the declared and known will of his father.
HENRY, "Here we have, I. The crown entailed, according to the divine appointment, 1Ch_23:1. David made Solomon king, not to reign with him, or reign under him, but only to reign after him. This he did, 1. When he was old and full of days. He was but seventy years old when he died, and yet he was full of days, satur dierum - satisfied with living in this world. When he found himself going off, he made provision for the welfare
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of the kingdom after his decease, and pleased himself with the hopeful prospect of a happy settlement both in church and state. 2. He did it in parliament, in a solemn assembly of all the princes of Israel, which made Adonijah's attempt to break in upon Solomon's title and set it aside, notwithstanding this public recognition and establishment of it, the more impudent, impious, and ridiculous. Note, The settling or securing of the crown in the interests of the temple is a great blessing to the people and a great satisfaction to those who are themselves leaving the world.
II. The Levites numbered, according to the rule in Moses's time, from thirty years old to fifty, Num_4:2, Num_4:3. Their number in Moses's time. by this rule, was 8580 (Num_4:47, Num_4:48), but now it had increased above four-fold, much more in proportion than the rest of the tribes; for the serviceable men of Levi's tribe were now 38,000, unless we suppose that here those were reckoned who were above fifty, which was not the case there. Joab had not numbered the Levites (1Ch_21:6), but David now did, not in pride, but for a good purpose, and then he needed not fear wrath for it.
JAMISON, "1Ch_23:1. David makes Solomon king.
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.
K&D, "Number, duties, and fathers'-houses of the Levites. - This clear account of the state and the order of service of the tribe of Levi is introduced by the words, 1Ch_23:1, “David was old, and life weary; then he made his son Solomon king over Israel.” זקן, generally an adjective, is here third pers. perf. of the verb, as in Gen_18:12, as שבע also
is, to which ימים is subordinated in the accusative. Generally elsewhere שבע ימים is
used, cf. Gen_35:29; Job_42:17, and also שבע alone, with the same signification, Gen_25:8. These words are indeed, as Berth. correctly remarks, not a mere passing remark which is taken up again at a later stage, say 1Ch_29:28, but an independent statement complete in itself, with which here the enumeration of the arrangements which David made in the last period of his life begins. But notwithstanding that, it serves here only as an introduction to the arrangements which follow, and is not to be taken to mean that David undertook the numbering of the Levites and the arrangement of their service only after he had given over the government to his son Solomon, but signified that the arrangement of this matter immediately preceded Solomon's elevation to the throne, or was contemporaneous with it. Our verse therefore does not contain, in its few words, a “summary of the contents of the narrative 1 Kings 1,” as Berth. thinks, for in 1 Kings 1 we have an account of the actual anointing of Solomon and his accession to the throne in consequence of Adonijah's attempt to usurp it. By that indeed Solomon certainly was made king; but the chronicler, in accordance with the plan of his book, has withdrawn his attention from this event, connected as it was with David's domestic relations, and has used המלי in its more general signification, to denote not merely the actual elevation to the throne, but also his nomination as king. Here the nomination of Solomon to be king, which preceded the anointing narrated in 1 Kings 1, that taking
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place at a time when David had already become bed-rid through old age, is spoken of. This was the first step towards the transfer of the kingdom to Solomon; and David's ordering of the Levitical service, and of the other branches of public administration, so as to give over a well-ordered kingdom to his successor, were also steps in the same process. Of the various branches of the public administration, our historian notices in detail on the Levites and their service, compressing everything else into the account of the army arrangements and the chief public officials, 1 Chron 27.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:1. He made Solomon king over Israel — Not that he resigned the kingdom to him, but only declared his mind concerning Solomon’s succeeding him in the throne after his death. Thus David himself is called king, 1 Samuel 16:1, because he was appointed and anointed to be king after Saul’s death, though till then he was only a subject.
ELLICOTT, "After a brief notice of Solomon’s coronation in the old age of David, the chronicler passes to the main subject of 1 Chronicles 23-26, viz., David’s organisation of the Priests and Levites. The chapter before us presents (1) a summary account of the number and several duties of the Levites (1 Chronicles 23:2-5); and (2) the father-houses or clans of the Levites, with an appendix of remarks about their duties from this time forward (1 Chronicles 23:6-32).
Verse 1
(1) So when David was old and full of days.—Literally, Now David had become old and satisfied with days. (See Genesis 35:29; Job 42:17; where both terms, which are verbs here, appear as adjectives.) Perhaps our pointing is wrong. The expression “satisfied with days” reminds us of Horace, who describes the philosopher as departing this life like a satisfied guest (ut conviva satur, etc.).
He made Solomon his son king.—Heb., and he made, &c. This short statement is all that the chronicler has chosen to repeat from 1 Kings 1, a narrative intimately connected with David’s family affairs, with which he is not concerned to deal. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 20, introductory remarks.)
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:1 So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
Ver. 1. So when David was old.] Tacitis senescimus annis. Old age stealeth upon us;
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let us pack up our bundles, and prepare for our long home,
And full of days.] Satur dierum. He had seen enough of this world, and had a satiety of life. He could better say than old Cato did, If I might become as young as ever I was, I would not accept of it.
He made Solomon his son king.] This he had done before he was bedridden. [1 Chronicles 28:2; 1 Chronicles 29:12]
POOLE, "David maketh Solomon king, 1 Chronicles 23:1. The number and distribution of the Levites, according to their families, 1 Chronicles 23:2-23. Their office, 1 Chronicles 23:24-32.
Not that he did resign the kingdom to him, but that he declared his mind concerning his succession into the throne after his death. As David himself is called king, 1 Samuel 16:1, because he was appointed and anointed to be king after Saul’s death, though till then he was only a subject.
COFFMAN, ""Now David was old ... and made Solomon his son king over Israel" (1 Chronicles 23:1). The truth here makes it impossible to receive Nathan's prophecy in 2 Samuel 7 as a primary reference to Solomon. The Great One mentioned there was prophesied to be born after David slept with his fathers. This verse clearly indicates that Solomon enjoyed a co-regency for an unspecified time with David his father.
"Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward" (1 Chronicles 23:3). David's actions here in numbering the Levites conformed exactly to the instructions of Moses given in Numbers 4:23.
"Four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments that I (David) made" (1 Chronicles 23:5). David's actions in this had no prior command of God to justify it. He violated the divine instructions that, "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it" (Deuteronomy 4:2). David's invention of instruments of music and his introduction of them into the worship of God was specifically condemned by the prophet Amos (Amos 5:23; 6:5). (We have discussed this in Vol. 1 of my commentaries on the Minor Prophets, Joel, Amos and Jonah, pp. 163-169,180-183.)
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WHEDON, " 1. When David was old… he made Solomon his son king — This statement serves as an introduction to the account of the arrangement of the Levites which follows. David, in his old age, made arrangements to hand over to his son a well-organized theocracy. Chapters xxiii-xxvii show how thorough and extensive were the arrangements and organization of the kingdom when Solomon was made king over Israel.
During the period of the Judges and the reign of Saul the Levitical order had become greatly disorganized. In the earlier part of David’s reign efforts were made to restore them to their ancient work and standing, and at the time of the removal of the ark to Zion much was accomplished in reorganizing the Levites, and establishing a new and beautiful sanctuary service. But the more full and perfect arrangement of both priests and Levites was the work of David’s last years. The statements of this chapter may be conveniently tabulated as follows:
Whole number of Levites from thirty years old and upward 38,000 These embraced four classes —
1. General Service — 24,000
2. Officers and Judges — 6,000
3. Porters — 4,000
4. Musicians — 4,000
PARKER, ""So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel."— 1 Chronicles 23:1.
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We are not to carry our kingships too far, and thus keep out other and stronger men.—Kings should abdicate before they become imbecile; pastors should not wear out the love of their people by continuing unduly in office.—It is always well to take the opinion of others when it will be given frankly and lovingly as to our ability to continue with vigour and happy effect the work in which we have been long engaged.—Old age overtakes even David, of whom we once read as a youth "ruddy and of a fair countenance."—Time conquers all.—The silent days and nights eat up our strength, and leave us weak; consume our inheritance, and leave us poor; and are all the while, in every action of deprivation, teaching us mournful but pithy and useful lessons.—Blessed is the man who can bring his son to the throne, not only because he is his Song of Solomon , but because he has a right to the crown, the right of character, Wisdom of Solomon , capacity, and general fitness for high office.—The son takes the crown by hereditary right in many instances; it is far better when he takes it after preparation, and after having proved his character, in many trying circumstances.—Israel continued, though David withered and died.—How true this is in all the relations and outlooks of life!—The nation never dies; kings and mighty men, generals and commanders, come and go, but the people, the very heart of the nation, abide from century to century.—The countries have seen many occupants of the throne, but the throne itself abides, the symbol and indeed the fact of continuity.—Solomon has his day of coming, he will also have his day of going.—A great statesmen has said there are only two happy days in the life of a cabinet minister, the day on which he takes office and the day on which he leaves it.—Let us have no fear because kings die, because pastors expire, because men of all degrees are known no more in their personality: the one thing we may be sure of is that the life which they symbolise will be preserved, directed, and perfected in the providence of God.
Verses 1-32
How to Employ Old Age
1 Chronicles 23
ALTHOUGH the king was so old, he lost none of his interest in the highest
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department of his work. It is pitiful to see how soon some people sink into old age; on the other hand, it is inspiring to observe how the noblest workers have disdained to become old and have coveted only the glory of dying in harness. The pathos of David"s action will be more clearly recognised if we remember that the literal translation Isaiah , "Now David had become satisfied with days." Satisfied with days, but not satisfied with labour: David had seen all the contents of time, in poverty, persecution, honour, and majesty, and yet he was anxious for the consolidation of his empire and the construction of the temple. When the heathen poet described the death of a philosopher it was under the image of a guest who had to the full enjoyed the feast. David, as a guest of the Lord, had himself sat long enough at the table of time, and now he was desirous that his son should take up the service and enjoyment of the empire, whilst he himself went forth to the mysteries of another state. Old age can do for the future what mere youth is not permitted to attempt. Old men are entitled to advise and stimulate those who are likely to succeed them in the ministry of life. Wise old men never omit to infuse into their counsels something of the fire and ambition of youth. They never recommend a mere repetition of the past; they point rather to its enlargement and amendment, believing that all the higher wisdom or providence is always a future blessing. There is no finality in the plans of men. Wait upon God, expect clearer light, listen for fuller instructions and always be prepared to accept and obey heaven"s revealed will.
"He [David] made Solomon his son king over Israel" ( 1 Chronicles 23:1).
We are to remember that we are now in the hands of a mere chronicler who is entitled to be brief in his statements, but we have a full account of what is here indicated in the first chapter of the first Book of Kings. David might be technically entitled to elect Solomon as his successor, but it would be unjust to his memory to suppose that he availed himself of a mere technicality. In the instruction and exhortation which he addressed to his son we find the larger reason of Solomon"s elevation to the throne. David prepared for the temple as we have had ample opportunity of observing, but we are in danger of neglecting to note that he prepared his son Solomon with still more assiduous solicitude. Both the preparations should be taken as one. It would have been a poor preparation had it been merely a direction as to stone and gold and cedar; the true preparation was in the enlightenment and direction of Solomon"s mind and heart. Parents cannot always "prepare" a fortune for their children, but it lies within the power of the poorest to
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enrich the opening mind with solid instruction, and to comfort the tender heart with exhortations and promises against the weakening influence of fear and disbelief.
"Now the Levites were numbered [The tribe of Levi had not been numbered at the general census of the people recently taken (ch. 1 Chronicles 21:6); but in preparation for the arrangements now contemplated, a special census was made of them] from the age of thirty [The pattern of the Mosaic census was followed, and those only were reckoned who had attained the age of thirty. We may assume that the other limit mentioned in the Pentateuch ( Numbers 4:3, Numbers 4:23) was also observed, and that none were counted who exceeded fifty] years and upward; and their number by their polls, man by Prayer of Manasseh , was thirty and eight thousand" ( 1 Chronicles 23:3).
In the realm of Israel there may be said to have been three estates, namely, the princes and the priests and the Levites. David, therefore, in consulting the council, showed himself to be what, in modern language, is called a constitutional monarch. The details given of numbers and of ages indicate the military discipline which great leaders of men have never failed to exercise: financiers count their gold and statesmen count the people; before a man goes to war he should realise the exact amount of his resources, lest he begin with a great flourish of boasting and end with the muttering of humiliation. There should be nothing haphazard in the arrangements of the Christian army; we should know how many we are when all told, and a distinct estimate should be formed of the faculty, the genius, the flexibility, and the endurance of every soldier. Classification is an element of strength. The prince could not change places with the Levite, and the priest might make a poor figure if he claimed to be prince. Mark the individuality of David"s enumeration—the Levites were numbered by their polls [literally, "as to their skulls"]. Every man should have a skull; every skull should represent a Prayer of Manasseh , in knowledge, in faculty, in ambition, chastened by reverence. In modern days we count hands; in ancient days Abraham counted souls and David counted heads. Every hand should be a head, every head a soul, every soul a hand, and thus there should be an inter-working and harmonious cooperation of all the powers and uses of our lives.
"Of which twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of
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the Lord" ( 1 Chronicles 23:4).
The word that is rendered "to set forward" means "to lead, or superintend." When prisoners were taken in war the Levites were entitled to claim their share of the number, and employ the captives in the menial work of the sanctuary.
The Levites were much more numerous than the priests, hence it was ordered in the division of the prey, in the instance given in the Book of Numbers , that they were to have two per cent. of the spoil, whereas the priests had only one-fifth per cent. of a like amount: the calculation being, according to the best authorities three hundred and twenty maidens, six thousand seven hundred sheep and goats, seven hundred and twenty oxen, and six hundred and ten asses for the Levites. We recall the fact that the Gibeonites were spared on condition of becoming Levitical bondsmen, or, in Biblical words, "hewers of wood and drawers of water." We need superintendence, as well as every other kind of service. The danger is that we pick and choose work that is daintiest, instead of undertaking the work that most needs doing. If all were generals, where were the army? If all were leaders, where were the followers? The right spirit regards even doorkeeping in the sanctuary as an honour to be coveted.
PULPIT, "This chapter is the first of four employed on the subject of the Levites and the services distributed among them. The twenty-four orders of priests, sons of Aaron, occupy 1 Chronicles 24:1-31. The twenty-four orders of the singers and musicians occupy the contents of 1 Chronicles 25:1-31. And the divisions of the porters, with their gates; and of those Levites who had the keeping of the treasures of the house of God; and the officers and judges, fill up 1 Chronicles 26:1-32. After which the compiler is again awhile clear of the Levitical tribe.
Returning to our present chapter, it gives an account of the numbers of the Levites, of their classification, of David's fresh arrangement of them and fresh distribution of their work (1 Chronicles 26:1-6). But altogether the largest portion of the chapter (1 Chronicles 26:6-32) is occupied with the rehearsal of the heads of houses composing the four Levite families, and their offices.
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1 Chronicles 23:1-5
The numbering and the classification of the Levites.
1 Chronicles 23:1
David… made Solomon his son king over Israel. These words give the key note of what remains in this book. David made his son king, as he himself acknowledges (1 Chronicles 28:5), under the superintending direction of God. The manner in which the formal event was precipitated by the conduct of Adonijah is found at length in 1 Kings 1:11-53. The original occasion alluded to there more than once, on which David promised, "and sware" to Bathsheba, that her son should be his chief heir and successor to the throne, is not distinctly recorded. We can easily assign one convenient place in the history for it to have found monition, viz. in 2 Samuel 12:25. The brevity of the statement which composes this verse, when compared with all the deeply interesting matter recorded in 1 Kings 1:11-53, is one among many other very clear illustrations of the purposed silence of our present history in certain directions.
2 He also gathered together all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites.
GILL, "And he gathered together all the princes of Israel,.... Ordered them to be assembled, partly to acquaint them with his will and pleasure, that Solomon should succeed him in the kingdom; and partly to settle the order of the work and service of the temple; and therefore these were convened
with the priests and Levites; to assign to them their respective places and offices.
JAMISON, "1Ch_23:2-6. Number and distribution of the Levites.
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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; 1Ch_15:25; 1Ch_22:17; 1Ch_26:1-32).
K&D, "Numbering of the Levites, and partition of their duties. - 1Ch_23:2. For this purpose David collected “all the princes of Israel, and the priests and Levites.” The princes of Israel, because the numbering of the Levites and the determination of their duties was a matter of national importance. “The meaning is, that David, in a solemn assembly of the princes, i.e., of the representatives of the lay tribes, and of the priests and Levites, fixed the arrangements of which an account is to be given” (Berth.).
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:2. He gathered together all the princes, &c. — Partly to declare God’s will, and his own desire, that Solomon should be his successor; and so to cut off the claims and pretences which others of his sons might have made to the crown; and partly to acquaint them with those directions which he had received from God, by the Spirit, as appears from 1 Chronicles 28:11, &c., concerning the establishment of a new order and method in the ministration of the priests and Levites in the temple.
ELLICOTT, " (2) And he gathered together all the princes of Israel.—The form of the verb (the imperfect with waw conversive) implies that this was done in connection with the transfer of the kingdom to Solomon. The following chapters, therefore, relate to arrangements made by David towards the close of his life. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 26:30, “the fortieth year of the reign of David.”)
The princes of Israel.—Comp. 1 Chronicles 13:1; 1 Chronicles 15:25; 1 Chronicles 22:17. “The princes and the priests and the Levites” together constituted, in the conception of the chronicler, the three estates of the realm: the representatives of all spiritual and temporal authority. David consults with the national assembly in a matter of national concern.
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.
Ver. 2. With the priests and the Levites.] These were most of all concerned in the following charge: but the princes and people were to be informed of it. And albeit this and the three following chapters may seem to be of little use unto us, yet we are to hold that "every word of God is pure"; and "all Scripture is profitable to
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instruct." Here we may learn that there should still be a supply of faithful ministers; and these to be ordered by the supreme authority of the land; that there are different offices of ministers; that order is to be observed in the Church; that each one is to do his own work with utmost diligence, &c.
POOLE, " Partly to declare God’s mind and his own will, that Solomon should be his successor; and so to cut off the claims and pretences which others of his sons might make to the crown; and partly to acquaint them with those directions which he had received from God by the Spirit, as appears from 1 Chronicles 28:11, &c., concerning the establishment of a new order and method in the ministration of the priests and Levites in the temple.
PULPIT, "He gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. As on an occasion of supreme importance, David, in view of his own death and of his son's succession at the present time, calls together the full council, and the highest possible representative council of the nation. So 1 Chronicles 22:17; 1 Chronicles 24:6; 1 Chronicles 25:1; in which last passage the word "captains" should have have been rendered "princes" ( שרי ). The arrangement of the Levites, and the distribution of their functions in the presence of the princes, as here described, and as it is even more strongly put (1 Chronicles 25:1), "by" them, simply points to the fact that the ultimate outer authority, as between Church and state, lay with the state. The Church was made for it, not it for the Church. And it was the duty of the state to defend the Church.
3 The Levites thirty years old or more were counted, and the total number of men was thirty-eight thousand.
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CLARKE, "Thirty years and upward - The enumeration of the Levites made in the desert, Num_4:3, was from thirty years upwards to fifty years. In this place, the latter limit is not mentioned, probably because the service was not so laborious now; for the ark being fixed they had no longer any heavy burdens to carry, and therefore even an old man might continue to serve the tabernacle. David made another ordinance afterwards; see on 1Ch_23:24-27 (note).
GILL, "Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upward,.... So they were numbered in the days of Moses, and by his order, and so they were now at first; though afterwards there was a new reckoning of them, 1Ch_23:24.
and their number by their posts; or, according to their heads:
man by man, was thirty and eight thousand; which vastly exceeds the number in the times of Moses; see Num_4:47, but then those above fifty years of age were not numbered, as they now might; since their work in the temple would be much more easy, no burdens to carry, as the ark, the vessels, &c.
JAMISON, "the Levites were numbered ... thirty and eight thousand — Four times their number at the early census taken by Moses (see on Num_4:1-49; see on Num_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.
K&D, "1Ch_23:3The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upwards. This statement agrees
with that in Num_4:3, Num_4:23, Num_4:30, Num_4:39., where Moses caused those from thirty to fifty years of age to be numbered, and appointed them for service about the tabernacle during the journey through the wilderness. But Moses himself, at a later time, determined that their period of service should be from twenty-five to fifty; Num_8:23-26. It is consequently not probable that David confined the numbering to those of thirty and upwards. But besides that, we have a distinct statement in 1Ch_23:24 that they were numbered from twenty years of age, the change being grounded by David upon the nature of their service; and that this was the proper age is confirmed by 2Ch_31:17 and Ezr_3:8, according to which the Levites under Hezekiah, and afterwards, had to take part in the service from their twentieth year. We must therefore regard שלשים in Ezr_3:3 as having crept into the text through the error of copyists, who were thinking of the Mosaic census in Num 4, and must read עשרים instead of it. The various attempts of commentators to get rid of the discrepancy between 1Ch_23:3 and 1Ch_23:24 are mere makeshifts; and the hypothesis that David took two censuses is as little supported by the text, as that other, that our chapter contains divergent accounts drawn from two different sources; see on 1Ch_23:24. The number amounted to 38,000, according to
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their heads in men. לגברים serves for a nearer definition of תם and explains that ,לגלגonly men were numbered, women not being included.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:3. From the age of thirty years and upward — Not only till fifty, as it was appointed Numbers 4:2-3, but even till their death: for that was but a temporary law grounded upon a special reason, because the Levites were employed in carrying the tabernacle and sacred vessels from place to place; and therefore God would have them freed from those burdens when they came to feel the infirmities of age: which reason wholly ceasing upon the building of the temple, their work being far easier than it had been, and their service being more a privilege than a burden, their time of service is justly prolonged.
ELLICOTT, " (3) Now . . . and—i.e., after the council had agreed upon it.
The Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward.—A census like that which Moses instituted (Numbers 4:3; Numbers 4:23; Numbers 4:30, &c.), of all Levites “from thirty years old and upward unto fifty years,” for the work of the Tabernacle.
By their polls, man by man.—Lit., As to their skulls, as to men. The second phrase defines the first, and excludes women and children.
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand.
Ver. 3. Now the Levites were numbered.] Not as the people had been, [1 Chronicles 21:5-6] out of curiosity and vainglory: but on piety and prudence, and by a divine instinct.
POOLE, " From the age of thirty years and upward; not only till fifty, as it was appointed, Numbers 4:2,3, but even till their death; for that was but a temporary law grounded upon a special reason, because the Levites were employed in carrying the tabernacle and sacred vessels from place to place; and therefore God would have them freed from those burdens when they came to feel the infirmities of age; which reason wholly ceasing upon the building of the temple, and their work being far
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easier than it had been, and their service being more a privilege than a burden, their time of service is justly and fitly prolonged.
PULPIT, "Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward. The thing which Joab had rightly resisted (1 Chronicles 21:3-6) and shrunk from doing was now rightly done. There was now a practical and a legitimate object for doing it. This consideration helps to determine what it was that "displeased the Lord" in the former general census of David. In connection with this clause, 1 Chronicles 27:23 should be noted, where we read, "But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under: because the Lord had said he would increase Israel like to the stars of the heavens." The period from the age of thirty years up to fifty (Numbers 4:3, Numbers 4:23, Numbers 4:35, Numbers 4:39) was fixed under Moses, for those "that came to do the service of the ministry, and the service of the burden in the tabernacle of the congregation" (Numbers 4:47). It is not certain, however, that this census did not inquire, in point of fact, respecting some below this limit of age. For we may note 1 Chronicles 27:24 in the first place, and this is partly explained by Numbers 8:23-25. The number "thirty and eight thousand" of our present verse may be compared with the "eight thousand and five hundred and four score" of Numbers 4:47, Numbers 4:48. It is to be observed how promptly the national council did on this occasion commence with the arrangement of the ministers of religion, "the Levites." As we read (Numbers 4:3) of "thirty years" of age as the appointed age for the commencement of their ministry, and (Numbers 7:3) of the present or "offering" of "six covered waggons and twelve oxen," which the twelve "princes of Israel, heads of the house of their fathers, princes of the tribes," offered "before the Lord," which greatly lessened the laborious work of the Levites; so we find the commencing age reduced from time to time, to "twenty-five" years (Numbers 8:24), and to "twenty years" of age, as in our present chapter (Numbers 4:24-28).
4 David said, “Of these, twenty-four thousand are to be in charge of the work of the temple of the Lord and six thousand are to be officials and
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judges.
GILL, "Of which twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord,.... To prepare for the work of the priests by slaying the sacrifices, flaying them, cutting them in pieces, and washing them, and bringing them to the altar; 1000 of these served weekly in their turns:
and six thousand were officers and judges: that acted as justices of the peace in the several parts of the country, heard causes and administered justice to the people, being trained up in and acquainted with the laws of God, civil as well as ecclesiastic; some were more properly judges, and others executioners of their sentence; see Deu_16:18.
HENRY, "III. The Levites distributed to their respective posts (1Ch_23:4, 1Ch_23:5), that every hand might be employed (for, of all men, an idle Levite makes the worst figure), and that every part of the work might be carefully done. Now it was for the honour of God that so great a number of servants attended his house and the business of it. Much of the state of great men consists in the greatness of their retinue. When God kept house in Israel see what a great household he had, and all well fed and well taught. But what were these to the attendants of his throne above, and the innumerable company of angels? It was the happiness of Israel that they had among them such a considerable body of men who were obliged by their office to promote and keep up religion among them. If the worship of God go to decay in Israel, let it not be said that it was for want of due provision for the support of it, but that those who should have done it were careless and false. The work assigned the Levites was four-fold: - 1. Some, and indeed far the greater number, were to set forward the work of the house of the Lord: 24,000, almost two-thirds, were appointed for this service, to attend the priests in killing the sacrifices, flaying them, washing them, cutting them up, burning them, to have the meat-offerings and drink-offerings ready, to carry out dirt, and keep all the vessels and utensils of the temple clean, and every thing in its place, that the service might be performed both with expedition and with exactness. These served 1000 a-week, and so went round in twenty-four courses. Perhaps while the temple was in building some of these were employed to set forward that work, to assist the builders, at least to quicken them, and keep good order among them, and the decorum which became temple-work. 2. Others were officers and judges, not in the affairs of the temple, and in the controversies that arose there (for there, we may suppose, the priests presided), but in the country. They were magistrates, to give the laws of God in charge, to resolves difficulties, and to determine controversies that arose upon them. Of these there were 6000, in the several parts of the kingdom, that assisted the princes and elders of every tribe in the administration of justice. 3. Others were porters, to guard all the avenues of the house of God, to examine those that desired entrance, and to resist those that would force an entrance. These were the life-guards of the temple, and probably were armed
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accordingly. 4. Others were singers and players on instruments, whose business it was to keep up that part of the service; this was a new-erected office.
JAMISON, "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.
K&D, "1Ch_23:4-5
1Ch_23:4 and 1Ch_23:5 contain words of David, as we learn from אשר עשתי להלל
(1Ch_23:5, end), so that we must supply ויאמר דויד before 1Ch_23:4. מאלה, of these
(38,000) 24,000 shall be לנצח וגו, to superintend the business, i.e., to conduct and carry on the business (the work) of the house of Jahve. This business is in 1Ch_23:28-32 more nearly defined, and embraces all the business that was to be carried on about the sanctuary, except the specifically priestly functions, the keeping of the doors, and the performance of the sacred music. For these two latter offices special sections were appointed, 4000 for the porters' services, and the same number for the sacred music (1Ch_23:5). Besides these, 5000 men were appointed Shoterim and judges. “The instruments which I have made to sing praise” are the stringed instruments which David had introduced into the service to accompany the singing of the psalms; cf. 2Ch_29:26; Neh_12:36.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:4. To set forward the work of the house of the Lord — To take care that all the work of the temple, about sacrifices, should be punctually performed, either by themselves or others; which they were not to do all at once, but by courses, a thousand at a time. Six thousand were officers and judges — Not in the affairs of the temple, there the priests presided, but in several parts of the kingdom, where they assisted the princes and elders of every tribe, in the administration of justice.
ELLICOTT, " (4) Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward.—It is clear from 1 Chronicles 23:5 that David himself is supposed to utter both verses, thus personally assigning their commission to the Levites. The Hebrew here is peculiar. We may render: “Of these let there be for superintending the work of the house of Jehovah twenty-four thousand, and scribes and judges six thousand.”
To set forward.—An infinitive, as at 1 Chronicles 22:12. The verb is that of which
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the participle often occurs in the titles of the Psalms. (Authorised “Version, “chief musician.”) It means “to lead,” or “superintend.” The Levites had a share in prisoners of war, according to Numbers 31:30. These they could employ in the more menial work of the sanctuary. The Gibeonites were spared on condition of becoming “hewers of wood and drawers of water,” i.e., Levitical bondsmen; and other whole cities may have received the same terms (Joshua 9:23; Joshua 9:27). We have details of the functions of these superintending Levites in 1 Chronicles 23:28-32, below.
And six thousand were officers and judges.—See above. “Officers” (shôtĕrîm) are first mentioned in Exodus 5:6 (see Note there; and comp. Deuteronomy 16:18). The word means writers (comp. Assyrian sadhâru, to write). The progress of the entire people in power and civilisation elevated the Levites also; and from a warlike troop of defenders of the sanctuary, they became peaceful guardians of the great Temple at Jerusalem and its treasures, musicians and artists in its service, instructors and judges scattered throughout the whole country (Ewald).
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:4 Of which, twenty and four thousand [were] to set forward the work of the house of the LORD and six thousand [were] officers and judges:
Ver. 4. Of which, twenty and four thousand were, &c.] That is, They performed their different offices in their various courses, Hinc sequitur, Hence it followeth, saith an expositor, that each priest and Levite ministered in the temple not much oftener than twice a year; for there were of them twenty-four classes, each whereof served a week together, and no more. Gospel ministers have a far harder task.
POOLE, " To set forward the work of the house of the Lord, i.e. to take care that all the work of the temple about sacrifices and other parts or means of God’s service should be punctually and diligently performed, either by themselves or others; which they were not to do all at once, but by courses, a thousand at a time, as we shall shortly see.
Officers and judges; whose work it seems to have been to judge of and determine all difficult causes or differences which might arise, either among the inferior priests or Levites about their sacred administrations, or among the people, which being governed in all their concerns only by the laws of Moses, it was fit and necessary that the priests and Levites should be consulted and concerned in their matters.
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WHEDON, " 4. To set forward the work of the house — Rather, to preside over the work; to attend to the various kinds of service specified in 1 Chronicles 23:28-32.
Officers and judges — Hebrew, Shoterim and Shophetim. They served as local magistrates and judges throughout the various cities of the land. See notes on Joshua 1:10, and comp. 1 Chronicles 26:29, and 2 Chronicles 19:8-10.
PULPIT, "To set forward (Hebrew לנצח, Piel conjugation). The strict meaning of the word here is to superintend. The word has already occurred in the same sense in 1 Chronicles 15:21 . Officers and judges (Hebrew ושמרים ושפטים). The explanation of the nature of the work of these, as really outward work, for the "outward business of Israel," is distinctly stated in 1 Chronicles 26:29; 2 Chronicles 11-19:5 . These officers are mentioned under the same Hebrew term in Exodus 5:6, in a very different connection. It is plain that they were generally foremen, or overseers; while the judges took cognizance of matters which involved the interests of religion. This verse and the following give between them the four divisions of Levites, afterwards to be more fully described. The fuller account of the "twenty-four thousand" priests (including attendants) occupies Exodus 18-24:1 .; the "six thousand" officers and judges, 1 Chronicles 32-26:20 ; the "four thousand" porters, 1 Chronicles 19-26:1 ; and the "four thousand who praised the Lord with the instruments," 1 Chronicles
31-25:1 .
5 Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”
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CLARKE, "Four thousand praised the Lord - David made this distribution according to his own judgment, and from the dictates of his piety; but it does not appear that he had any positive Divine authority for such arrangements. As to the instruments of music which he made they are condemned elsewhere; see Amo_6:5, to which this verse is allowed to be the parallel.
GILL, "Moreover four thousand were porters,.... At the east, north, and south gates of the temple, in their turns:
and four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments; were singers in the temple, which in all made up 38,000:
which I made, said David, to praise therewith; which instruments he devised and ordered to be made to praise the Lord with; see 2Ch_29:26.
JAMISON, "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 (Amo_6:5).
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:5. Four thousand were porters — Whose office it was to take the charge of all the gates of the temple, and its courts, that no forbidden or unclean person might enter there, and of the courts themselves, and of the several chambers and buildings belonging to the temple and the service thereof. These also were to do their work by turns. Praised the Lord with instruments — Whereof two hundred and eighty-eight persons were of greater skill than their brethren, and instructed them, and had some authority over them.
ELLICOTT, " (5) Moreover four thousand were porters.—Literally, and four thousand (are to be) warders. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 9:21-27.) Reuss thinks 4,000 warders too many; but the different clans went on duty in turn.
And four thousand praised the Lord . . .—Rather, and four thousand (are to be) praising the Lord with the instruments that I have made for praising. (On “praising,” see 1 Chronicles 16:4.) We have here an interesting reference to the fact that David was not only a minstrel and inspired psalmist, but also an inventor of stringed instruments. So the prophet Amos (1 Chronicles 6:5) speaks of the effeminate nobles of Israel, “who prattle on the mouth of the nebel, that invent themselves instruments of music, like David.” The reference is repeated in
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Nehemiah 12:36.
Which I have made.—This expression proves that 1 Chronicles 23:4-5 should be within inverted commas, as representing a spoken decree of David. Ewald thinks that the narrative is interrupted in 1 Chronicles 23:5 by a fragmentary quotation from an ancient poet who speaks in the name of Jehovah, characterising the musicians as “those whom I have formed to sing my praise.” (But see 2 Chronicles 7:6.)
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:5 Moreover four thousand [were] porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, [said David], to praise [therewith].
Ver. 5. Moreover four thousand were porters.] Quos barbare vocant Sacristas.
And four thousand praised the Lord.] Whereof some were teachers, [1 Chronicles 25:7] and some scholars.
Which I made,] i.e., Invented, [Amos 6:6] and appointed to be used in the temple by God’s commandment. [1 Chronicles 29:1-30 1 Chronicles 25:1-31]
POOLE, " Porters; whose office was to take the charge of all the gates of the temple and its courts, that no forbidden or unclean person might enter there, and of the courts them selves, and of several chambers or buildings belonging to the temple and the service thereof: these also were to do their work by turns.
Four thousand praised the Lord with instruments; whereof two hundred and eighty-eight were persons of greater skill than their brethren, and did instruct them, and had some authority over them.
PULPIT, "Porters (Hebrew שערים ); doorkeepers. The word is so translated in 1 Chronicles 15:23, 1 Chronicles 15:24. It was the duty of these to keep the entrances of the sanctuary, by day and night, in their courses (see also 2 Kings 7:10, 2 Kings 7:11). The Chaldaic equivalent of this word is תרע (Ezra 7:24; Daniel 2:49). There is no connection between either the word or idea we have here, and those of Psalms 84:11, where the Hithp. conjugation of ספף is used, and the sense of residence
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probably intended to be conveyed. The instruments which I made… to praise. Possibly the quotation of a short sentence often on David's lips. Men given to music may have been very conscious of it, in ancient days, as well as in modern. The language, however, does not necessarily assert that David claimed the inventing or in any similar sense the making of these musical instruments, but that he appointed them for the service of praise. What some of them were may be seen in 2 Chronicles 5:12—"cymbals, psalteries, harps, trumpets" (see also 2 Chronicles 29:25-27; Nehemiah 12:35, Nehemiah 12:36; Amos 6:5).
BI, "And four thousand praised the Lord with the instruments which I made.
Music and religion
I. The object of music. “To praise therewith” well expresses the attitude of the Bible towards music. Plutarch says: “The chiefest and sublimest end of music is the graceful return of our thanks to the gods.” In these words the wisdom of the Bible representation is vindicated. A worthy conception of God is the only thing which can give the true inspiration of music, and keep it pure and noble through all its strains. Thus music and religion ought never to be divorced.
II. Some of the features of the revelation of God which the Bible gives, and see how they agree with the best features of musical life and growth.
1. The Bible reveals God to man, and man to himself; it opens up depths of meaning which ordinary life cannot sound; it calls man the son of God; it bases itself upon the love of God, which passeth knowledge; it speaks of things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. If we allow music any rights of its own, they must be based upon its claim to give expression which is beyond the power of words, and to utter conceptions which thought cannot formulate. It has the power to take them out of the surroundings even of the deepest thoughts, to lift their aspirations where nothing else can go, to carry them into the presence of a power of harmony and order more fundamental than the skill of the hand or the logic of the mind can represent.
2. Then there is the universality of religion. It is meant for all men: there are all grades and kinds of reception of it. The gospel of Christ is for all men; it has truths for the simple, and doctrines for the wise; it meets all nations of men, each according to its nature and its needs. So music in one way or another affects the simplest and the most cultured, appeals to the joyful and to the sorrowing, defies lines of nationality and of language, and is appropriated by all according to the needs of each.
3. The object of religion is harmony—harmony between heaven and earth, between man and man, harmony in the life of the individual, with its varying experiences. The power of man to appreciate harmony finds a response in the growing resources of the musical art; and the yearnings of man for a better existence, where life shall not clash with death, joy with sorrow, and love with hate, finds an answer in a revelation which destroys death, comforts sorrow, and makes love seen everywhere. There could be no better expression for heaven, aa the place where such a revelation finds
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its completion, than as the place of music. (Arthur Brooks, D. D.)
6 David separated the Levites into divisions corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.
GILL, "And these are the names of the sons of Levi, according to their generations,.... Whose sons, according to the order of their birth, were as follow:
Gershom, and Kohath, and Merari; see Gen_46:11,
and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty seven years; and exactly the same number of years is assigned him by Polyhistor from Demetrius (c), an Heathen writer. Jarchi says, that the reason why, the years of the life of Levi are reckoned is to show how long the bondage lasted; for there was no servitude as long as any of the tribes (or of the sons of Jacob) remained, according to Exo_1:6 and the Jewish chronologers (d) affirm that Levi was the last of the patriarchs that died; and that he died in the year of the world 3332, and lived in Egypt ninety four years; and from his time, to the going out of Egypt, were only one hundred and sixteen years; and they further say the bondage could not last longer than one hundred and sixteen years, nor shorter than eighty seven. Bishop Usher (e) places his death in A. M. 2385, and before Christ 1619: according to the Targum of Jonathan, he lived to see Moses and Aaron the deliverers of Israel; but that is false, since Joseph and all his brethren died before Moses was born, Exo_1:6.
K&D, "The fathers'-houses of the Levites. - 1Ch_23:6. “And David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari;” see on 1Ch_6:1. The form לקם which recurs in 1Ch_24:3 with the same pointing, is in more accurate ויח
MSS in that place pointed ויחלקם. There are also found in MSS and editions ויחלקם, and the rare form of the Kal ויחלקם (for ויחלקם); cf. J. H. Mich. Notae crit. This last pronunciation is attested for, 1Ch_24:3, by D. Kimchi, who expressly remarks that the regular form ויחלקם corresponds to it; cf. Norzi on this passage. Gesen. (in Thes. p. 483)
and Ew. (§83, c) regard לקם ,to which, however ,(ויחלקם) as a variety of the Piel ויח
Berth. rightly remarks that it would be worth a thought only if the punctuation לקם ויחwere confirmed by good MSS, which is not the case, though we find the Piel in the Chronicle in 1Ch_15:3, and then with the signification to distribute. Berth. therefore
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holds - and certainly this is the more correct opinion - that the form ויחלקם, attested by Kimchi for 1Ch_24:3, was the original reading in our verse also, and considers it a rare form of the impf. Kal derived from ויחלקם (cf. 1Ch_24:4-5), by Kamets coming into the
pretonic syllable, after the analogy of ישחטום for 2 ,ישחטוםKi_10:14, and by the
passing of an ă (Pathach) into ĕ (Seghol) before the Kamets, according to well-known
euphonic rules. ת is a second accusative: “in divisions.” The tribe of Levi had been מחלקdivided from ancient times into the three great families of Gershonites, Kohathites, and Merarites, corresponding to the three sons of Levi; cf. 1 Chron 6:1-53; 28:32. - From 1Ch_23:7 onwards we have an enumeration of the fathers'-houses into which these three families were divided: 1Ch_23:7-11, the fathers'-houses of the Gershonites; 1Ch_23:12-20, those of the Kohathites; and 1Ch_23:21-23, those of the Merarites. Berth., on the other hand, thinks that in these verses only the fathers'-houses of those Levites who performed the service of the house of Jahve, i.e., the 24,000 in 1Ch_23:4, and not the divisions of all the Levites, are enumerated. But this opinion is incorrect, and certainly is not proved to be true by the circumstance that the singers, porters, and the scribes and judges, are only spoken of afterwards; nor by the remark that, in great part, the names here enumerated appear again in the sections 1Ch_24:20-31 and 1Ch_26:20-28, while in the enumeration of the twenty-four classes of musicians (1 Chron 25), of the doorkeepers (26:1-19), and of the scribes and judges (1Ch_26:29-32), quite other names are met with. The recurrence of many of the names here enumerated in the sections 1Ch_24:20-31 and 1Ch_26:20-28 is easily explained by the fact that these sections treat of the divisions of the Levites, according to the service they performed, and of course many heads of fathers'-houses must again be named. The occurrence of quite other names in the lists of musicians and doorkeepers, again, is simply the result of the fact that only single branches of fathers'-houses, not whole fathers'-houses, were appointed musicians and doorkeepers. Finally, Bertheau's statement, that in the catalogue of the scribes and judges quite other names occur than those in our verses, is based upon an oversight; cf. 1Ch_26:31 with 1Ch_23:19.
JAMISON, "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 1Ch_24:20-31; 1Ch_26:20-28).
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:6. David divided them into courses — Which he did not by his own invention, but, as a man of God, by his command, and with the advice and concurrence of Gad and Nathan the prophets, as is manifest from 2 Chronicles 8:14; 2 Chronicles 29:25.
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ELLICOTT, " (6) And David divided them into courses.—Heb., he divided him them (reflexive form of verb, with suffix) into divisions. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 24:3, and Genesis 14:15.) Others read the simple voice of the verb here, as at 1 Chronicles 24:4-5, 2 Chronicles 23:18, Nehemiah 9:22; others, again, the intensive voice, as at 1 Chronicles 16:3 (only). It is a question of pointing, the consonants remaining the same in each form. “David divided them,” i.e., the 2,400 superintendents (1 Chronicles 23:4; comp. 1 Chronicles 23:24). Many of the names here enumerated recur in 1 Chronicles 24:20-31; 1 Chronicles 26:20-28; whereas the names of the courses of musicians (1 Chronicles 25:1-31), warders (1 Chronicles 26:1-19), and scribes and judges (1 Chronicles 26:29-32), are totally different.
Among the sons of Levi.—Rather, according to the sons of Levi, viz., according to Gershon, &c.: that is, according to the three great sub-divisions of the tribe (1 Chronicles 6:1; 1 Chronicles 6:16). Notice the correct spelling, “Gershon” (not Gershom).
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:6 And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, [namely], Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
Ver. 6. And David divided them into courses.] Into certain ranks and distinct functions, according to the commandment of God by Gad and Nathan. [2 Chronicles 29:25] David, at the beginning of his reign, had distinguished the priests and Levites into certain ranks and orders, [1 Chronicles 16:4] but now that their number was greatly increased, and they were to serve in the temple that was shortly after to be erected, he ordered all things better, and with greater diligence.
POOLE, "David divided them into courses; which he did not by his own invention, but as a man of God, and by the command of God, and with the advice and concurrence of Gad and Nathan the prophets, as is manifest from 2 Chronicles 8:14 29:25.
PULPIT, "Here begin the families of the Levites, as arranged in courses by David. These arrangements were scrupulously observed by Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:14; 2 Chronicles 29:25).
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Gershonites
7 Belonging to the Gershonites:
Ladan and Shimei.
GILL, "Of the Gershonites were Laadan and Shimei. These two were the immediate posterity of Gershon; are the same with Libni and Shimhi, and heads of families, Exo_6:17.
JAMISON, "1Ch_23:7-11. Sons of Gershon.
the Gershonites — They had nine fathers’ houses, six descended from Laadan, and three from Shimei.
K&D, "1Ch_23:7-11The fathers'-houses of the Gershonites. - According to the natural development of the
people of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob founded the twelve tribes of Israel; his grandsons, or the sons of the twelve patriarchs, founded the families (ת and ;(משפח
their sons, i.e., the great-grandsons of Jacob, founded the fathers'-houses (ת .(בית־אבBut this natural division or ramification of the people into tribes, families, and fathers'-houses (groups of related households), was not consistently carried out. Even the formation of the tribes suffered a modification, when the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born before Jacob's arrival in Egypt, were adopted by him as his sons, and so made founders of tribes (Gen_48:5). The formation of the families and fathers'-houses was also interfered with, partly by the descendants of many grandsons or great-grandsons of Jacob not being numerous enough to form independent families and fathers'-houses, and partly by individual fathers'-houses (or groups of related households) having so much decreased that they could no longer form independent groups, and so were attached to other fathers'-houses, or by families which had originally formed a בית־אב becoming so numerous as to be divided into several fathers'-houses. In the tribe of Levi there came into operation this special cause, that Aaron and his sons were chosen to be priests, and so his family was raised above the other Levites. From these causes, in the use of the words משפחה and בית־אב many fluctuations occur; cf. my bibl. Archäol. ii. §140. Among the Levites, the fathers'-houses were founded not
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by the grandsons, but by the great-grandsons of the patriarch.
1Ch_23:7-8“Of the Gershonites, Laadan and Shimei,” i.e., these were heads of groups of related
families, since, according to 1Ch_23:9, their sons and descendants formed six fathers'-houses. The sons of Gershon, from whom all branches of the family of Gershon come, are called in 1Ch_6:2, as in Exo_6:17 and Num_13:18, Libni and Shimei; while in our verse, on the contrary, we find only the second name Shimei, whose sons are enumerated in 1Ch_23:10, 1Ch_23:11; and instead of Libni we have the name Laadan, which recurs in 1Ch_26:21. Laadan seemingly cannot be regarded as a surname of Libni; for not only are the sons of Shimei named along with the sons of Laadan in 1Ch_23:8 and 1Ch_23:9 as heads of the fathers'-houses of Laadan, without any hint being given of the genealogical connection of this Shimei with Laadan, but mainly because of לגרשני in 1Ch_23:7. In the case of Kohath and Merari, the enumeration of the fathers'-houses descended from them is introduced by the mention of their sons, בני קהת and בני מררי (1Ch_23:12, 1Ch_23:21), while in the case of Gershon it is not so; - in his case, instead of to point out that Laadan and Shimei ,גרשני we find the Gentilic designation ,בני גרשוןare not named as being sons of Gershon, but as founders of the two chief lines of Gershonites, of which only the second was named after Gershon's son Shimei, while the second derived their name from Laadan, whose family was divided in David's time into two branches, the sons of Laadan and the sons of Shimei, the latter a descendant of Libni, not elsewhere mentioned. That the Shimei of 1Ch_23:9 is not the same person as Shimei the son of Gershon mentioned in 1Ch_23:7, is manifest from the fact that the sons of the latter are enumerated only in 1Ch_23:10. Each of these two lines numbered at that time three fathers'-houses, the heads of which are named in 1Ch_23:8 and 1Ch_ the sons of Laadan were: the head (also the“ :יחיאל in 1Ch_23:8 belongs to הראש .23:9first; cf. 1Ch_23:11, 1Ch_23:16) Jehiel, Zetham, and Joel, three.”
ELLICOTT, " (7) Of the Gershonites.—1 Chronicles 23:7-11 give the names of nine Gershonite houses, or guilds. David’s “courses” of Levites were formed according to the natural divisions already existing: i.e., they coincided with the father-houses. They were doubtless twenty-four in number, like those of their brethren the musicians (1 Chronicles 25:31), and like the priestly classes (1 Chronicles 24:4). So states Josephus (Ant. vii. 14, 7).
Laadan, and Shimei.—See 1 Chronicles 6:2, where the two principal branches of the Gershonites are called “Libni” and Shimei. “Laadan” is hardly the same as Libni, but a branch prominent in the time of David.
PULPIT, "The heads of the houses of the first Levite family, viz; of Gershon, are now enumerated. The subject occupies the five verses that close with the eleventh. The family of Gershon branches into two—the name of the one Laadan (so written
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again in 1 Chronicles 26:21; but in 1 Chronicles 6:17, 1 Chronicles 6:20, as well as in Exodus 6:17 and Numbers 3:18, written Libui), and the name of the other Shimei.
8 The sons of Ladan:
Jehiel the first, Zetham and Joel—three in all.
GILL, "The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiah, and Zetham, and Joel. Not his immediate sons, but some that descended from him.
ELLICOTT, "(8) The sons of Laadan.—These are named in two groups: viz., first, the three mentioned in this verse; secondly, the three named in 1 Chronicles 23:9, and called “sons of Shimei.” This Shimei is not the same as the Shimei of 1 Chronicles 23:7, whose sub-divisions are not given till 1 Chronicles 23:10.
POOLE, "The sons of Laadan, i.e. his posterity; and so in the following verses; for these could not be their immediate sons.
PULPIT, "This verse contains the names of the three so-called sons of Laadan, but (1 Chronicles 26:22) the last two appear to have been grandsons.
9 The sons of Shimei:
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Shelomoth, Haziel and Haran—three in all.
These were the heads of the families of Ladan.
GILL, "The sons of Shimei,.... Not him that was the son of Gershon, but a descendant of Laadan, his son, as Kimchi observes:
Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, these were the chief of the fathers of Laadan; of the families that sprang from him.
K&D, "1Ch_23:9-11The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth or Shelomith (both forms are found in 26:35 of
another Shelomith), Haziel, and Haran, three. These (three and three) are the heads of the fathers'-houses of Laadan. - In 1Ch_23:10 and 1Ch_23:11 there follow the fathers'-houses of the Shimei mentioned in 1Ch_23:7 along with Laadan: they are likewise three, derived from the four sons of Shimei, Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah; for the last two, as they had not many sons, were included in one father's-house, one פקדה, i.e., one official class (1Ch_24:3; 2Ch_17:14). The Gershonites at that time, therefore, numbered nine father's-houses-six named after Laadan, and three after Shimei.
ELLICOTT, " (9) These were the chief of the fathers of Laadan.—Rather, heads of the father-houses to Laadan. The names seem to be at once those of the clans, or guilds, and of their existing chiefs. But perhaps we should render, These are the chief father-houses. To Laadan, then, pertained six houses, viz., Jehiel, Zetham, Joel, Shelomith, Haziel, and Haran.
PULPIT, "This verse purports to give the three sons of Shimei, but not the Shimei of 1 Chronicles 23:7, but of a descendant of Laadan. This is made clear, not only by the remaining clause of this verse, which says, "These were the chief of the fathers of Landau," and again by the enumeration in 1 Chronicles 23:10 of sons of that Shimei who is coupled with Landau in 1 Chronicles 23:7, but also by a comparison of 1 Chronicles 24:22; 1 Chronicles 26:21-26. It is, of course, possible that the name stands here in error for some other name, but the supposition is gratuitous.
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10 And the sons of Shimei:
Jahath, Ziza,[a] Jeush and Beriah.
These were the sons of Shimei—four in all.
GILL, "And the sons of Shimei,.... The son of Gershon, and brother of Laadan, according to Kimchi, which seems right:
were Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei; descendants of his in the times of David.
ELLICOTT, " (10) And the sons of Shimei.—That is, of Shimei the “brother” of Laadan (1 Chronicles 23:7). The bnê Shimei formed four houses, but were reckoned as three, because the two last-named, Jeush and Beriah, were numerically weak, and therefore counted as a single house and class (1 Chronicles 23:11).
Zina.—1 Chronicles 23:11 reads “Zizah” for this name, which is thus spelt quite differently in two consecutive verses. “Zizah” is probably right. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 4:37; 2 Chronicles 11:20.) So the LXX. and Vulg.; Syriac and Arabic read “Zabda.”
POOLE, "The sons of Shimei; not that Shimei named 1 Chronicles 23:9, but another, and possibly the son or grandson of that Shimei.
PULPIT, "(See Zechariah 12:13.) The Zina of this verse is Zizah in the very next verse, which difference of form cannot be accounted for by any mere clerical explanation. The name Jahath seems to have been a favourite name in this family (1 Chronicles 6:43).
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11 Jahath was the first and Ziza the second, but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons; so they were counted as one family with one assignment.
CLARKE, "Therefore they were in one reckoning - The family of Shimei, being small, was united with that of Laadan, that the two families might do that work which otherwise belonged to one, but which would have been too much for either of these separately.
GILL, "And Jahath was the chief,.... The prince and head of a family:
and Ziza the second; the same with Zina in 1Ch_23:10, and is there read Ziza in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions:
but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons; so as to constitute distinct families:
therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house; made one family with their brethren.
HENRY 11-23, "IV. The Levites mustered, and disposed of into their respective families and kindreds, that an account of them might the better be kept, and those that neglected their duty might be the more easily discovered, by calling over the roll, and obliging them to answer to their names, which each family might do for itself. When those of the same family were employed together it would engage them to love and assist one another. When Christ sent forth his disciples two and two he put together those that were brethren. Two families were here joined in one (1Ch_23:11) because they had not many sons. Those that are weak and little, separately, may be put together and appear considerable. That which is most observable in this account of the families of the Levites is that the posterity of Moses (that great man) stood upon the level with common Levites, and had no dignities or privileges at all peculiar to them; whilst the posterity of Aaron were advanced to the priest's office, to sanctify the most holy things, 1Ch_23:13. It is said indeed of the grandson of Moses, Rehabiah, that his sons were highly
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multiplied, 1Ch_23:17, margin. When God proposed to him that, if he would let fall his intercession for Israel, he would make of him a great nation, he generously refused it, in recompence for which his family is here greatly increased, and makes up in number what it wants in figure, in the tribe of Levi. Now, 1. The levelling of Moses' family with the rest is an evidence of his self-denial. Such an interest had he both with God and man that if he had aimed to raise his own family, to dignify and enrich that, he might easily have done so; but he was no self-seeking man, as appears from his leaving to his children no marks of distinction, which was a sign that he had the spirit of God and not the spirit of the world. 2. The elevation of Aaron's family above the rest was a recompence for his self-denial. When Moses (his younger brother) was made a god to Pharaoh, and he only his prophet or spokesman, to observe his orders and do as he was bidden, Aaron never disputed it, nor insisted upon his seniority, but readily took the inferior post God put him in, submitted to Moses, and, upon occasion, called him his lord; and because he thus submitted himself, in his own person, to his junior, in compliance with the will of God, God highly exalted his family, even above that of Moses himself. Those that are content to stoop are in the fairest way to rise. Before honour is humility.
ELLICOTT, "(11) But Jeush and Beriah had not many sons.—Now Jeush and Beriah had not multiplied sons; so they became (one) father-home (bêth-âb), one class (or muster—pĕquddâh). Altogether, then, there were nine Gershonite clans: viz., six of the sons of Laadan, and three of the sons of Shimei, among the 24,000 Levites of 1 Chronicles 23:4.
POOLE, "They were reckoned together as one family, and were not called by the name of their two immediate parents, but by the name of their grandfather Shimei.
PULPIT, "In one reckoning. The Hebrew of the word here translated "reckoning" is פקדה, i.e. "enumeration." The meaning is they were accounted as only one "father's house." The derivative significations of the word are "care," "custody," and generally "office" (2 Chronicles 23:18 ). The total of Gershonite houses will amount to nine, three of these being houses of Shimei, and six of Landau.
Kohathites
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12 The sons of Kohath:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel—four in all.
GILL, "The sons of Kohath,.... The second son of Levi:
Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four; see Exo_6:18.
JAMISON, "1Ch_23:12-20. Of Kohath.
The sons of Kohath — He was the founder of nine Levitical fathers’ houses.
K&D, "1Ch_23:12-13The fathers'-houses of the Kohathites. - The four sons of Kohath who are named in
1Ch_23:12, as in 1Ch_6:2; 1Ch_6:18, and Exo_6:18, founded the four families of Kohath, Num_3:27. From Amram came Aaron and Moses; see on Exo_6:20. Of these, Aaron with his sons was set apart “to sanctify him to be a most holy one; he and his sons for ever to offer incense before Jahve, to serve Him, and to bless in His name for ever.” ,signifies neither, ut ministraret in sancto sanctorum (Vulg., Syr.), nor להקדיש ק קדשut res sanctissimas, sacrificia, vasa sacra etc. consecrarent (Cler.). Against this interpretation we adduce not only the objection advanced by Hgstb. Christol. iii. p. 119, trans., that the office assigned by it to the Levites is far too subordinate to be mentioned here in the first place, but also the circumstance that the suffix in הקדיש, after the
analogy of רת must denote the object of the sanctifying; and this view is confirmed by ,ש
the subject, who offers incense and blesses, not being expressed with להקטיר and
cannot be the קדש קדשים The Vulgate translation cannot be accepted, for .לבר
ablative, and the most holy place in the temple is always called קדש הקדשים with the
article. קדש קדשים, without the article, is only used of the most holy things, e.g., of the vessels connected with the worship, the sacrificial gifts, and other things which no lay person might touch or appropriate. See on Exo_30:10; Lev_2:3, and Dan_9:24. Here it is committed to Aaron, who, by being chosen for the priest's service and anointed to the office, was made a most holy person, to discharge along with his sons all the priestly functions in the sanctuary. Specimens of such functions are then adduced: לפני יי
the offering of the sacrifice of incense upon the altar of the inner sanctuary, as in ,הקטיר
2Ch_2:3, 2Ch_2:5; Exo_30:7.; רת ,to serve Him,” Jahve, - a general expression“ ,לשincluding all the other services in the sanctuary, which were reserved for the priests; and
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to bless in His name, i.e., to pronounce the blessing in the name of the Lord ,לבר בשמover the people, according to the command in Num_6:23, cf. 1Ch_16:2; Deu_21:5; not “to bless His name” (Ges., Berth.). To call upon or praise the name of God is בר שמ,
Psa_96:2; Psa_100:4; and the assertion that בר בשם is a somewhat later phrase
formed on the model of קרא בשם, for “to call upon God” (Ges. in Lex. sub voce בל), is quite groundless. Our phrase occurs as early as in Deu_10:8 and Deu_21:5; and the latter passage in connection with רת ,of the priests; in the former, of the tribe of Levi לשbut so used that it can refer only to the priests, not to the Levites also.
ELLICOTT, "(12) The sons of Kohath.—1 Chronicles 23:12-20 give the names of nine Kohathite houses, “Amram, Izhar,” &c. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 6:2; 1 Chronicles 6:18.)
PULPIT, "This and the following eight verses give the Kohath heads of houses (1 Chronicles 5:1-26 :28; 1 Chronicles 6:2, 1 Chronicles 6:3, 1 Chronicles 6:18; Exodus 6:18; Numbers 3:27), four in their leading divisions.
13 The sons of Amram:
Aaron and Moses.
Aaron was set apart, he and his descendants forever, to consecrate the most holy things, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in his name forever.
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CLARKE, "To bless in his name - To bless the people by invoking the name of the Lord.
GILL, "The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses,.... A son of Kohath, 1Ch_23:2.
and Aaron was separated; from the children of Israel, Exo_28:1,
that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever; by an holy use of them, and keeping them from all unholy and profane uses; and this they were to do as long as the Aaronic priesthood lasted:
to burn incense before the Lord; in the holy place, on the altar of incense; which none but priests descended from Aaron might do:
to minister unto him; both at the altar of burnt offering and of incense; and the high priest in the holy of holies:
and to bless his name for ever, or "in his name"; that is, the people in his name; see Num_6:23.
JAMISON, "Aaron was separated — as high priest (see 1Ch_24:1-19).
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:13. That he should sanctify the most holy things — That he might keep them from pollution: for these most holy things were polluted when they were touched by any other person. He and his sons for ever — Not only his eldest sons the high-priests successively, but all his posterity, or all the priests: for the works here following were not peculiar to the high- priest, but common to all the priests.
ELLICOTT, " (13) And Aaron was separated.—Aaron and his sons, as priests, are thus excluded from present consideration. They form the proper subject of 1 Chronicles 25:1-19, and are only mentioned here for the sake of completeness in the reckoning.
That he should sanctify the most holy-things.—Rather, to hallow (or consecrate) him as most holy; literally, holy of holies (qôdesh qŏdâshîm), an expression not applied to Aaron in any other passage of Scripture. The meaning is that the priests
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represented a higher grade of holiness, a more thorough consecration, than the mere Levites, because they were called to the discharge of a higher and holier ministry.
He and his sons.—All the priests are included with Aaron.
To burn incense.—The Hebrew term means to burn victims as well as incense.
To minister unto him, and to bless in his name—The same words occur (Deuteronomy 10:8) with reference to the purpose for which the tribe of Levi was “separated.” The tribe obviously includes the Aaronite clan. (Comp. also Deuteronomy 21:5.)
And to bless in his name.—This appears right from Numbers 6:23. Others render, and to bless His name.
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:13 The sons of Amram; Aaron and Moses: and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons for ever, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister unto him, and to bless in his name for ever.
Ver. 13. And Aaron was separated.] (Exodus 28:1-43, Hebrews 5:4). So was Paul, [Romans 1:1] and so is every faithful minister "separated unto the gospel of God" (ib.). See Galatians 1:15.
And to bless in his name.] See Numbers 6:23. To pronounce God’s blessing upon his people, is no small part of a minister’s duty: to blame, surely, are they that slight it.
POOLE, " That he should sanctify the most holy things; not positively, for so he could not sanctify them, they being already sanctified by God in the highest degree; but negatively, i.e. that he might keep them from pollution; for these most holy things were polluted when they were touched by any other persons.
He and his sons; not only his eldest sons, the high priests successively, but all his posterity, or all the priests; for the works here following were not peculiar to the high priest, but common to all the priests, who might all
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burn incense, 2 Chronicles 29:11 Luke 1:9, and to
minister in the temple, and to bless the people in God’s name, Numbers 6:23 Deuteronomy 10:8.
WHEDON, "13. Aaron was separated — The divisions and courses of his sons, the priests, are given in the next chapter, and so not numbered with the ordinary Levites.
PULPIT, "The sons of Amram. From Amram, the first-mentioned son of Kohath, come the two great names of Aaron and Moses (Exodus 6:20). Aaron was separated,… and his sons for ever. This statement must be read, both with 1 Chronicles 23:3—into the number of Levites mentioned in which Aaron and his sons do not count—and with 1 Chronicles 23:14, which implies that Moses and his sons did count into that number. The sons of Aaron are dealt with in 1 Chronicles 24:1-19, infra. That he should sanctify the most holy things. The Hebrew text renders it doubtful whether the rendering here should not rather be, "Aaron was separated to sanctify him as most holy," etc. If it be so, this is the only place where the forcible term, "holy of holies" (most holy), is used of Aaron. The duties of the priest are described as threefold, in this place, viz.: "to burn incense before the Lord,"—this will carry the idea of making atonement; "to minister to God," on behalf of man, ― this will be one part of the work of a mediator; and "to bless in the Name of God,"—this will fulfil the remaining part. For ever. The proviso may, no doubt, include reference to the "ever-living High Priest." The threefold summary of solemn and beneficent duties receives ample illustration from many passages, and in special connection with the names of Aaron and his sons (Exodus 28:1, Exodus 28:38, Exodus 28:43; Exodus 29:1, Exodus 29:35, Exodus 29:45, Exodus 30:7-10; Numbers 6:22-27).
14 The sons of Moses the man of God were
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counted as part of the tribe of Levi.
CLARKE, "Now concerning Moses the man of God,.... Raised up by him as a prophet, admitted to great familiarity with him, a lawgiver from him, and the ruler and guide of Israel under him through the wilderness:
his sons were named of the tribe of Levi; were only common Levites; Moses had no ambition to gratify; he sought no honour for his posterity; the civil government was left to Joshua, and the priesthood to Aaron.
GILL, "The sons of Moses were Gershom and Eliezer. See Exo_18:3.
K&D, "1Ch_23:14“But as to Moses the man of God” (cf. Deu_33:1), “his sons were called after the tribe
of Levi,” i.e., were reckoned in the ranks of the Levites, not of the priests. On נקרא על, cf. Gen_48:6; Ezr_2:61; Neh_7:63.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:14. His sons were named of the tribe of Levi — They were accounted only as common Levites, and were not priests: which is mentioned for the honour of Moses, and the demonstration of his eminent piety and self-denial, who willingly left the government to Joshua, and the priesthood to Aaron, and was content to have his posterity reduced to a private and mean condition.
ELLICOTT, " (14) Now concerning Moses the man of God.—Rather, Now Moses, the man of God.
His sons were named (or should be named) of the tribe of Levi.—See Genesis 48:6 for the phrase “to be called after” (niqrâ’ ‘al). Aaron’s sons were priests; but the sons of Moses, his brother, were reckoned as simple Levites, and therefore their houses are here enumerated (1 Chronicles 23:15-17).
The man of God.—See Deuteronomy 33:1; Psalms 90; Joshua 14:6. David is so
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called (2 Chronicles 8:14; Nehemiah 12:24). The meaning of the title is one charged with a Divine mission. Hence the prophets were so called in the times of the kings; and St. Paul applies the title to Timothy (1 Timothy 6:11).
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:14 Now [concerning] Moses the man of God, his sons were named of the tribe of Levi.
Ver. 14. Now concerning Moses the man of God.] Who was so familiar with God, and his ambassador to the people. We must think and speak honourably of the saints departed.
His sons were named of the tribe of Levi.] Chief of the Levites, [1 Chronicles 26:23] but below the sons of Aaron, the priests. And here A Lapide hath this good note, Mira fuit Moysis resignatio et humilitas, &c. Wonderful was the self-denial and humility of Moses in submitting to God’s appointment herein, that the principality should be transferred to Joshua, and that his sons should be reckoned not priests, but Levites only, though himself were "king in Jeshurun."
POOLE, "i.e. They were accounted only as common Levites, and were not priests; which is mentioned partly to secure the priesthood within the bounds to which God had confined it, lest they should presume to invade it upon a confidence in the nobleness of their extraction; and partly for the honour of Moses, and the demonstration of his eminent piety and self-denial, who willingly left the government to Joshua, and the priesthood to Aaron, and was content to have his posterity reduced to a very private and mean condition.
WHEDON, " 14. Moses… his sons were named of the tribe of Levi — Unlike his priestly brother Aaron, his sons were numbered with the ordinary Levites.
PARKER, ""Moses the man of God"— 1 Chronicles 23:14.
A beautiful description of any man.—A possible description of every man.—A needful description of each man if he is to abide in his Father"s house for ever.—Some men have attained eminence in godliness.—No renown is to be compared with
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this, no influence is equal to that which arises from such recognition.—When is a man a "man of God"?—When he believes in God"s existence, when he is assured of God"s providence, when he has sunk his will in the divine purpose, when he lives and moves and has his being in God.—"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."—Is there not something suggestive in this continuity of terms?—Moses was the man of God, Jesus was the Son of God, and every believer in Christ may claim his own degree of that same sonship.—Moses was faithful as a servant, Christ was faithful as a Son.—Jesus Christ advances us in nomenclature; once he called us disciples, then he called us servants, then he called us friends: what he will call us when we meet him in heaven, life"s conflict over, who can tell? He will then find some new and dearer name for us, and by the bestowal of a new designation he will awaken still warmer love, and bring us to some higher estate of life.—When God gives a name he expresses by it some growth in character.—God"s names are not mere appellations, signs by which men are known one from another; they are characters, they are credentials, they are approbations.—There is no higher title than to be a man of God, a slave of Christ, a temple of the Holy Ghost.—At the time of the writing of this Book of Chronicles, Moses had long been dead, yet still he was remembered by his piety; he might have been called the legislator of Israel, the statesman of Israel, the greatest mind ever known in Israel: yet by none of these designations is he recorded, but by the simple yet grand indication that he was "the man of God."
PULPIT, "Moses the man of God. This title is distinguished by the presence of the article. The 'Speaker's Commentary' mentions it as occurring only nine times, of which five instances belong to Moses (Deuteronomy 33:1; Joshua 14:6; 2 Chronicles 30:16; Ezra 3:2; with the present place); three instances show the title applied to David (2 Chronicles 8:14; Nehemiah 12:24, Nehemiah 12:36); and once it is applied to Shemaiah (1 Kings 12:22). Although the sons of Moses belonged, as is here said, to the tribe of Levi, they did not belong to that portion which discharged priestly duties.
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15 The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.
GILL, "To this verse the Targum adds, “The same Jonathan, who became a false prophet, repented in his old age; and David made him his chief treasurer.”
K&D, "1Ch_23:15-17Each of his two sons Gershon and Eliezer (see Exo_2:22 and Exo_18:3.) founded a
father's-house; Gershon through his son Shebuel (שבואל, in 1Ch_24:20 שובאל), Eliezer
through Rehabiah. The plurals א בני ,ג בני are used, although in both cases only one son,
he who was head (הראש) of the father's-house, is mentioned, either because they had other sons, or those named had in their turn sons, who together formed a father's-house. From the remark in 1Ch_23:17, that Eliezer had no other sons than Rehabiah, while Rehabiah had very many, we may conclude that Gershon had other sons besides Shebuel, who are not mentioned because their descendants were numbered with Shebuel's father's-house.
ELLICOTT, "(15) The sons of Moses.—See Exodus 2:22 for “Gershom,” Exodus 18:3-4 for both. Gershom means “expulsion” (comp Genesis 3:24), and is a variant form of Gcrshon. What is said in Exodus 2:22 is an allusive play on the name, not a derivation of it. “Eliezer,” God is help, a distinct name from “Eleazar” (1 Chronicles 23:22), God hath helped, or, is a helper.
PULPIT, "We read of the birth of Gershom to Moses and Zipporah (Exodus 2:22; see also Exodus 18:4, where Eliezer is also spoken of).
16 The descendants of Gershom:
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Shubael was the first.
CLARKE, "To this verse the Targum adds, “The same Jonathan, who became a false prophet, repented in his old age; and David made him his chief treasurer.”
GILL, "Of the sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief. Of the posterity of Gershom in the times of David, called Shubael, 1Ch_24:20, the Targum makes him to be the same with Jonathan, Jdg_18:30. (l).
ELLICOTT, " (16) The sons of Gershom, Shebuel was the chief (Heb., head).—The statement that “Shebuel was the chief” implies that Gershom had other sons not mentioned here, as being reckoned members of the clan the sons of Gershom. Shebuel is called Shubael in 1 Chronicles 24:20.
17 The descendants of Eliezer:
Rehabiah was the first.
Eliezer had no other sons, but the sons of Rehabiah were very numerous.
CLARKE, "But the sons of Rehabiah were very many - The Targum says, “On
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account of the merits of Moses, the posterity of Rehabiah were multiplied to more than sixty myriads.”
GILL, "And the sons of Eliezer were Rehabiah the chief,.... The first and only begotten, as it follows:
and Eliezer had none other sons; before nor after him:
but the sons of Rehabiah were very many; or greatly multiplied; not, as the Targum says, above 600,000; the number of Israel, as the Jewish writers (m) fancy; which they gather from Exo_1:7, and that though Moses deprecated the multiplication of his seed, God fulfilled it.
ELLICOTT, " (17) And the sons of Eliezer were, Rehabiah the chief.—The word “were” (became) ought not to be in italics in the text, as it is expressed in the Hebrew.
The chief (head) means founder and eponym of the clan the sons of Rehabiah.
And Eliezer had none other sons.—Literally, And there became not to Eliezer ether sons, and the sons of Rehabiah had multiplied exceedingly (unto height, 1 Chronicles 22:5). The clan Rehabiah was very populous.
Thus (1 Chronicles 23:16-17) the descendants of Moses were comprised in two father-houses, or clans, viz., Shebuel and Rehabiah.
POOLE, " The sons of Eliezer, for the son; the plural number for the singular, as Genesis 46:23 1 Chronicles 2:8,31, and oft elsewhere.
Rehabiah the chief, Heb. the first-born. He is so called, not because others were born after him, but because none were born before him. See Poole "Matthew 1:25".
PULPIT, "Rehabiah. He was the chief ( הראש ); but it happened that he was also the only son. Hence it is added in antithesis that his sons were very many (see the name again, 1 Chronicles 26:25). The non-priestly Amramites are therefore seen to correspond with the houses of Shebuel and Rehabiah.
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18 The sons of Izhar:
Shelomith was the first.
GILL, "Of the sons of Izhar,.... Another son of Kohath, the son of Levi, 1Ch_23:12.
Shelomith the chief; the principal descendant of Izhar at this time.
K&D, "1Ch_23:18Only one son of Jizhar, the brother of Amram, is mentioned, Shelomith as head, after
whom the Jizharite father's-house is named.
ELLICOTT, "18) The sons of Izhar.—Second son of Kohath. The sons of Izhar made one clan, that of Shelômith (or Shelômôth, 1 Chronicles 24:22). The same variation occurred in the Hebrew of 1 Chronicles 23:9, above.
PULPIT, "Of the sons of Ishar. While six names in all are mentioned under Amram, only one, Shelomith, is found under his next brother, Izhar. This Shelomith (spelt Shelomoth in 1 Chronicles 24:22) is not the same with the Shelomith of 1 Chronicles 26:25, 1 Chronicles 26:26.
19 The sons of Hebron:
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the
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third and Jekameam the fourth.
GILL 19-21, "Of the sons of Hebron,.... A third son of Kohath, 1Ch_23:12,
Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth: of the sons of Uzziel; another son of Kohath, 1Ch_23:12,
Micah the first, Jesiah the second: the sons of Merari, Mahli and Mushi, Exo_6:19,
the sons of Mahli, Eleazar and Kish: of whom see 1Ch_24:28.
K&D, "1Ch_23:19-20Amram's next brother Hebron had four sons, and the youngest brother Uzziel two,
who founded fathers'-houses; so that, besides the priests, nine Levitical fathers'-houses are descended from Kohath, and their chiefs who served in the sanctuary are enumerated in 1Ch_24:20-25.
ELLICOTT, "(19) The sons of Hebron.—“Of” is wanting in the Hebrew here, as well as in 1 Chronicles 23:16; 1 Chronicles 23:18; 1 Chronicles 23:20. The sons of Hebron comprised four houses, clans, or classes. Their names recur in 1 Chronicles 24:23.
20 The sons of Uzziel:
Micah the first and Ishiah the second.
Merarites
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ELLICOTT, " (20) The sons of Uzziel constituted two houses and classes. The nine clans of Kohathite Levites are again rehearsed at 1 Chronicles 24:20-25.
PULPIT. "Jesiah; in 1 Chronicles 23:25 of next chapter written Isshiah. The two houses from Uzziel given in this verse make up the number of houses from Kohath to nine (as given again in 1 Chronicles 24:20-24), and to these must be added the priests through Aaron and his sons, two houses, making in all eleven.
21 The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
The sons of Mahli:
Eleazar and Kish.
K&D, "1Ch_23:21-22The fathers'-houses of the Merarites. - 1Ch_23:21. As in 1Ch_6:19; Exo_6:19, and
Num_3:33, two sons of Merari are mentioned-Mahli and Mushi-who founded the two families of Merari which existed in the time of Moses. Mahli had two sons, Eleazar and Kish; the first of whom, however, left behind him at his death only daughters, who were married to the sons of Kish (אחיהם, i.e., their cousins), according to the law as to daughters who were heiresses (Num_26:6-9). The descendants of Mahli, therefore, were comprehended in the one father's-house of Kish, whose head at that time (1Ch_24:29) was Jerahmeel.
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ELLICOTT, "21) The sons of Merari; Mahli, and Mushi.—See Exodus 6:19, and Numbers 3:33, and 1 Chronicles 6:19.
PULPIT, "This and the following two verses give the houses of Merari, contributing four houses, and, with the nine Gershonite and eleven Kohathite, adding up to twenty-four. Merari is the third son of Levi (Genesis 46:11). The Mahli and Mushi of this verse were possibly grandson and son of Merari, if we follow the guidance of 1 Chronicles 6:47. Yet it would seem far more natural to explain this last-quoted passage by our 1 Chronicles 6:23, which would then parallel it. Otherwise we must account for the name of Mahli habitually standing first, as here, as in 1 Chronicles 6:19 also, and 1 Chronicles 24:26, as also in Exodus 6:19; Numbers 3:20, Numbers 3:33, etc.; in all of which places the statement is as distinct as in this verse, that Mahli and Mushi were sons. This and the following verse must be compared particularly with 1 Chronicles 24:26-29; the Jaaziah of which passage was evidently no son of Merari, on a par with Mahli and Mushi, but a later descendant. His descendants were three—Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri (Beno being no proper name, but signifying "his son").
22 Eleazar died without having sons: he had only daughters. Their cousins, the sons of Kish, married them.
CLARKE, "Their brethren the sons of Kish took them - This was according to the law made Num_27:1, etc., and Num_36:5-9, in favor of the daughters of Zelophehad, that women who were heiresses should marry in the family of the tribe of their father, and that their estates should not be alienated from them.
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GILL, "And Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters,.... And so none to succeed him in his office and service:
and their brethren the sons of Kish took them; married them, their uncle's sons, their own cousins.
ELLICOTT, " (22) And Eleazar died, and had no sons.—Thus his house merged in that of the sons of Kish, who married his daughters according to the Law (Numbers 36:6-9). The sons of Mahli, then, were represented in David’s day by the house of Kish. (See 1 Chronicles 24:29.)
PULPIT, "Their brethren… took them; i.e. their kinsmen, as margin, "took them" to wife (Numbers 36:5-12). (For the sons of Kish, see 1 Chronicles 24:29.)
23 The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth—three in all.
GILL, "And the sons of Mushi,.... The other son of Merari:
Mahli; so called from his uncle, his father's brother:
and Eder and Jerimoth, three; mentioned again 1Ch_24:30.
K&D, "1Ch_23:23Of the sons of Mushi, three founded fathers'-houses, so that the Merarites formed only
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four fathers'-houses in all. If we compare the enumeration of the Merarites in 1Ch_24:26-30, we find there in 1Ch_24:30 Eleazar and Kish called sons of Mahli, with the remark that Eleazar had no sons. In 1Ch_24:26, however, of the same passage we read, “sons of Merari (were) Mahli and Mushi, sons of Jaaziah his son;” and 1Ch_24:27, “sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son; and Shoham, and Zaccur, and Ibri.” From this Bertheau concludes that Merari had really three sons, and that the name of the third has been dropped out of 1 Chron 23; but in this he is incorrect, for 1Ch_23:26 and 1Ch_23:27 of the 24th chapter are at once, from their whole character, recognisable as arbitrary interpolations. Not only is it strange that בני יעזיהו בנ should follow the before-
mentioned sons of Merari in this unconnected way (Vav being omitted before בני), but
the form of the expression also is peculiar. If יעזיהו be a third son of Merari, or the founder of a third family of Merarites, coordinate with the families of Mahli and Mushi, as we must conclude from the additional word בנ, we should expect, after the preceding,
simply the name with the conjunction, i.e., ויעזיהו. The בני יעזיהו is all the more surprising that the names of the sons of Jaaziah follow in 1Ch_24:27, and there the name of the first son שהם is introduced by the Vav copulative. This misled the older
commentators, so that they took בנ for a proper name. The repetition of בני מררי, too, at the beginning of the second verse is strange, and without parallel in the preceding enumeration of the fathers'-houses founded by Amram's sons (1Ch_24:20-25). We must, then, as the result of all this, since the Pentateuch knows only two descendants of Merari who founded families of fathers'-houses,
(Note: Bertheau, on the contrary, proceeding on the hypothesis that we may presume the list of Merari's descendants which is given in our verses to have been originally in perfect agreement with that in 1Ch_24:26-31, would emend our text according to 1Ch_23:21, for it cannot be doubted that in our passage also Jaaziah and his three sons were named. But since elsewhere only the two sons Mahli and Mushi occur, one can easily see why the third son Jaaziah came to be omitted from our passage, while we cannot conceive any motive which would account for the later and arbitrary interpolation of the names in 1Ch_24:26. This argumentation is weak to a degree, since it quite overlooks the main difficulty connected with this hypothesis. Had we no further accounts of the descendants of Merari than those in the two passages of the Chronicle (1Ch_23:11. and 1Ch_24:26-29), it would be natural to suppose that in 1Ch_23:21. the additional names which we find in 1 Chron 24 had been dropped out. But in the genealogical lists in the Pentateuch also (Exo_6:19 and Num_3:33), only two sons of Merari are named; and according to them, the Merarites, when Moses' census of the Levites was taken, formed only two families. Had Merari had yet a third son besides the two - Mahli and Mushi, who alone were known in the time of Moses - who left descendants, forming three fathers'-houses in David's time, the omission of this third son in the family register in the Pentateuch would be quite incomprehensible. Or are we to suppose that in Exo_6:19 also the name Jaaziah had been dropped out, and that in consequence of that the family descended from him has been omitted from Num_3:33? Supported by the Pentateuch, the text of our verses is presumably entire, and this presumption of its integrity is confirmed by the character of the additions in 24:26, 27, as above exhibited.)
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ELLICOTT, " (23) The sons of Mushi; Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.—These, with the sons of Kish. make only four Merarite houses, whereas six are required to make up a total of twenty-four Levitical houses. But 1 Chronicles 24:26-27 shows that the chronicler’s registers named a third son of Merari, viz., Jaaziah, whose descendents constituted the three houses of Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri, in the time of David. Adding these, we get seven clans, one too many for our purpose.
Perhaps the Mahli of 1 Chronicles 23:23 is a mistaken repetition from 1 Chronicles 23:21, due to some ancient scribe. The word “three” at the end of the verse would be added after the mistake had become fixed. It is wanting in 1 Chronicles 24:30, which otherwise repeats 1 Chronicles 23:23. Excluding this second Mahli as spurious, we get six clans of Merarites; and thus, altogether, twenty-four classes of Levitical overseers of the work of the sanctuary (1 Chronicles 23:4), consisting of nine Gershonite, nine Kohathite, and six Merarite houses. This number of classes or guilds tallies exactly with the total of 24,000 Levites (1 Chronicles 23:4), for it allows a thousand to the class (or clan). See on 1 Chronicles 13:1.
It is right to remark (1) that the passage 1 Chronicles 24:26-27, itself needs emendation (see Notes there); (2) that the old versions—viz., the LXX., Vulg., Syriac, and Arabic—have the reading of our present text in 1 Chronicles 23:21-23, so that the assumed omission of Jaaziah and his sons must be very ancient, and is probably due to an oversight of an early editor, if not of the chronicler himself; (3) in the two other passages of the Old Testament where the sons of Merari are named, only two—viz., Mahli and Mushi—appear; and (4) that the recurrence of the name Mahli in our 1 Chronicles 23:23 as a son of Mushi is easily paralleled: e.g., in 1 Chronicles 23:9-10 (“ Shimei” twice). But it is easier to suppose an omission here than an interpolation of unknown names at 1 Chronicles 24:26-27. And the correspondence of the present list up to this point with that of 1 Chronicles 24 favours the assumption of an unintentional omission in 1 Chronicles 23:21.
24 These were the descendants of Levi by their
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families—the heads of families as they were registered under their names and counted individually, that is, the workers twenty years old or more who served in the temple of the Lord.
BARNES, "From the age of twenty years - The Levites had hitherto not entered upon their regular functions until the age of thirty 1Ch_23:3. Certain lighter duties were by the Law imposed on them at the age of twenty-five Num_8:24; but it was not until they were five years older that they became liable to the full service of the sanctuary. David appears now to have made a change. By his “last words” 1Ch_23:27 the time for the Levites to enter on the full duties of their office was advanced from thirty to twenty years. This change was based upon the lighter character of the labors imposed on them now that the ark had ceased to be carried from place to place and obtained a permanent habitation 1Ch_23:26. The limit of age continued in after times where David had fixed it (see Ezr_3:8).
CLARKE, "Twenty years and upward - It appears that this was a different ordinance from that mentioned 1Ch_23:3. At first he appointed the Levites to serve from thirty years and upward; now from twenty years. These were David’s last orders; see 1Ch_23:27. They should begin at an earlier age, and continue later.
This was not a very painful task; the ark being now fixed, and the Levites very numerous, there could be no drudgery.
GILL, "These were the sons of Levi, after the house of their fathers,.... According to the three classes of them, as descending from the three sons of Levi:
even the chief of the fathers; or heads of families:
as they were counted by number of names by their polls; or according to their heads, one by one:
that did the work for the service of the house of the Lord; the particulars of which are in 1Ch_23:28.
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from the age of twenty years, and upwards; they were first numbered thirty and upwards, 1Ch_23:3, but David before his death ordered they should be numbered from twenty and upwards, 1Ch_23:27, because the Israelites being increased, there would be more work for the priests in the temple, which would require the assistance of more Levites. The reasons follow.
JAMISON 24-27, "1Ch_23:24-32. Office of the Levites.
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 (Num_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.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:24. From the age of twenty years and upward — As the Levites were anciently numbered from two several times, from the twenty-fifth year of their age, and from the thirtieth, (Numbers 4:3; Numbers 8:24,) in like manner they are here numbered, both from their twentieth year, when they were solemnly prepared for, and instructed, and by degrees exercised, in some parts of their work; and from their thirtieth year, when they were admitted to the full exercise of their office. And the reason why they were now sooner admitted to service than they had been formerly, is given in the next verses, because now their work was more easy, being wholly discharged from that burdensome work of carrying the tabernacle. Besides, the people of Israel were multiplied, therefore more hands were necessary; that every Israelite who brought an offering, might find a Levite ready to assist him.
ELLICOTT, " (24) These were the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers.—Rather, These were the sons of Levi, according to their father-houses (clans), heads of the houses (fathers, i.e., father-houses), to those mustered of them, in an enumeration of names according to their polls. This is the subscription to the foregoing list of names of the Levitical houses, as entered in the muster-rolls of David.
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As they were counted.—Numbers 1:21; Exodus 30:14. The word is that used in 1 Chronicles 21:6 (pâqad).
By number of names.—Numbers 1:18; Numbers 3:43.
That did the work for the service of the house of the Lord.—This description identifies these Levites with the 24,000 mentioned in 1 Chronicles 23:4.
That did the work.—Literally, doing. This participle has the form of the singular here and elsewhere in the Chronicles, though the sense demands a plural. It is probably meant as plural, being a variant spelling. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 24:12; 2 Chronicles 34:10; 2 Chronicles 34:13; Ezra 3:9; Nehemiah 2:16.)
From the age of twenty years and upward.—1 Chronicles 23:3 states that the Levites were numbered “from the age of thirty and upward.” Some would banish discrepancy by the assumption that “thirty” is an ancient error of transcription; others imagine that the chronicler has simply incorporated two divergent statements, as he found them in his authorities. According to Numbers 4:3; Numbers 4:23; Numbers 4:30; Numbers 4:35; Numbers 4:43; Numbers 4:47, the Levites were bound to serve “from thirty years old and upward” to fifty years of age; whereas Numbers 8:24-25, fixes the age “from twenty and five years old and upward” to fifty; and this, according to Ewald, is the more exact account. It appears from 2 Chronicles 31:17, that the later practice, at all events, was for the Levites to enter on their sacred functions at the age of twenty. Accordingly, the older commentators have supposed that David twice numbered the Levites: first, as the Law required, from the age of thirty (1 Chronicles 23:3); and again, towards the close of his reign (1 Chronicles 23:27), from the age of twenty, because he perceived that the duties had become less onerous, and might therefore be borne by younger men. (Comp. however, Numbers 1:3, from which it appears that the military age, i.e., the age of full virile strength, was reckoned “from twenty years old and upward.’)
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:24 These [were] the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers; [even] the chief of the fathers, as they were counted by number of names by their polls, that did the work for the service of the house of the LORD, from the age of twenty years and upward.
Ver. 24. From the age of twenty years and upward.] The reason whereof followeth: [1 Chronicles 23:25] the people were increased and in peace; and consequently God’s service much increased in the labour of it.
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POOLE, "As the Levites were anciently numbered from two several times, from the twenty-fifth year of their age, and from the thirtieth, Numbers 4:3 8:24; in like manner and for the same reasons they are here numbered both from their twentieth year, as here, when they were more solemnly prepared for and instructed, and by degrees exercised, in some parts of their work; and from their thirtieth year, above, 1 Chronicles 23:3, when they were admitted to the full and complete exercise of all the parts and works of their office. And the reason why they were now sooner admitted to service than they had been formerly by the constitution of Moses, is given in the next verses, because now their work was made easy, they being wholly discharged from that burdensome work of carrying the tabernacle and its utensils, which was too heavy for young and tender shoulders. To which may be added, that the number of the Israelites was greatly increased, and consequently the services which were to be performed by the Levites on their behalf were multiplied, and the work of the temple was much greater than that of the tabernacle, and therefore more of the Levites were to be employed, and consequently they were to be sooner taken into service.
WHEDON, " 24. Twenty years and upward — this is not to be explained by supposing an error in the text of 1 Chronicles 23:3, (Kiel,) nor by assuming that David first took a census of those thirty years of age and upward, and afterwards another census of those twenty years old and upwards. The writer introduces additional information, and explains in the verses following, that since Jehovah had given rest to his people, and the tabernacle was to be carried about no more, the Levites might begin to serve at an earlier age, and accordingly David ordained among his last instructions, (1 Chronicles 23:27,) that the Levites might be numbered for service at the age of twenty — a practice which afterwards prevailed. 2 Chronicles 31:17; Ezra 3:8.
COFFMAN, "The Gargantuan significance of this chapter lies in the proof that during the life of David king of Israel, all of the extensive instructions and details written in the Book of Moses (The Pentateuch) were well known in Israel. As any good reference Bible will demonstrate, there is hardly a line in this chapter that does not tie in specifically with instructions in the Pentateuch. Furthermore, all of these instructions (except David's use of instruments of music) were ancient, dating back to the times of Moses. They were not invented by David but honored by him.
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Here is the complete frustration of the efforts of radical critics to late-date the Pentateuch. And, as for the allegation that some late Chronicler falsely attributed all these words and activities to King David, such a theory is just as unreasonable and impossible of acceptance as would be the allegation of some alleged `scholar' someone named Smith or Brown discovered America instead of Christopher Columbus.
COKE, "1 Chronicles 23:24. Twenty years and upward— In the 3rd verse it is thirty years and upward; but it appears that a different poll is there referred to: and from the 25th and 26th verses it seems to follow, that David made this second appointment of the Levites from twenty years of age, after he had made the former one mentioned in the 3rd verse.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, David, having declared Solomon his successor, convokes a solemn assembly to recognize his appointment, and prevent all competition when he should sleep with his fathers, as he shortly expected, being now grown aged and infirm; and this aggravated the crime of Adonijah and his adherents. At this assembly, David perfected the settlement of the Levites.
1. He numbered them. Thirty-eight thousand men, a vast increase since the time of Moses, Numbers 4:48 even if we suppose that those above fifty were now reckoned, who were then omitted. It is a distinguished mercy to any people when God giveth the word, and great is the company of the preachers.
2. David appointed to them all their several employments. Twenty-four thousand were employed, by a thousand weekly, in rotation, to set forward the work of the temple, kill the sacrifices, wash, divide them, keep the temple and all the vessels clean and in order, and be assistants in all the service to the priests, &c. Six thousand were appointed judges and officers, as best skilled in the laws civil and ecclesiastical, and distributed through the cities of Israel, to maintain peace and execute justice. Four thousand were the porters, a kind of guards, to prevent any unfit person from entering into the temple, or going farther than their limits. Four thousand more were singers, divided into choirs, and constantly in succession
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praising God day and night. Note; (1.) The work will go on well, where every man knows his post and business. (2.) In whatever station a Levite is placed, diligence and zeal in the service of God is his bounden duty.
3. The whole were divided into three classes, according to the three sons of Levi, from whom they descended: thus the nearest relations were employed together. Those who are united in blood should be more united in love, and give assistance to each other. The family of Moses classes with common Levites, and has no mark of distinction; an evidence of the disinterested conduct of their great progenitor. Rehabiah, one of his descendants, is remarked for his numerous family. Aaron's family appears with chief dignity, consecrated to God, to minister in the most holy things. God has a right to choose his own servants; and it were impious and perjured hypocrisy, for any man to take this honour to himself, who is not inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost, and called of God.
2nd, The ark and all the sacred furniture being no more to be removed, as they had been during their marches through the wilderness, David, by divine appointment, makes an alteration in the age at which the Levites were to begin their ministration, from twenty years old and upwards (see Numbers 8:24.); and this was the more necessary, as the temple-service would be much more frequented than the tabernacle had been at Shiloh or Gibeon. Note; (1.) God proportions our strength to our burdens. (2.) If the harvest be plenteous, the Lord in mercy will raise up labourers. The particular business of the attendant Levites, who assisted the priests, is here marked out to them. 1. They were to keep the courts and chambers clean, prepare the sacrifices and meat and drink-offerings, that the priests might have them ready to their hands; and this with exactness, according to the weights and measures prescribed. 2. Others, morning and evening, at the time of the daily sacrifice, offered up praises to God, with vocal and instrumental music. 3. The porters were to take care that nothing came into or was carried out of the temple, contrary to the law; and to execute the commands of their brethren the priests. Note; Let not those whom God has advanced to honour grow proud and imperious; but remember, that, though exalted above their brethren, they are still to treat them as brethren.
PULPIT, "This and the remaining verses of the chapter contain some general provisions regarding the offices and future work of the Levites—in part David's last edition of such provisions. (On the present verse comp. Numbers 1:1-4; Numbers
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4:1-3, Numbers 4:21-23, Numbers 4:29, Numbers 4:30; Numbers 8:23-26.) It is not easy to reconcile this verse with 1 Chronicles 23:3. Keil cuts the knot at once by supposing the "thirty" years of 1 Chronicles 23:3 to be the error of a copyist, to whose memory the Mosaic census was present. And with Bertheau, he objects to the supposition that this verse describes a supplementary census, in conformity with "David's last words" (1 Chronicles 23:27), and as contrasted with his former directions. With the exception of what is contained in 1 Chronicles 23:25-27, it is true that these do not offer themselves sufficient indications to make one feel confident of this explanation. On the other hand, to set down the number "thirty" in 1 Chronicles 23:3 at once to the mistake of a copyist is too summary and convenient a way of escaping an awkward difficulty. It is evident that the following three verses do purport to explain why at this time the age of allowable service was altered to a standard so much lower than of old, and to assert that this alteration was recognized by the last orders of David.
25 For David had said, “Since the Lord, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever,
GILL, "For David said,.... As a reason why he ordered a new account to be taken:
the Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto his people: from all their enemies round about, and settled rest in the land, so that there was no danger of being carried captive, as they were time after time in the days of the Judges, and whereby they became more numerous:
that they may dwell in Jerusalem for ever; where the temple would always continue, and not be removed, as the ark and tabernacle had been, and where all Israel would appear three times in the year continually.
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ELLICOTT, " (25) For David said.—This verse seems to assign a reason for the extension of the Levitical census.
The Lord . . . hath given rest unto his people.—So that they no longer wander from pasture to pasture in the wilderness, nor are any more oppressed by foreign tyrants as in the days of the judges.
That they may dwell.—Rather, And He (the Lord) hath settled in Jerusalem for ever. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 17:5, “I have gone from tent to tent.”) Now Jehovah has chosen Zion to be His eternal dwelling-place (Psalms 132:13.)
PULPIT, "For David said. The "for" of this clause cannot be supposed to account exclusively for the inclusion in the census of Levites beginning from the age of twenty years; it accounts no doubt for the whole proceeding. Since there would be no more journeyings for people, for buildings, or for sacred vessels, it was nosy fully time to organize religious duty and "the service of the house of God" in a manner adapted to permanent institutions. In order to this, the first step was to know and to arrange the number of those who were answerable for sacred duties.
BI, "For David said, The Lord God of Israel hath given rest unto His people.
The rest of the people of God
I. In the mysterious polity of the people of Israel spiritual and temporal blessings were so closely allied that the same language might naturally be employed to signify either.
II. It is not unwarrantable for us to conjecture that in the joyous utterance contained in the text David insinuated profounder truths than lie on the surface of his words.
III. If “there remaineth a rest to the people of God,” it becomes us to secure this great blessing as the sole or chief object of existence.
IV. Rest and peace must fall upon a Christian spirit.
1. From its devotion to Christ Himself, and its devoted imitation of His pure and perfect example.
2. By the elevating tendency of the singleness of the object of his hope. Those who have many debts often feel it a relief to exchange them all for a single creditor; he whose whole heart is bent on reaching a single point leaves all around him on his way in equal and complete indifference. God is one; let our affections but partake of the unity of that object, and we shall have reached the pathway of real and imperishable rest.
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3. From the very nature of the Christian affections.
4. From its hope being anchored in a future world. To support, still more to exalt us, heaven must mingle with earth. To direct a vessel upon the ocean there must be two elements at work, the air must modify the agency of the water; to set a vessel at rest there must be more elements than one employed, and the earth must afford the means of resisting the breezes and the sea. Such is the position in the voyage of this life. The earthly and the heavenly elements must combine, or we are powerless. Confined to the single element of our corrupted nature, we are the sport of every accident, we have no rules for our navigation. But they who join to the human nature the higher element, they have a power that guides them to the everlasting haven. To have the great object of our thoughts placed beyond the chances of human life is to place ourselves beyond them. (W. A. Butler.)
26 the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”
GILL, "And also unto the Levites,.... Or with respect to them:
they shall no more carry the tabernacle: on their shoulders, from place to place, as they had done:
nor any vessels of it for the service thereof; and so the service of it did not require men at their full strength, but such as were but twenty years of age might be employed in it.
K&D, "regard the additions in 1Ch_24:26-27 as later glosses, although we are not in a position to explain the origin or the meaning of the interpolation. This inability arises from the fact that, of the names Jaaziah, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri, only Zaccur again occurs among the Asaphites (1Ch_25:2), and elsewhere of other persons, while the others are nowhere else to be met with. The three families of Levi numbered therefore 9 + 9 + 4 = 22 fathers'-houses, exclusive of the priests.
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ELLICOTT, " (26) And also unto the Levites; they shall no more carry . . .—Rather, And the Levites also have not (now) to carry the dwelling and all its vessels for its service, as they had to do in the wanderings of Israel in the desert. The sacred dwelling-place (mishkân) had long been fixed at Gibeon; and the service of the Levites was so much the lighter, as in the olden time they not only had to carry about from place to place, but also to guard the holy tent and its belongings against the attacks of marauders. The inference is that as the duties had become so much less arduous, they might well be undertaken at an earlier age than the ancient custom permitted.
They shall no more carry.—Comp. the same infinitival construction in 2 Chronicles 5:11.''
PULPIT, "And also unto the Levites. Emphasis is laid on the thought of the relief that permanent habitation in Jerusalem conferred on the Levites over and above the whole body of the rest of the people. They will no more be mere burden-bearers, though the burdens they Bore were of the most sacred character.
27 According to the last instructions of David, the Levites were counted from those twenty years old or more.
BARNES, "By the “last words of David” some understand an historical work on the latter part of his reign, drawn up probably by Gad or Nathan (compare 1Ch_27:24; 1Ch_29:29). Others suppose that he left behind him a work containing directions for the service of the sanctuary.
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GILL, "For by the last words of David,.... Or therefore by the last orders he gave before his death:
the Levites were numbered from twenty years old and above; as able and sufficient to do the work of their office.
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:27. By the last words of David — By his last order and constitution, made by God’s direction, and by the Holy Spirit. This is here added to signify, that this great affair was thus settled by David, not in his younger years, when it might have been thought to have been the effect of youthful heat, presumption, and rashness, but when he was come to the greatest maturity, when he was old and near his death, and going to give up his account to his Lord and Maker of all his actions, and particularly of the alterations which he made in the service of God, which he declared was done by the Spirit of God. These were, in a manner, his dying words, which usually make the deepest impression.
ELLICOTT, " (27) For by the last words of David.—That is, owing to his last commands. So Vulg. (juxta praecepta David novissima) and Syriac.
The Levites were numbered.—Literally, these (are), i.e., according to the later idiom, this (is) the enumeration of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and upward. The verse seems to mean that David towards the end of his reign instituted a census of Levites from twenty instead of thirty years old. Thus, the Authorised Version gives the sense. Others render, For in the Last words (i.e., records) of David is the number of the sons of Levi from twenty, &c., as if the chronicler were referring to some historical work in which this special census was recorded. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 29:29. ) The verse is a parenthetic remark of the chronicler, interrupting the speech of David, which, however, is resumed in 1 Chronicles 23:28, and continued to the end of the chapter.
POOLE, "By the last words of David; by his last order and constitution, made by God’s direction and by the Spirit, as hath been once and again noted and proved before. This is here added, to signify that this great affair was thus settled by David, not in his younger years, when it might have been thought to be the effect of youthful heat, and confidence, and presumption, and rashness; but when he was come to the greatest maturity, when he was old and near his death, and going to give up his account to his Lord and Maker of all his actions, and particularly of the alterations which he made in the service of God; which he declared was done by the
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Spirit of God. These were in a manner his dying words, which usually make the deepest impressions.
PULPIT, "The… words of David. Although there are many instances of the expression, "the words of" David or some other king, as equivalent to his "doings" (1 Chronicles 29:29; 2 Chronicles 9:29), and not a few instances of the same phrase, standing for the "account" or "history' of any one (1 Chronicles 27:24; 1 Chronicles 29:29, three times; 2 Chronicles 9:29), the expression here may rather parallel passages like 2 Samuel 23:1; 2 Chronicles 29:30.
28 The duty of the Levites was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the temple of the Lord: to be in charge of the courtyards, the side rooms, the purification of all sacred things and the performance of other duties at the house of God.
CLARKE, "Purifying of all holy things - Keeping all the vessels and utensils belonging to the sacred service clean and neat.
GILL, "Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron,.... The priests:
for the service of the house of the Lord; to assist them therein, and not to bear burdens as in times past; the Targum is,"wherefore the place of their habitations was by the side of the sons of Aaron, for the worship of the sanctuary of the Lord:"
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in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, and the work of the service of the house of God; to keep the house, and all the apartments in it, courts and chambers, clean, by sweeping and washing them, and carrying out all the filth thereof made by the sacrifices, and otherwise.
K&D, "Their appointed place or post was at the hand of the sons of Aaron, i.e., they were ready to the priest's hand, to aid him in carrying on the service of the house of God. “Over the courts and the cells (of the courts; cf. 1Ch_9:26), and the purifying of every holy thing,” i.e., of the temple rooms and the temple vessels. On ל before כל־קדש, used
for mediate connection after the stat. const., cf. Ew. §289, b. ומעשה עבדת, and for the
performance of the service of the house of God. Before על ,מעשה is to be supplied from the preceding. The individual services connected with the worship are specialized in 1Ch_23:29-31, and introduced by the preposition ל. For the bread of the pile, i.e., the shew-bread (see on Lev_24:8.), viz., to prepare it; for the laying of the bread upon the table was the priest's business. For fine meal (סלת, see on Lev_2:1) for the meat-offering
and unleavened cakes (ת see on Lev_2:4), and for the pans, i.e., that which ,רקיקי המצ
was baked in pans (see on Lev_2:5), and for that which was roasted (מרבכת, see on Lev_6:14), and for all measures of capacity and measures of length which were kept by the Levites, because meal, oil, and wine were offered along with the sacrifices in certain fixed quantities (cf. e.g., Exo_29:40; Exo_30:24), and the Levites had probably to watch over the weights and measures in general (Lev_19:35).
BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:28. In the purifying of holy things — Holy places, and garments, and vessels, and sacrifices, which were to be washed and cleansed from any filthiness that might cleave to them.
ELLICOTT, " (28) Because their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron.—For their appointment (or station) is at the side of the sons of Aaron (i.e., the priests). The Levites had no longer to carry the sacred dwelling and its vessels, but to minister, in subordination to the priesthood, in the permanent sanctuary.
In the courts.—Over (i.e., in charge of) the courts, and over the cells, or chambers built around the courts, in which were kept stores and treasures (1 Chronicles 9:26), and in which priests and Levites lived.
And in (over) the purifying of all holy things.—2 Chronicles 30:19. They had to cleanse the sacred vessels and the sanctuary itself.
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POOLE, "All holy things, i.e. holy places, and garments, and vessels, and sacrifices, which were to be washed and cleansed from any filthiness which possibly might cleave to them.
PARKER, ""... their office was to wait on..."— 1 Chronicles 23:28.
That is enough, if it be accepted in the right spirit.—The men themselves might have complained, saying, We are as good as the sons of Aaron: why should they not wait upon us?—But they recognised a divine appointment and not a human arrangement in all this ministry of the house of God.—The man who opens the door might complain that he is not in the highest places in the church, but in so far as he is a wise man he will say that he too is indispensable to the happy execution of the offices of the sanctuary.—To wait may be an office.—Who shall say that those who wait on us are not necessary to the completeness of our ministry?—Thus the servant in the household may have an indirect place even in the pulpit; thus the wife may be the true co-pastor of her husband; by patience, by sympathy, by foresight, by dealing with many cases as she only can deal with them, the wife may double the pastor"s usefulness.—We think of a man being great who is at the front or on the highest seat, but he himself will be the first to acknowledge that he could not have been where he Isaiah , and could not do the work that is expected of him, but for many minor people, assistances, co-operations at home, little attentions and sweet benedictions which find no place in public record.—"They also serve who only stand and wait."—Our character is tested by the way in which we accept office.—If we are petulant and resentful, ungrateful and negligent, we show that we do not deserve any status in the house of the Lord; if we are faithful over a few things we shall be made ruler over many things.—Let us prove our fitness for the highest office by doing well the things which pertain to the lowest.
PULPIT, "Because their office; i.e. probably the office or position of all, including the younger Levites. The development and greater detail of their varied duties, as the working staff of the "sons of Aaron," are alluded to here; and how priests, Levites, and Nethinim (1 Chronicles 9:2) all now formally undertook the whole range and scope of their functions is suggested. The work of these assistants of the "sons of Aaron" is detailed in three or four items, so far as this verse goes. They are first generally for the sacred service of the house of the Lord. That sacred service is in the matter of the courts; of the chambers; of the purifying of all holy things: and
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of the work, i.e. the performing of the sacred service of the house of God.
29 They were in charge of the bread set out on the table, the special flour for the grain offerings, the thin loaves made without yeast, the baking and the mixing, and all measurements of quantity and size.
CLARKE, "Both for the shew-bread - It was the priests’ office to place this bread before the Lord, and it was their privilege to feed on the old loaves when they were replaced by the new. Some of the rabbins think that the priests sowed, reaped, ground, kneaded, and baked the grain of which the shew-bread was made. This appears to be a conceit. Jerome, in his comment on Mal_1:6, mentions it in these words: “Panes propositionis quos, juxta traditiones Hebraicas, ipsi serere, ipsi demetere, ipsi molere, ipsi coquere debebatis.”
For all manner of measure and size - The standards of all weights and measures were kept at the sanctuary, and by those there deposited all the weights and measures of the land were to be tried. See the note on Exo_30:13.
GILL, "Both for the shewbread,.... Also to make and get that ready every week for the priests to set on the shewbread table, when they took off the other that had stood a week, see 1Ch_9:32.
and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for that which is baked in the pan, and for that which is fried; to deliver out the flour of which these several things were made, see 1Ch_9:31, and Lev_2:1,
and for all manner of measures and size; as the hin and the ephah, and the several parts of them for things both liquid and dry, which were in their keeping, and according to which they gave out the proper quantity of oil, and wine, and fine flour, upon occasion
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BENSON, "1 Chronicles 23:29. For all manner of measure — All measures used either in sacred or civil things, the public standards whereof were kept in the temple; and therefore the care of keeping them inviolable, and producing them upon occasion, must needs belong to the priests, and under them to the Levites, who were to examine other measures, and all things by them, as occasion required, that so the priests might be at leisure for their higher and greater employments.
ELLICOTT, " (29) Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour.—Rather, And over the shewbread, and over, &c. “For” (lĕ) continues the sense of “over” (‘al). The Levitical assistants of the priests had to see to the preparation of the things here enumerated.
And for that which is baked in the pan.—Literally, and over the pan (Leviticus 2:5).
And for that which is fried.—Rather, and over that which is soaked in oil (a kind of cake, Leviticus 7:12).
And for all manner of measure and size.—The flour and wine and oil, which were the complements of every sacrifice, were measured by the Levites in standard vessels, of which they had the keeping. Exodus 29:40 shows that the proportions were fixed for each kind of offering. “Measure” (mĕsûrâh), a rare word, implies measure of capacity; “size” (middâh), measure of length (Rashi).
TRAPP, "1 Chronicles 23:29 Both for the shewbread, and for the fine flour for meat offering, and for the unleavened cakes, and for [that which is baked in] the pan, and for that which is fried, and for all manner of measure and size;
Ver. 29. And for all manner of measure.] Sacred howsoever; whether civil or not, is uncertain. Some say the Levites kept the standards in the temple, that if the common weights and measures were by any means corrupted, they might thereby be rectified.
POOLE, " This is to be understood either,
1. Particularly of the measure or quantity of fine flour, and wine, and oil, which was
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fixed by God’s law. Or
2. Generally of all measures, used either in sacred or civil things, the public standards whereof were kept in the sanctuary or temple; of which see on Exodus 30:13; and therefore the care of keeping them inviolable, and producing them upon occasion, must needs belong to the priests, and under them to the Levites, who were to examine other measures and all things by them, as oft as occasion required, that so the priests might be at more leisure for their higher and greater employments.
PULPIT, "Both for the shewbread, and… size. Seven other specifications of service are continued in this verse, with which we may compare 1 Chronicles 9:26-32. For the shewbread. The first mention of shewbread is found in Exodus 25:30. The directions for making it are found in Le Exodus 24:5-9. The twelve unleavened cakes of which it consisted, heaped on the table in two piles, represented the twelve tribes, and intimated the Divine acceptance of the offerings of each faithful tribe (see also 2 Chronicles 13:11). For the fine flour for meat offering. This is spoken of in Exodus 29:40; Le Exodus 2:1-7; Exodus 6:14, Exodus 6:15, Exodus 6:19-27; Exodus 23:13; Exodus 14:5. For the unleavened cakes… the pan… fried. These are spoken of in Le Exodus 2:4-7. For all manner of measure and size; Hebrew ולכל־משורה ומדה. These two words occur also in Le 19:35, 36, where they are rendered respectively "in measure" and "in meteyard." Perhaps the exacter rendering here would be "for all matters of liquid and solid measure."
30 They were also to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord. They were to do the same in the evening
CLARKE, "To stand every morning - At the offering of the morning and evening sacrifice, they sounded their musical instruments, and sang praises to God.
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GILL, "And to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord,.... The office of others of them was to sing the praises of God, both vocally and with instruments of music, at the time of the morning sacrifice:
and likewise at even; at the time of the evening sacrifice, by way of thankfulness for the mercies of the night and of the day.
K&D, "“On each morning and evening to praise the Lord with song and instruments.” These words refer to the duties of the singers and musicians, whose classes and orders are enumerated in 1 Chron 25. The referring of them to the Levites who assisted the priests in the sacrificial worship (Berth.) needs no serious refutation, for ת ולהלל ד is הthe standing phrase for the sacred temple music; and we can hardly believe that the Levites sang psalms or played on harps or lutes while the beasts for sacrifices were slaughtered and skinned, or the meat-offerings baked, or such duties performed.
BENSON, "Verses 30-32
1 Chronicles 23:30-32. To stand every morning, &c., and at evening — The two solemn times of offering sacrifices: which work was attended with public prayer and thanksgiving. According to the order commanded unto them continually — That is, unto those persons, the Levites, of whom he speaks. The charge of the sons of Aaron — That is, what the priests should commit to their charge, or command them to do.
ELLICOTT, " (30) To thank and praise the Lord.—This refers to the special function of the 4,000 musicians (1 Chronicles 23:5). (Comp. 1 Chronicles 16:4.) Those who slew and flayed the victims could hardly have taken part in the service of song.
POOLE, " The two solemn times of offering sacrifices; which work was attended with public prayer and thanksgiving.
PULPIT, "To stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord (so 1 Chronicles
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23:13 of this chapter and 1 Chronicles 25:7). Though Bertheau sees no special sign in the connection for this description to be confined to the four thousand whose special work and privilege it was, yet it is in entire analogy with the whole context so to confine it.
31 and whenever burnt offerings were presented to the Lord on the Sabbaths, at the New Moon feasts and at the appointed festivals. They were to serve before the Lord regularly in the proper number and in the way prescribed for them.
BARNES, "Though the Levites were not allowed by themselves to offer sacrifice, yet there were many respects in which they assisted the priests when sacrifice was offered. See 2Ch_29:34; 2Ch_35:11-12.
The set feasts - The Passover, Feast of Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles (marginal reference).
GILL, "And to offer all burnt sacrifices unto the Lord,.... This was the work of the priests to offer such sacrifices, and not the Levites; but the meaning is, according to the Targum, and so Kimchi, that these not only sung the praises of God morning and evening, but at all times when burnt offerings were offered to the Lord; besides, some of them helped the priests at such times in slaying the sacrifices, and bringing them to the altar: and especially their service was requisite
in the sabbaths, in the new moons, and on the set feasts, by number; because, besides the daily sacrifices, there were additional offerings at those times:
according to the order commanded unto them continually before the Lord; see Num_28:1.
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K&D, "“And for all the bringing of offerings to Jahve on sabbaths, the new moons, and the feasts, in the number according to the law concerning them (i.e., according to the regulations that existed for this matter), continually before Jahve.” It was the duty of the Levites to procure the necessary number of beasts for sacrifice, to see to their suitableness, to slaughter and skin them, etc. תמיד refers to ת the burnt-offerings ,על
for Jahve, which are תמיד, because they must always be offered anew on the appointed days.
ELLICOTT, " (31) And to offer all burnt sacrifices.—Rather, And over all offering of burnt offerings. The Levites had to select and prepare the victims, the priests offered them, when ready, upon the altar. The Levites had to do this “by number,” i.e., according to the several numbers prescribed by the Law for each occasion. (See Numbers 28)
According to the order commanded unto them.—According to the rule concerning them: i.e., concerning the sacrifices.
Continually.—Heb., tamîd, the technical term in connection with the burnt offerings, which regularly recurred at stated times, e.g., a lamb was offered morning and evening. (Comp. Numbers 28:6.)
WHEDON, "31. To offer all burnt sacrifices — That is, to assist the priests in offering, for the ordinary Levite did not offer up the offering with his own bands, but he prepared the altar and the wood, and selected and brought the victims, and helped to slay and skin them. Comp. Numbers 3:5-10; Numbers 18:1-7.
PULPIT, "And to offer; Hebrew, "and for all the offering of burnt offerings." For other references to the help which the Levites gave in the matter of the burnt offerings, and for the number (2 Samuel 2:15; Numbers 28:1-31) of them, see Numbers 29:2-34; 2 Chronicles 29:32-34; 2 Chronicles 35:2-12. The priests alone performed the actual sacrifices. The set feasts. These refer to the three:
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32 And so the Levites carried out their responsibilities for the tent of meeting, for the Holy Place and, under their relatives the descendants of Aaron, for the service of the temple of the Lord.
CLARKE, "The charge of the sons of Aaron - It was the priests’ business to kill, flay, and dress, as well as to offer, the victims, but being few, they were obliged to employ the Levites to flay those animals. The Levites were, properly speaking, servants to the priests, and were employed about the more servile part of Divine worship.
GILL, "And that they should keep the charge of the tabernacle of the congregation,.... That no unclean persons entered into it, and that none of the vessels were carried out of it; this was the business of the porters:
and the charge of the holy place; of things that belonged unto it, the vessels in it, and what was requisite for it, and used there: and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren; the priests, whatever they should command them to do: in the service of the house of the Lord; in any part and branch of it before specified.
K&D, "In conclusion, the whole duties of the Levites are summed up in three clauses: they were to keep the charge of the tabernacle, the charge of the sacred things, i.e., of all the sacred things of the worship, and the charge of the sons of Aaron, i.e., of all that the priests committed to them to be done; cf. Num_18:3., where these functions are more exactly fixed.
ELLICOTT. " (32) And that they should keep.—This verse sums up the functions of the Levites under three general heads: “And let them keep the charge of the tent of
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meeting.” The words are evidently based upon Numbers 18:3-5.
And the charge of the sons of Aaron.—That is, all that the priests committed to them, and required of them (1 Chronicles 23:28) as their appointed assistants. The word rendered “charge” literally means keeping, guard, watch.
In the service.—For the service.
ADDITIONAL NOTE on 1 Chronicles 23:28; 1 Chronicles 23:32. The law respecting the sacred tent was naturally applied to the future Temple. It is hardly fair to say, with Reuss, that “in the perspective of the author the Tabernacle of David and the Temple of Solomon were confounded with each other.” In 1 Chronicles 16:37-39, the chronicler has clearly distinguished two sacred tents: that of the Ark on Mount Zion, and the ancient sanctuary at Gibeon. Throughout that lengthy narrative of the transfer of the Ark, the Temple is not mentioned at all. And if in 1 Chronicles 23:28 David speaks of “courts” and “chambers,” that only shows that the king meant his assignation of the duties of the Levites to be permanent. Nor will it make much difference if we allow that the writer, in speaking of David’s tent, has used language more applicable to the Temple of Solomon. The functions of the Levites in both would be essentially the same. The great historian Ewald believed the whole section, 1 Chronicles 23:24 to 1 Chronicles 24:31 to be an authentic extract from “the Book of Origins,” which he refers to the early years of Solomon’s reign.
PULPIT, "Keep the charge of the tabernacle… holy place… sons of Aaron. This concluding verse is equivalent to a quotation from Numbers 18:1-7; in the first verse of which passage Aaron and the priests generally are reminded both of their representative character and position, and of the solemn responsibility which rested on them.
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Footnotes:
1 Chronicles 23:10 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint and Vulgate (see also verse 11); most Hebrew manuscripts Zina
