1 Chronicles 23:3-13

3 And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward; and their number, by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges
5 and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, [said David,] to praise [therewith].
6 And David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
7 Of the Gershonites: Laadan and Shimei.
8 The sons of Laadan: the head was Jehiel, and Zetham, and Joel, three.
9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the chief fathers of Laadan.
10 And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, Ziza, and Jeush, and Beriah. These were the four sons of Shimei.
11 And Jahath was the head, and Ziza the second; and Jeush and Beriah had not many sons: as father's house, therefore, they were reckoned as one.
12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Jizhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was separated, that he should be hallowed as most holy, he and his sons for ever, to offer before Jehovah, to do service to him, and to bless in his name for ever.

1 Chronicles 23:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 23

In this chapter David makes Solomon king, 1Ch 23:1, calls together the princes, priests, and Levites, numbers the latter, and assigns them their proper work, 1Ch 23:2-5, divides them into three classes, 1Ch 23:6-23, when the number of them was taken from twenty years of age, and upwards; the reasons of which are given, partly from the rest the land enjoyed, and partly from the several branches of their work and office in the temple, 1Ch 23:24-32.

Footnotes 4

  • [a]. See Deut. 1.15.
  • [b]. Or 'the first.'
  • [c]. Or 'the first.'
  • [d]. Lit. 'to burn incense;' but it includes also all that was burned as a sweet savour, as the burnt-offering, and the fat: see Lev. 1.9.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.