Discovery Box1 Chronicles 23:1--24:31 
Context23:1 When David was old and approaching the end of his life, 1 he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
23:2 David 2 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. 3 23:4 David said, 4 “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.” 5 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, 6 Jeush, and Beriah. These were Shimei’s sons – four in all. 7 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. 8 23:14 The descendants of Moses the man of God were considered Levites. 9
23:15 The sons of Moses:
Gershom and Eliezer.
Shebuel 11 the oldest.
23:17 The son of Eliezer was 12 Rehabiah, the oldest. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had many descendants.
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. 14
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. 15 23:25 For David said, “The Lord God of Israel has given his people rest and has permanently settled in Jerusalem. 16 23:26 So the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the items used in its service.” 23:27 According to David’s final instructions, the Levites twenty years old and up were counted. 17
23:28 Their job was to help Aaron’s descendants in the service of the Lord’s temple. They were to take care of the courtyards, the rooms, ceremonial purification of all holy items, and other jobs related to the service of God’s temple. 18 23:29 They also took care of 19 the bread that is displayed, the flour for offerings, the unleavened wafers, the round cakes, the mixing, and all the measuring. 20 23:30 They also stood in a designated place 21 every morning and offered thanks and praise to the Lord. They also did this in the evening 23:31 and whenever burnt sacrifices were offered to the Lord on the Sabbath and at new moon festivals and assemblies. A designated number were to serve before the Lord regularly in accordance with regulations. 22 23:32 They were in charge of the meeting tent and the holy place, and helped their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, in the service of the Lord’s temple. 23
24:1 The divisions of Aaron’s descendants were as follows:
The sons of Aaron:
Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24:2 Nadab and Abihu died before their father did; they had no sons. Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests.
24:3 David, Zadok (a descendant of Eleazar), and Ahimelech (a descendant of Ithamar) divided them into groups to carry out their assigned responsibilities. 24 24:4 The descendants of Eleazar had more leaders than the descendants of Ithamar, so they divided them up accordingly; the descendants of Eleazar had sixteen leaders, while the descendants of Ithamar had eight. 25 24:5 They divided them by lots, for there were officials of the holy place and officials designated by God among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar. 26 24:6 The scribe Shemaiah son of Nethanel, a Levite, wrote down their names before the king, the officials, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech son of Abiathar, and the leaders of the priestly and Levite families. One family was drawn by lot from Eleazar, and then the next from Ithamar. 27
24:7 The first lot went to Jehoiarib,
the second to Jedaiah,
24:8 the third to Harim,
the fourth to Seorim,
24:9 the fifth to Malkijah,
the sixth to Mijamin,
24:10 the seventh to Hakkoz,
the eighth to Abijah,
24:11 the ninth to Jeshua,
the tenth to Shecaniah,
24:12 the eleventh to Eliashib,
the twelfth to Jakim,
24:13 the thirteenth to Huppah,
the fourteenth to Jeshebeab,
24:14 the fifteenth to Bilgah,
the sixteenth to Immer,
24:15 the seventeenth to Hezir,
the eighteenth to Happizzez,
24:16 the nineteenth to Pethahiah,
the twentieth to Jehezkel,
24:17 the twenty-first to Jakin,
the twenty-second to Gamul,
24:18 the twenty-third to Delaiah,
the twenty-fourth to Maaziah.
24:19 This was the order in which they carried out their assigned responsibilities when they entered the Lord’s temple, according to the regulations given them by their ancestor 28 Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had instructed him. 29
24:20 The rest of the Levites included: 30
Shubael 31 from the sons of Amram,
Jehdeiah from the sons of Shubael,
24:21 the firstborn Isshiah from Rehabiah and the sons of Rehabiah,
24:22 Shelomoth from the Izharites,
Jahath from the sons of Shelomoth.
Jeriah, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
Micah;
Shamir from the sons of Micah.
24:25 The brother of Micah:
Isshiah.
Zechariah from the sons of Isshiah.
24:26 The sons of Merari:
Mahli and Mushi.
The son of Jaaziah:
Beno. 34
24:27 The sons of Merari, from Jaaziah:
Beno, 35 Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.
24:28 From Mahli:
Eleazar, who had no sons.
24:29 From Kish:
Jerahmeel. 36
24:30 The sons of Mushi:
Mahli, Eder, and Jerimoth.
These were the Levites, listed by their families.
24:31 Just like their relatives, the descendants of Aaron, they also cast lots before King David, Zadok, Ahimelech, the leaders of families, the priests, and the Levites. The families of the oldest son cast lots along with the those of the youngest. 37
1 tn Heb “and full of years.”
2 tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “and their number by their heads, by men, was 38,000.”
4 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.
5 tn Heb “made to [or “for”] praise.”
6 tc The MT reads “Zina” here and “Zizah” in v. 11. One Hebrew
7 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.
8 tn Heb “and Aaron was set apart to consecrate it, the most holy things, he and his sons, permanently, to sacrifice before the
9 tn Heb “and Moses the man of God, his sons were called to the tribe of Levi.”
10 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.
11 tc The LXX reads Σουβαηλ (Soubahl) here, a reading followed by NAB, NIV, NCV, CEV (“Shubael”); cf. 24:20.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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.
15 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
16 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
17 tn Heb “for by the final words of David, they were the number of the sons of Levi, from a son of twenty years and upward.”
18 tn Heb “For their assignment was at the hand of the sons of Aaron for the work of the house of the
19 tn Heb “with respect to.”
20 tn The Hebrew terms מְשׂוּרָה (mÿsurah) and מִדָּה (middah) refer to different types of measurements.
21 tn Heb “and to stand.”
22 tn Heb “by number according to the manner upon them, regularly before the
23 tn Heb “and they kept the charge of the tent of meeting and the charge of the holy place and the charge of the sons of Aaron, their brothers, for the service of the house of the
24 tn Heb “for their assignment in their service.”
25 tn Heb “And the sons of Eleazar were found to be more, with respect to the heads of men, than the sons of Ithamar, and they divided them. To the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen heads, according to the house of the fathers; and to the sons of Ithamar there were eight, according to the house of their fathers.”
26 tn Heb “and they divided them by lots, these with these, for the officials of the holy place and the officials of God were from the sons of Eleazar and among the sons of Ithamar.”
27 tn Heb “one house of a father was drawn by lot for Eleazar, and one [this assumes an emendation of אָחֻז (’akhuz) to אֶחָד (’ekhad, “one”)] was drawn by lot for Ithamar.”
28 tn Heb “father.”
29 tn Heb “these were their responsibilities for their service to enter the house of the
30 tn Heb “Belonging to the rest of the sons of Levi.”
31 tn This appears to be a variant of the name Shebuel (cf. 1 Chr 23:16 and 26:24).
32 tc Most Hebrew
33 tn The Hebrew text has the plural “sons,” but only one name appears after this.
34 tn Heb “the sons of Jaaziah, Beno.” Apparently בְנוֹ (vÿno), which could be translated “his son,” is a proper name here. The text, however, may be corrupt at this point; a list of Jaaziah’s sons may have been accidentally omitted. See v. 27.
35 tn Or “from Jaaziah his son.” See the note on “Beno” in v. 26.
36 tc The Hebrew text has, “Belonging to [i.e., from] Kish, the sons of Kish, Jerahmeel.” There appears to be a conflation of headings.
37 tn Heb “the fathers [i.e., families] of the head [i.e., oldest] just like his youngest brother.”
