1 Chronicles 23 Study Notes

23:1 David intended for Solomon to be king after him. He had made this known to Solomon and to his advisers. Now he acted on this declaration and officially made Solomon co-regent alongside him. Despite David’s public acclaim of Solomon, there would be vigorous dispute of this decision (1Kg 1-2). David reiterated his will on the matter several times (1Kg 1:38-39). Also see 1Ch 29:22 and note at 29:20-22.

23:2-3 David called a meeting of the country’s leaders and the priests and Levites. The first part of this chapter is directed to those Levites thirty years old or older who would be ready to step into their roles as soon as the temple was built. Later on (v. 24) the minimum age is lowered to twenty years old. This lower number would include those who would have been in training and were not yet eligible for actual service, but who needed to be listed in their applicable categories. A total of thirty-eight thousand men were ready to get to work. With that many people, everyone would be able to lead a normal life at home for most of the year and be required to spend just a short time in Jerusalem pursuing temple duties.

23:4-5 The Levites were divided along several lines. The largest number (twenty-four thousand) consisted of those who were actually doing temple work. Six thousand men were given the job of prescreening individuals and their potential sacrifices to make sure that neither the persons nor what they brought as offerings were unclean, and that everything proceeded in accordance with the law. The four thousand . . . gatekeepers were the guards. In keeping with David’s vision for worship in the future, a large corps of musicians (four thousand) would be available.

23:6 Having established the broad, professional divisions, the same large group also was allocated into the three lines of descent from Levi’s sons: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

23:7-8 The Chronicler assumes his usual method with genealogies in following a specific line and then backtracking.

23:9 This Shimei must have been a fourth son of Ladan, named after his uncle, whose descendants are named according to his three sons. Ladan was also called “Libni” (6:17).

23:11 Jeush and Beriah were counted as one because they did not have many sons.

23:12 Kohath’s clan included the priestly line of Aaron. Other members of this clan challenged Aaron’s exclusive right to the priesthood, only to find themselves swallowed up by the earth as God’s punishment (Nm 16).

23:13-14 For the Chronicler, the descendants of Aaron were far more important at this point than those of Moses.

23:15-20 The Chronicler lists the involvement of Moses’s sons Gershom and Eliezer. See Ex 18:2-4.

23:21-23 The line of Eleazar continued by virtue of his daughters marrying the sons of Kish. In 24:29 we learn that one of Kish’s sons was Jerahmeel. The other supplementary information from 24:26-27 is that Merari had a third son, Jaaziah, who also had three sons.

23:24 The Chronicler was not obsessed with names for their own sake. Their significance lay in the fact that on the basis of this information, Levites during his own time would be reminded of where they fit in with the general program of service to the Lord’s temple.

23:25 Anticipating what would not be reality until the time of Solomon, David declared that rest had come to Israel because there would now be a permanent place for the ark and for worship.

23:26-29 There was no longer any reason for the tabernacle to be carried. Those Levites who had this as their main duty would receive new assignments. The matter of moving the ark would not come up again until hundreds of years later (2Ch 35:2).

23:30-31 The Chronicler again emphasizes David’s institution of regular temple music. The musicians must perform on a daily basis as well as at the major sacrifices and on special occasions.