And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi ,.... Into three classes, according to the number of them, which follow: namely: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari ; see Exodus 6:16 . read more
Of the Gershonites were Laadan and Shimei. These two were the immediate posterity of Gershon; are the same with Libni and Shimhi, and heads of families, Exodus 6:17 . read more
The sons of Laadan; the chief was Jehiah, and Zetham, and Joel. Not his immediate sons, but some that descended from him. read more
The sons of Shimei ,.... Not him that was the son of Gershon, but a descendant of Laadan, his son, as Kimchi observes: Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, these were the chief of the fathers of Laadan ; of the families that sprang from him. read more
And the sons of Shimei ,.... The son of Gershon, and brother of Laadan, according to Kimchi, which seems right: were Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah; these four were the sons of Shimei ; descendants of his in the times of David. read more
And Jahath was the chief ,.... The prince and head of a family: and Ziza the second ; the same with Zina in 1 Chronicles 23:10 , and is there read Ziza in the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions: but Jeush and Beriah had not many sons ; so as to constitute distinct families: therefore they were in one reckoning, according to their father's house ; made one family with their brethren. read more
The sons of Kohath ,.... The second son of Levi: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four ; see Exodus 6:18 . read more
Therefore they were in one reckoning - The family of Shimei, being small, was united with that of Laadan, that the two families might do that work which otherwise belonged to one, but which would have been too much for either of these separately. read more
Here begin the families of the Levites, as arranged in courses by David. These arrangements were scrupulously observed by Solomon ( 2 Chronicles 8:14 ; 2 Chronicles 29:25 ). 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