1 Chronicles 27 Study Notes

27:1 The Chronicler spends a lot of time on the various participants in the temple service but relatively little time on the secular officials and the army. The most important category of classification here is that there were twelve divisions composed of 24,000 soldiers each. Each of those units was on duty for one month out of the year during times of peace. During times of war, obviously everyone would be mobilized. Many of the names here appear in the list of the “Thirty” in chap. 11. Since David reigned for forty years, this list is something of an abstraction, with different personnel probably in charge at various times. In many cases two names are mentioned (e.g., 27:4). In these cases the second person may have been the first one’s adjutant early on, and then later his successor.

27:2-3 As a descendant of Perez . . . Jashobeam belonged to the expanded clan within Judah to which David was linked.

27:4 This is one of those instances with two names, where Mikloth may have reported to Dodai at first, and then may have replaced him later (see note at v. 1).

27:5-6 We have seen Benaiah several times already. He was the most honored of the Thirty (11:22), and he was in charge of the Philistine mercenaries (18:17). Here we see him commanding one of the twelve units of 24,000 as well. His own son Ammizabad was second in command to him.

27:7 The idealized nature of this list is brought out by the fact that Asahel was killed during the civil war between David and Esh-baal (2Sm 2:23). So for all practical purposes, the command of this unit belonged to Zebadiah the entire time.

27:11 Sibbecai is familiar because he killed one of the Philistine giants (19:4).

27:16 This verse begins a list of those who were in charge of each tribe. We can think of them as governors of the tribes. Gad and Asher are left out, perhaps because they were governed by the leaders of another tribe. The number of men on the list comes to twelve because each of the two halves of Manasseh is represented separately (vv. 20-21) and Levi has two representatives (v. 17).

27:17 One person was in charge of the tribe of Levi at large, but the descendants of Aaron—the priests—were represented separately by Zadok.

27:18 Elihu was one of David’s brothers. He is not listed among David’s six brothers in 2:13-15. This could mean that this name is a variation on Eliab, David’s older brother, or that this is a seventh brother who is not mentioned earlier by the Chronicler. This second interpretation makes sense because 1Sm 16:10 refers to seven brothers of David.

27:23-24 A potential army would have been much larger than the 288,000 mentioned here, but the Chronicler reminds us that no exact total is available because the census that David had ordered was contrary to God’s directions and was punished by the Lord (see chap. 21).

27:25-33 These verses tell us about David’s cabinet. Azmaveth was secretary of the treasury. Under him overseeing the various treasury locations around the nation was Jonathan son of Uzziah. There were also cabinet posts for the oversight of agriculture and herding.

27:32 This verse describes the inner circle of David’s advisers, though again this is not a permanent group. Jonathan, despite these accolades, makes his only appearance in the record at this point. Jehiel, who tended David’s sons, must have had great skill at diplomacy and conflict resolution.

27:33 Ahithophel was so wise that his advice was considered almost like hearing from God himself (2Sm 16:23). Unfortunately, none of this wisdom prevented him from joining Absalom’s rebellion and ending his life with suicide (2Sm 17:23). Hushai helped David by infiltrating Absalom’s inner circle and frustrating Ahithophel’s advice (2Sm 17:14).

27:34 Although this passage does not mention Ahithophel’s death, it is implied by mentioning his successors. First came Jehoiada son of Benaiah (not to be confused with the hero Benaiah son of Jehoiada); then came Abiathar, who may have been either the priest who was David’s friend during the king’s time in the wilderness, or his grandson.