1 Chronicles 27

23. But David took not the number of them from twenty years old and under--The census which David ordered did not extend to all the Israelites; for to contemplate such an enumeration would have been to attempt an impossibility ( Genesis 28:14 ), and besides would have been a daring offense to God. The limitation to a certain age was what had probably quieted David's conscience as to the lawfulness of the measure, while its expediency was strongly pressed upon his mind by the army arrangements he had in view.

24. neither was the number put in the account of the chronicles of King David--either because the undertaking was not completed, Levi and Benjamin not having been numbered ( 1 Chronicles 21:6 ), or the full details in the hands of the enumerating officers were not reported to David, and, consequently, not registered in the public archives.
the chronicles--were the daily records or annals of the king's reign. No notice was taken of this census in the historical register, as from the public calamity with which it was associated it would have stood as a painful record of the divine judgment against the king and the nation.

25. over the king's treasures--Those treasures consisted of gold, silver, precious stones, cedar-wood, &c.; those which he had in Jerusalem as distinguished from others without the city.
the storehouses in the fields--Grain covered over with layers of straw is frequently preserved in the fields under little earthen mounds, like our potato pits.

27. the vineyards--These seem to have been in the vine growing districts of Judah, and were committed to two men of that quarter.
wine-cellars--The wine is deposited in jars sunk in the court of the house.

28. olive trees and the sycamore trees . . . in the low plains--that is, the Shephela, the rich, low-lying ground between the Mediterranean and the mountains of Judah.

29. herds that fed in Sharon--a fertile plain between Cæsarea and Joppa.

30. camels--These were probably in the countries east of the Jordan, and hence an Ishmaelite and Nazarite were appointed to take charge of them.

31. rulers of the substance that was king David's--How and when the king acquired these demesnes and this variety of property--whether it was partly by conquests, or partly by confiscation, or by his own active cultivation of waste lands--is not said. It was probably in all these ways. The management of the king's private possessions was divided into twelve parts, like his public affairs and the revenue derived from all these sources mentioned must have been very large.