Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 23:32

"and that they should keep the charge of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the holy place, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, for the service of the house of Jehovah." — 1 Chronicles 23:32 (ASV)

And that they should keep. — This verse summarizes the functions of the Levites under three general headings: “And let them keep the charge of the tent of meeting.” The words are evidently based on Numbers 18:3-5.

And the charge of the sons of Aaron. — This means all that the priests committed to them and required of them (1 Chronicles 23:28) as their appointed assistants. The word translated “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 concerning 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 confused 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 intended his assignment 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, 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 attributes to the early years of Solomon’s reign.