Text -- 1 Chronicles 23:1-24 (NET)

David Organizes the Levites

23:1 When David was old and approaching the end of his life, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 23:2 David assembled all the leaders of Israel, along with the priests and the Levites. 23:3 The Levites who were thirty years old and up were counted; there were 38,000 men. 23:4 David said, “Of these, 24,000 are to direct the work of the Lord’s temple; 6,000 are to be officials and judges; 23:5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.” 23:6 David divided them into groups corresponding to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 23:7 The Gershonites included Ladan and Shimei. 23:8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the oldest, Zetham, and Joel– three in all. 23:9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran– three in all. These were the leaders of the family of Ladan. 23:10 The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons– four in all. 23:11 Jahath was the oldest and Zizah the second oldest. Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, so they were considered one family with one responsibility. 23:12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel– four in all. 23:13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were chosen on a permanent basis to consecrate the most holy items, to offer sacrifices before the Lord, to serve him, and to praise his name. 23:14 The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites. 23:15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 23:16 The son of Gershom: Shebuel the oldest. 23:17 The son of Eliezer was Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants. 23:18 The son of Izhar: Shelomith the oldest. 23:19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the oldest, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth. 23:20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the oldest, and Isshiah the second. 23:21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 23:22 Eleazar died without having sons; he had only daughters. The sons of Kish, their cousins, married them. 23:23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth– three in all. 23:24 These were the descendants of Levi according to their families, that is, the leaders of families as counted and individually listed who carried out assigned tasks in the Lord’s temple and were twenty years old and up.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:1

¹ tn Heb “and full of years.”

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:2

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:3

¹ tn Heb “and their number by their heads, by men, was 38,000.”

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:4

¹ tn The words “David said” are supplied here in the translation for clarification. The appearance of the first person verb “I supplied” in v. 5 indicates that David is speaking here.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:5

¹ tn Heb “made to [or “for”] praise.”

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:10

¹ tc The MT reads “Zina” here and “Zizah” in v. 11. One Hebrew ms, the LXX, and the Vulgate, harmonizing the form of the name to that found in v. 11, read “Zizah” here.

² sn Verses 8-10 are confusing. Two different lists of Shimei’s sons appear. In between these lists is the statement “these were the leaders of the family of Ladan,” suggesting that the list just before this includes the sons of Ladan, not Shimei. But verse 8 already lists Ladan’s sons. Apparently the text as it stands is a conflation of differing traditions.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:13

¹ tn Heb “and Aaron was set apart to consecrate it, the most holy things, he and his sons, permanently, to sacrifice before the Lord, to serve him, and to bless his name permanently.”

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:14

¹ tn Heb “and Moses the man of God, his sons were called to the tribe of Levi.”

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:16

¹ tn The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this. The attached phrase “the oldest” might indicate that Shebuel was not Gershom’s only son, but note v. 17.

² tc The LXX reads Σουβαηλ (Soubahl) here, a reading followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, CEV (“Shubael”); cf. 24:20.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:17

¹ tn The Hebrew text has “the sons of Eliezer were,” but only one name appears after this in the verse, and we are specifically told that Eliezer had no other sons.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:18

¹ tn The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this. The attached phrase “the oldest” might indicate that Shelomith was not Izhar’s only son, but note v. 17.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:22

¹ tn Heb “the sons of Kish, their brothers [i.e., relatives/cousins] lifted them up.” For other uses of נָאָשׂ (na’as, “lift up”) in the sense of “marry,” see BDB 671 s.v. Qal.3.d.

NET Notes: 1Ch 23:24

¹ tn Heb “these were the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers, heads of the fathers, according to their numberings, by number of names, according to their heads, doer[s] of the work for the service of the house of the Lord, from a son of twenty years and upwards.”