1 Chronicles 26
The Divisions of the Gatekeepers 1–11
Assigning the Gates by Lot 12–19
Oversight of Temple Treasures 20–28
Levites for Outward Administration 29–32
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for 1 Chronicles 26
Verse 1
divisions of the porters — Machaloqeth, ‘division’, is the word for the courses of the priests (1 Chr 24:1), here applied to the gatekeepers; shoer, ‘porter’, is a doorkeeper, from the word for a gate. Meshelemiah’s son Zechariah ‘was porter of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation’ (1 Chr 9:21).
Verse 5
for God blessed him — The blessing goes back to the three months the ark stayed in his house: ‘the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household’ (2 Sam 6:11; 1 Chr 13:14). The eight sons named in vv.4–5 stand as the sign of it, and the sixty-two of v.8 come from the same house.
Verse 6
mighty men of valour — Gibbore chayil, the phrase for men of strength, used here of Shemaiah’s sons. ‘Ruled’ renders mimshal, rule or dominion, which elsewhere in the KJV is the ‘great dominion’ of Dan 11:3, 5. These sons held authority ‘throughout the house of their father’, the family named for the gates.
Verse 8
able men for strength for the service — ‘Service’ is avodah, the word for work and for worship. The sixty-two are Obed-edom, his sons and his brethren, the house in which the ark stayed three months (2 Sam 6:11). Obed-edom is named a doorkeeper for the ark in 1 Chr 15:24.
Verse 10
his father made him the chief — Rosh, ‘head’. Hosah of Merari had a son Simri (Shimri, ‘watchful’) who was not the firstborn. The chief place can pass outside birth order, as Reuben’s birthright went to Joseph’s sons while ‘Judah prevailed above his brethren’ (1 Chr 5:1–2); a father may appoint.
Verse 13
they cast lots — The phrase ‘as well the small as the great’ is the one used for the singers’ courses (1 Chr 25:8), and the priests’ courses were likewise ‘divided by lot’ (1 Chr 24:5). The lot settled which gate fell to which house, in line with ‘the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD’ (Prov 16:33).
Verse 14
a wise counsellor — Shelemiah appears to be the Meshelemiah of vv.1–2, whose firstborn was Zechariah (v.2). The east lot fell to the father and Zechariah’s came out northward. He is called a counsellor (yaats) with understanding (sekel), the word behind ‘Understanding is a wellspring of life’ (Prov 16:22).
Verse 15
the house of Asuppim — Asuppim is a plural, ‘gatherings’, and the KJV leaves it as a place name here and in v.17. The same word appears at Neh 12:25 as ‘thresholds’, where porters again kept ward. The post fell to Obed-edom’s sons, beside the southward gate that was his own lot.
Verse 17
six Levites, northward four a day — The posts named are east 6, north 4, south 4 and Asuppim 2 and 2. With the west of v.18 (‘four at the causeway, and two at Parbar’) they total 6+4+4+4+6 = 24, and they stand at the ‘four quarters’ of 1 Chr 9:24: ‘toward the east, west, north, and south’.
Verse 20
the treasures of the house of God — Otsar, a store or depository. Two charges are named: the treasures of the house and the treasures of ‘the dedicated things’ (qodesh, holy things). David’s plans for the temple already list ‘the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things’ (1 Chr 28:12).
Verse 24
Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of Moses — Moses’ sons were not made priests but ‘named of the tribe of Levi’ (1 Chr 23:14), and Shebuel was ‘the chief’ of Gershom’s line (1 Chr 23:16). ‘Ruler’ is nagid, the word used of David himself in ‘thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel’ (1 Chr 11:2).
Verse 26
the dedicated things — David, the family heads and the ‘captains over thousands and hundreds’ had dedicated these. The captains’ offering of gold taken in war was brought into the tabernacle ‘for a memorial’ (Num 31:52, 54); the house now receives the like. David’s own gifts from the nations are in 2 Sam 8:11–12.
Verse 27
Out of the spoils won in battles — The spoil is shalal, booty, and ‘dedicate’ is qadash, to set apart as holy. Of Jericho it was said ‘all the silver, and gold… are consecrated unto the LORD’ (Josh 6:19). David’s gold and silver from Syria, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines and Amalek were dedicated in the same way (2 Sam 8:11–12).
Verse 28
Samuel the seer — Samuel is named by his earlier title: ‘he that is now called a Prophet was beforetime called a Seer’ (1 Sam 9:9). He and David ‘did ordain’ the porters in their office (1 Chr 9:22). The gifts of Samuel, of Saul, of Abner and of Joab all lay ‘under the hand’ of Shelomith and his brethren.
Verse 29
for the outward business — Chitsonah, ‘outer’, of the work done away from the temple. These Levites served as ‘officers and judges’ (shoterim and shophetim), the pair named in 1 Chr 23:4 and in the law’s ‘Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates’ (Deut 16:18). The same outward business appears in Neh 11:16.
Verse 30
the business of the LORD, and … the service of the king — Hashabiah’s 1,700 held office ‘on this side Jordan westward’, in the land west of the river. Their work had two sides: ‘business of the LORD’ (melakah) and ‘service of the king’ (avodah). The east of the Jordan is given to Jerijah’s brethren in v.32.
Verse 31
the fortieth year of the reign of David — David reigned ‘forty years’ (1 Kings 2:11; 1 Chr 29:27), so this search fell in his last year. Jerijah’s family was ‘sought’ (darash), and the men found at Jazer of Gilead, which was among the cities the Gadites built east of the Jordan (Num 32:34–35).
Verse 32
every matter pertaining to God, and affairs of the king — The 2,700 chief fathers, with the 1,700 of v.30, make 4,400. They governed ‘the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh’, the tribes east of the Jordan (cf. 1 Chr 12:37). The pairing of ‘matters of the LORD’ and ‘the king’s matters’ recurs in 2 Chr 19:11.