1 Chronicles 23:1-32

The Book of 1 Chronicles

God rules History

1 Chronicles

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 23

Organisation of the *Levites – 1 Chronicles 23:1-26

The *Levites – 1 Chronicles 23:1-32

v1 When David was very old, he made his son Solomon king over *Israel.

v2 He gathered all the leaders of *Israel, as well as the priests and *Levites. v3 He counted the *Levites who were 30 years of age and older. The total number of these men was 38 000. v4 David said, ‘From these 38 000 men, 24 000 *Levites will direct the work of the *LORD’s *temple. And 6000 *Levites will be officers and judges. v5 4000 *Levites will be guards for the gates. And 4000 *Levites will praise the *LORD with music. They will use the musical instruments that I made for that purpose.’

v6 David divided the *Levites into three groups by their *clans. These *clans are the families of Levi’s three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

v7 From the *clan of Gershon, there were Ladan and Shimei. v8 Ladan had three sons. His first son was Jehiel, and his other sons were Zetham and Joel. v9 Shimei’s sons were Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran. These three sons were leaders of Ladan’s families. v10 Shimei had 4 sons: Jahath, Ziza, Jeush, and Beriah. v11 Jahath was the first son, and Ziza was the second son. But Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons. So, in the count they were one family.

v12 Kohath had four sons: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. v13 Amram’s sons were Aaron and Moses. The *LORD separated Aaron and his *descendants for all time. He chose them to prepare the most holy things for the *LORD’s service. They had to offer *sacrifices to the *LORD, and to serve him as priests. As priests, they bless the people in the name of (on behalf of) the *LORD for all time. v14 However, when people counted the *tribe of Levi, they included the sons (*descendants) of Moses, the man of God. v15 Moses’ sons were Gershon and Eliezer. v16 Gershon’s first son was Shubael. v17 Eliezer’s first son was Rehabiah. Eliezer had no other sons, but Rehabiah had very many sons. v18 Izhar’s first son was Shelomith. v19 Hebron’s first son was Jeriah and his second son was Amariah. His third son was Jahaziel, and his 4th son was Jekameam. v20 Uzziel’s first son was Micah and his second son was Isshiah.

v21 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Mahli’s sons were Eleazar and Kish. v22 Eleazar died without sons. He had only daughters. His daughters married their cousins, the sons of Kish. v23 Mushi’s three sons were Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth.

v24 These were Levi’s *descendants by their families. They were the leaders of families. The record of the count was by family. It included each person 20 years of age or older who had to serve in the *LORD’s *temple. v25 David had said, ‘The *LORD, the God of *Israel, has given peace to his people. He has come to live in Jerusalem for all time. v26 So now, the *Levites do not need to carry the holy Tent. And they do not need to carry any of the things that they used in it.’ v27 David’s last instructions were to count the *Levites who were 20 years old and older.

v28 The *Levites’ job was to help Aaron’s *descendants in the work of the *LORD’s *temple. They were responsible for the *temple areas and the side rooms. They made all the holy things clean and ready for use. And they did other work in God’s *temple. v29 They were responsible for the bread that the priests would put on the table. They kept the flour for the grain *sacrifices and the special flat bread. They mixed and baked the bread for the *sacrifices. They carried out all the measurements of quantities and sizes. v30 They stood every morning and they thanked the *LORD. And they praised him. They did the same in the evening. v31 They also did this when the priests gave *burnt *sacrifices to the *LORD. This was on *Sabbaths, and at the new moon (the beginning of each month). Also, they did this on the special days. There must always be the proper number of *Levites on duty to carry out their work for the *LORD.

v32 So, the *Levites took care of the holy tent and the holy place. And they helped their relatives, Aaron’s *descendants, with the work of the *LORD’s *temple.

Verse 1 David was about 70 years of age, which in those days was old. This was now near the end of his life. It was probably during the 40th and last year of his rule (26:31; 29:27). He appointed Solomon to be the next king of *Israel.

Verses 2-5 To manage (run) the *temple, there would need to be 2000 *Levites on duty each month. They would not all work at the same time. Each of them would work for a part of the day or night. There were a total of 38 000 *Levite men who were 30 years of age and over. 24 000 of them would do this work. The women would not work in the *temple.

6000 *Levites would be judges and officials. They would work in every part of the country. They would be experts in the law of the *LORD and in the laws of the country.

Verses 6-11 The sons of Levi were Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. All the *Levites were *descendants of these three sons. David divided the *Levites into the *clans and families that came from these three men.

These lists do not give us the complete history of the *clans. In verse 8, these were not the actual sons of Ladan. They were among his *descendants. Shimei in verse 9 is a man who belonged to the *clans of Ladan. He is not the same as Shimei in verses 7 and 10.

The 4 sons of Shimei were not his actual sons. They were his *descendants and they may have lived in the time of David.

Because they had few children, David combined the families of Jeush and Beriah. So there were 9 groups out of the *clan of Gershon. 6 of these groups were from Ladan (three of which were from Shimei in verse 9). The other three groups were from the other man called Shimei in verse 10.

Verses 12-20 The ranks of the *Levites did not include the *descendants of Aaron. They were a special family. They were the priests. And the chief priests always came from this family. They had to make the *sacrifices to the *LORD. They were the agents of the people in relation to the *LORD. And they were the agents of the *LORD to the people. But the count of the *Levites did include the *descendants of Moses.

From the *clans of Kohath there were another 9 groups of *Levites.

Verses 21-23 The *clans of Merari made a further 6 groups. This is not clear from these verses. But the chiefs of the groups of Mahli came from Jaaziah (24:26-27), and Kish. The daughters of Eleazar married their cousins. By this means their families continued. The third group came either from another son of Jaaziah or from the daughters of Eleazar. The chiefs of the groups of Mushi came from his three sons.

There were 9 groups from Gershon, 9 groups from Kohath and 6 groups from Merari. This made a total of 24 groups.

Verses 24-27 The count was actually of those men who were 20 years old and older. Men were old enough to work in the *temple when they were 30 years old (verse 3). The *LORD said this to Moses when he counted the *Levites (Numbers 4:3).

Moses lowered the age for the work of the *LORD’s tent to 25. But the *Levites did not work after the age of 50 (Numbers 8:24-25). Originally, David decided that the *Levites would start to work in the *temple at 30 years old. The work in the *temple would not be as heavy as the work for the tent. The *Levites had to carry the tent and all that was in it, including the *altar and the *ark. Both of these would now remain in the *temple at Jerusalem. But for some reason, David now lowered the age for the count to 20.

Verses 28-32 The task of the *Levites was to help the priests. They had to take care of the *temple and of all that was in it. They had to make sure that all things were clean and ready for use.

The *Levites had to bake 12 loaves of bread for each *Sabbath day. The priests placed these loaves in two rows of 6 on the special table in the holy place. The loaves remained there until the next *Sabbath day. Then the priests would eat these loaves in the holy place (Leviticus 24:5-9).

Each morning and each evening, the *Levites praised the *LORD with music and prayers. They did this at the time of the regular *sacrifices (Exodus 29:38-39). Also, they did this at the time of *sacrifices on the special days.

The priests made extra *sacrifices at other times. These were on the *Sabbath days, at the start of the month and other special days (Numbers 28:9 to Numbers 29:39). At each of these events, the *Levites praised the *LORD when the priests made the *sacrifices.

The special days were annual events. Some of them lasted for just one day. But other ones lasted for several days. The main special days each year were:

(1) The day called Passover, and the week afterwards when people ate flat bread. Each year the *Jews remember how God brought them out of Egypt. Passover is the special time when they remember this. (Passover is usually at the same time as Easter.)

(2) The day called Pentecost, which is a special day 50 days after Passover.

(3) The day to sound the *trumpets.

(4) The day when the people remember that God forgives *sin.

(5) The week when the people lived in tents.

Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi.
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ‘He is always God.’ This name has a relationship with God’s special promises to his people.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God. Or, a building for the worship of false gods. The Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
clan ~ part of a tribe, a group of families.
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
sacrifice ~ The priests killed a special animal when people offered it as a gift to God. They burned all or part of it on an altar. That animal was called a sacrifice. They offered a sacrifice when they asked God to forgive sins. When Jesus died, he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. ‘To sacrifice’ means ‘to give a sacrifice’.
altar ~ the special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts to God (or to false gods).
sin ~ Sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because they are guilty of sin.
tribe ~ The Israelites originally consisted of the 12 large families of the sons of Jacob. These families became the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the special name that God gave to Jacob. His descendants were called Israel after him. So, Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.'burnt (sacrifice) ~ a sacrifice that the priests burned completely on the altar.
sacrifice ~ The priests killed a special animal when people offered it as a gift to God. They burned all or part of it on an altar. That animal was called a sacrifice. They offered a sacrifice when they asked God to forgive sins. When Jesus died, he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. ‘To sacrifice’ means ‘to give a sacrifice’.
altar ~ the special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts to God (or to false gods).
sin ~ Sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because they are guilty of sin.
Sabbath ~ The Sabbath was the 7th day of the week (Saturday) which God told the Israelites to keep as a special day. They did not work on that day. They used it for rest and for worship.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
altar ~ the special table where the priests burned animals or other gifts to God (or to false gods).
ark ~ the ark of the LORD or the ark of God; the Bible also calls it ‘the ark of God’s special promise’. It was a wooden box with gold all over the outside and inside. It had two models of gold cherubim on the top (see Exodus 25:10-22). The Israelites kept the ark in the most holy place; first in the LORD’s tent and then in the temple.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. The name probably means: ‘He is always God.’ This name has a relationship with God’s special promises to his people.
cherubim ~ special angels who were in the most holy place of the temple.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God. Or, a building for the worship of false gods. The Jews had a temple in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
angel ~ one of God’s special servants from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
worship ~ acts to show honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
trumpet ~ a kind of musical instrument; it makes a loud sound when a person blows into it.
sin ~ Sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because they are guilty of sin.