1 CHRONICLES - CHAPTER 27
Organization of Other Leaders
Army Groups – 1 Chronicles 27:1-15
v1 Each month a group of 24 000 men served the king in the army. Among these men were family leaders, officers over groups of 1000 or 100 men, and officials of the king. Each group served for one month each year.
v2 Jashobeam, son of Zabdiel, was the leader of the first group, which served during the first month. There were 24,000 men in his group. v3 He was a descendant of Perez. And he was the leader of all the army officers during the first month.
v4 Dodai was from the town called Ahoah. He was the leader of the group for the second month. Mikloth was the chief officer in this group. There were 24,000 men in the group. v5 The third leader, for the third month, was Benaiah, son of Jehoiada the priest. He was the chief officer and there were 24,000 men in his group. v6 This Benaiah was a brave man. He was one of the 30 special soldiers whom he led. His son Ammizabad was in command of his group.
v7 The 4th leader, for the 4th month, was Asahel, the brother of Joab. Later, his son Zebadiah took his place as the leader. There were 24,000 men in his group. v8 The 5th leader, for the 5th month, was Shamhuth, from Izrah’s family. There were 24,000 men in his group. v9 The 6th leader, for the 6th month, was Ira, son of Ikkesh, from the town called Tekoa. There were 24,000 men in his group. v10 The 7th leader, for the 7th month, was Helez. He came from the town called Pelon. He was a descendant of Ephraim. There were 24,000 men in his group.
v11 The 8th leader, for the 8th month, was Sibbecai. He was from Hushah and he was from Zerah’s family. There were 24,000 men in his group. v12 The 9th leader, for the 9th month, was Abiezer. He was from Anathoth in Benjamin. There were 24,000 men in his group. v13 The 10th leader, for the 10th month, was Maharai. He was from Netophah and he was from Zerah’s family. There were 24,000 men in his group. v14 The 11th leader, for the 11th month, was Benaiah. He was from Pirathon in Ephraim. There were 24,000 men in his group. v15 The 12th leader, for the 12th month, was Heldai. He was from Netophah and he was from Othniel’s family. There were 24,000 men in his group.
COMMENTARY
VERSE 1
A different group of soldiers served the king each month. There were 24,000 men in each group. To lead the group, there were officers over 1,000 men. Then there were officers over 100 men. Also, family leaders and the king’s officials had some control over the army. The king always had 24,000 men ready for war. There was always a group ready to guard the king. If an enemy attacked, the king could call all 12 groups of soldiers to fight. This would be an army of 288,000 men.
The men served in the army for one month in the year. During the rest of the year, they lived and worked as normal citizens.
VERSES 2-15
Jashobeam had been the leader over David’s 30 special soldiers (11:11). Also, he was one of the three most famous soldiers. He killed 300 men at one time with his spear. He was the top leader during the first month, that is, the month called Nisan. He was from the tribe of Judah. Perez was a son of Judah.
Jashobeam was the chief leader for the first month, the month called Nisan. The month called Nisan is during March or April in a modern calendar.
Here is a list of the names of the Jewish months. The first month was called Nisan and the second month was called Iyar. The third month was called Sivan and the 4th was called Tammuz. The 5th month was called Ab and the 6th was called Elul. The 7th month was called Tishri and the 8th was called Marcheshvan. The 9th month was called Chisleu and the 10th was called Tebeth. The 11th month was called Shebat and the 12th was called Adar. Many of these months do have different names as well. For example, Nisan is often Abib and Iyar is Zif.
Dodai (verse 4) was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the second of the famous three soldiers (11:12). Dodai had Mikloth as his chief officer. Dodai was the leader during the second month. Benaiah (verse 5) was the leader of King David’s personal guards. He was as well-known as the famous three soldiers. But he was not one of them. He did many great deeds (11:22-30). He had his son Ammizabad as his chief officer. Benaiah was the leader during the third month.
It seems that such groups already existed well before the end of David’s rule. In the original group, Asahel (verse 7) may have been a leader. He was one of the 30 special soldiers. But Abner killed Asahel in the battle between David and Ish-Bosheth (2 Samuel 2:18-23). So, Asahel died before David formed these groups. However, the 4th group still had Asahel’s name as the leader. Maybe this was to give honour to his name. His son Zebadiah was in fact the leader of this group. The leaders for each of the other months were among the 30 special soldiers (11:26-47).
Leaders of the Tribes – 1 Chronicles 27:16-24
v16 These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel. Eliezer son of Zicri was over the tribe of Reuben. Shephatiah son of Maacah was over the tribe of Simeon. v17 Hashabiah son of Kemuel was over the tribe of Levi. Zadok was over the family of Aaron. v18 Elihu, one of David’s brothers, was over the tribe of Judah. Omri son of Michael was over the tribe of Issachar. v19 Ishmaiah son of Obadiah was over the tribe of Zebulun. Jerimoth son of Azriel was over the tribe of Naphtali. v20 Hoshea son of Azaziah was over the tribe of Ephraim. Joel son of Pedaiah was over half the tribe of Manasseh. v21 Iddo son of Zechariah was over half the tribe of Manasseh in Gilead. Jaasiel son of Abner was over the tribe of Benjamin. v22 Azarel son of Jeroham was over the tribe of Dan. These were the leaders of the tribes of Israel.
v23 The LORD had promised to make the Israelites as many as the stars in the sky. So, David did not count those who were 20 years old or younger. v24 Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the people, but he did not finish the task. God was angry at Israel because of this count. So, the official records of King David’s rule did not include the number of the people.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 16-22
This is a list of the leaders of the tribes at the time when David counted the people. We do not know why the list did not include the tribes of Gad and Asher. There is a leader over the tribe of Levi. But the Levite clan of Aaron had Zadok the chief priest as their leader. Because half of the tribe of Manasseh lived east of the river Jordan, they had two leaders. Joel was the leader for the half tribe on the west of the river. And Iddo was the leader for the half tribe on the east of the river.
VERSES 23-24
The LORD promised that he would make the Israelites as many as the stars. ‘As many as the stars’ was a phrase that meant too many to count. The LORD gave this promise to Abraham about 1000 years before the time of David (Genesis 15:5). Because of that promise, David did not count those who were 20 years of age or less.
However, David did order a count of the men who were old enough to fight in the army. Joab did not finish the count. He was against the idea. He knew that it was wrong to do it (21:6). So, he did not count the tribes of Levi and Benjamin.
Because of the count and the sins of the nation, God was angry. And he punished the people (21:7). Samuel, Nathan and Gad made records of the events during David’s life (29:29-30). But they did not record the number of the people.
Other Officials – 1 Chronicles 27:25-34
v25 Azmaveth son of Adiel was responsible for the place where the king kept his valuable things. Jonathan son of Uzziah was responsible for the other places where there were stores. These were in the country, in towns, in villages, and in castles. v26 Ezri son of Kelub was responsible for the field workers who farmed the land. v27 Shimei, from Ramah town, was responsible for the vineyards. Zabdi, from Shepham, was responsible for the products from the vineyards. And he was responsible for the places where people stored the wine. v28 Baal-Hanan, from Geder, was responsible for the olive trees and sycamore trees in the western hills. Joash was responsible for the places where people stored olive oil. v29 Shitrai, from Sharon, was responsible for the cows that were in Sharon. And Shaphat son of Adlai was responsible for the cows in the valleys. v30 Obil, a descendant of Ishmael, was responsible for the camels. Jehdeiah, from Meronoth, was responsible for the donkeys. v31 Jaziz, from the Hagrites, was responsible for the sheep and goats. All these men were the officials who took care of King David’s property.
v32 Jonathan, David’s uncle, was a wise man and a teacher of the law. He was one of the men who advised David. Jehiel son of Hacmoni took care of the king’s sons. v33 Ahithophel was the king’s adviser. Hushai, from the town called Arka, was the king’s friend. v34 After Ahithophel, Jehoiada and Abiathar advised the king. (Jehoiada was Benaiah’s son.) Joab was the chief officer of the king’s army.
COMMENTARY
VERSES 25-31
These verses are a list of the king’s officials. They looked after his wealth and they controlled his vineyards and farms. A vineyard is a kind of farm where people produce grapes.
The sycamore trees in verse 28 were also called sycamore-fig trees. They produce a light wood, which is useful for many purposes. They also yield fruit. That fruit is like the fig, but its quality is not so good. Poor people in particular would gather the fruit. The people would cut into the fruit about 4 days before they picked them. Then the fruit was ready and people could eat them. There were people whose job was to look after the sycamore-fig trees (Amos 7:14).
VERSES 32-34
Ahithophel joined David’s son, Absalom, when Absalom tried to organize a revolution against David. But when Absalom did not follow Ahithophel’s advice, Ahithophel killed himself (2 Samuel 17:23). Afterwards, Jehoiada and Abiathar took Ahithophel’s place, and they advised King David.
|
|
