1 Chronicles 24:4

4 There were more men who were chiefs found among the descendants of El'azar than among the descendants of Itamar; therefore there were sixteen divisions of the descendants of El'azar, headed by clan leaders, and eight divisions of the descendants of Itamar, according to their clans.

1 Chronicles 24:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 24:4

And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than
of the sons of Ithamar
Or heads of men, heads of their fathers' houses and families:

and thus were they divided; among the sons of Eleazar there were
sixteen chief men of the house of their fathers, and eight among the
sons of Ithamar, according to the house of their fathers;
in all twenty four, and into so many classes or courses did David divide them; Jarchi says at first when the tabernacle was at Shiloh, there were but sixteen courses, eight from Eleazar, and eight from Ithamar, as is explained in the treatise of fasting ^F14; but when David saw that there were more heads of men, or chief men of Eleazar's, he divided the courses of Eleazar into two parts, and fixed sixteen courses; and the courses of Ithamar he established as at first, eight courses; left them as they were, which he thinks appears from ( 1 Chronicles 24:6 ) but of the former number of courses, and when and by whom fixed, the Jews are divided ^F15; (See Gill on Luke 1:5). Perhaps there were none before David's time.

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FOOTNOTES:

F14 T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 27. 1.
F15 T. Bab. Taanith, fol. 27. 1.

1 Chronicles 24:4 In-Context

2 But Nadav and Avihu died before their father and had no children; therefore El'azar and Itamar functioned as the cohanim.

3 David, together with Tzadok from the descendants of El'azar, and Achimelekh from the descendants of Itamar, arranged them in divisions for service.

4 There were more men who were chiefs found among the descendants of El'azar than among the descendants of Itamar; therefore there were sixteen divisions of the descendants of El'azar, headed by clan leaders, and eight divisions of the descendants of Itamar, according to their clans.

5 They were assigned [periods of service] by lot, the one group equally with the other, since both the descendants of El'azar and the descendants of Itamar had officers of the sanctuary and officers of God.

6 Sh'ma'yah the son of N'tan'el the secretary, one of the L'vi'im, recorded them in the presence of the king, the officers, Tzadok the cohen, Achimelekh the son of Evyatar, and the clan leaders of the cohanim and of the L'vi'im - with two clan divisions taken from El'azar for each one from Itamar.