1 CHRONICLES - CHAPTER 23
David Made His Son Solomon King Over Israel
v1 When David was very old, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. v2 He gathered all the leaders of Israel, as well as the priests and Levites. v3 He counted the Levites who were 30 years of age and older. The total number of these men was 38,000. v4 David said, ‘From these 38,000 men, 24,000 Levites will direct the work of the LORD’s temple. And 6,000 Levites will be officers and judges. v5 4.000 Levites will be guards for the gates. And 4,000 Levites will praise the LORD with music. They will use the musical instruments that I made for that purpose.’
COMMENTARY
VERSES 1-5
David was about 70 years of age, which in those days was old. This was now near the end of his life. It was probably during the 40th and last year of his rule (26:31; 29:27). He appointed Solomon to be the next king of Israel.
To manage (run) the temple, there would need to be 2,000 Levites on duty each month. They would not all work at the same time. Each of them would work for a part of the day or night. There were a total of 38,000 Levite men who were 30 years of age and over. 24,000 of them would do this work. The women would not work in the temple. 6,000 Levites would be judges and officials. They would work in every part of the country. They would be experts in the law of the LORD and in the laws of the country.
David Divided the Levites
v6 David divided the Levites into three groups by their clans. These clans are the families of Levi’s three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. v7 From the clan of Gershon, there were Ladan and Shimei. v8 Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel, and his other sons were Zetham and Joel. v9 Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. These three sons were leaders of Ladan’s families. v10 Shimei had 4 sons: Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. v11 Jahath was the first son, and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. So, in the count, they were one family.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 6-11
The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. All the Levites were descendants of these three sons. David divided the Levites into the clans and families that came from these three men.
These lists do not give us the complete history of the clans. In verse 8, these were not the actual sons of Ladan. They were among his descendants. Shimei in verse 9 is a man who belonged to the clans of Ladan. He is not the same as Shimei in verses 7 and 10. The 4 sons of Shimei were not his actual sons. They were his descendants and they may have lived in the time of David.
Because they had few children, David combined the families of Jeush and Beriah. So there were 9 groups out of the clan of Gershon. 6 of these groups were from Ladan (three of which were from Shimei in verse 9). The other three groups were from the other man called Shimei in verse 10.
Fathers and Sons
v12 Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. v13 Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. The LORD separated Aaron and his descendants for all time. He chose them to prepare the most holy things for the LORD’s service. They had to offer sacrifices to the LORD, and to serve him as priests. As priests, they bless the people in the name of (on behalf of) the LORD for all time. v14 However, when people counted the tribe of Levi, they included the sons (descendants) of Moses, the man of God. v15 Moses’ sons were Gershon and Eliezer. v16 Gershon’s first son was Shubael. v17 Eliezer’s first son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had very many sons. v18 Izhar’s first son was Shelomith. v19 Hebron’s first son was Jeriah and his second son was Amariah. His third son was Jahaziel, and his 4th son was Jekameam. v20 Uzziel’s first son was Micah and his second son was Isshiah.v21 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. v22 Eleazar died without sons. He had only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. v23 Mushi’s three sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 12-23
The ranks of the Levites did not include the descendants of Aaron. They were a special family. They were the priests. And the chief priests always came from this family. They had to make the sacrifices to the LORD. They were the agents of the people in relation to the LORD. And they were the agents of the LORD to the people. But the count of the Levites did include the descendants of Moses.
The clans of Merari made a further 6 groups. This is not clear from these verses. But the chiefs of the groups of Mahli came from Jaaziah (24:26-27), and Kish. The daughters of Eleazar married their cousins. By this means their families continued. The third group came either from another son of Jaaziah or from the daughters of Eleazar. The chiefs of the groups of Mushi came from his three sons.
There were 9 groups from Gershon, 9 groups from Kohath and 6 groups from Merari. This made a total of 24 groups.
Levi's Descendants
v24 These were Levi’s descendants by their families. They were the leaders of families. The record of the count was by family. It included each person 20 years of age or older who had to serve in the LORD’s temple. v25 David had said, ‘The LORD, the God of Israel, has given peace to his people. He has come to live in Jerusalem for all time. v26 So now, the Levites do not need to carry the holy Tent. And they do not need to carry any of the things that they used in it.’ v27 David’s last instructions were to count the Levites who were 20 years old and older.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 24-27
The count was actually of those men who were 20 years old and older. Men were old enough to work in the temple when they were 30 years old (verse 3). The LORD said this to Moses when he counted the Levites (Numbers 4:3).
Moses lowered the age for the work of the LORD’s tent to 25. But the Levites did not work after the age of 50 (Numbers 8:24-25). Originally, David decided that the Levites would start to work in the temple at 30 years old. The work in the temple would not be as heavy as the work for the tent. The Levites had to carry the tent and all that was in it, including the altar and the ark. Both of these would now remain in the temple at Jerusalem. But for some reason, David now lowered the age for the count to 20.
Jobs of the Levites
v28 The Levites’ job was to help Aaron’s descendants in the work of the LORD’s temple. They were responsible for the temple areas and the side rooms. They made all the holy things clean and ready for use. And they did other work in God’s temple. v29 They were responsible for the bread that the priests would put on the table. They kept the flour for the grain sacrifices and the special flat bread. They mixed and baked the bread for the sacrifices. They carried out all the measurements of quantities and sizes. v30 They stood every morning and they thanked the LORD. And they praised him. They did the same in the evening. v31 They also did this when the priests gave burnt sacrifices to the LORD. This was on Sabbaths, and at the new moon (the beginning of each month). Also, they did this on the special days. There must always be the proper number of Levites on duty to carry out their work for the LORD.
v32 So, the Levites took care of the holy tent and the holy place. And they helped their relatives, Aaron’s descendants, with the work of the LORD’s temple.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 28-32
The Levites' task was to help the priests. They had to take care of the temple and of all that was in it, making sure that everything was clean and ready for use.
The Levites had to bake 12 loaves of bread for each Sabbath day. The priests placed these loaves in two rows of 6 on the special table in the holy place. The loaves remained there until the next Sabbath day. Then the priests would eat these loaves in the holy place (Leviticus 24:5-9).
Each morning and each evening, the Levites praised the LORD with music and prayers. They did this at the time of the regular sacrifices (Exodus 29:38-39). Also, they did this at the time of sacrifices on the special days.
The priests made extra sacrifices at other times. These were on the Sabbath days, at the start of the month and other special days (Numbers 28:9 to Numbers 29:39). At each of these events, the Levites praised the LORD when the priests made the sacrifices.
The special days were annual events. Some of them lasted for just one day. But other ones lasted for several days. The main special days each year were:
---1. The day called Passover, and the week afterward when people eat flatbread. Each year, the Jews remember how God brought them out of Egypt. Passover is the special time when they remember this. (Passover is usually at the same time as Easter.)
---2. The day called Pentecost, which is a special day 50 days after Passover.
---3. The day to sound the trumpets.
---4. The day when the people remember that God forgives sin.
---5. The week when the people lived in tents.
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