The Pulpit Commentary
The subject of the porters has been before us in 1Ch_9:17-27; 1Ch_15:23, 1Ch_15:24; 1Ch_16:38; 1Ch_23:5, in which last passage we are told that there were four thousand of the Levites who were porters. The divisions of the porters spoken of in the present chapter were from the sons of Korah or Kore, and Merari (1Ch_23:10, 1Ch_23:19). The Korahite porters are given us in the first nine verses. The first mentioned is Meshelemiah, who, though called the same in 1Ch_23:2, 1Ch_23:9, appears as Shelemiah in 1Ch_23:14, and in 1Ch_9:19 as Shallum. Asaph, given here as one of the ancestors, must be replaced by Ebi-asaph (1Ch_6:23, 1Ch_6:37; 1Ch_9:19; also Exo_6:24), who was a Korahite, whereas Asaph was a Gershonite (1Ch_6:39, 1Ch_6:43).

1Ch_26:2, 1Ch_26:3

These verses contain the enumeration of seven sons of Shelemiah, of the firstborn of whom, viz. Zechariah, express mention was made in 1Ch_9:21.

1Ch_26:4, 1Ch_26:5

Here we have the enumeration of eight sons of Obed-edom (1Ch_15:21, 1Ch_15:24; 1Ch_16:38). That in this last reference Obed-edom seems to be called "son of Jeduthun" is owing probably to the omission of a name. For former occurrences of the sentence, God blessed him, with its present evident allusion, see 1Ch_13:14; 2Sa_6:11. To this passage, the expression of 1Ch_25:5, "to lift up the horn," is probably analogous, where see comment.

1Ch_26:6, 1Ch_26:7

In the former of these verses, eulogy is pronounced by anticipation on the six grandsons of Obed-edom through his son Shemaiah, about to be mentioned in the latter verse. The singular number of the verb (נוֹלַד), with a plural nominative, as found here, often occurs elsewhere, and repeatedly, even in this book, in cases where the relative pronoun אַשֶׁר intervenes between the subject and its verb. That ruled throughout the house of their father. The plural masculine abstract noun (הַמִּמְשָׁלִים) here employed, in place of a verbal or participial form, is intended to gain force. A similar use of the feminine form of the same noun in the singular, and with suffix, may be cited from 2Ch_32:9. Whose brethren. An erroneous translation for his brethren; a correction, however, rendering more patent the inconvenience of the unexplained absence of the conjunction, which seems to be called for before both "Elzabad," and "his brethren." Bertheau suggests that other names are wanting which should fill up the meaning of "his brethren." The brethren intended were probably Elihu and Semachiah.

The Pulpit Commentary
Able men for strength for the service. The Hebrew gives this in the singular, אִישׁיחַיִל, etc. The apparent intention is to distribute equally to each and every one of all of the sons of Obed-edom, the high character for strength given to them as grouped here together.

The Pulpit Commentary
This somewhat sudden return to the name of Meshelemiah is evidently in order to put his numbers in a convenient position, to be added to those of Obed-edom just stated, thus making in all eighty porters from the Korabites.

1Ch_26:10, 1Ch_26:11

The porters from the descendants of Merari are given in these two verses, in all thirteen. Hosah, it will be remembered, is found together with Obed-edom in 1Ch_16:38, as one of the porters of the the ark. These thirteen bring up the number of porters to ninety-three. We have read (1Ch_9:22) that later the number became two hundred and twelve. Though… yet. The likelier translation of the Hebrew would be, For there was not a firstborn (i.e. the issue of the firstborn had failed, and his line was therefore extinct), and his father made him the chief. Moreover, it is but probable that, if it had been a case of superseding the firstborn, the fact would not have been stated without an explanation of what had led to it or justified it.

The Pulpit Commentary
Translate, To these divisions of the porters, as regards the chief men, belonged the charge together with their brethren to officiate in the house of the Lord. According to the present chapter, then, the divisions add up to ninety-three. And if at any time of the history it were the case that these ninety-three were the leaders of groups among the total of "four thousand porters," it would put exactly forty-two under each of these ninety-three, leaving but one over. This number ninety-three, meantime, does not agree with the two hundred and twelve of 1Ch_9:22. And the three score and two of Obed-edom in 1Ch_9:8 of the present chapter does not agree with the three score and eight of Obed-edom in 1Ch_16:38. At the same time, no little light may be thrown on this subject by noticing that the porters numbered in Zerubbabel's time one hundred and thirty-nine (Ezr_2:42); and that the number one hundred and seventy-two is given for them by Nehemiah (Neh_11:19). The conclusion may well be that the numbers varied in David's time and the other times severally;and that the date in question (1Ch_9:22) was not the same with the date of David in our present chapter, but was a subsequent date nearer the time of the Captivity. There is, therefore, no special ground for doubting the accuracy of the numbers given in this chapter.

The Pulpit Commentary
The casting of lots for the four chief names and the four chief aspects of gates, now proceeds. A special note is made of the care taken for the house of Asuppim; i.e. of "gatherings" or "stores." For all that we know of this "house," we seem to be left to the verses (15, 17) of this passage, and to the expression (Neh_12:25), "the storehouses, or stores of the gates" (though the Authorized Version, the "thresholds" of the gates), which would have been more intelligible had it been reversed, "the gates of the stores." Presumably it was a building for keeping safe certain of the sacred property, and was situated south of the temple, and, judging from 1Ch_26:17, had two doorways. The Vulgate translates seniorum concilium. To Shuppim. Nothing can be made of this word in this connection, as a proper name, though we have it (1Ch_7:12, 1Ch_7:15) as such. It is now generally rejected, as probably duo to the error of some transcriber, whose eye may have been caught again by the last tee syllables of the closely preceding "Asuppim." But some would place it as the last word of the previous verse, and make it amplify the meaning of Asuppim, e.g. "gatherings for stores." Shallecheth. By derivation, this word means "sending or throwing down." Hence some call it, "the refuse gate." The situation of it is, however, defined here, as by the causeway of the going up, and would seem to render such an interpretation less likely. According to Grove (in Smith's 'Bible Dictionary'), this causeway is still traceable: it runs up from the central valley of the town to the sacred site west of the temple (1Ki_10:5; 2Ch_9:4); and Grove would identify the "gate of Shallecheth" with the present Bab Silsileh. The Septuagint translates ἡ πυλὴ παστοφορίου, i.e. the gate of the temple-cell, which word they could get from the inverting of the order of the first two letters of the Hebrew Shallecheth. The Septuagint then mutts the following word, מְסִלָּה, Ward against ward; i.e. watch with watch. The expression up- pears to refer to the fact that Hosah's lot threw to him the charge of a double position.

1Ch_26:17, 1Ch_26:18

These verses give the number of individuals who composed the watch at a time, beginning again from Shelemiah's eastward position. The two and two toward Asuppim suggest most naturally the suppositon of two attendants at each of two gates, or else of two succeeding two. Parbar (פַרְבָּר). This word appears as פָּרְוָר in 2Ki_23:11. These words, with forms akin to them, are often found in the Targums, but not elsewhere in the Scriptures. The nearest approach to the meaning of the word, as yet discovered, is a "suburb." The connection may just do as much as indicate that, whereas four porters kept the causeway gate, the Parbar gate was in closer proximity to the temple that was to be, but what this Parbar really was is not yet ascertained. Possibly it is the προάστειον of Josephus ('Ant.,' 15. 11.5). If we add the numbers of Levites given in these two verses, it will be noticed that they mount up to twenty-four.

These verses describe those Levites to whom belonged the care of the treasures of the house of God and of the treasures of things dedicated, i.e. "dedicated to maintain the house of the Lord" (1Ch_26:27, 1Ch_26:28).

First, the Hebrew text contains no "of" in the first word of this verse; and, secondly, no meaning can be obtained cut of the name Ahijah as it is placed here. The Septuagint reading, "their brethren," is exactly what we should expect, and is paralleled by other passages (2Ch_29:34). This correction of the present text may be safely accepted, viz. אֲחֵיהֶם for אֲהִיָּה The two classes of treasures are here marked, preparatory to the statements of 1Ch_26:22 and 1Ch_26:26-28.

1Ch_26:21, 1Ch_26:22

These verses name those who had the care of the treasures of the house of the Lord. They are Gershonites through Laaden, previously called Libni (1Ch_6:17; also Exo_6:17; Num_3:18). The sons named as heads of houses are three, viz. Jehieli (1Ch_23:8) and his sons, Zetham and Joel. Those who think that 1Ch_23:8 carries with it the meaning that Jehieli, Zetham, and Joel were all three brothers, can, in point of fact, plausibly reduce this verse to their shape. For the yod, not welcome at the end of the name Jehieli here, might be read the conjunction vau in both instances in which it occurs. The reading would then run thus: "Jehiel and the sons of Jehiel, both Zetham and Joel his brother."

The Pulpit Commentary
The chiefs of the preceding two verses were introduced as descendants of Gershon through his son Laadan. The four names of this verse would seem to stand collectively for that of their father Kohath. One might, under these circumstances, have looked for the name of some member of each of these sub-families to appear in the number of the treasure-keepers just about to be mentioned. This is not so. Yet among other officials, and before the end of the general subject, the Izharites (1Ch_26:29) and the Hebronites (1Ch_26:30, 1Ch_26:31) do appear. This may possibly explain the mapping out thus of the Kohath family.

1Ch_26:24, 1Ch_26:25

Shebuel (1Ch_23:16; 1Ch_24:20), then, was the Amramite representative (and apparently a very special one in the office of נָגִיר, here attributed to him) through Gershom, the elder son of Moses. Next, through Eliezer, the second son of Moses, and through Rehabiah, son of Eliezer (1Ch_23:17), we are brought to the four—Jeshaiah (1Ch_24:21, Isshiah), and Joram, and Zichri, and Shelomith, who seem at first to mark four successions of generations upon Rehabiah, but who more probably (though it cannot be said positively) were four brothers, each a son of Rehabiah (1Ch_23:17). And it may be that it is to these four that reference is made in the first clause of our next verse (26), "Which Shelomith and his brethren," etc. The Shelomith here intended as an Amramite must be distinguished from the Gershonite of 1Ch_23:9, and from the Izharite of 1Ch_23:18.

The Pulpit Commentary
The treasures. The very first use of this word to signify a place where treasures were kept is in Jos_6:19, Jos_6:24. The same word is used for either the place or the treasures kept in it. Not found in the Books of Samuel, the word often occurs in the two Books of Kings and of Chronicles, once in Ezra, several times in Nehemiah, etc. In our next chapter (1Ch_27:25, 1Ch_27:27, 1Ch_27:28) it appears in the Authorized Version as "storehouses" and "cellars." Captains over thousands and hundreds (so see Exo_18:21, Exo_18:25; Num_31:14, etc.; Deu_1:15; 1Sa_8:12, etc.). Captains of the host (so Deu_20:9; Jos_5:14, Jos_5:15; Jdg_4:2; 1Sa_17:55, etc.).

For such proceeds of war, see 2Sa_8:10-12, etc.

The Pulpit Commentary
It is, perhaps, somewhat remarkable that, though the sacred history suggests to us numerous fit occasions for the "dedications" spoken of in this verse, yet they are not described in detail, nor even alluded to at the times when they occurred. Samuel, Saul, Abner, and Joab had then been unwittingly finding some of the treasures now disposed to highest use by David.

The Pulpit Commentary
The chapter closes with some enumeration of those who were appointed to the outward business (הַחִיעוֹנָה לַמְּלָאכָה) over Israel i.e. the secular or civic rather than temple business.

Though the Authorized Version of 1Ch_15:22 would make it appear very unlikely that the Chenaniah, a "chief of the Levites," here spoken of was identical with the present Chenaniah, yet the other translation of that passage, and the view that some take of it as describing one who had the special ordering of the carrying of the ark, would leave it more likely. For the officers and judges, see 1Ch_23:4; 2Ch_19:5-11. The too generic term "officers" (Exo_5:6-19 : Num_11:16, etc.) may be advantageously superseded by the word "scribes." These scribes and judges, it appears, were taken from the families of Izhar and Hebron alone, without any Amramite or Uzzielite of the other Kohathites, and without any Gershonite or Merarite of the other Levites.

The Pulpit Commentary
Were officers among them of Israel. The simpler translation would be, were for the superintending of Israel (compare the verb in 1Ch_26:32). On this side Jordan westward; literally, across Jordan westward, the point of view being from the Persian side. So Ezr_4:16; Ezr_6:6; Ezr_8:36; Neh_2:7; but also Jos_5:1; Jos_22:7, when the point of view was that of those who had still to cross the Jordan to the west. The expression, in all the business of the Lord, is probably no mere reminiscence of the temple or semi-sacred business (such as the gathering of the tithes, etc.), but rather the recognition of the fact that all that pertained to the right discharge of the civil duties of an Israelite's life lay within that description.

The Pulpit Commentary
This verse is at first sight obscure; but its purport is to say that the Hebronite family was, in the lust year of David's reign, found at Jazer of Gilead, which seems a Merarite city (Jos_13:25; Jos_21:39; Num_21:32), and that Jerijah (1Ch_23:19; 1Ch_24:23) was then chief of them. He and his brethren were now appointed to the superintendence of the two tribes and a half eastward of Jordan, while "Hashabiah and his brethren" fulfilled the like duties westward of Jordan The number of those east of Jordan constituted overseers seems large in proportion to those mentioned on the west; but we must bear in mind that the numbers of Chenaniah and their range of sphere are not stated. These will presumably complete the six thousand of 1Ch_23:4. Otherwise we have but to fall back on the conviction that the present account is imperfect as well as brief.

The Pulpit Commentary
Chief fathers. The number of chief fathers mentioned in this verse leads Keil to point out very justly that here at least the designation cannot mean anything beyond the fathers of individual families—cannot mean the heads of those groups which are composed of all the branches or relations of one house. They must have been heads of households (πατέρες), not heads of fathers' houses (πατριαί). The ambiguity is owing to the use of the words רָשֵׁי הָאָבוֹת in 1Ch_26:32, the latter of which words has so often supposed the word בֵּית to precede it, coupled to it by a hyphen. Adding the numbers of 1Ch_26:30 and 1Ch_26:32, we find a total of Hebronite "officers and judges" amounting to four thousand four hundred. The remaining sixteen hundred to complete the" six thousand" were drawn from the Gershon, Amram, and Izhar families. Some of the Uzzielites probably helped the Hebronites.