1 Chronicles 24:1-31

The Book of 1 Chronicles

God rules History

1 Chronicles

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 24

Arrangement of the priests – 1 Chronicles 24:1-19

v1 These were the groups of Aaron’s *descendants. Aaron’s sons were Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

v2 But Nadab and Abihu died before their father did. And they had no sons. So, Eleazar and Ithamar served as the priests. v3 Zadok was a *descendant of Eleazar. And Ahimelech was a *descendant of Ithamar. They helped David to divide their *clans into groups. Each group had certain duties. v4 There were more leaders from Eleazar’s family than there were from Ithamar’s. There were 16 leaders from Eleazar’s family. And there were 8 leaders from Ithamar’s family.

v5 They chose men for the groups from both families in a way that was fair. They made the decision by means of *lots. There were men from each family who were officers of the holy place. And there were men from each family who were officers of God.

v6 Shemaiah son of Nethanel, from the *tribe of Levi, kept the records. He wrote down the names of those *descendants in front of King David and his officials. With them were Zadok the priest and Ahimelech son of Abiathar. Also, the leaders of the families of the priests and *Levites were there. They chose one family for Eleazar, and one for Ithamar.

v7 The first one whom they chose was Jehoiarib. The second one was Jedaiah. v8 The third one was Harim. The 4th one was Seorim. v9 The 5th one was Malkijah. The 6th one was Mijamin. v10 The 7th one was Hakkoz. The 8th one was Abijah. v11 The 9th one was Jeshua. The 10th one was Shecaniah. v12 The 11th one was Eliashib. The 12th one was Jakim. v13 The 13th one was Huppah. The 14th one was Jeshebeab. v14 The 15th one was Bilgah. The 16th one was Immer. v15 The 17th one was Hezir. The 18th one was Happizzez. v16 The 19th one was Pethahiah. The 20th one was Jehezkel. v17 The 21st one was Jakin. The 22nd one was Gamul. v18 The 23rd one was Delaiah. The 24th one was Maaziah.

v19 This was the order in which their groups served in the *LORD’s *temple. There they obeyed the rules that Aaron, their *ancestor, gave to them. The *LORD, the God of *Israel, had given these rules to him.

Verses 1-3 The *descendants of Aaron were the priests. Aaron had 4 sons. They were called Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Nadab and Abihu died before Aaron. They took unholy fire into the *LORD’s tent. This was against the *LORD’s rules. At once, the *LORD punished them, and so they died there (Numbers 3:4). Because they had no children, the future priests had to come from the families of Eleazar and Ithamar.

Eleazar became the chief priest when his father died. Afterwards, the chief priest came from his *descendants until Eli who was a *descendant of Ithamar.

In the time of David, Zadok was from the *clans of Eleazar; and Ahimelech was from Ithamar. These two men helped David to divide their *clans into groups for service as priests in the *temple.

Verses 4-5 David divided the priests into 24 groups. 16 of these groups were of men from the *descendants of Eleazar. And 8 of these groups were from the *descendants of Ithamar. The groups would work in turn so that there would always be priests on duty in the *temple.

Eleazar had been the chief priest; Ithamar had not. And there were more of Eleazar’s *descendants than there were of Ithamar’s *descendants. But to David all the groups were equal. The groups received their order of duties in a way that was fair to them all.

Some men from each family were officers of the holy place. And some men were officers of God. These were leaders of some sort. However, we do not know what the titles mean.

Verses 6 To choose the groups, they took in turn a family from Eleazar and a family from Ithamar. Shemaiah wrote down the results. The king and his officials made sure that it was fair. Zadok and Ahimelech, the two chief priests, were among those who were present.

Verses 7-18 This is the list of the 24 groups in the order of the choice. These names are those of the leaders of the families.

These groups continued to serve in the *temple until the *exile. Some of these groups did continue to serve after the return from *exile. In the Book of Luke, Zechariah was in the group of Abijah (the 8th group). Zechariah was the father of John, who prepared for Jesus’ work. John is well-known as ‘John the Baptist’ (Luke 1:5).

Verse 19 They followed the order and plans that Aaron had given to them.

The rest of the *Levites – 1 Chronicles 24:20-31

v20 These are the rest of Levi’s *descendants. Shubael was a *descendant of Amram, and Jehdeiah was a *descendant of Shubael.

v21 Isshiah was the first son of Rehabiah.

v22 From the Izhar *clan, there was Shelomoth. And Jahath was a *descendant of Shelomoth.

v23 Hebron’s first son was Jeriah, and Amariah was his second son. Jahaziel was his third son, and Jekameam was his 4th son.

v24 Uzziel’s son was Micah. Micah’s son was Shamir.

v25 Micah’s brother was Isshiah, and Isshiah’s son was Zechariah.

v26 Merari’s sons were Mahli and Mushi. Jaaziah’s son was Beno.

v27 Jaaziah son of Merari had sons called Beno, Shoham, Zaccur, and Ibri.

v28 Mahli’s son was Eleazar, but Eleazar did not have any sons.

v29 Kish’s son was Jerahmeel

v30 Mushi’s sons were Mahli, Eder and Jerimoth.

These are the *Levites, by their families. v31 They used the same fair method to choose them for their special tasks as they used for the priests. That is, they made the decision by means of *lots. They did this in front of King David, Zadok, and Ahimelech. Also, there were the leaders of the families of the priests, and of the *Levites. They dealt with the families of the oldest brother in the same way as the youngest.

Verses 20-31 The rest of the *descendants of Levi were all those who were not from Aaron. This list shows the leaders of the families in the time of David. They are from the *clans that came from Kohath and Merari. But this list does not include the *clans that came from Gershon.

The *Levites formed 24 groups to do special tasks. The way that they chose the order of the groups was the same as for the priests. All the families were equal for this purpose.

descendant ~ a future member of a family or nation.
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.
lots ~ a way to make a decision. People seemed to decide the matter by chance when they used this method. But they believed that, in fact, God guided them to make the right decision.
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.
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.
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.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
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.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country, they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.