1 Chronicles 25:8

8 And they cast lots [for] responsibilities {on the principle of small and great alike}, teacher with student.

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 All these [were] under the {direction} of their father in the music of the house of Yahweh, with cymbals, harps, and stringed instruments for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman [were] under the {direction} of the king.

7 And their number, along with their brothers, trained singers, all the skilled people for Yahweh, were two hundred and eighty-eight.

8 And they cast lots [for] responsibilities {on the principle of small and great alike}, teacher with student.

9 And the first lot for Asaph went out to Joseph; the second to Gedaliahu; he and his brothers and his twelve sons.

10 The third, Zakkur, his sons and his brothers, twelve;

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "for like the small, like the great"