And he gathered together all the princes of Israel ,.... Ordered them to be assembled, partly to acquaint them with his will and pleasure, that Solomon should succeed him in the kingdom; and partly to settle the order of the work and service of the temple; and therefore these were convened with the priests and Levites ; to assign to them their respective places and offices. read more
Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upward ,.... So they were numbered in the days of Moses, and by his order, and so they were now at first; though afterwards there was a new reckoning of them, 1 Chronicles 23:24 . and their number by their posts ; or, according to their heads: man by man, was thirty and eight thousand ; which vastly exceeds the number in the times of Moses; see Numbers 4:47 , but then those above fifty years of age were not numbered,... read more
Thirty years and upward - The enumeration of the Levites made in the desert, Numbers 4:3 , was from thirty years upwards to fifty years. In this place, the latter limit is not mentioned, probably because the service was not so laborious now; for the ark being fixed they had no longer any heavy burdens to carry, and therefore even an old man might continue to serve the tabernacle. David made another ordinance afterwards; see on 1 Chronicles 23:24-27 ; (note). read more
EXPOSITION This chapter is the first of four employed on the subject of the Levites and the services distributed among them. The twenty-four orders of priests, sons of Aaron, occupy 1 Chronicles 24:1-31 . The twenty-four orders of the singers and musicians occupy the contents of 1 Chronicles 25:1-31 . And the divisions of the porters, with their gates; and of those Levites who had the keeping of the treasures of the house of God; and the officers and judges, fill up 1 Chronicles... read more
He gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. As on an occasion of supreme importance, David, in view of his own death and of his son's succession at the present time, calls together the full council, and the highest possible representative council of the nation. So 1 Chronicles 22:17 ; 1 Chronicles 24:6 ; 1 Chronicles 25:1 ; in which last passage the word "captains" should have have been rendered "princes" ( שׂרִי ). The arrangement of the... read more
Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward. The thing which Joab had rightly resisted ( 1 Chronicles 21:3-6 ) and shrunk from doing was now rightly done. There was now a practical and a legitimate object for doing it. This consideration helps to determine what it was that "displeased the Lord" in the former general census of David. In connection with this clause, 1 Chronicles 27:23 should be noted, where we read, "But David took not the number of them from... read more
1 Chronicles 23:2. He gathered together all the princes, &c. Partly to declare God’s will, and his own desire, that Solomon should be his successor; and so to cut off the claims and pretences which others of his sons might have made to the crown; and partly to acquaint them with those directions which he had received from God, by the Spirit, as appears from 1 Chronicles 28:11, &c., concerning the establishment of a new order and method in the ministration of the priests and Levites... read more
1 Chronicles 23:3. From the age of thirty years and upward Not only till fifty, as it was appointed Numbers 4:2-3, but even till their death: for that was but a temporary law grounded upon a special reason, because the Levites were employed in carrying the tabernacle and sacred vessels from place to place; and therefore God would have them freed from those burdens when they came to feel the infirmities of age: which reason wholly ceasing upon the building of the temple, their work being far... read more
Arrangements for the Levites (23:1-26:32)Having appointed Solomon to be his successor, David made further arrangements for the service of the temple. First, he set out a plan to distribute duties among the Levites. A census showed that there were 38,000 Levites eligible for temple service. Of these, 14,000 were official record-keepers, judges, guards, singers and musicians. The remainder were to help in the general service of the temple (23:1-6). Clearly, there were far too many Levites to work... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Chronicles 23:1-23
Here we have, I. The crown entailed, according to the divine appointment, 1 Chron. 23:1. David made Solomon king, not to reign with him, or reign under him, but only to reign after him. This he did, 1. When he was old and full of days. He was but seventy years old when he died, and yet he was full of days, satur dierum?satisfied with living in this world. When he found himself going off, he made provision for the welfare of the kingdom after his decease, and pleased himself with the hopeful... read more