1 Chronicles 26:13

13 and they cast lots by ancestral houses, small and great alike, for their gates.

1 Chronicles 26:13 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 26:13

And they cast lots
To determine at which gate each should stand, who at this gate, and who at the other

as well the small as the great, according to the house of their
fathers, for every gate;
meaning, not little ones and grown persons in a family, but the smaller and poorer families, and the larger and richer ones, had their places assigned them at the several gates, as the lot directed; they did not go according to the dignity and precedence of their families, but according to lot.

1 Chronicles 26:13 In-Context

11 Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third, Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brothers of Hosah totaled thirteen.

12 These divisions of the gatekeepers, corresponding to their leaders, had duties, just as their kindred did, ministering in the house of the Lord;

13 and they cast lots by ancestral houses, small and great alike, for their gates.

14 The lot for the east fell to Shelemiah. They cast lots also for his son Zechariah, a prudent counselor, and his lot came out for the north.

15 Obed-edom's came out for the south, and to his sons was allotted the storehouse.