1 Chronicles 25:8

8 They cast lots for their assigned duties, small as well as great, teacher and pupil alike.

1 Chronicles 25:8 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 25:8

And they cast lots, ward against ward
That is, which ward or course of the singers should answer to and attend on the first ward or course of the priests in their weekly service, and which the second, and so on: as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar;
no regard was had to the age of a person, his being the firstborn or a younger brother, or to his office and station, whether as a teacher or a learner in the science of singing; he was made the head of a course, as the lot came up; and it may easily be observed, by comparing the lots in the following verses with the sons of the chief singers, according to the order of them in ( 1 Chronicles 25:2-4 ) that the younger are often preferred in the courses by lot to the elder, of which even the first lot is an instance.

1 Chronicles 25:8 In-Context

6 They were all under their father's direction when singing in the LORD's temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres to provide service in God's temple, by order of the king. As for Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman,

7 the number of themselves and their relatives, who were trained in singing to the LORD and who were all skillful, was 288.

8 They cast lots for their assigned duties, small as well as great, teacher and pupil alike.

9 The first lot fell for Asaph to Joseph; the second to Gedaliah, his relatives, and his family, 12;

10 the third to Zaccur, his family, and his relatives, 12;