1Ch 26:20-32 | KD | STEP | The stewards of the treasures of the sanctuary. - appears to contain the superscription of the succeeding section. For here the treasures of the house of God and the treasures of the consecrated things are grouped together, while in and they are separated, and placed under the oversight of two Levite families: the treasures of the house of Jahve under the sons of the Gershonite Laadan ( , ); the treasures of the consecrated things under the charge of the Amramites. But with this the words אחיּה הלויּם cannot be made to harmonize. According to the Masoretic accentuation, הלויּם alone would be the superscription; but הלויּם alone gives no suitable sense, for the Levites have been treated of already from 1 Chron 23 onwards. Moreover, it appears somewhat strange that there is no further characterization of אחיּה, for the name is a very common one, but has not before occurred in our chapter, whence we would expect a statement of his descent and his family, such as we find in the case of the succeeding chief overseers. All these things tend to throw doubt upon the correctness of the Masoretic reading, while the lxx, on the contrary, in καὶ οἱ Δευῖται ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῶν θησαυρῶν κ.τ.λ, give a perfectly suitable superscription, which involves the reading אחיהם instead of אחיּה. This reading we, with J. D. Mich. and Berth., hold to be the original. On אהיהם הלויּם, cf. ; 2Ch 29:34.

‏ 1 Chronicles 26:20-32

1Ch 26:20 The stewards of the treasures of the sanctuary. - 1Ch 26:20 appears to contain the superscription of the succeeding section. For here the treasures of the house of God and the treasures of the consecrated things are grouped together, while in 1Ch 26:22 and 1Ch 26:26 they are separated, and placed under the oversight of two Levite families: the treasures of the house of Jahve under the sons of the Gershonite Laadan (1Ch 26:21, 1Ch 26:22); the treasures of the consecrated things under the charge of the Amramites. But with this the words אחיּה הלויּם cannot be made to harmonize. According to the Masoretic accentuation, הלויּם alone would be the superscription; but הלויּם alone gives no suitable sense, for the Levites have been treated of already from 1 Chron 23 onwards. Moreover, it appears somewhat strange that there is no further characterization of אחיּה, for the name is a very common one, but has not before occurred in our chapter, whence we would expect a statement of his descent and his family, such as we find in the case of the succeeding chief overseers. All these things tend to throw doubt upon the correctness of the Masoretic reading, while the lxx, on the contrary, in καὶ οἱ Δευῖται ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τῶν θησαυρῶν κ.τ.λ, give a perfectly suitable superscription, which involves the reading אחיהם instead of אחיּה. This reading we, with J. D. Mich. and Berth., hold to be the original. On אהיהם הלויּם, cf. 1Ch 6:29; 2Ch 29:34. 1Ch 26:21-22 1Ch 26:21 and 1Ch 26:22 to together: “The sons of Laadan, (namely) the sons of the Gershonite family which belong to Laadan, (namely) the heads of the fathers'-houses of Laadan of the Gershonite family: Jehieli, (namely) the sons of Jehieli, Zetham and his brother Joel (see 1Ch 23:7), were over the treasures of the house of Jahve.” The meaning is this: “Over the treasures of the house of Jahve were Zetham and Joel, the heads of the father's-house of Jehieli, which belonged to the Laadan branch of the Gershonites.” Light is thrown upon these words, so obscure through their brevity, by 1Ch 23:7-8, according to which the sons of Jehiel, or the Jehielites, are descended from Laadan, the older branch of the Gershonites. This descent is briefly but fully stated in the three clauses of the 21st verse, each of which contains a more definite characterization of the father's-house Jehieli, whose two heads Zetham and Joel were entrusted with the oversight of the treasures of the house of God. 1Ch 26:23-24 1Ch 26:23 and 1Ch 26:24 also go together: “As to the Amramites, Jisharites, Hebronites, and Uzzielites (the four chief branches of the Kohathite family of Levites, 1Ch 23:15-20), Shebuel the son of Gershon, the son of Moses, was prince over the treasures” (w before Shebuel introduces the apodosis, cf. Ew. §348, a, and = Germ. “so war”). 1Ch 26:25 “And his (Shebuel’s) brethren of Eliezer were Rehabiah his (Eliezer’s) son, and Jeshaiah his son, ... and Shelomoth his son.” These descendants of Eliezer were called brethren of Shebuel, because they were descended through Eliezer from Moses, as Shebuel was through his father Gershon. 1Ch 26:26-28

This Shelomoth (a descendant of Eliezer, and so to be distinguished both from the Jisharite Shelomith 1Ch 23:18 and 1Ch 24:22, and the Gershonite of the same name 1Ch 23:9), and his brethren were over the treasures of the consecrated things which David the king had consecrated, and the heads of the fathers'-houses, etc. Instead of לשׂרי we must read ושׁרי, according to 1Ch 29:6. The princes over the thousands and hundreds are the war captains, and the הצּבא שׂרי are the commanders-in-chief, e.g., Abner, Joab, 1Ch 27:34, 2Sa 8:16; 1Ch 18:15. - The 27th verse is an explanatory parenthesis: “from the wars and from the booty,” i.e., from the booty taken in war had they consecrated. לחזּק, to make strong, i.e., to preserve in strength and good condition the house of Jahve. חזּק elsewhere of the renovation of old buildings, 2Ki 12:8., Neh 3:2., here in a somewhat general signification. - In 1Ch 26:28 the enumeration of those who had consecrated, thus interrupted, is resumed, but in the form of a new sentence, which concludes with a predicate of its own. In ההקדּישׁ the article represents אשׁר, as in 1Ch 29:17; 2Ch 29:36, and elsewhere; cf. Ew. §331, b. With המּקדּישׁ כּל, all who had consecrated, the enumeration is concluded, and the predicate, “was at the hand of Shelomith and his brethren,” is then brought in. על־יד, laid upon the hand, i.e., entrusted to them for preservation; Germ. unter der Hand (under the hand).

If we glance back at the statements as to the stewards of the treasures (1Ch 26:20-28), we find that the treasures of the house of Jahve were under the oversight of the Jehielites Zetham and Joel, with their brethren, a branch of the Gershonites (v. 22); and the treasures of the consecrated things under the oversight of the Kohathite Shelomith, who was of the family of Moses’ second son Eliezer, with his brethren (v. 28). But in what relation does the statement in v. 24, that Shebuel, the descendant of Moses through Gershon, was על־האצרות נגיד, stand to this? Bertheau thinks “that three kinds of treasures are distinguished, the guarding of which was committed to different officials: (1) The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel, had the oversight of the treasures of the house of God, which, as we may conclude from 1Ch 29:8, had been collected by voluntary gifts: (2) Shebuel was prince over the treasures, perhaps over the sums which resulted from regular assessment for the temple (Exo 30:11-16), from redemption-money, e.g., for the first-born (Num 18:16.), or for vows (Lev); consequently over a part of the sums which are designated in 2Ki 12:5 by the name הקדשים כסף: (3) Shelomith and his brothers had the oversight of all the הקדשים אוצרות, i.e., of the consecrated gifts which are called in 2Ki 12:19 קדשים, and distinguished from the קדשים כסף in 2Ki 12:5.” But this view has no support in the text. Both in the superscription (1Ch 26:20) and in the enumeration (1Ch 26:22, 1Ch 26:26) only two kinds of treasures-treasures of the house of God (of Jahve), and treasures of the קדשׁים - are mentioned. Neither by the facts nor by the language used are we justified in supposing that there was a third kind of treasures, viz., the sums resulting from the regular assessment for the holy place. For it is thoroughly arbitrary to confine the treasures of the house of God to the voluntary contributions and the consecrated gifts given from the war-booty; and it is still more arbitrary to limit the treasures over which Shebuel was prince to the sums flowing into the temple treasures from the regular assessment; for the reference to 2Ki 12:19 and 2Ki 12:5 is no proof of this, because, though two kinds of קדשׁים are there distinguished, yet both are further defined. The quite general expression האצרות, the treasures, can naturally be referred only to the two different kinds of treasures distinguished in 1Ch 26:22. This reference is also demanded by the words נגיד...שׁבוּאל (1Ch 26:24). Heads of fathers'-houses, with their brethren (אהיהם), are mentioned as guardians of the two kinds of treasures spoken of in 1Ch 26:20; while here, on the contrary, we have Shebuel alone, without assistants. Further, the other guardians are not called נגיד, as Shebuel is. The word נגיד denotes not an overseer or steward, but only princes of kingdoms (kings), princes of tribes (1Ch 12:27; 1Ch 13:1; 1Ch 27:16; 2Ch 32:21), ministers of the palace and the temple, and commanders-in-chief (2Ch 11:11; 2Ch 28:7), and is consequently used in our section neither of Zetham and Joel, nor of Shelomoth. The calling of Shebuel נגיד consequently shows that he was the chief guardian of the sacred treasures, under whose oversight the guardians of the two different kinds of treasures were placed. This is stated in 1Ch 26:23, 1Ch 26:24; and the statement would not have been misunderstood if it had been placed at the beginning or the end of the enumeration; and its position in the middle between the Gershonites and the Kohathites is explained by the fact that this prince was, according to 1Ch 23:16, the head of the four Levite families descended from Kohath. 1Ch 26:29 The officials for the external business. - 1Ch 26:29. “As to the Izharites, Chenaniah (see on 1Ch 15:22) with his sons was for the outward business over Israel for scribes and judges.” According to this, the external business of the Levites consisted of service as scribes and judges, for which David had set apart 6000 Levites (1Ch 23:4). Without sufficient reason, Bertheau would refer the external business to the exaction of the dues for the temple, because in Neh 11:16 ההיצנה המּלאכה for the temple is spoken of. But it does not at all follow that in our verse the external work had any reference to the temple, and that the scribes and judges had only this narrow sphere of action, since here, instead of the house of God, ישׂראל על is mentioned as the object with which the external service was connected. 1Ch 26:30

Of Hebronites, Hashabiah and his brethren, 1700 valiant men, were ישׂ פּקדּת על, for the oversight (inspection) of Israel this side Jordan, for all the business of Jahve and the service of the king. Bertheau takes פּקדּה to mean “due,” “fixed tribute,” a meaning which the word cannot be shown to have. The lxx have translated correctly, ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπισκέψεως τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, ad inspectionem Israelis, i.e., praefecti erant (J. H. Mich.). For פּקדּת על is in 1Ch 26:32 rendered by על יפקיד. ליּרדּן מעבר is shown by the addition מערבה to refer to the land of Canaan, as in Jos 5:1; Jos 22:7, since Israel, both under Joshua and also after the exile, had come from the eastward over Jordan into Canaan. The words מלאכת and עבדת are synonymous, and are consequently both represented in 1Ch 26:32 by דּבר. 1Ch 26:31-32

David set another branch of the Hebronites, under the head Jeriah (cf. 1Ch 23:9), over the East-Jordan tribes. Between the words “Jeriah the head,” 1Ch 26:31, and ואחיו, 1Ch 26:32, a parenthesis is inserted, which gives the reason why David made these Hebronites scribes and judges among the East-Jordan tribes. The parenthesis runs thus: “As to the Hebronites, according to their generations, according to fathers, they were sought out in the fortieth year of David’s rule, and valiant heroes were found among them in Jazer of Gilead.” Jazer was a Levite city in the tribal domain of Gad, assigned, according to Jos 21:39, to the Merarites (see on 1Ch 6:81). The number of these Hebronites was 2700 valiant men (1Ch 26:32). The additional האבות ראשׁי is obscure, for if we take אבות to be, as it often is in the genealogies, a contraction for בּית־עבות rof no, the number given does not suit; for a branch of the Hebronites cannot possibly have numbered 2700 fathers'-houses (πατριαὶ, groups of related households): they must be only 2700 men (גּברים), or heads of families, i.e., households. Not only the large number demands this signification, but also the comparison of this statement with that in 1Ch 26:30. The 1700 חיל בּני of which the Hebronite branch, Hashabiah with his brethren, consisted, were not so many πατριαὶ, but only so many men of this πατριά. In the same way, the Hebronite branch of which Jeriah was head, with his brethren, 2700 חיל בּני, were also not 2700 πατριαὶ, but only so many men, that is, fathers of families. It is thus placed beyond doubt that אבות ראשׁי cannot here denote the heads of fathers'-houses, but only heads of households. And accordingly we must not understand לאבות (1Ch 26:31) of fathers'-houses, as the lxx and all commentators do, but only of heads of households. The use of the verb נדרשׁוּ also favours this view, for this verb is not elsewhere used of the legal census of the people, i.e., the numbering and entering of them in the public lists, according to the great families and fathers'-houses. There may therefore be in נדרשׁוּ a hint that it was not a genealogical census which was undertaken, but only a numbering of the heads of households, in order to ascertain the number of scribes and judges to be appointed. There yet remain in this section three things which are somewhat strange: 1. Only 1700 scribes and judges were set over the cis-Jordanic land, inhabited as it was by ten and a half tribes, while 2700 were set over the trans-Jordanic land with its two and a half tribes. 2. Both numbers taken together amount to only 4400 men, while David appointed 6000 Levites to be scribes and judges. 3. The scribes and judges were taken only from two fathers'-houses of the Kohathites, while most of the other Levitical offices were filled by men of all the families of the tribe of Levi. On all these grounds, it is probable that our catalogue of the Levites appointed to be scribes and judges, i.e., for the external business, is imperfect. Division of the Army. Tribal Princes, Administrators of the Domains, and Councillors of State - 1 Chronicles 27

This chapter treats of the organization of the army (1Ch 27:1-15) and the public administration; in 1Ch 27:16-24, the princes of the twelve tribes being enumerated; in 1Ch 27:25-31, the managers of the royal possessions and domains; and in 1Ch 27:32-34, the chief councillors of the king. The information on these points immediately succeeds the arrangement of the service of the Levites, because, as we learn from 1Ch 27:23., David attempted in the last year of his reign to give a more stable form to the political constitution of the kingdom also. In the enumeration of the twelve divisions of the army, with their leaders (1Ch 27:1-15), it is not indeed said when David organized the men capable of bearing arms for the alternating monthly service; but the reference in 1Ch 27:23. of our chapter to the numbering of the people, spoken of in 1 Chron 21, leaves no doubt of the fact that this division of the people stands in intimate connection with that numbering of the people, and that David caused the people to be numbered in order to perfect the military constitution of the kingdom, and to leave his kingdom to his son strong within and mighty without.