1 Chronicles 9:1-34

LESSON FOUR 9-10

I. GENEALOGIES-ADAM TO DAVID

16. THE DWELLERS IN JERUSALEM (1 Chronicles 9:1-34)

INTRODUCTION

A brief review of certain Levites and priests who had returned from Babylonian captivity is the subject of Chapter 9. Saul's house and his ruin at the hands of the Philistines is recounted.

TEXT

1 Chronicles 9:1. So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away captive to Babylon for their transgression. 2. Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim. 3. And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh: 4. Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Perez the son of Judah. 5. And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the first-born, and his sons. 6. And of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred and ninety. 7. And of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah, 8. and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; 9. and their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty and six. All these men were heads of fathers-' houses by their fathers-' houses.

10. And of the priests: Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, Jachin, 11. and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God; 12. and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; 13. and their brethren, heads of their fathers-' houses, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
14. And of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; 15. and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph, 16. and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.

17. And the porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their bretheren (Shallum was the chief), 18. who hitherto waited in the kings-' gate eastward: they were the porters for the camp of the children of Leviticus 19. And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, of his father's house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent: and their fathers had been over the camp of Jehovah, keepers of the entry. 20. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in time past, and Jehovah was with him. 21. Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tent of meeting. 22. All these that were chosen to be porters in the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their office of trust. 23. So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of Jehovah, even the house of the tent, by wards. 24. On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south. 25. And their brethren, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them: 26. for the four chief porters, who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God. 27. And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge thereof was upon them; and to them pertained the opening thereof morning by morning.

28. And certain of them had charge of the vessels of service; for by count were these brought in and by count were these taken out. 29. Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices. 30. And some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the spices. 31. And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the first-born of Shallum the Korahite, had the office of trust over the things that were baded in pans. 32. And some of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the showbread, to prepare it every sabbath.
33. And these are the singers, heads of fathers-' houses of the Levites, who dwelt in the chambers and were free from other service; for they were employed in their work day and night. 34. These were heads of fathers-' houses of the Levites, throughout their generations, chief men: these dwelt at Jerusalem.

PARAPHRASE

1 Chronicles 9:1. The family tree of every person in Israel was carefully recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. Judah was exiled to Babylon because the-people worshipped idols. 2. The first to return and live again in their former cities were families from the tribes of Israel, and also the priests, the Levites, and the Temple assistants. 3. Then some families from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh arrived in Jerusalem: 4. One family was that of Uthai (the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son Bani) of the clan of Perez (son of Judah). 5. The Shilonites were another family to return, including Asaiah (Shilon's oldest son) and his sons; 6. there were also the sons of Zerah, including Jeuel and his relatives: 690 in all. 7, 8. Among the members of the tribe of Benjamin who returned were these: Sallu (the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah); Ibneiah (the son of Jeroham); Elah (the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri); Meshullam (the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah). 9. These men were all chiefs of subclans. A total of 956 Benjaminites returned.

10, 11. The priests who returned were: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, Azariah (the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub). He was the chief custodian of the Temple. 12. Another of the returning priests was Adaiah (son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah). Another priest was Massai (son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer). 13. In all, 1,760 priests returned.
14. Among the Levites who returned was Shemaiah (son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, who was a descendant of Merari). 15, 16. Other Levites who returned included: Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, Mattaniah (the son of Mica, who was the son of Zichri, who was the son of Asaph). Obadiah (the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun). Berechiah (the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the area of the Netophathites).
17, 18. The gatekeepers were Shallum (the chief gatekeeper), Akkub, Talmon, and Ahimanall Levites. They are still responsible for the eastern royal gate. 19. Shallum's ancestry went back through Kore and Ebiasaph to Korah. He and his close relatives the Korahites were in charge of the sacrifices and the protection of the sanctuary, just as their ancestors had supervised and guarded the Tabernacle. 20. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was the first director of this division in ancient times. And the Lord was with him. 21. At that time Zechariah, the son of Meshelemiah, had been responsible for the protection of the entrance to the Tabernacle. 22. There were 212 doorkeepers in those days. They were chosen from their villages on the basis of their genealogies, and they were appointed by David and Samuel because of their reliability. 23. They and their descendants were in charge of the Lord's Tabernacle. 24. They were assigned to each of the four sides: east, west, north, and south. 25. And their relatives in the villages were assigned to them from time to time, for seven days at a time. 26. The four head gatekeepers, all Levites, were in an office of great trust, for they were responsible for the rooms and treasuries in the Tabernacle of God. 27. Because of their important positions they lived near the Tabernacle, and they opened the gates each morning.
28. Some of them were assigned to care for the various vessels used in the sacrifices and worship; they checked them in and out to avoid loss. 29. Others were responsible for the furniture, the items in the sanctuary, and the supplies such as fine flour, wine, incense, and spices. 30. Other priests prepared the spices and incense. 31. And Mattithiah (a Levite and the oldest son of Shallum the Korahite) was entrusted with making the flat cakes for grain offerings. 32. Some members of the Kohath clan were in charge of the preparation of the special bread each Sabbath.
33, 34. The cantors were all prominent Levites. They lived in Jerusalem at the Temple and were on duty at all hours. They were free from other responsibilities and were selected by their genealogies.

COMMENTARY

Family registers and genealogical connections were very important to a people who so often found themselves uprooted and disconnected from relatives and homeland. This fact is brought into sharp focus in 1 Chronicles 9:1. By this time in the record we have arrived at the grievous overthrow of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 B.C. The historian faithfully records the fact that Judah was carried away to Babylon for their transgression, (see also I Kings, Chapter s 24 and 25).

At this point in the record the historian proceeds to present a summary of those who returned from Babylon. He passes over any details related to the seventy years of captivity and fixes his attention on those who returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua in 538 B.C. Four classes of people are distinguished in 1 Chronicles 9:2: Israel, priests, Levites, and Nethinim. In distinguishing between priests and Levites it must be observed that every priest must necessarily be a Levite; however, not every Levite would be qualified to serve as a priest. The term Nethinin means wholly given and was a name attached to those who were bondmen of the Temple, helpers of the priests. In this fourfold reference in verse two the focus of interest is upon the priesthood and the Temple services. The place that holds priority in importance is Jerusalem. Solomon's Temple had been situated here. In this place of sacred memory Zerubbabel's Temple would be built. It was not until during the Babylonian captivity and the return that the Hebrews were generally referred to as the Jews, This name may well have originated out of ill will and was most likely associated with the remnant of the tribe of Judah. It is not to be supposed that the only representatives of the Hebrews who remained after the Captivity were of the tribe of Judah. For all practical purposes, the identity of the ten northern tribes was lost in the Assyrian overthrow in 722-21 B.C.; however, there were scattered remnants of these tribes which along with Judah were taken into Babylon between the years of 606 and 586 B.C. and who returned to Palestine in 536 B.C. So the Chronicler says that the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Levi were certainly represented in Jerusalem after the return from Babylon. We met Perez in Genesis 38. He was the son of Judah and his mother was Tamar. Perez is an ancestor of Jesus Christ. When the author (1 Chronicles 9:5) speaks of the Shilonites, he is referring to those who had lived in Shiloh in the tribe of Ephraim. In earlier days the tabernacle had been located in Shiloh. Zerah (1 Chronicles 9:6) was a twin brother of Perez. The tribes and persons named and numbered in 1 Chronicles 9:3-9 correspond to the reference to Israel in 1 Chronicles 9:2.

The priests who are named in 1 Chronicles 9:10-13 are men who served in this office after the return from Captivity. A similar list is recorded in Nehemiah 11:12-14. Apparently it was not the intention of the historian to provide a complete list of the priests. Out of records which were available to him and directed by the Holy Spirit, he selected these representatives of the priesthood. In like manner there is a list of Levites in Nehemiah 11:15-18 which compares with 1 Chronicles 9:14-16. Descendants of familiar heads of families such as Merari, Asaph, and Jeduthun are named here. There was a village named Netophah (1 Chronicles 9:16) located near Bethlehem Judah. When the wall of Jerusalem was dedicated in Nehemiah's day (Nehemiah 12:28) the sons of the singers from among the Netophathites shared in the ceremonies at Jerusalem.

The respective responsibilities of the priests and the Levites in the renewed Jerusalem are reviewed in 1 Chronicles 9:17-34. The porters were men who were assigned as door-keepers at the gates leading into the Temple. The king's gate eastward and the door of the tent of meeting were places of special assignment. These porters were stationed at entrances on all four sides of the Temple and they served in courses or shifts for a week at a time. The porters were carefully organized (1 Chronicles 9:26) and exercised responsibility with regard to the chambers or living quarters and storage rooms at the Temple. They were also responsible for the security of the Temple treasuries. While on duty, these officers lived in quarters round about the Temple.

The details of certain Levitical responsibilities are spelled out in 1 Chronicles 9:28-34. Since the vessels used in the Temple were made of precious metal, they were very valuable. Precautions against theft or mismanagement were always in order. The vessels were very important also because they had been sanctified for special service. The Temple furniture, in like manner, was very special and required particular attention. The flour, wine, oil, frankincense, spices all had to be procured and properly processed. The spices used in the holy incense had been carefully prescribed in Moses-' day (Exodus 30:34-35). This prescription was to be used only in the Tabernacle. The baking of the unleavened bread and the preparation of the shewbread were important details under Levitical supervision.

Those who were leaders in the ministry of singing were from among the Levites. They were specialists in this service and were excused from other aspects of the work. Provisions were made for their lodging at the Temple when they were on duty.