1 Chronicles 26:1-32

The Book of 1 Chronicles

God rules History

1 Chronicles

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 26

The *temple guards – 1 Chronicles 26:1-19

v1 These are the groups of the *temple guards:

From the *clan of Korah, there was Meshelemiah son of Kore. He was from Asaph’s family.

v2 Meshelemiah had sons. Zechariah was his first son and Jediael was his second son. Zebadiah was his third son and Jathniel was his 4th son. v3 Elam was his 5th son and Jehohanan was his 6th son. Eliehoenai was his 7th son.

v4 Obed-Edom had sons. Shemaiah was his first son and Jehozabad was his second son. Joah was his third son and Sacar was his 4th son. Nethanel was his 5th son. v5 Ammiel was his 6th son and Issachar was his 7th son. Peullethai was his 8th son. God had been kind to Obed-Edom.

v6 Obed-Edom’s son Shemaiah also had sons. They were leaders in their *clan because they were capable men. v7 Shemaiah’s sons were Othni, Rephael, Obed and Elzabad. His relatives Elihu and Semakiah were strong men. v8 All these men were Obed-Edom’s *descendants. They and their sons and relatives were capable men and strong workers. Obed-Edom had a total of 62 *descendants.

v9 Meshelemiah had sons and relatives who were skilled workers. In total, there were 18 of them.

v10 From the Merari family, Hosah had sons. Shimri was the chief one of these. He was not the oldest son, but his father chose him to be the leader. v11 Hilkiah was his second son and Tabaliah was third son. Zechariah was his 4th son. In total, Hosah had 13 sons and relatives.

v12 These were the chief men of the groups of *temple guards. The groups had tasks to serve in the *LORD’s *temple, even as their relatives had. v13 The choice of guards for each gate was by a fair method. They made the decision by means of *lots. The large families had no advantage over the small ones.

v14 The choice for the east gate was Shelemiah. Then the choice for the north gate was his son Zechariah. Zechariah was a wise man who gave good advice. v15 The choice for the south gate was Obed-Edom. His sons became guards of the building where they kept the stores. v16 Shuppim and Hosah became the guards for the west gate. Also, they were the guards for the Shalleketh Gate on the upper road. Guards took their tasks in turn with other guards.

v17 There were 6 *Levites each day on the east. Each day there were 4 of them on the north and 4 of them on the south. Two pairs of guards worked at the stores building. v18 At the Parbar to the west, there were 4 guards on the road and two at the Parbar. v19 These were the groups of the guards from the families of Korah and Merari.

Verses 1-9 The *Israelites had not built the *temple yet. But the king made these arrangements so that the *Levites would be ready. There were 4000 *temple guards (23:6). They were all from the *clans of Kohath and Merari. (Korah was from the *clan of Kohath.)

There were 24 groups of these *temple guards. They chose the order of their duties by the same fair method that the priests and *Levites had used.

The job of the *temple guards was to be responsible for the gates and doors of the *temple. They would open the gates and doors at the right times. And they would close them at the proper times. They would control the entrances to keep out anyone who should not come in. They would control everyone who went into or out of the *temple. And if necessary, they would control the crowds.

The work of the *temple guards was an important part of the *LORD’s work. It was not less important than the work of the other *Levites. They were all part of the *worship of the *temple. They were all doing the work of the *LORD. They were all doing what God wanted them to do. So in his opinion, their rank was equal.

Asaph in verse 1 is not the same as the musician. The musician belonged to the *clan of Gershon. This Asaph belonged to the *clan of Korah. This Asaph is usually called Abiasaph; he was a son of Korah (1 Chronicles 9:19; Exodus 6:24). Kore and Meshelemiah were among his *descendants.

Obed-Edom was another *descendant of Korah. He kept the *LORD’s *ark in his home after the death of Uzzah (13:13-14). He was a musician and he played in front of the *LORD’s *ark in Jerusalem (15:21). Also, he was a guard for the *LORD’s *ark (15:24). Here he is the head of his family as a *temple guard.

The family of Obed-Edom were strong men, as they may need to be as *temple guards. They had to guard the *temple day and night. And the gates of the *temple were large and heavy. It took several strong men to open and to close these gates.

Verses 10-11 Hosah had been a guard at the *LORD’s *ark with Obed-Edom (16:38). He had 13 sons among whom Shimri was the chief son. But Shimri was not the oldest son. Perhaps the first son by birth was not a capable person for some reason. However, the father chose Shimri to be the first son.

Verses 12-19 Each group had its leaders. But a few chief men were over them all. These men made sure that the groups did their tasks well.

In each group, they chose the tasks. They did this by the same fair method that they had used for the order of their groups. So, the larger families did not have an advantage over the smaller ones.

Here we have some of those chief men. These men were responsible for the main gates and the stores building.

Shelemiah is the same as Meshelemiah (verse 1). He had control of the east gate. His son Zechariah had control of the north gate. Obed-Edom had control of the south gate. Shuppim and Hosah had control of the west gate.

Also, Shuppim and Hosah had control of the Shalleketh Gate. This was another gate to the west. It was probably the gate through which they took the rubbish from the *temple.

The east gate was the main gate. So, there were 6 guards at this gate but only 4 at the other gates. There were 2 guards at the stores building.

We are not sure what Parbar means. There are two possible meanings. The first is suburb. So, Parbar would be a gate to the west that leads to the suburbs of Jerusalem. There would be two guards at the gate and 4 guards on the road. The other meaning is that it is the name of a place outside the *temple building. There would be two guards at that place and 4 guards on the road to that place.

Other officials of the *temple – 1 Chronicles 26:20-32

v20 And from the *Levites, Ahijah was the guard for the valuable things that belonged to God’s *temple. Also, he took care of the valuable things that people gave to God.

v21 Ladan was Gershon’s *descendant and he was the *ancestor of several *clans. Jehieli was a leader of one of the *clans. v22 These *clans were the sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel his brother. They were responsible for the valuable things that belonged to the *LORD’s *temple.

v23 Other leaders came from the *clans of Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. v24 Shubael was a *descendant of Gershom, who was Moses’ son. He was the chief officer who controlled the store of valuable things. v25 He had relatives from the family of Eliezer. Eliezer’s son was Rehabiah. Rehabiah’s son was Jeshaiah. Jeshaiah’s son was Joram. Joram’s son was Zicri, and Zicri’s son was Shelomith. v26 Shelomith and his relatives had control of all the holy gifts. These gifts came from King David, and the leaders of the families. Also, the army officers gave gifts. Some of these men were over groups of 1000 soldiers. Some of them were over groups of 100 soldiers. And other officers gave gifts too. v27 They took many valuable things when they won battles. They gave some of these things in order to pay for repairs to the *LORD’s *temple. v28 Samuel the *prophet had given some valuable things to the *LORD. So had Saul son of Kish, Abner son of Ner, and Joab son of Zeruiah. Shelomith and his relatives took care of all the holy gifts.

v29 Kenaniah was from the Izhar *clan. He and his sons worked away from the *temple. They were officials and judges in *Israel.

v30 Hashabiah was from the Hebron *clan. He and 1700 skilled relatives worked for *Israel on the west side of the Jordan river. They were responsible for all the *LORD’s work there, and for the service of the king. v31 Jeriah was the leader of the *descendants of Hebron. In the 40th year of David’s rule, they searched the records of Hebron’s *descendants. They found that there were capable men from the Hebron *clans at Jazer in Gilead. v32 Jeriah had 2700 relatives who were skilled men and leaders of families. King David chose them to direct God’s work and the king’s affairs on the east side of the river Jordan. They had to direct the *tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh in these matters.

Verses 20-28 Some of the *temple guards took care of the gifts, money and valuable things that belonged to the *temple (verses 20-22). Other *temple guards took care of the stores of wealth that belonged to the *temple (verses 23-28). Ahijah was the official who was over all of these guards.

The sons of Jehieli, Zetham and Joel had control of the gifts and valuable things. These things were the gifts to the *LORD; and the precious objects that the priests used. These stores were for use in the daily service of the *temple.

Shubael was over the team who took care of all the wealth in the *temple stores. His team included Shelomith. Shelomith was responsible for all the gifts from David and the army officers. Many of these gifts were objects that the king and family leaders had given. Some of this wealth came from the goods that the army had taken from their enemies. Samuel, King Saul and former army officers had given wealth that was now in these stores. This wealth was for major repairs and for future use.

Verses 29-32 There were 6000 *Levites who worked as officials and judges (23:4). They did not work in the *temple. They went out to all parts of the nation called *Israel. Their job was to teach God’s law to the people. And they would be the judges in the law courts. Also, they would collect the taxes and other money that was due to the king and to the *temple.

Most of these *Levites came from the *clans of Kohath and Hebron. Kenaniah and his sons came from the *clan of Izhar, which was one of the *clans from Kohath. Hashabiah and the men at Jazer were from the Hebron *clan.

Hashabiah and his relatives worked to the west of the river Jordan. At Jazer in Gilead, there were men from Hebron’s *clan. Gilead was to the east of the river Jordan. So, Jeriah and his men worked to the east of the river Jordan. That was where the *tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the *tribe of Manasseh lived.

Hashabiah had 1700 men and Jeriah had 2700 men. Therefore, as there were 6000 men, 1600 men worked with Kenaniah.

David organised all of this during the 40th year of his rule. That was his last year before he died.

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.
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.
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.
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.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
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.
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.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
prophet ~ a person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future.
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.
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.