Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Chronicles 24
Albert Barnes Commentary
1 Chronicles 24
Albert Barnes Commentary
1 Chronicles 24
"And David with Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, divided them according to their ordering in their service." — 1 Chronicles 24:3 (ASV)
Zadok and Ahimelech (or rather, Abiathar; see 1 Chronicles 24:6) assisted David in drawing up the priestly courses, just as the captains of the host assisted him in making the divisions of the singers (1 Chronicles 25:1).
"Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar." — 1 Chronicles 24:5 (ASV)
One sort with another - That is, “the assignment of their order in the courses was made by lot to the families belonging to Eleazar, and to the families belonging to Ithamar, equally.” Both houses had furnished functionaries of the highest class, and therefore no preference was now given to either over the other.
"And Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers` [houses] of the priests and of the Levites; one fathers` house being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar." — 1 Chronicles 24:6 (ASV)
Wrote them before the king - That is, they wrote down their names as the lots were drawn.
Ahimelech the son of Abiathar - This is an incorrect reading. It should be “Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech.” See the note on 2 Samuel 8:17.
"This was the ordering of them in their service, to come into the house of Jehovah according to the ordinance [given] unto them by Aaron their father, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, had commanded him." — 1 Chronicles 24:19 (ASV)
These were the orderings — that is, this was the established numerical order for their ministerial service in the house of the Lord. This service was to follow the method determined for them by their forefather Aaron, according to the instructions he received from God.
"And of the rest of the sons of Levi: of the sons of Amram, Shubael; of the sons of Shubael, Jehdeiah." — 1 Chronicles 24:20 (ASV)
The purpose of this second enumeration of the Levitical families (compare 1 Chronicles 23:7–23) seems to be the designation of the heads of the families in David’s time. The omission of the Gershonites is curious and can only be accounted for by supposing that the author did not find any account of their heads in his source materials. The addition to the Merarites (1 Chronicles 24:26–27) is also curious. It brings the number of families up to twenty-five, which is one more than we would have expected.
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