Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
David near death designates Solomon as king, and distributes the Levites into their classes and assigns their offices. He also counts among the Levites the sons, that is, the descendants of Moses.
Vulgate Text: 1 Paralipomenon 23:1-32
1. So David, old and full of days, made Solomon his son king over Israel. 2. And he gathered all the leaders of Israel, and the priests and Levites. 3. And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward, and there were found thirty-eight thousand men. 4. Of these, twenty-four thousand were chosen and distributed for the ministry of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges. 5. And four thousand were gatekeepers; and an equal number were singers praising the Lord with the instruments which he had made for singing. 6. And David distributed them into divisions according to the sons of Levi, namely Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 7. Sons of Gershon: Laadan and Shimei. 8. Sons of Laadan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three. 9. Sons of Shimei: Shelomith, and Haziel, and Haran, three: these were the heads of the families of Laadan. 10. And the sons of Shimei: Jahath, and Zizah, and Jeush, and Beriah: these were the sons of Shimei, four. 11. And Jahath was the first, Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah did not have many sons, and therefore they were counted as one family and one house. 12. Sons of Kohath: Amram, and Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four. 13. Sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. And Aaron was set apart to minister in the Holy of Holies, he and his sons forever, and to burn incense before the Lord according to his rite, and to bless in His name forever. 14. The sons of Moses the man of God were also counted among the tribe of Levi. 15. Sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer. 16. Sons of Gershom: Shebuel the first. 17. And the sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the first; and Eliezer had no other sons. But the sons of Rehabiah were very many. 18. Sons of Izhar: Shelomith the first. 19. Sons of Hebron: Jeriah the first, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, Jekameam the fourth. 20. Sons of Uzziel: Micah the first, Jesshiah the second. 21. Sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. Sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish. 22. And Eleazar died and had no sons, but only daughters; and the sons of Kish, their kinsmen, took them in marriage. 23. Sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three. 24. These were the sons of Levi according to their clans and families, the chiefs by their divisions and the number of individuals who carried out the work of the ministry of the house of the Lord, from twenty years old and upward. 25. For David said: The Lord God of Israel has given rest to His people, and a dwelling in Jerusalem forever. 26. Nor shall it be the duty of the Levites any longer to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for the ministry. 27. And according to the last instructions of David as well, the number of the sons of Levi shall be reckoned from twenty years old and upward. 28. And they shall be under the hand of the sons of Aaron for the worship of the house of the Lord, in the vestibules, and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord. 29. The priests moreover were over the showbread, and the sacrifice of fine flour, and the unleavened wafers, and the frying pan, and the toasting, and over every weight and measure. 30. But the Levites were to stand every morning to give thanks and to sing to the Lord: and likewise in the evening, 31. both in the offering of the burnt offerings of the Lord, and on sabbaths and new moons and the remaining solemnities, according to the number and the ceremonies of each thing, continually before the Lord. 32. And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the rite of the sanctuary, and the observance of the sons of Aaron their brethren, to minister in the house of the Lord.
Note: David distributed the Levites as follows. The number of Levites was 38,000; of these David assigned 24,000 to the ministry of the temple, and made another six thousand officers and judges, verse 4; whence it is clear that these Levites were judges, and something like senators and enrolled Fathers; four thousand were gatekeepers. Then he appointed another four thousand as singers and musicians: add all these numbers together, and you will find the 38,000 already mentioned.
Note secondly: David moreover established 24 orders of priests, who would succeed each other in turns to minister in the temple; for each order ministered for one week. Hence in Luke 1:9, it is said of Zechariah: "His lot was to enter and burn incense;" for Zechariah was "of the division of Abijah," which was the eighth in order. These turns and orders of priests are enumerated in the following chapter. Moreover, David assigned to each order of priests one order of Levites to minister to them and serve them in all things; hence there were as many orders of Levites as there were orders of priests ministering in the temple, namely 24. He established the same number (namely 24) of orders of Levites who sang, both with voice and with musical instruments, each of which sang in its turn and under its order of priests, as is clear from chapter 25; and they sang not only on sabbaths, new moons, and every other festival, but also daily at every burnt offering sacrifice, as is clear from verse 31. From this it follows that each priest as well as each Levite ministered in the temple only twice a year; for there were 24 classes, each of which served in the temple for one week. Therefore in 24 weeks each one ministered for only one week; and with those doubled, twice: so in 48 weeks (which a year comprises, with four added) each one ministered for just two weeks.
Moreover, David did these things not so much as king (for the king has no jurisdiction over priests and sacred matters) as in the capacity of a prophet. Again, he did not do these things by himself, but through the High Priests Zadok and Ahimelech, as we shall hear in the following chapter, verse 3, and that by casting lots, as is said there, verses 5 and 31.
Verse 11: Jeush and Beriah
11. JEUSH AND BERIAH DID NOT HAVE MANY SONS — that is, these two together did not have more sons than a single one of those already listed; therefore these two constituted only one class, while each of the others constituted one class by themselves.
Verse 13: Aaron Was Set Apart
13. AND AARON WAS SET APART — that is, by God through Moses, Aaron was chosen so that he and his firstborn descendants would be the high priests or pontiffs; while the others who were not firstborn would be lesser priests. Hence only the pontiffs entered the Holy of Holies; but the other priests burned incense on the altar of incense, which was in the Holy Place before the Holy of Holies.
Verse 14: The Sons of Moses
14. THE SONS OF MOSES, THE MAN (friend) OF GOD, WERE ALSO COUNTED AMONG THE TRIBE OF LEVI. — Remarkable was the resignation and humility of Moses, by which he submitted to the ordinance of God decreeing that the leadership of the people should be transferred to Joshua, while his own sons should be numbered not among the priests but among the Levites. For the priesthood was assigned by God to the descendants of Aaron, who was the elder brother of Moses.
Verse 24: From Twenty Years Old and Upward
24. THE SONS OF LEVI FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARD. — David numbered the Levites twice: first, in verse 3, "from thirty years old and upward;" secondly, here, "from twenty years old and upward." The reason was that originally it was decreed by God through Moses that the Levites should serve the tabernacle from the thirtieth year of age and onward, because their duty was to carry the furnishings of the Tabernacle through the desert, in which they were continually wandering, for which a strong and robust age, such as thirty years, was required. But David, since this burden had ceased, the temple now being built and Israel at rest in the holy land, decreed in this verse that they should be numbered from the twentieth year, and begin to serve; namely so that, with the older ones already enrolled and distributed into their classes of ministers, gatekeepers, officers, judges, and singers, the younger ones might serve them in lesser matters. This is the reason David gives here in verse 26.
Verse 29: The Priests Moreover
29. THE PRIESTS MOREOVER. — These words are not in the Hebrew nor in the Greek; therefore the duties which are appended here pertain to both Levites and priests, because it was the Levites' role to prepare those things, and the priests' role to offer to God what had already been prepared, as a sacrifice.
AND OVER EVERY WEIGHT AND MEASURE — both because it was the duty of the priests and Levites to measure all things to be offered to God, namely whether they had just weight and measure, and because it was their duty to preserve the just standards of measures and weights in the temple, so that if through the fraud of some among the people those standards were corrupted, diminished, or increased, they could be restored and corrected according to the measures and weights of the temple.