2 Chronicles 17:14 - Exposition

This verse, with the following four, gives us the names of five captains, chiefs, princes , or military officers for the kingdom's service, with the numbers of the troops they severally commanded . The numbers of them (see note under 1 Chronicles 23:11 ); Hebrew, פקֻדָּתָם . The better English rendering to carry at once the signification would be, The muster of them, etc. The captains … the chief , In both cases the Hebrew is the familiar word for" prince" ( שָׂר ); in the former without article, in the latter with article. The numbers of this and following four verses are not only absolutely unreliable, but in themselves impossible. According to the house of their fathers ; i.e. the quotation is drawn from an army catalogue, arranged carefully by fathers' houses ( Numbers 1:18 , Numbers 1:22 , etc.).