Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Chronicles 23:2

"And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers` [houses] of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem." — 2 Chronicles 23:2 (ASV)

And they went about in Judah. — 2 Chronicles 17:9; 1 Samuel 7:16.

The chief of the fathers. — The heads of the clans, or chiefs of houses.

This and the next verse are added by the chronicler. In Kings the narrative passes at once to the charge of 2 Chronicles 23:4: This is the thing that ye shall do, which is there addressed to the “captains of the hundreds,” or centurions of the royal guard. In fact, the parallel text is nearly if not altogether silent as to the part played by the Levites in the Restoration; and the chronicler appears to have supplemented that account with materials derived from other authorities, and perhaps from Levitical traditions. His doing so is only consistent with his general practice and the special purpose of his history.

At the same time, allowing for certain characteristic additions, interpretations, and substitutions of phrase for phrase (which will be specified in these Notes), the chronicler's narrative absolutely coincides with that of Kings. This narrative treats the same events, rigidly observes the same limits, and maintains a general identity of language. We conclude, therefore, that in this case, as elsewhere, the chronicler has used as the groundwork of his account a historical text which contained sections substantially identical with the present narratives of Kings, but accompanied by numerous details not found in those books.