For it was the king's commandment concerning them
Either of King David as some, see ( Nehemiah 12:24 ) or rather of the king of Persia:
that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day;
he settled a daily salary for them, to be paid out of his treasury; having perhaps a peculiar respect for such sort of men, being a lover of music, by means of which they had a settled habitation in Jerusalem.