1 Chronicles 26

1 Chronicles 26:1-12 . DIVISIONS OF THE PORTERS.

1, 2. Concerning the divisions of the porters--There were four thousand ( 1 Chronicles 23:6 ), all taken from the families of the Kohathites and Merarites ( 1 Chronicles 26:14 ), divided into twenty-four courses--as the priests and musicians.
Meshelemiah the son of Kore, of the sons of Asaph--Seven sons of Meshelemiah are mentioned ( 1 Chronicles 26:2 ), whereas eighteen are given ( 1 Chronicles 26:9 ), but in this latter number his relatives are included.

5. God blessed him--that is, Obed-edom. The occasion of the blessing was his faithful custody of the ark ( 2 Samuel 6:11 2 Samuel 6:12 ). The nature of the blessing ( Psalms 127:5 ) consisted in the great increase of progeny by which his house was distinguished; seventy-two descendants are reckoned.

6. mighty men of valour--The circumstance of physical strength is prominently noticed in this chapter, as the office of the porters required them not only to act as sentinels of the sacred edifice and its precious furniture against attacks of plunderers or popular insurrection--to be, in fact, a military guard--but, after the temple was built, to open and shut the gates, which were extraordinarily large and ponderous.

10. Simri the chief . . . though . . . not the first-born--probably because the family entitled to the right of primogeniture had died out, or because there were none of the existing families which could claim that right.

12. Among these were the divisions of the porters, even among the chief men--These were charged with the duty of superintending the watches, being heads of the twenty-four courses of porters.

1 Chronicles 26:13-19 . THE GATES ASSIGNED BY LOT.

13. they cast lots--Their departments of duty, such as the gates they should attend to, were allotted in the same manner as those of the other Levitical bodies, and the names of the chiefs or captains are given, with the respective gates assigned them.

15. the house of Asuppim--or, "collections," probably a storehouse, where were kept the grain, wine, and other offerings for the sustenance of the priests.

16. the gate Shallecheth--probably the rubbish gate, through which all the accumulated filth and sweepings of the temple and its courts were poured out.
by the causeway of the going up--probably the ascending road which was cast up or raised from the deep valley between Mount Zion and Moriah, for the royal egress to the place of worship ( 2 Chronicles 9:4 ).
ward against ward--Some refer these words to Shuppim and Hosah, whose duty it was to watch both the western gate and the gate Shallecheth, which was opposite, while others take it as a general statement applicable to all the guards, and intended to intimate that they were posted at regular distances from each other, or that they all mounted and relieved guard at the same time in uniform order.

17-19. Eastward were six Levites--because the gate there was the most frequented. There were four at the north gate; four at the south, at the storehouse which was adjoining the south, and which had two entrance gates, one leading in a southwesterly direction to the city, and the other direct west, two porters each. At the Parbar towards the west, there were six men posted--four at the causeway or ascent ( 1 Chronicles 26:16 ), and two at Parbar, amounting to twenty-four in all, who were kept daily on guard.

18. Parbar--is, perhaps, the same as Parvar ("suburbs," 2 Kings 23:11 ), and if so, this gate might be so called as leading to the suburbs [CALMET].

1 Chronicles 26:20-28 . LEVITES THAT HAD CHARGE OF THE TREASURES.